Elephant Butte State Park New Mexico

Hi All. We 've had another event. We left Oliver Lee last thursday morning. We headed towards Sante Fe. When we left the temp was 52 (typical) degrees. The further north we went the colder it got. 125 miles later we are on a two lane road enjoying life and it starts snowing, hard. My mirror is flashing "ICE" and 35 degrees. I told Karen, I've had enough of this. So I did a u-turn with our rig on a two lane road. Several miles later and we are in a hail storm. Hail the size of peas and larger are pelting our rig. I thought for sure that we would be all dented up. No damage. We drove south 25 miles, west 60 miles and south 80 miles. We are now in "Truth or Consequences" New Mexico. That was good for us. What a beautiful park. The lake is huge and beautiful and full of fish. Everyday we see deer, jack rabbits, road runners and quail. Quail are everywhere, lots of them. We've been kayaking several times, biking and of course running. We've been site seeing and shopping. Oh and Karen survived another birthday. We also made some new friends, Bill and Jan from Washington State. We are suppose leave here Friday a.m - maybe? We are having a great time but we do miss our family and friends. We'll be home May 15. We hope to see everyone then. Love you guys Tom and Karen

Oliver Lee State Park - White Sands national Monu.

We arrived here Monday, we'll be leaving Tomorrow morning. We'll be heading for Sante Fe.
We visited White Sands National Monument. (White Sands Missile Testing Area, 1st A-Bomb, etc). We also went to the N.M Air and Space Museum. The walls were full of people that took part in our space program. One person that stood out, I am ashamed to say I can't remember his name. This guy jumped out of a balloon (special kind) at 102000 ft. He was a test pilot. But he was testing the affects of jumping from extreme altitude and the chute. He did 3 tours in Nam, flew 483 combat missions and was shot down and spent 11 months as a POW. Folks thats a HERO...... While at White Sands we climbed a sand dune only to find that Jack Black was filming a movie - Year One". Watch for it when it comes out. We also viewed a IMAX film about Dolphins. We enjoyed that also. Check out the views from our latest camp site. Test care
Love Tom and Karen

We Made it to New Mexico

Well folks its been a while since my last post. No phone service and no internet. We have been everywhere since our last post. We stayed with Jerry and Ann's in San Antonio for a few days. What people. They treated us to the River Walk then the next day we went to Lackland AFB, The Alamo then to Bass Pro. $$$. We then headed for Armisted National Park. We dry camped for several days. Saw lots of critters, birds, deer, skunks, Jack Rabbits, quail. We then went to Seminole Canyon State Park. Again very beautiful and remote. We ran a 6 mile loop one day then biked it the next. We did a park tour and saw pictographs that were more than 4000 years old. Met some great folks from Dallas and 3 guys from Calif that were biking to Florida. They thought the cold beer and fruit arrived from heaven. We left there and went to Big Bend NP. What a place. Beautiful and and hostile. This is no place to take kids or animals. There is nothing for the kids to do and no place you can take your animals. Tie them up outside and the native critters eat them. It happens all the time. People. We bought walking sticks from Mexicans. Picked up some nice rocks (both were illegal). We had to get special permits to kayak the Rio Grande river. That was another beautiful day. The Temps at Rio Grand village ranged from 60's at night `102 during the day. We drove two days to Chesos Basin. There we ate at the Lodge and did a 13 mile hike up 7500 feet and around then back down a very scenic trail. It scared the tar out of me several times. I didn't like the 1000 ft drops, the trail was only 3' wide.
We also ran in the desert 3 times and got into the Hot Springs (105 degrees). We left Big Bend and headed for N.M. We made it to Davis Mtn state pk outside of Fort Davis Tx. Another beautiful park. We ate at their Lodge last night. It was 28 degrees there this morning. We ran this morning then headed out. We are now at Oliver Lee memorial st pk in N.M. This park is just ouside of Alamogordo (white sands missle testing area). We are still having the time of our lives. My oldest daughter Stephanie is having some bad times. She could use your prayers. Thanks. We miss all of you. We will still be flying home May 15 for a week. Love Tom and Karen.