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November 2, 2009, a Monday
Storrie Lake State Park to Cochiti Lake Recreation Area, New Mexico, USA
— Purchased a New Mexico State Parks annual pass
Had my normal breakfast. Started to work on a blog entry, and a ranger came by and knocked on the door. He had seen the note we put on the door that said we wanted to buy an annual pass. In New Mexico State Parks, camping without hookups is free with an annual pass, so we eager to be legal by having the pass because we hadn't paid yesterday before we camped. (The Visitor Center was closed when we arrived, so we couldn't purchase the pass then.) He put the annual passes on the inside of the Jeep and RV windshields. Later, J wondered if the park service sends out a representative to install the passes if you buy one over the phone or on the internet. :) I finished the blog entry, then worked up another. I was going to pack up the Canon EOS 1Ds Mk II in the shipping box that came with my Canon EOS 1Ds Mk III, but I ripped off too much of the outer layer of cardboard while removing a shipping label. The box would have been OK with some tape over the weakened area for lighter and cheaper contents, but I didn't want to send a complete camera body set in it. We prepped the RV to move, then I went up on the roof of the RV and stowed the solar-electric panels that I had tilted yesterday. J left around 10:00 in the Jeep to take some items she had sold on eBay to the Post Office. I finished up some things, then left in the RV at 10:15.
I stopped at the WalMart parking lot in Las Vegas at 10:23 to wait for J to finish her errands. I went online, and the connection with the Verizon National Access signal was slow. I checked gas prices in Las Vegas ($2.59-2.68/gal), Santa Fe ($2.62-2.64/gal), Albuquerque ($2.51-2:58, and Santo Domingo Pueblo ($2:55) on MSN Autos. J arrived at 10:41, and we left at 10:42 with me in the RV and J following in the Jeep.
We went to a gas station on Grand Avenue that was supposed to have cheap gas. They did have cheap gas, but only if you paid with cash — the price was 8¢/gal higher if you paid by credit card like we would be doing. :( Instead of driving somewhere else, we got 17 gallons (64l) of gas at $2.689/gal to hold us over until at least Santa Fe. I hooked up the Jeep to tow while the attendant pumped the gas — yes, it was full service! We left at 11:00.
The road to the entrance we wanted to use to get on I-25 south was closed for what looked like construction. However, the warning sign about entering Mexico was weird! J saw a sign that the bridge was being used for a movie set. :) So, we continued heading to the south side of Las Vegas and got on I-25 south there.
We got off I-25 at Santa Fe at 12:08.
We stopped at a KFC in Santa Fe at 12:24 for J to get takeaway.
We went to a nearby Home Depot parking lot at 12:32 to park the RV while doing some errands. I unhooked the Jeep while J made me my normal lunch. I did some things online using the fast connection through the Verizon Broadband Access signal. I left at 1:11 in the Jeep by myself.
I went to the nearby WalMart to buy a shipping box, bubble wrap, and packing tape.
I returned to the RV at 1:27 and packed up the Canon EOS 1Ds Mk II. Then I tried to create a UPS shipping label through PayPal, and I couldn't because the declared value was too high. :( I left at 1:52 by myself in the Jeep and went ...
To an EZ Ship place that was near where our GPS said there was a UPS Store and shipped the 1Ds Mk II. It was nice to finally get that out the door!
I stopped at the Liquor Barn on my way back to the RV to see what kinds of Akvavit they had. I had called them while J was in KFC and found out that they didn't have any Asbach Uralt like I was looking for, but I had gone to the store before and remembered that they had a decent selection of Akvavit. They had Aalborg Akvavit, Linie Aquavit, and a sign for, but no bottles of, Aalborg Jubilæums Akvavit. I passed.
I returned to the RV at 2:15 and told J that the Liquor Barn had Linie Aquavit which is uncommon, and she suggested that I go back and get some, so I did.
I went back to the Liquor Barn at 2:21, and there was an Itasca Spirit RV pulling out. :) I bought a bottle of Linie Aquavit to give as a special gift. The salesman was the guy who had taken care of me several months ago. I remembered him because he looks like John Larroquette who played "Dan Fielding" in the late 80's TV sitcom Night Court.
I returned to the RV at 2:30 and hooked up the Jeep to tow. I did some more work online, then we left.
We went to the nearby Smith's grocery store to get gas in the RV. We should have gotten a 3¢/gal discount on the gas just for having a Kroger-affiliate reward card, but we didn't, so we ended up paying $2.629/gal. We left at 3:15 and headed south on I-25.
We exited I-25 and got on NM-16 at 3:41. We entered the Cochiti Reservation at 3:46.
