TD2 2019 Adventure - NM - Finally some real boondocking in New Mexico

Now into New Mexico, we decide to stop at the White Sands National Monument.  Which was fortuitous, since it was in itself interesting, but more importantly, we got a great tip on a boondocking spot not too far away.

The Aguirre Springs Campground located on BLM land would never have been found otherwise.  Technically, our RV was a little bit above the maximum length recommended for the road, but it was no problem (we didn't see the sign until we departed, as we arrived after dark).

We had a great hike on the Pine Tree Trail loop, which had good elevation gain, and interesting scenery, vegetation, gnarly trees, and interesting rock formations.  It made for some enjoyable exercise!

Here is the teaser photo:

Skeleton on the Pine Tree trail

And for more photos from White Sands National Monument and the Aguirre Springs Campground, check out this album:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/crisp_travels/albums/72157711813498777

TD2 2019 Adventure - OK - An OK state (get it?), and a few more pictures

Our next photo stop is the National Route 66 Museum in Elk City, OK.

We arrived late, but had enough time for a quick visit of their various museums, along with the offer to adopt two adorable barn kitties (which we had to decline ;-)

Here's the teaser photo:

Anybody want some kittens?

And here is the album with a few more photos:  

https://www.flickr.com/photos/crisp_travels/albums/72157711813523972

TD2 2019 Adventure - IN, IL - Where are the picture albums already???

OK, OK, I hear you.

Now that all of the backstory is out of the way, did we ever start taking any pictures?

Not until we headed backwards a bit -- back to Indiana -- and decided to camp at the Brown County State Park in Nashville, IN.

And even then, we only started taking pictures on our way out of the park and heading into Illinois.

Our second brief photo op was at a lunch spot in a state park and town by the same name -- Cave-in-Rock, right along the Ohio River.

Here's one picture from the album where you can see them all:

Cave-in-Rock State Park, IL

For the rest of the photos, please visit my Flickr album:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/crisp_travels/albums/72157711813089411

TD2 2019 Adventure - NH - Getting Thistle Dew Too on the Road

So up at our cottage, our first job was to prep Thistle Dew Too with food, water, and all of the other regular essentials.

After that, we needed to close up the cottage and try to keep the mice at bay over the winter (good luck with that!)

Thistle Dew Too was having an issue with her levelers.  They weren't getting power, and I had "jumped them" to retract them most of the way.  No one could explain where I might find the circuit breaker that probably needed to be reset.  So, alas, we had to make an appointment at the Big Foot factory in White Pigeon, MI.

We were all set to go and have a leisurely 4-day trip to Michigan, except when I unplugged from shore power, the inverter was suddenly not working properly, even after I reset it.  We rely quite heavily on our inverter, so we delayed our departure to try and figure it out.  Finally, we decided to leave anyways, and now having lost a couple more days, we needed to drive straight to Michigan via highways, spending an overnight in a rest area (not the way we prefer to travel).

But we made it to the appointment, they found the self-resetting circuit breaker that was heavily corroded (located behind the generator for some unknown reason), replaced it, and the system was working fine!

After that, I used at tip from Jane on LazyDazeOwners forum to check the fuse between the batteries and inverter, and sure enough, the 200 Amp Class T fuse was blown (for some as-yet-unknown reason).  After replacing it, we were back up and fully operational.

Next stop ... somewhere to start unwinding!!!

Gratuitous cottage pond photo:

Reflections of Beauty!

And now for the Thistle Dew Too (TD2) 2019 Adventure ... But first ... a Prologue

I'm going to admit upfront to writing most of the 2019 Adventure's blog posts "post facto".

What can I say -- it was a trying year.  Let me explain:

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!  Need I say more?

And it was an exhausting, stressful, and seemingly endless process.  But other than that, it was great ;-)

This was our Amherst, NH home where we have lived for the past 25 years, and the town we have lived in for almost 35 years.  It is where we raised our family, and where we lived when we lost our parents (and gained their possessions).

We loved this house, the yard, the privacy, our neighbors -- we loved everything about it.  Except an interesting thing happened following my retirement.  Now that I had the time to work on the yard, and even though I liked working in the yard once I got outside, I did not want to *have* to keep up with the yard, the house maintenance, etc.  (And yes, I do realize this is a FWP -- First World Problem ;-)

So after moving back home in 2016, and allowing time to see where our noses would lead us, Carol and I both came to the conclusion that we should sell our home.  I believe this happened while lounging in our hot tub, another reason we loved our home ;-)

This resulted in major upgrades and improvements since it had been neglected during the rental years when we were on overseas assignment, and culling, culling, culling almost all of the stuff we had accumulated over the years.  Then keeping the house spotless while showing it (and while we still lived in it).

Sure enough, one family saw our house soon after we listed it, but was worried about the commute.  Yet every other house they looked at (~ 50, we were told), came up short when compared to our house.  And so they finally made an offer, and we established a relationship, and this culminated in a mutually beneficial transaction for all parties.  We *love* the new family that now calls our old home their new home.  And we are so happy for them!

That said, we were still moving our remaining belongings into a storage unit at 11:00 PM the night before the closing.  Did I mention stressful and exhausting?

After the closing, we headed up to close up our summer camp, to get Thistle Dew Too ready for her new adventure.  More about that next.

Gratuitous house-related photos:

Thistle Dew Too's previous "home pad"

Our relaxing hot tub, where all important decisions were made!

Our beloved home for 25 years - thanks for the memories!