Holy Buckets of Wind

Good-bye Elephant Butte. :)

Sunday morning was calm at Elephant Butte so I went on Weather.com to checkout what the rest of the morning would be like. We had done most of our packing up the night before so we were up early and ready to go. It looked like if we got on the road right away we could get to Albuquerque before the big winds began so off we went. The ride was pretty uneventful until about 30 miles south of Albuquerque. The wind picked up and now up ahead you could see lots of dust in the air. The truck and trailer did fine in the wind but just before we got to our exit off I40 a tanker truck ahead of us was having lots of trouble. He must have been empty as his back end was really getting blown around. We slowed down and put some distance between us as he exited the freeway at the same exit, good idea for him.

Now came the challenge, setting up in a sand storm. The wind blew me in to register at Enchanted Trails and then we headed to our site. The temps were still relatively warm but the sand in the wind made it miserable. It took a lot to open and close doors and get everything set up but about 45 minutes later we were safely ensconced inside the rig. The first order of business then was to take showers (though we did wait awhile to let the water heater get us some hot water). I have never had it where there was sand in my ears, nose, hair and mouth; felt like I was chewing sand. I feel like I’ve been getting sand out of my ears for the last few days. 

The rest of the day and part of the evening the winds were 40 mph steady and the news said we got over 60 mph gusts. I truly believe it. Luckily, we are pretty compact and relatively heavy so other than a lot of rocking we were fine. The temps dropped overnight and now we are on the cold side of that front. There was talk of snow for the area but that never materialized. Today is cold and breezy but tomorrow is suppose to start warming up and temps will be back in the 70s by the weekend. 

We have used the time here to get to a few of our favorite stores and get errands done. A trip to Whole Foods for some organic veggies, got out of there for $20 which is pretty good. Then to my all time favorite, Trader Joe’s. We haven’t had a chance to shop at one since last spring. So we stocked up on all our favorite items including some wine, beer, nuts and frozen foods. It made me a happy camper!

We originally were going to check out Marble Brewery too, but got there to find out they don’t open until 1 pm and it was only noon. So instead we went to a BBQ place we had noticed near Whole Foods that looked busy and that sounded good. The place is called Rudy’s and was an interesting place. It is counter service and the board has all kinds of different meats listed per pound and sides in a cooler as you went through. We were thoroughly confused as to how all this works and the manager/owner noticed our confusion and came to our rescue. He explained that you order whatever meat you want and how much, he recommended a 1/4 to 1/3 pound per person and then they give you two slices of bread to go with it and all the sauces are on the tables. Since we were newbies he also went and got a couple samples of the meat for us to try. Brisket is the specialty and they have a lean brisket or a moist brisket. Their moist brisket is amazing; after one taste it is what John and I both had. All I can say is it definitely isn’t on my diet but it was heavenly. I also had their potato salad and John had the pinto beans. We both agreed they were delicious. We both give this restaurant a thumbs up, so if you are in Albuquerque check out Rudy’s! (they have locations in El Paso too)

Tomorrow we head to Winslow AZ and the Homolovi State Park. The temps there are suppose to be in the high 50s with 70s by Thursday, sounds good. This is our last stop before the Grand Canyon. 

We know all our friends back in the Midwest have been having warmer spring like weather, so I hope that continues for you and that spring continues its early arrival there. I hope our weather matches yours soon. :)

Happy Trails............................