We reached the Cochiti Lake Recreation Area Campground at 3:58. It's a US Army Corps of Engineers facility. Cochiti Lake was formed by damming the Rio Grande. We drove around the B Loop (no electrical hookups), and there wasn't much of a view of the lake, so we drove around the A Loop (electrical hookups). There was only one site, that was already occupied, that had a better view of the lake than the sites on the B Loop, so we returned to the B Loop and occupied Site 40 with a decent view of the lake.
J made dinner of a TGI Friday's Firecracker Chicken skillet meal. J really likes it, and it has a decent kick to it. We talked about travel plans for our time in New Mexico.
I did the dishes then had some Aalborg Akvavit while processing images in Capture One (C1).
I stopped at the WalMart parking lot in Las Vegas at 10:23 to wait for J to finish her errands. I went online, and the connection with the Verizon National Access signal was slow. I checked gas prices in Las Vegas ($2.59-2.68/gal), Santa Fe ($2.62-2.64/gal), Albuquerque ($2.51-2:58, and Santo Domingo Pueblo ($2:55) on MSN Autos. J arrived at 10:41, and we left at 10:42 with me in the RV and J following in the Jeep.
We went to a gas station on Grand Avenue that was supposed to have cheap gas. They did have cheap gas, but only if you paid with cash — the price was 8¢/gal higher if you paid by credit card like we would be doing. :( Instead of driving somewhere else, we got 17 gallons (64l) of gas at $2.689/gal to hold us over until at least Santa Fe. I hooked up the Jeep to tow while the attendant pumped the gas — yes, it was full service! We left at 11:00.
The road to the entrance we wanted to use to get on I-25 south was closed for what looked like construction. However, the warning sign about entering Mexico was weird! J saw a sign that the bridge was being used for a movie set. :) So, we continued heading to the south side of Las Vegas and got on I-25 south there.
We got off I-25 at Santa Fe at 12:08.
We stopped at a KFC in Santa Fe at 12:24 for J to get takeaway.
We went to a nearby Home Depot parking lot at 12:32 to park the RV while doing some errands. I unhooked the Jeep while J made me my normal lunch. I did some things online using the fast connection through the Verizon Broadband Access signal. I left at 1:11 in the Jeep by myself.
I went to the nearby WalMart to buy a shipping box, bubble wrap, and packing tape.
I returned to the RV at 1:27 and packed up the Canon EOS 1Ds Mk II. Then I tried to create a UPS shipping label through PayPal, and I couldn't because the declared value was too high. :( I left at 1:52 by myself in the Jeep and went ...
To an EZ Ship place that was near where our GPS said there was a UPS Store and shipped the 1Ds Mk II. It was nice to finally get that out the door!
I stopped at the Liquor Barn on my way back to the RV to see what kinds of Akvavit they had. I had called them while J was in KFC and found out that they didn't have any Asbach Uralt like I was looking for, but I had gone to the store before and remembered that they had a decent selection of Akvavit. They had Aalborg Akvavit, Linie Aquavit, and a sign for, but no bottles of, Aalborg Jubilæums Akvavit. I passed.
I returned to the RV at 2:15 and told J that the Liquor Barn had Linie Aquavit which is uncommon, and she suggested that I go back and get some, so I did.
I went back to the Liquor Barn at 2:21, and there was an Itasca Spirit RV pulling out. :) I bought a bottle of Linie Aquavit to give as a special gift. The salesman was the guy who had taken care of me several months ago. I remembered him because he looks like John Larroquette who played "Dan Fielding" in the late 80's TV sitcom Night Court.
I returned to the RV at 2:30 and hooked up the Jeep to tow. I did some more work online, then we left.
We went to the nearby Smith's grocery store to get gas in the RV. We should have gotten a 3¢/gal discount on the gas just for having a Kroger-affiliate reward card, but we didn't, so we ended up paying $2.629/gal. We left at 3:15 and headed south on I-25.
We exited I-25 and got on NM-16 at 3:41. We entered the Cochiti Reservation at 3:46.
We reached the Cochiti Lake Recreation Area Campground at 3:58. It's a US Army Corps of Engineers facility. Cochiti Lake was formed by damming the Rio Grande. We drove around the B Loop (no electrical hookups), and there wasn't much of a view of the lake, so we drove around the A Loop (electrical hookups). There was only one site, that was already occupied, that had a better view of the lake than the sites on the B Loop, so we returned to the B Loop and occupied Site 40 with a decent view of the lake.
J made dinner of a TGI Friday's Firecracker Chicken skillet meal. J really likes it, and it has a decent kick to it. We talked about travel plans for our time in New Mexico.
I did the dishes then had some Aalborg Akvavit while processing images in Capture One (C1).