Catching Our Breath in Albuquerque

We arrived on Friday and have been enjoying the chance to stay put for a few weeks.

We've been on the road for six weeks now since our 'winter hiatus' in Virginia Beach.  In April we raised the jacks and closed the slides and hit the trail 11 times.

It doesn't seem like a big deal but its been fun and we 'got right back into the saddle'.  We love this! There are a few things we need to do and catch up on, so this break for the next couple of weeks comes at a good time.

We are pretty busy absorbing our experiences with the friends we've seen and absorbing the new sights and places that we have been.  And I have a number of blogs 'in the works' to note it, but instead I wanted check in again.

It seems like we in a perpetual state of change although that in itself is a bit of constancy.  We are still of the mind that we want to see as much of the area as time will allow, but at the same time take care of regular maintenance items, household chores and throw in some fitness/exercise.

While here in Albuquerque, one of the first things we did was take my bike in for an overhaul.  It's been a number of years since it has had some real TLC and we found a good bike shop near Old Town - The Bike Works.

What a find.  I am pretty excited about getting everything checked out and get it running in top form again.  I made a mental note to get some work done on my last ride on the Tammany Trace Bike Trail in Louisiana on the north side of Lake Ponchartrain.  I knew I was in trouble when I had to get off my bike and turn it upside down to change gears...  I picked a good one and had a good ride but obviously there was something wrong.

So I took it in to Rick (Gator) at the Bike Works.  This shop is impressive.  The ladies behind the counter were very helpful and Gator was great.  When I first walked in I got to talking to them and they asked if I knew some good bike trails around town.  Since I didn't they found a Bicycle Map of Albuquerque which they gave me.

He put my bike on the rack and thoroughly inspected it and I learned a lot.  He was not the typical mechanic who hands you a list of 53 things that are wrong and gives a high $$ quote.  Quite the opposite.  He took his time and checked everything out and gave ample suggestions on no-cost or low cost options.  Definitely not in the up sale category which I love.

My main fixes will be an upgrade to raise the handlebars, new brake cables and brakes that are bent busted and 'blown out', and a general tuneup to tighten up and adjust things.

In addition to getting my bike in the shop, we had a nice hike later than day along the Bosque on the Rio Grande.  Great area of town and a beautiful day to get out.

Since brother Reid and wife Amy live in town, we've been able to seen them a few times and share meals together.  And Saturday we went over to their office and helped install a 6' shade across one of their office windows at Environment Control, Albuquerque. On Sunday they had a big lunch for Amy's mom and her brothers' families in town.  Lot of fun seeing them again.

We have already had breakfast at Frontier Restaurant and have checked out Sunday lunch after church at the Owl Cafe.  We lived here 1988-1992 and never stopped in to the diner.  Glad we did the Owl Cafe has good food and some personality to it.

Yesterday we were getting caught up on things.  Pam went for a nice walk around Hardin Park on Kirtland AFB about 1/2 mile from our campground.  It may be one of the best parks we have seen and perfect for walkers, joggers and families.  It gets used all day long.

Next we did some more planning and scheming for the middle part of our summer in Colorado after we see Utah.  We also spoke with some friends last night who had just recently taken a tour of Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Bryce Canyon etc and we got even more excite about our plans to see those places in June.

While she was doing that, I got started on my online work.  That kept me occupied all day.  Pam also did a couple loads of wash and went to the grocery store.  Nothing too exciting - just regular stuff.

We enjoyed some fish on the grill and I put everything away when it started blowing again.  It has been quite windy here which is no surprise.  A couple of years ago I put some folding chairs and the chair covers under the Roadrunner.  Then the wind started and I never found one of the bags for the folding chairs...

Last night the wind continued and we woke up every couple of hours rocking and rolling with that flaps over the slide outs whipping a bit.   Almost closed the slides but didn't want to wake Pam up.  Worked out OK.

We are meeting up with friends Ron and Marta for lunch.  Since we haven't yet overdosed on New Mexican food, we are meeting at Sadie's which should be good.

