Checking in from northern NM

Just a quick post to let y'all know I'm happily camped in northern NM, enjoying a lake view, cool breezes and good company. All is well and I'm loving Bliss even more now. Traveling up here without towing the car was a dream and I got much better gas mileage than I had expected. One leg of the trip was 13.9 mpg, which is about 3.9 more than I expected since I was climbing in elevation most of the way.

I'm not set up for solar yet but am primitive camping so my power is limited without running the generator. I've been finding things to occupy my time other than being online.

I even got to fulfill my sweatshirt wish the other night! Life is good!

Finishing up

I'm starting to feel like, yes, I really will be leaving here soon.  The big rig is cleaned out as much as it's going to be for now and I drove it to the storage lot this morning. Whew! I feel lighter!

I've had this feeling running around in my head about towing the Honda behind my new tiny home. I really don't wanna. When I think about going toad-free, I feel light and good; when I think about towing the Honda, I make a face like I've tasted something I don't want to taste again. So, friends, this afternoon I signed another contract with the storage lot to store my car along with the big rig. The contract is just for three months and will let me know with little doubt if I really can live happily without a toad. And down the line, I could always put a scooter or dirt bike on the back of the rig if I want another option for errands or scouting boondocking spots but don't want a car. This decision to put the car in storage also makes me feel light. I'm excited for this experiment to begin.

The only thing keeping me here now is an order delivery that I expect Tuesday then I can bug out. I have been in this heat for far too long and can hardly wait to feel cool again. I remember what cool feels like. I even remember what chilly feels like. I want to need a sweatshirt again, maybe even, dare I say it, pants!

My 14 days in this spot are up so I'll be moving to another tomorrow. This spot has been Percha Dam State Park. If it weren't for the current heat and bug issues, this would be a really terrific place to camp if you want either hookups or primitive camping. It's quite small and has a cozy feel to it, and it's much quieter than its neighboring, larger parks. I would definitely come here again - just not in June.

They take their leash rules very seriously here

Jake's attempt at a blanket fort

Does this rig make my dog look big?

And finally, when I bought my new home from Kyle, Julia and Ender, they told me her name was The Ship and I like that. She does have a bit of a nautical feel to her, maybe it's all the fiberglass. But I got to feeling like maybe The Ship needs an additional moniker and I keep coming back to how she makes me feel (I'm all about the feels, y'all). When I think of her, I think of how happy I am to have her. I feel blissful. So I'm christening The Ship, Bliss. Long may she sail.

Bad blogger, bad!

Whew, I didn't intend to stay away from the blog for so long, there just hasn't been much to blog about. I took a break from working on the big rig and thus my life became sitting in the A/C in the new rig and wishing I were at higher elevations.

I've been going over to the big rig again lately as I've had the motivation and I think I now have everything out of it that I want to keep. It's looking pretty darned empty in there now. I've decided to put it into storage for the summer then come back when the weather is nice again to finish getting it ready and sold. I just can't be stuck here in this heat any longer. And now apparently it's bug season and I can't step outside the rig without immediately being covered in gnats and mosquitoes. It's a little crazy-making and I don't need that much of a push.

I've decided to remove the passenger seat in the new rig to make more floor space. Besides the couch, there's a chair right beside the entry door that I was originally thinking of removing but it turns out I sit there all the time, so passenger seat it is. If I ever do have a passenger with me, there will be other options for seating and I just don't see the sense in having all that unused space in such a small rig. I removed the seat earlier today and now just have the base to deal with.

Here's what the couch looks like after I've made a run over to the other rig. It's so messy the camera couldn't decide what to focus on.

And there's the just-removed passenger seat top center

Here's a better look at the passenger seat removal.

 There are bolts to remove underneath the carpet.

I'm going to put the cats' stuff here so it's not under my feet

I'm sure poor Jake is bored half to death. Between the heat and the &%*$ bugs he hasn't been getting his usual exercise (and neither have I). He's taken to tearing apart the bed after I half-assed make it in the morning.

See what I mean?

It's like Whack-A-Mole around here

And I'm the mole. I may have to put baby bumpers along the edges of my cabinets - hit my head three times yesterday, the last one hard enough to send me staggering to the freezer for an ice pack. Goose egg city! (I can hear you laughing, Roxanne. Quit it.)

My fourteen days is up for the big rig, so I'll be moving both rigs a couple of miles down the road to another state park where I can hook up and have A/C. We're getting a break today with the heat, down to 92º, but it's going back up to 100º in a couple of days. It's actually working out pretty well with the heat forcing me to only work on clearing out the big rig a few hours every morning (there is no A/C in the big rig, in case I've made that confusing for anyone). I don't get overloaded with stuff to bring back to my new home or to donate at the thrift store.

I mostly just have the bedroom and basement compartments to do yet so that feels pretty good, too. I wasn't going to do any real cleaning before everything was empty but cleaned the fridge and kitchen cabinets yesterday. The fridge always feels like a big job but once it's empty it's really pretty easy. Nice to have that done.

Here's where I've been since I brought my new home back from Flagstaff. This shot gives you a better idea of the size of the rig, it's really not much longer or taller than my Honda.

Jake is sometimes tasked with cleaning out the cats' food bowls. He takes this responsibility very seriously.

Slowly making progress on the clean out

The high daytime temperatures have made the work of clearing out the old rig slow going. I can only work for a few hours in the morning - after I've had my morning coffee and taken Jake for a walk - before I have to pack it in and head back to the A/C. The benefit of doing it this way, though, is that I have manageable loads of stuff coming into the new rig. I can get it sorted and put away before heading back to the old rig the next morning. My main goal with the new rig is to NOT bring in anything I don't regularly use ... but and however, I can't part with my computer tools and small electronics that I don't really use but am not ready to donate or sell yet. But that's it! The rest will be As Needed Only.

I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of the stuff that has to be dealt with in the old rig, but as I was lying in bed the other night pondering the work and where best to start, it occurred to me that I should just go front to back - living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, then do the same with the basement storage. So far, I've gathered some necessities I need for living in the new rig, cleaned out the fridge (and turned off the propane) and cleared out all of the living room cabinets. That means the living room is basically done except for hauling off the things I'm donating, and then there's the cleaning but that will wait until the whole rig is empty. Tomorrow I tackle the kitchen!

In the new rig, I've installed a couple of coat hooks and a paper towel holder. Exciting, no?

As my Gram would say ...

... "Lawsy, it's hot!" It sure is, Gram, it sure is. I left Flagstaff's 70-something degree weather Saturday and arrived back at Caballo State Park yesterday afternoon to 100º heat! Oh how I wish that were hyperbole. I got so overheated that I was sick half the night last night.

The angle makes the rig look bigger than it is.

I'd like to blame the angle for my size, too. (photos courtesy Roxanne)

I can't move to higher elevations yet because I now have 2 rigs to deal with until I can get the old one cleaned out and sold. Today I parked the new one in one of the electric campsites to run the A/C and I brought Jake and the cats in with me. You wouldn't believe all the yowling and panicked running around and bolting for the door. And then there were the cats.

Tucker is panting, not talking. Ellen is chill.

He finally calmed down

Scored this awesome throw for the couch at the Goodwill in Flagstaff. Four bucks, baby!

I'll have to do most of the cleaning out work on the big rig during the cool morning hours. It's just too hot the rest of the day to be active and it doesn't cool down until after bed time. It's forecast to be over 100º the next four days then back down into the upper 90s. Oy!