Day 4 — Truth or Consequences
You think maybe a town might come up with a better name than Truth or Consequences, which sounds like a daytime game show from the 1950’s, but no, we’re parked in Truth or Consequences. We rented a CCC camp adobe cabin on the Rio Grande where the boys of the ’30s had built a dam and lived in these cabins. The view was great, overlooking the reservoir and Elephant Butte Island, an oasis in the semi-arid wasteland of southern New Mexico. Trouble was,the cabin had septic issues, crap gas backed up from, oh, 1960 to the present and finally after dark we loaded the conestoga and vacated the building since nobody was around to maybe move us to a different hut.
The trip is taking a turn toward the Goofy, hopefully not the tragic. There are probably lessons to be learned here, but … we are not lesson learners. We are people OTHERS learn from , possibly YOU/ Sure, we could have planned more thoughtfully, we could have looked at the weather, we might have opted for Hawaii, any number of alternatives, but not … we decided to roll the dice, let Lady Luck dictate our chances.
It’s only Day 4, not even half way through this Odyssey. What, us worry? Tomorrow we either haul down the Rio Grande to Big Bend, Texas or we circle back north up through a mountain range and even colder temps than here (which is at 20 degrees shortly after dark). Taos will be 1 degree tonight and Hawaii will be 75 degrees. Back on the South End it’s 18 degrees.
So okay, Hawaii wins. Forget Hawaii!!! We’re here and we can’t drive to Hilo, forget it! We’re headed to Las Cruces where Ansell Adams photographed the full moon rising over that ghostly cemetery. Right now the moon is quartered. But the stars are endless. Maybe we should travel at night.
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Tags: Going South, Searching for Warmth
Next year Skeeter!
I’m fixin’ stuff up as fast as I can type and get back to work!
Right now as you can see the computer is up and running, hopefully everything else will be in a years time… given enough hours in the day.
Hawaii however is not always what it’s cracked up to be. For example here’s some of our recent weather phenomena:
* 150 mph winds on Mauna Kea with 191 mph gusts (measured)
* Snow at Poli Poli Park on Maui, about 6000 ft elevation, never seen there before
* Forecast last week was for 60 mph winds and 50 foot waves on Oahu, but they lucked out only 45 mph wind, and 30 foot waves.
Here in my little slice of paradise? We were the garden spot of the island chain, carefree in sunshine and warm breezes like our salad days. Best weather in the state.
Hope you get cut a break in Fake News & Unintended Consequences.
I guess if we wanted the safety and security of a pre-planned vacation, we could take a Cruise Ship with 6000 other OCD’s. Or just take one of those Cabo get-aways and stay at the resort, drinking umbrella drinks poolside. This trip was basically a misadventure full of screwups and brain farts, mostly our own doing for lack of attention and piss poor planning, nothing new. We’ve been known to drive off the island and ask at the first fork, which way? Roll the dice, let fate take the wheel, see what’s up around the next Bend. Sometimes that works great, sometimes it doesn’t, and sometimes it wouldn’t matter either way, bad weather, bad luck, bad ju-ju. The truth is, the consequences aren’t usually all that bad. And the worst trips are sometimes the most memorable. C’est la vie, the old man said. Road trip, I say. And I do love a road trip.