Las Cruces, NM

We arrived here late yesterday afternoon. Went grocery shopping and then pretty much did nothing the rest of the night. The campground is perched on the foothills overlooking the city. The sunrise/sunsets are beautiful. Because of the region, there is practically no grass. All the sites are gravel and the overnight area is pretty tight. The longer time area's and the sites that backup to a overlook cliff are much nicer but also much more expensive. 

A fly over of White Knight with VSS Enterprise attached

Saturday morning we got up bright and early and drove to Truth or Consequences which is about 1.25 hours north. We met the tour van and traveled out to the middle of the desert to tour Spaceport America. This is also called the New Mexico Spaceport. The entire facility is owned by the State of New Mexico but Virgin Galactic and several other space related agencies work there. There is the "Spaceport" area which holds a hanger, visitor area, mission control and a separate operations center.  This is where the "White Knight" will take the VSS Enterprise (attached to its underbelly) up to 40,000 feet and then the Enterprise will be released and fire its own rockets to sub orbit. It can take six passengers of which they are booked for a year already at $200,000 per seat. The entire trip last about 2.5 hours.  Eventually, with the use of a new launch vehicle, larger than the White Knight they will be able to launch orbital flights to the space station from this facility.

Ground and flight operations

Terminal and flight hanger

About 5 miles away on the same property is where "vertical" launch pads are located. Conventional (but recoverable) rockets are launched here. White Sands testing facility is on the opposite side of the mountain range and recovers rockets which land there by design.

The "pre" tour is pretty cool and there is a lot of history told about the region, people and spaceport. Another interesting fact is that Ted Turner's (CNN) ranch of 380 thousand acres backs up to the spaceport property.

Because White sands has a permanent 24/7 (vertically infinite) no fly zone no aircraft can come anywhere near the launch and landing area.

The buildings are complete and staff and operations personnel will arrive soon. The first flight is expect to launch Spring of 2013. I think both of us would love to come back and see it!

And the "We are here" 

As requested: Saturday 90, clear skies but a bit breezy

We leave for Tucson Sunday morning.

Carlsbad Caverns


Over 750,000 bats call it home. Unfortunately they were all on winter break in Mexico. They come home mid-April to early May.

If you are in the area you have to go! Even though we could not see the nightly bat departure for their feeding we toured the "Big Room". It is 850' underground. We took the elevator :) 1 minute trip. Or, if you are physically fit you can hike in and out via the 1.5 mile trail.

If you are traveling in a RV the road up is not bad but has some pretty windy and tight turns. If you don't have to take it, I wouldn't. Also, no pets so you either have to leave them behind or kennel them at the Caverns (for a fee of course). Any animals seen in vehicles results in a fine.

The "Big Room" has a nice 1.5 mile perimeter walkway that points out area's of the cavern and its history. Takes about an hour and half to walk around.

Carlsbad, NM

The drive was only about 4 hours but the scenary was a little bland. We arrived around 3:30 MDT.

So you can see how we are progressing

Parked at the Carlsbad, NM KOA

The campground is in the middle of the desert but is very nice. Buildings, laundry, wirelss all look good!

Tomorrow we are going to the Carlsbad Caverns - It is supposed to be a pretty cool place!
We probably should have allowed more time here but hey we have many more years to go!

Abilene Zoo and Fort Phantom

Yesterday we went to the Abilene Zoo. Small but a very nice zoo and well laid out. We were there about 4 p.m. so hardly anyone was there.

Check out that tongue!

                               
Today we went to Fort Phantom. It was built in the early 1800's and is about 15 miles from Abilene. Established because of worry over the Commanche Indians, the fort took too long to build and the Commanche's were never an issue. It was one of the hardest forts to live at with bad water and hardly any wood. Wood for the buildings had to be brought in from 40 miles away. The fort was abandoned and later burned down leaving only the chimney's.

A few of the flowers all over the grounds



In Abilene, TX

We made it to Abilene around 4 p.m. (CDT). This KOA is a nice campground located on the northwest side of Abilene. A few miles back on I-20 (East from here) there is Walmart and a lot of shopping area's.

After hooking everything up, I noticed a constant drip outside the trailer. After going through the inside I found the source (below) which was a real pain to get to. Probably very easy when they put the trailer together but you need a 3 year old size hand to reach in and tighten fittings back.

Looks like there is a lot to do here including "Book time for the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature. A specialized gallery and activity center alleged to be the only one like it in the U.S.  Guess where Kathy is going Tuesday :)


We are here:

Oh, what a relief....