That's all for now - thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Roadrunner Financials - April 2015

Roadrunner Recap

We traveled from Virginia to Texas through Louisiana and stayed at a great State Park near New Orleans.

• JEB Little Creek MWR Campground, Virginia Beach VA
• High Rock Marina and Campground, Lexington NC
• Freightliner Repair Facility, Gaffney SC
• Camp Lake Jasper, Hardeeville SC
• Pelican Roost Campground, Mayport Naval Station, Mayport FL
• Mid-Bay Shores Campground, Niceville FL
• Fountainbleu State Park, Mandeville LA
• Bayou Wilderness RV Resort, Layfayette LA
• Shallow Creek RV, Gladewater TX
• Cowtown RV Park, Aledo TX

Here's an interactive map of our travels:

Or, if you prefer and find this easier to navigate, here is a static map:

Good News Areas We Are Under Budget

Biggest Expenses
Our biggest expenses for the month were in the areas of:

• Diesel fuel
• Maintenance
• Food and 
• Misc spending which included a lot of golf and clothes

Large One Time Cost Item
Our biggest expense for the month was in Gaffney SC at the Freightliner Repair Facility where we had general maintenance done and new tie rods put on.  It all cost us $2492 which went way over our budgeted amount for RV and Car Maintenance. 

Monthly Average

For April, we were considerably over budget which accounted for our rise in the monthly average from $3700+ / month to almost $4000.  But at this stage of the year, we were very happy to be under our goal of $4100.

That's a snapshot of how we're feeling about the cost of things on this Full-Time Journey.  We are in month 63 of doing it.

Hopefully, some of the thoughts and figures are of some interest/value/curiosity.  If you'd like a blank spreadsheet of what I use I'd be glad to send you it at no charge to do with what you wish.  

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Family and Friends Time in Texas

We love to go spend time with family and we got to see Brad and Sue for a few days.  They live in the Fort Worth area and we found a good RV park nearby at Cowtown RV.

The Winegard TV antenna didn't do too well the first night we were there because of the intense cloud cover.  But it locked on the next morning and we were fine for the rest of our time there.

The first order of business was Texas BBQ!  We went to dinner at Riscky's Barbeque.

The brisket was terrific.  And the rain came hard and fast while were were having dinner!  Whoa - it got dark and ugly and it started raining hard, then sideways and it came down in sheets.  It was a little scary for a few minutes.  People were moved away from windows, the power went out, then came back on.  After about 10 minutes it was over.  Another gully washer in Fort Worth!

That was exciting and we didn't see any damage.  That was the worst storm the whole time we were there.  Mostly, Brad and I played golf.

We played at a lot of 'Creeks' - Lost Creek, Hawk's Creek, Squaw Creek and our last day we played at Split Rail with our friend Andy who lives nearby.

Split Rail was a very nice course and Brad and I got another free round of golf with a cart for filling in our divots.  ??  On hole 8 Brad and I hit shots from the fairway and then used the sand bottle on the cart to fill in our divots.  A guy drove by said 'Thanks for doing that'.  It's part of golf course etiquette. Like repairing ball marks on the green or raking sand traps after your shot -- something our parents taught us when we started playing the game as kids.

The same guy drove out by us again on #10 and handed us a couple of cards with "Free round of golf plus golf cart" on it!  Nice!  Never know what is going to happen when someone catches you doing something right...

Later in the week Pam and I were able to have lunch with Mark and Dortha who are in the area.  We met at In-N-Out burger and got caught up.

We haven't seen them in a couple of years and it was nice to do so!

Brad and Sue took an 11 day tour through England, Wales and Scotland last summer and we were able to talk them into going through their pictures.  Brad had several hundred of them and after dinner a couple of nights, we spent time seeing the sights along their bus tour and hearing all about it.  We only got through Day 8 so we have to finish seeing the rest next visit.

Our last evening in town, Sue invited Jo and Andy over for dinner.  Jo and Andy are our good friends too.

