So our plans to head to Arizona are delayed since SueBee was layed up in the hospital. We picked her up on Sunday morning which didn’t leave a lot of time to drive before the sun set on the weekend.

We decided to head south and make a left turn into Texas. We went a long, long way down through New Mexico – and confirmed a valuable lesson: always carry a gas can with you. I always start looking for convenient places to stop after we get below a half tank. We got down to a quarter tank and still no gas stations, or anything really expect for a few long abandoned ghost towns, and the mesas cropping out in the distance. There wasn’t much cell service either, but we were eventually able to get a bar and determine that the next gas station was about 60 miles out. The truck showed we had about 40 miles left on the tank.

We have a generator collecting dust in the back of the truck, and five gallons of gas for it. So I knew that if we ran out of gas it was only a matter of dumping the can into the tank and rolling on. We also slowed down to 55 MPH, since that makes a positive impact on our fuel economy. We finally got to the gas station, but it was just another ghost town – the last drop of gas dried up years before. We kept going, and another ten miles or so later, we coasted into a gas station on what had to have been the last wisp of vapor in the gas tank.

Our day got a little brighter when we saw a highway sign letting us know we were coming up on Roswell, New Mexico. This was an opportunity for an unplanned mini-adventure, so we rerouted to go through town instead of around it. Totally worth it.

Roswell is a pretty typical southwest town, except they’ll stick an alien in/on/with just about anything. The bank, the hardware store, hotels, coffee shops, everything gets an alien. We had time to stop at a bakery, and a gift shop, and to take a picture with Steve – my new out-of-this-world friend for life.

• 

• 

• 

Even with the tank still half full, we weren’t making the same mistake twice and topped it off before we left town. A little alien on the side of the road waved goodbye to us as we drove away from the sun. Not long after we passed into Texas, it was time to pull off and care for Sue Bee. A short walk, a bowl of food, and a couple pills and we were on our way again.

In the setting sun we pulled into a campground in Brownfield Texas, and set up camp. We’ve gotten pretty good at this, and we were “home” in about 15 minutes. Kristin and I russled up some dinner and relaxed until bedtime. Another successful trip.

The next day the other campers all cleared out, and we were alone in the campground…until van guy arrived. Don’t get me wrong here – to each their own, and #vanlife looks pretty cool. But maybe don’t park right next to the only other campers in the whole campground, and sit in your van with the door open, naked, with nothing but a grimey wash cloth covering your personal effects.

Brownfield was nice, it was quiet, but we spotted another camp ground in Levelland after work one day and decided to move without so much more than a mutual nod between Kristin and I.

We got back to camp to hitch up the rig and as we turned the corner, we spotted the full moon shining brightly out of Van Guy’s windshield. Decision to move validated! We packed, hitched, drove, unhitched, and unpacked in under an hour – and never looked back. Our neighbors came and went during the rest of the week, and most of them were friendly enough. As for Van Guy, we wish him all the best, and we’re glad we could give him some privacy.

• 

• 

• 

We’re going to check out some really cool places over the next month. Stay tuned; we’re looking forward to sharing our adventure.

-Adam