Almost Christmas.................

    Well, woke up early this morning and headed out to finish up some last minute Christmas shopping, finished it off before the crowds formed. Ever notice that when there are very few people in the store, they only open a couple of cashiers so the lines are as long as when the store is busy and you really don't save much time.
    Got home and decided the cooler temps (40ish) were the ideal time to start the wash and wax process on the Montana. So being that I am not as young as I once was..................... I washed the front cap, the back cap, and curb side. 4 hours later I have a 2/3 washed and wax trailer. I will finish the other 1/3 (street side) over the holidays. Tried a new wax on it this time, Meguiar's Premium Marine and Rv Wax. Goes on easy and buffs off easy, only time will tell if it works like advertised, has great reviews, so we shall see. Hope everyone has a safe and fun holiday season. Enjoy life, its to short to sweat the small stuff.

Glad we winterized................again

When we arrived home last weekend, I said to my self, "self you better winterize this thing again real quick". So I blew it out, drained the tanks and hot water heater, pumped a couple of gallons of RV antifreeze through the system, and bam here comes the weather. I think winter is here, regardless of what the calendar says.

End of Thanksgiving Weekend

The bad part of the trip is today, broke camp this morning and headed for Roswell. Arrived home about 1pm, unloaded and winterized the rig. A great weekend all the way around. If you make it to Ruidoso, you really ought to try the Gondola Ride at Ski Apache, it is $17 per person, but well worth the money and time.
    Now for alittle NFL, Chiefs VS Broncos, hope its a good one.

Trip to Ski Apache

This morning dawned alittle overcast, but warmed up quickly, and most of the cloud cover burned off. So it was off to Ski Apache, we got an early start, after alittle adjusting on Janice's new bike, so at the crack of noon, we headed up the mountain. Its a twelve mile trip up and the snow from last weekend made it a beautiful drive. Upon arrival, first course of business was lunch. For those of you who have not had the pleasure of eating at a ski resort....................visualize eating at an NFL stadium, yep price are right up there with the best hamburgers and fries in the world. They were huge burgers and a ton of French fries, and good.
      After the lunch was time to look around and then take the gondola to the top, great ride and a fantastic view, you can get out at the top and view the surrounding area for 100 miles. We enjoyed the trip.

This is our starting point Circle B RV in Ruidoso, New Mexico

View of Ski Apache and Janice

View from the Gondola (back down at the lodge)

Black Friday or Not

    Well to start with, we had a great dinner at the Apache Travel Center Casino last night, they had the traditional Thanksgiving dinner spread, we chose to go a different route. Good food, and as usual they made some money off of us in the casino, oh well, great night out. Hit the sack after a busy day, Janice had sewn a quilt for the bed in the RV, and first night using it was a huge success, very pretty and comfortable too, got to love it when a plan comes together.
     Today, woke up to 25 degrees and clear, warmed into the high 50's before 10:00AM. We did some shopping, took Janice to a fabric store, hit the auto parts store and went to Wally World, no mobs here, looked like a normal day. Bought some Christmas presents for the family and bought Janice a bicycle, now we have one for each of us, and I picked up a rack for the front of the truck,(truck has a front receiver hitch) a couple of weeks ago. Bad news is I left my bike and carrier in Roswell. So this trip it will be just Janice riding.  
     Tomorrow we will head up to the Ski Resort, it did open as planned on Thanksgiving. Only a few trails open but its always worth the trip. Well time to go have some dinner or maybe take a nap and then go have dinner. Love the options........................
     Well dinner was at the "Ranchers Steak and Sea Food" Great dinner, highly recommended. Ruidoso is hopping tonight, down town is pretty busy. Well its time to watch alittle TV and head for bed, see ya tomorrow, maybe some pictures from Ski Apache, they say the gondola is running, maybe a trip to the top of the mountain.

Made it to Ruidoso, New Mexico

Well, we packed up and head out this morning and had a good trip, great part about traveling on Thanksgiving day, not much traffic. Pulled into the Circle B RV Park about noon, set up and started relaxing. We met a couple that are pulling out tomorrow for Arizona(been here about a week). Really nice couple, from Kentucky. They will spending a few weeks outside of Yuma.
    We are plotting our next move, dinner at the casino or dinner at the other casino. Our we could just have dinner at the third casino. Pretty sure that what ever we decide, there is going to be some gambling involved after dinner. Will let you know if we pay of the national debt with our winnings. Enjoy Thanksgiving.

A Small Change In Plans

Well, today was packing day for the Thanksgiving trip, but I think we will just get the shopping done and pack tomorrow. A little snow over the past couple of days and temps in the 20's. Destination for Thanksgiving is Ruidoso, NM, for those that are not familiar with Ruidoso, it is a high elevation ski resort community, and they have snow today also. Temperatures should be in the 50's for the Thanksgiving weekend. Ruidoso is a great destination to unwind, summer, cooler then the desert and horse racing, winter, a ski destination.

WHILE WE WAIT FOR THE NEXT TRIP

I thought that while we are waiting for our next trip, I would show a few of the modifications we have made to the 2012 Montana High Country 343RL. Some of the changes were for making storage more available, others for comfort. Not included in the pictures are a Sleep Number Bed, and a inverter to operate the compressor for the bed, Janice has added black out curtains to the bed room windows (sleeping late is a requirement), LED strip lighting in the closet for better lighting, additional fire extinguishers, quick connects on water hoses in the convenience center. And of course the BIG ONE, NEW AMERICAN MADE TIRES. No China Bombs here.

Back Splash For Stove Top

 Added Extra Shelving to Kitchen and Bathroom
 

Added Quad Steps for ease of entry, takes a load off the old knees

 

LED Lights Throughout The Rig

Under Storage For B-Que and Fishing Poles

And the Big One, Modified the Cap, Cap was Sun Fading Due to Lack of UV Protection in Gel Coat, So I sanded and repainted with Marine Top Coat in Platinum Color. The Before and After Pictures

Janice says it looks the HC is smiling now, as we go down the road.

 

We have added several other thing, and I will add them as I think of them.

 

 

 

 

First Post November 10, 2013

First Post on New Blog, never blogged before, figured I had better start getting it sorted out before retirement. Hope to have some updates soon. We will be heading out for a few days later in the month for some RV travel. This is our rig.

2012 Montana High Country 343RL-2013 Chevy Silverado 3500HD, 6.6 Duramax, 6 speed Allision, B&W Turnover/Companion Hitch 18,000 lbs.