They met Brad and Sue while they were both stationed at Loring AFB, ME in the 1970's.  Following that assignment, Jo and Andy got orders for Norton AFB, (San Bernardino CA) where Pam and I were stationed.  Andy and I both served on the AF IG Team and we got to know them during our tour there 1986-1988.  After the AF, they moved to the Fort Worth area not far from Brad and Sue so we get to see them regularly.

We had a great visit in Fort Worth and look forward to the next time.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

On to OKC

We planned on staying near Frisco Texas in order to see our friend Betty.  When we got all hooked up and ready to leave Pam said, "It looks like we have a flat tire."  Oops.
Sure enough, the Honda had a soft rear tire on the driver's side.

We found a National Tire and Battery Store about 5 minutes away and got right in to repair the flat.
Somehow a drill bit had lodged itself in the middle of the tread and created a slow leak.

Once that was taken care of, we began our 3 hour trip over to a nice campground in Aubrey TX near Denton.  Shady Creek RV Park and Storage. 

(From there website)

It was a good place for an overnight stay and not far from Betty's place and I-35 on the north side of Dallas.

Betty had dinner planned for later in the evening and also worked out a visit with good friend Dawn who was visiting for a couple of days.

We had a wonderful time and a great meal and a chance to practice on my selfie stick.  This is one of our most favorite things to do on the road -- catch up with friends we haven't seen in a while.  And to meet new friends.

Now we look forward to a 3 hour(ish) drive to Oklahoma City and some time with high school friend and frequent Roadrunner visitor - Kirk and Susan.  We always look forward to seeing them and spending some time together.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Festival Internationale in Layfayette

Our reason for going through Lafayette, Louisiana was to stop and see LaJuana and Dan.  We met them four years ago in Galveston at a NOMADS Disaster Recovery volunteer effort.

We did some research and found a good campground for an overnight stay at Bayou Wilderness RV Resort.

 It was a little bit of a drive off the freeway to get there, but it was a nice campground with big pull through sites and a good laundry.

Things worked out and we met them for dinner at PerJeans Cajun Seafood Restaurant. 

Oh my!  That was a home run! Pam and I split a Shrimp Festival Platter.

Then I got out my selfie stick and took a picture.  After I looked at it a minute I saw that there were six of us in the photo and we had no idea who the couple was behind us. :)  Have you done that recently?

After a little while, I retook the photo that included just us...

We had some sweet biscuits to start with, then shrimp gumbo (Wow! that was good!), shrimp salad, blackened shrimp with cocktail sauce and some Cajun (dirty) rice and shrimp ettoufee.

And as it happened, we hit town at the start of the Festival International in downtown Lafayette.  It is a music festival, money raiser for the town and only comes along once a year.  We went downtown and parked in their church parking lot and walked over to the happenings.  It was the first evening with the festival and they only had one stage set up.  By the end of the second day in the downtown area there would be 4-5 stages with music going on each one of them.

We wandered over to the stage and listened for a little while.  We had never heard Zydeco music so this was a first.

We hung around for about an hour or so, went through a couple of booths and then went back to the car.  Their church is in the downtown area and Dan and LaJuana offered to take us inside for a tour of the historic building.

It was a very beautiful church built in 1924.

We love to see historical places and local festivals.  And the seafood was really good.  It was a memorable experience and great time seeing Dan and LaJuana.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Our First Stay in Louisiana State Parks

It was an easy drive over to the campsite.  One of the caretakers had us wait a couple of minutes while he mowed the area which I appreciated.

Nothing like a nice mowed grassy area to have for a campsite.

We went exploring our first day there and over to the 'beach' and Restroom area.  As we passed the parking lot, we were told that it was closed off for the day because 'NCIS New Orleans" with Scott Bakula.  We missed him and the actors and instead go to chat with the catering clean up crew.

We also took a hike along one of the many trails.

It was a good walk and had a couple of puddles we needed to negotiate which was fine.

Later in the day, I took a bike ride along the flat and well maintained Tammany Trace Bike Trail.

I really enjoyed  it with the new trail and all the sights along the way.

