Travel Journal December 2006

To view the photos click on “Photos

December

2006”

above

December began with a celebration at Bea and Phil Shapiro’s

house in Tucson. Every year they have a combination

Christmas/Hanukkah/neighborhood party and we were

fortunate enough to be there at the right time (see photos).

Phil is also a diabetic but he and Renée declared a day off for

the occasion. However, Renée had problems with so much rich

food (and combinations thereof) so we had to leave the party at

about 10 PM. Everyone else continued and had a great time.

The following day was the 1st Advent and we went back to the

Shapiro’s to help with the clean-up and to help in eating the

leftovers.

On Monday we visited the Saguaro National Park on the

outskirts of Tucson (see photos).

Wednesday, December 6th, we left Tucson (mileage 57241)

and drove to Huachuca City where we had an appointment at the

RV dealer who had installed the new axles in June. The right

rear tire was wearing on the inside and it had to be corrected.

Although we had an appointment, they were so over-worked and

under-staffed that they were not even able to look at the RV

on the first day. To make a long story short, we stayed there

for a week (free water/sewer/electric hookups) while heavy

duty springs were ordered and installed. (During this time

Renée began something new in her life: Jogging! We also made

a day trip to Nogales, Mexico.)

To completely solve the RV problem required welding and reinforcement which had to be

done by a specialist. When the welder arrived and inspected the RV, he advised us that

this was a procedure that they had been required to do on many RVs and trailers since they

are not built as heavy as they should be for the weight and constant travel. This was the

first time anyone had admitted what we had felt all along! The welding work had to be

done at the Welding/Fabrication shop, so we left Huachuca City and spent the night in

Sierra Vista in their parking lot. The following morning they pulled the RV in the shop and

we spent the day in the Huachuca Mountains and the Fort Huachuca museum (see photos).

When we returned to the welding shop, the RV was already finished. As we inspected the

work, we were quite impressed. We have never seen an RV with a more solid and stable

arrangement for the springs and axles. As we left, we could immediately feel the

difference on the road!

We were in high spirits as we left toward New Mexico. We planned to spend the night in

Columbus and the following morning Chuck would have his two new crowns installed at the

dentist in Palomas. Shortly after crossing into New Mexico, we tanked up. A few miles

later the truck started to lose power and wouldn’t go faster than about 25 mph. We

pulled onto the shoulder and called the Good Sam road service. As we waited for them to

call back, we discovered that a rest area was less than two miles away. We drove on the

side of the road to the rest area. It took quite a while for the towing service to call and

while at the rest area, we started up the truck and it seemed to run okay, so we took off

toward Deming. When they finally called, we cancelled the road service request. We

discovered in the next few miles that it was apparently a clogged fuel filter since it would

run fine except when a large demand was placed on the engine. We stopped in Deming and

bought a diesel fuel filter ($61.00), and proceeded on to Pancho Villa State Park with the

intent to change the filter in the daylight. The following morning after going to the

dentist, we discovered that a special wrench was required to remove the filter. Dick

arrived at Pancho Villa Park around noon so we spent the rest of the day around the fire

while cooking a beer can chicken (see photos). As we left Pancho Villa the following day,

Dick followed us in the event the truck gave us any trouble, but it ran just fine. As he was

following us last September in Canada, he noticed that the rear axle “wandered” and a

closer look revealed the tire wear. As we stopped in Deming to buy the filter wrench, Dick

advised us that the axle did not “wander” as it had before the modifications. So it appears

that it is a closed chapter! Shortly before Las Cruces, Dick invited us for lunch at a

restaurant and as we passed through Las Cruces, he drove home and we continued on to

Alamogordo. As we started the climb over the Organ Mountains, we again had acceleration

problems but once over the San Augustine Pass, all was okay. We made it to Holloman Air

Force Base Fam Camp, spending the night where we had wintered over last year. The

following day we had our doctor’s appointments and Renée’s periodic lab work. That

afternoon (18th) we left and in Oro Grande, NM we stopped and changed the fuel filter at

a large truck parking lot. This was the first opportunity since working on vehicles is not

permitted at most camp grounds. Since the filter change, we haven’t experienced any

more problems, but we have bought a spare filter.

We spent the night at a service station parking lot in Fort Hancock, TX on I-10. The

following morning the weather had changed and near Van Horn, TX we ran into thick fog

with the temperature dropping suddenly to 36°. That evening, shortly before Sonora, TX

we found a rest area to spend the night. The temperature once again did a quick change

and leveled off at 54°. The following morning we drove on to San Antonio, arriving at 5 PM

(mileage: 58696) . The Fam Camp at Lackland Air Force Base was full so we spent the

first night in their overflow lot.

The following day we moved into a newly vacated spot. We settled in, finished our

Christmas shopping, bought a goose for Christmas day and then on Saturday, the 23d in a

heavy rain, we picked up Michael at the airport. He brought us our mail that had

accumulated for the past month. Christmas Eve was rainy but that didn’t affect our

holiday mood (see photos). Christmas day the sun finally began to shine again. Renée spent

most of the day cooking the goose and all the trimmings. She did a wonderful job of it,

even with the limited space in the RV!

The weather turned beautiful and on the 26th we went to New Braunfels, a city founded

by German immigrants from Braunfels (see photos). We had a lunch of

Weisswurst and Pretzels at the

Friesenhaus

(< -- please click). We then visited the Alamo

in San Antonio (see photos).

The following day we spent visiting the missions along the San Antonio River (see photos).

These Spanish missions were founded in the 18th century by the Franciscans and they are

now the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.

In the evening we took a boat tour along the San Antonio River Walk, followed by a visit to

one of the local restaurants that specializes in Mexican food. As we walked back to the

parking lot, Michael realized that he had left his camera on the back of the chair in the

restaurant. He had taken most of the pictures that day! But he was lucky that the camera

had been discovered by the waitress. (It always pays to have left a good tip!)

On Thursday we visited the Natural Bridge Caverns (see photos) and on the way back we

had supper at the Caralis Grill, another Mexican restaurant. Michael doesn’t get much

authentic Mexican food in Indiana, so we took every opportunity. Mexican food tends to

be heavy on the carbohydrates, but Caralis had some very unusual and delicious low carb

meals that are ideal for a diabetic!

On Saturday we took Michael to the airport for his return to Fort Wayne. On the way back

we visited Eva Fort who lives in San Antonio. Eva’s sister Usch, lives in Dresden and was

Renée’s mother’s best friend. Eva invited us out to RUDY’S BBQ, (see photos) which claims

to be the worst BBQ in San Antonio. Actually the food was excellent and plentiful!

New Year’s Eve was spent at home in the RV, alcohol-free and at midnight we took Lobo out

for a short walk before going to bed. It appeared that we were the only people awake at

the campground, but in the distance we witnessed a spectacular fireworks display, in all

directions under a clear star-studded sky. The rest of the campground really missed a

spectacular show!

And then suddenly it was 2007.

To be continued in

January 2007

…