No rain, blue skies, sun and warmth.
What a nice surprise this campground is. Clean, well maintained and plenty of room. We are now at Tall Pines RV Park in Shreveport, La. We arrived Thursday afternoon.  One thing unusual about this campground though is the restriction of no guests (other than those staying at the campground).
The BIG notice you get says: "Due to Insurance Regulations the park is for the REGISTERED GUESTS only!  Please make arrangements to meet family and friends away from the Tall Pines RV Park Property."  Could be a let down if you planned on having anyone come over for a campfire or dinner when visiting.

Friday we went to the Shreveport-Bossier Waterfront Boardwalk. A beautiful shopping and restaurant outdoor mall with a Bass Pro Store to boot! 

We had intentions of eating some local food but unfortunately this outdoor mall had all your standard chain restaurants. Saturday we plan on finding a good place to eat and we are going to the RW Norton Art Gallery in downtown Shreveport.

Today (Saturday) we went to the Art Gallery and Gardens - all free. The art gallery is fairly large and has great paintings, sculptures, glass work and a gun collection from the civil war era.

A giant warth hog!

These were all in bloom

If you are in the area and want some great regional food go to Becca's Steak and Seafood on Pines Rd in Shreveport. It's one of those places the locals at the campground said to go and boy were they right!  Kathy had crawfish and I had red snapper. It was really good. Portions were generous and the price was right! (http://www.beccasonline.com)

Off to Texas tomorrow.
I've been asked to show the "We are Here" on a map to follow us....so here you go

Row, row, row your boat........

Rain, rain and more rain since we have been in Hammond, LA. So far between 4-5 inches. We have been watching the river directly behind us continue to rise and suspect we might be a big canoe soon :)

So far we have had high wind warnings (60 mph), Tornado warnings, Severe Thunder storm warnings and flood warnings.

Unfortunately the rain has elminated our plans here so we have decided to head out a day early and move on to Shreveport, LA later today.












We stayed at the the Hidden Oaks Family Campground which appears to be an old, well used campground. Many locals and probably not much of a transient population. I suspect it is an active place in the summer but the only thing active now are the peacocks in the picnic area!

Chewie made friends with the local full size boxer "Max" although Max played a little too rough for her liking.....

She also has a strong dislike for storms and pants and shakes every time the thunder starts, which has been pretty consistent over the last two days.

Now to see if I can float the 5th wheel out to the road...

Gulf Shores KOA (Pensacola), Lillian, AL

The Gulf Shores KOA is actually in Alabama just across the bridge from Pensacola. We got in on Sunday and left today. It is a very busy campground and very full. The short term area is very tight and congested. I did not care for it all.

KOA Office

That's us to the right of the black cargo trailer

Beware of the hill going into the campground. It is just steep enough that if you are pulling a trailer or have your extension out (like I did) you are guaranteed to scrape. Going out is not an issue. The exit is on the other side of the campground and is level enough not to scrape. The campground had some pretty nice area's include camping on the beach in tents. Lots of cabins and tree's and a beautiful pool that was used the entire time we were there. Nice clean facilities too.

Monday we drove to Pensacola and picked up our mail from American Home Base. Their main office is in Pensacola. We also went to the motor vehicles branch and took care of insurance updates and addresses.

Kathy watching the sunrise from the KOA pier. No dolphins today!

After that we drove to Perdido Key and into Alabama. It is really different since Katrina. Everything is new and fresh looking and there are many, many vacant lots for sale. There were still a few reminders of Katrina as seen in the picture of all the dead trees but it is still beautiful and definitely coming back.



Perdido

This afternoon we drove to Hammond, La where we are going into town for some shopping and strawberrys. Hammond is just Northwest of New Orleans.

We'll be in Abilene, TX by Sunday afternoon :)

Sunday morning fishing.....

Kathy and Tim in the distance

Tim fishing

Chewie and Zeus going for a run

Jackie and Zeus

Kathy, Tim and Jackie all went fishing Sunday morning. The fish must have slept in late!
Chewie and Zeus went for a morning unleashed jog.

We left Lawtey around 11ish and arrived at the Gulf Shores KOA in Lillian, AL around 4:30 p.m. central. A little more on that tomorrow but BEWARE of the steep hill entrance that causes the rear of your trailer to drag. Thought I'd add a few pictures of the entrance and the campground tomorrow.

It was a great weekend.

A nice way to finish off the evening....

If you are near Lawtey you have to go to Starke, FL off of 301 to Powell's Dairy Freeze. Great shakes and ice cream at great prices!

Morning in Lawtey, FL

We are staying at a private site Jackie's friends own. The property has 6-7 RV sites near a small lake and resort (The Sugar Shack) seen in the bottom picture :) . It is a beautiful country morning.




Sunrise in Lawtey, FL

Our own private campground