Fun to get back on the bike and get some exercise.

And at the campground we grilled a couple of meals and got enough wood for a couple of nice campfires.  Glad spring is finally here.  We are enjoying this camping!

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Niceville and the Destin FL Area

We arrived in Niceville, FL at the Maxwell/Gunter Recreation Center Campground on Friday.  Along the way Pam drove for a couple of hours and I got to do some online work for a couple of hours.

I love my Roadrunner office window and desk.

It was a rained a little on the way there, but the good site with another water front view.

Though the campground is a bit older, it was completely satisfactory.  It had water, electric, cable TV* and a dump station.  

*The cable TV connection was not working but our neighbor was right there when we set up and offered to let us use his.  He and another camper had put a splitter on at his site and our wire was long enough to reach from the Roadrunner to his connection.

The first thing we notice coming into the area off the main street was the new paved road.  Pam and I visited this place (which is across the bay from Destin, FL) a few years back and I remember how many ruts and pot holes there were in the road.  Not now, it is upgraded and not an issue.

Since we were married in Fort Walton Beach, this area has a special place in our hearts and we love to come back here.  The other big draw is our friend Karin.  She works in Niceville and we met for lunch.

We drove around the area later in the day and went back to the Roadrunner to read and watch the golf.  After dinner, the sun came out and we walked around the campground.

On Sunday, we listened to a Lon Solomon podcast and then drove over to Destin.  It continues to grow!  We went by the Fort Benning Rec Area Campground and liked what they have done with the improvements and upgrades. Next, we drove over to Hurlburt Field and stopped along the way for lunch at What-A-Burger.  On base, we searched for the barracks where Pam lived.  It apparently has been torn down and replaced by a larger structure.  Same with the building where I lived.   We made our way back to the campground and chilled out for the rest of the day.

We have only been on the road two weeks after leaving the Virginia Beach area.  In some ways it seems as if it has been six months.  We are loving the driving and setting up at the new campgrounds and seeing this part of the country again!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  This (according to the Google blogspot numbers) is my 1000th post.  Thanks for being a part of our journey in one or many of them...

Last Days at Mayport

We wrapped up our week at Naval Station Mayport on Friday.  The more we stay here the more we like it.  Our front row site provided a lot of interesting views watching the activity in the water:

While we were there dredging operations were underway which was fun to watch.  They were going on 24/7 clearing out the silt from the channel and loading it onto barges.  From there they went down about a mile to the beach and created a large temporary pipeline to pump the sand back on to the beach.

Its a little hard to tell but the large pipeline goes down the beach for about a mile.  They pump the sand to the end of it where bulldozers smooth it out from the piles.

I can't imagine how many tons of sand has been reclaimed but it is a lot!

Also while at Mayport, I got a chance to climb on top of the Roadrunner and give it a good wash and rinse.  Surprisingly, it was in pretty clean.  

I then washed the whole thing and started on applying The Solution to shine it up.  I was able to get all of the PS done before I ran out of energy.  This is definitely a more-than-one-day job.

Another day after lunch we went over to Mayport to the St. John's River Ferry and took a ride across the St. John's River to do some exploring.

We drove through Huguenot Memorial State Park and out to the beach where there were a surprising number of people there with their cars.  Must have been 30+.  Reminded me of 'tailgating on the beach'.  People drove up on the hard packed sand beach as far as they, propped their chairs and coolers and umbrellas out and soaked up what little sun there was.

I thought this would be another good place to try out my selfie stick again.

Then we ran some errands and went back to the campground for a quiet evening.

We enjoyed our time here at Naval Station Mayport and look forward to returning.  This may be the best overall military campground we have seen.  We love the way it is managed, we love the sites, the free laundry, the nice staff, the price and there is plenty of new things to do in see in the area.

And little Brooks Carter is growing and enjoying life.  He has changed so much since we saw him two weeks ago!

He just ate and about to take a snooze, but he is all dressed up for some golf later on..

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  And thanks for the notes - we appreciate those comments.