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December 12, 2009, a Saturday
Elephant Butte Lake State Park (South Monticello) to near San Antonio, New Mexico, USA
— Moved and had a propane crisis
Had my normal breakfast and opened up a new 2.2-lb bag of LavAzza Gran Filtro Dark Roast Whole Bean coffee. Finished a blog entry, then prepped the RV to move. I pulled it up closer to the water faucet, then loaded up the RV fresh water tank. We left at 10:05 and went to the dump station. After dumping the tanks, we hooked up the Jeep to tow and left at 10:30.
We went to Casey's Socorro RV Park in Socorro around 11:48 to get propane for the RV. The tank was below "E" on the gauge attached to the tank, so it was probably time to fill it. :) We had called the RV park on our way up to see if they could fill an RV, so we were surprised when the woman who was standing right by the propane tank as we pulled in said they weren't set up to fill tanks connected to an RV, implying that they could only fill separate propane bottles. She said we could get propane down the road at the Conoco.
We went to the Conoco and they were closed. :(
We went to Action Gas in Socorro around 11:57 because they said earlier today that they'd be able to fill our tank until noon. The place was locked up and deserted! :( J was none too happy, and I was really perturbed. I went online to find an other place to get propane, and the closest place I could find that was open was in Bosque Farms, about 54 mi (87km) north. If we went there, then J didn't want to return to the Socorro area, which would mean no time at Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. That wasn't a good solution, so J called Casey's Socorro RV Park because they were, after all, an RV park. The woman said that they could fill our propane tank, but only after her son-in-law finished a final exam this afternoon at New Mexico Tech (New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology). J told the woman that we'd wait, and she also gave her her phone number so that she could call us as soon as the son-in-law arrived. It sounded fishy because the woman had said they could fill our tank before until she saw that we were in an RV.
We went to the Socorro Post Office at 12:30 so J could send something off. It's located right on the old town square where there's an open Wi-Fi network, so I parked in a good place to get some solar-electric power while we were online. The Wi-Fi network was pretty fast initially, then slowed down, but hey, it was free. I had lunch of salami and Swiss on rye and did some computer work. We left at 2:11 and ...
Went to the Smith's grocery store in Socorro around 2:15. We both went in, and after I finished picking up the things I like to select (bread and fruit), I returned to the RV at 2:30 while J continued shopping. I discovered a really fast open Wi-Fi network and did more computer work. J finished shopping and returned to the RV at 3:20. She was having trouble fitting some items into the pantry because the shelves were full. However, the real problem was that the shelves weren't spaced to take advantage of the volume in the cupboard, so I moved some shelves around. J went online through the open Wi-Fi network and loved it! I finished the block of computer work that had been keeping me occupied for the last few days. Now I get to work on the next block of work. The woman from Casey's Socorro RV Park called around 4:55 to let us know that her son-in-law had arrived, and we left around 4:57 as the clouds were starting to light up with some nice reds and purples.
We stopped at a bank on the way.
We went to Casey's Socorro RV Park around 5:05, and the not-so-cheery son-in-law filled up our propane tank without missing a beat. It was nice to get the propane filled up! We left at 5:15 and ...
Headed back south along I-25 to San Antonio, then east along US-380.
We reached our favorite boondocking spot on some BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land around 5:55. According to Google Maps, it's within the boundary of the White Sands Missile Range — a perfect place to camp, wouldn't ya say?! While washing up, I detected a definite iodine odor in our water. :(
We had dinner around 6:05 of leftover shrimp scampi for me and leftover pot roast for J. I had the last slice of blueberry pie for dessert.
I checked email through the fast Verizon Broadband internet signal, then started to work up a blog entry. While looking at some things on eBay, I saw one item description in which the seller mentioned other photo gear on auction. For kicks, I went to see what else he had, and he had a Minolta Flash Meter III with a really low price. I wasn't thinking about getting a flash meter because I was just going to use the histogram from a test shot, or shots. However, spending about $20 on a cool new toy is a definite option.
We went to Casey's Socorro RV Park in Socorro around 11:48 to get propane for the RV. The tank was below "E" on the gauge attached to the tank, so it was probably time to fill it. :) We had called the RV park on our way up to see if they could fill an RV, so we were surprised when the woman who was standing right by the propane tank as we pulled in said they weren't set up to fill tanks connected to an RV, implying that they could only fill separate propane bottles. She said we could get propane down the road at the Conoco.
We went to the Conoco and they were closed. :(
We went to Action Gas in Socorro around 11:57 because they said earlier today that they'd be able to fill our tank until noon. The place was locked up and deserted! :( J was none too happy, and I was really perturbed. I went online to find an other place to get propane, and the closest place I could find that was open was in Bosque Farms, about 54 mi (87km) north. If we went there, then J didn't want to return to the Socorro area, which would mean no time at Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. That wasn't a good solution, so J called Casey's Socorro RV Park because they were, after all, an RV park. The woman said that they could fill our propane tank, but only after her son-in-law finished a final exam this afternoon at New Mexico Tech (New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology). J told the woman that we'd wait, and she also gave her her phone number so that she could call us as soon as the son-in-law arrived. It sounded fishy because the woman had said they could fill our tank before until she saw that we were in an RV.
We went to the Socorro Post Office at 12:30 so J could send something off. It's located right on the old town square where there's an open Wi-Fi network, so I parked in a good place to get some solar-electric power while we were online. The Wi-Fi network was pretty fast initially, then slowed down, but hey, it was free. I had lunch of salami and Swiss on rye and did some computer work. We left at 2:11 and ...
Went to the Smith's grocery store in Socorro around 2:15. We both went in, and after I finished picking up the things I like to select (bread and fruit), I returned to the RV at 2:30 while J continued shopping. I discovered a really fast open Wi-Fi network and did more computer work. J finished shopping and returned to the RV at 3:20. She was having trouble fitting some items into the pantry because the shelves were full. However, the real problem was that the shelves weren't spaced to take advantage of the volume in the cupboard, so I moved some shelves around. J went online through the open Wi-Fi network and loved it! I finished the block of computer work that had been keeping me occupied for the last few days. Now I get to work on the next block of work. The woman from Casey's Socorro RV Park called around 4:55 to let us know that her son-in-law had arrived, and we left around 4:57 as the clouds were starting to light up with some nice reds and purples.
We stopped at a bank on the way.
We went to Casey's Socorro RV Park around 5:05, and the not-so-cheery son-in-law filled up our propane tank without missing a beat. It was nice to get the propane filled up! We left at 5:15 and ...
Headed back south along I-25 to San Antonio, then east along US-380.
We reached our favorite boondocking spot on some BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land around 5:55. According to Google Maps, it's within the boundary of the White Sands Missile Range — a perfect place to camp, wouldn't ya say?! While washing up, I detected a definite iodine odor in our water. :(
We had dinner around 6:05 of leftover shrimp scampi for me and leftover pot roast for J. I had the last slice of blueberry pie for dessert.
I checked email through the fast Verizon Broadband internet signal, then started to work up a blog entry. While looking at some things on eBay, I saw one item description in which the seller mentioned other photo gear on auction. For kicks, I went to see what else he had, and he had a Minolta Flash Meter III with a really low price. I wasn't thinking about getting a flash meter because I was just going to use the histogram from a test shot, or shots. However, spending about $20 on a cool new toy is a definite option.