May 6-15

Took off out of HH on Tuesday am, May 6th.

First stop, Birmingham, AL. Getting around Atlanta, no problem. Found a nice campground Birmingham, a concrete pad on the West side of town. We did not have to un-hook (nice) and the satellite tv on the rv worked fine (yea). Weather pleasant; price reasonable ($20?). Next morning off to Ft. Smith Arkansas, only difficulty getting around Memphis, busy, busy, busy Fed Ex land. Interstate in Arkansas needs some infrastructure improvement; Jamie, work on that; thought I would lose my teeth on some of washboard I-40. Campground Ft. Smith very nice, except for the tornado we had that passed right by us(Marlene figured out that the horn sounding was a tornado warning).

Got away to Amarillo the next day; gassed up first ($4.03/gal diesel,roughly $430 for fill-up; yikes). Otherwise uneventful; campground Amarillo fine (had a tornado shelter). Next day on to Albuquerque (approx 5600 ft above sea level); nice campground West side of town. Stayed there 3 nights, left Monday. Upon arriving, filled up again ($4.05/gal or $450; unfortunately because of my leadfoot we averaged under 8 mph on this tank; I know I can do better!). Day of arrival, we went to the Indian Casino 5 miles down the road; actually won $50 on blackjack (yee-hah), inspite of getting our clothes smokey; ate in a fair Mex restaurant. Apparently the casino is a big attraction to the truckers, and by the look of some of the chicks (dressed very provacatively) coming in to the casino around 6pm when we left, I can only imagine. Next day went to a Pueblo museum in Albuquerque (very interesting), lunched in "Old Town" where the original church (St. Felipe) was established when the town was started in 1750?

That evening we went to a party given by one of USAFA classmates (30th wedding anniversary); met a very nice mix of people; most working at Kirkland or for the government on atomic energy projects. Wonderful evening. Sunday went to the ALB museum and the atomic energy museum; both excellent. Learned that dentures cause beaucoup radiation; Marlene is swearing off irradiated food; saw great documentary on the development of the original atomic bomb and excellent video on the Cuban missle crisis. Wonderful.

Monday on to Durango, CO (6500 ft above sea level); got to practice my shifting/braking techniques on some steeper grades. Actually, not bad; we'll see in CO and UT. Staying at a nice campground North of Durango; very interesting town; only 14,000 permanent residents here; you would never know it by the commercial amenities. More restaurants per capita than San Francisco; very nice mix from brewerys to high end. Very nice selection. Also has lots of specialty shops (great gift stores, jewelry shops, accessory shops) plus commercial chain stores (a mall, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Pier One etc). Ft Lewis College is here, free to all Indians; and a lot of money people seem to spend part time here; real estate prices seemhigh to me. Tuesday, took it easy, washed the rv (took all day w/intermittent rain), addressed a few rv breakdowns (had to replace a sheared bolt on one of the engine cover arms, still investigating a small leak front end of the rv we thought we had fixed). Camping site has excellent wi-fi. Wednesday took the famous scenic railroad ride up to old mining town, Silverton. Nothing much to the town, but the ride was great. Guide told us that a new ski development on the eastern side of a mountain there got 550 inches of snow this year; wow. Thursday drove to Aztec, NM and Bloomfield, NM to see archaeological ruins of the early Anastasi Indians, built around 1100AD. Great documentary, good museums, learned a lot about the original Indians in this area.

So far, so good; but I must admit I miss my tennis/golf. Going to have to work on that; at least get more exercise.

John