Anyone on our route from Florida to Mew Mexico?

[ezbme]

Originally Posted by cheezypsnookle

my wife and i spend a lot of time not 250 miles from you in new mexico we have some family land near mora new mexico its to cold there for us now
how are you acclimating to the the elevation and temperature change?

I will have to look up Mora, not sure where it is... The elevation took a bit of time to adjust to, & still am! Just to hike the 10 acres to check out the property is a workout! I huff & puff pretty heavy sometimes but have been doing nothing but physical labor around the cabin getting it ready for winter so I am much better off now! The temps are taking a little longer tho as it is still hot in FL which is what we were used to (89 yesterday!).
I just googled Mora, yea that is quite a bit north of us... prob a bit colder too! What is the elevation at the property?

Originally Posted by SeanF

Lows in the 30s-40s, highs in the 50s-60s, sunshine nearly every day.

The free parking/caretaking gigs are rare. I have scored one in the past, but I don't count on it happening often. Usually the rent for spots on private property are slightly lower than RV park rent...but the pricing rules are the same: further from civilization & fewer amenities = lower cost. I waaaay prefer the private property thing.

Those temps aren't too bad, still brisk tho! I am with you, I would much rather stay on a property that is private & remote than any campground! Its a shame it isn't warmer here, we would give ya a cheap rate to stay.

[bikeforthelight]

Nice man. Love the pics. Your in my old stomping grounds now. I actually rode my bike up that incline on 620 on my last tour. You aint joking....its a sick incline.

[ezbme]

Originally Posted by bikeforthelight

Nice man. Love the pics. Your in my old stomping grounds now. I actually rode my bike up that incline on 620 on my last tour. You aint joking....its a sick incline.

Thanks! You actually rode 620 in Austin? I am not there now but where I am now has inclines that make 620 look like the bunny slope on Pocono Mountain!
Much of that road from hell was 1st gear at about 10MPH max & 2400 RPM... It IS sick. It gave me permanent White Knuckles, especially the descents....

[bikeforthelight]

No and yes. I did ride 620 for a bit, but I mistyped. I rode through the poc mountain roads where you are. I looked at the map to confirm it. I rode that hill you hated. And trust me....i hated it worse. haha.

[lornaschinske]

Interesting that you moved to Soccorro. We left there at the end of October, although our skoolie is still there parked in my daughter's back yard. We were running a hot dog cart on the square. Too many folks running out of $$ and the weather got cold. So we moved down here to Corpus Christi. We skipped the El Paso section of the trip (moved out from NC). We pulled off I-20 at Odessa/Midland and headed to Socorro thru Hobbs/Tatum/Roswell/Capitan/San Antonio.

You gotta go to the Valley Of Fires. It's between Socorro & Roswell. We've never seen a lava flow (and this is an "active" area).

[ezbme]

Originally Posted by DarkLaw

Hey there!

I love New Mexico. I spent my childhood summers out in NE New Mexico and can't wait to get my bus finished up so I can hit the road.
I'm sure I'll be making some detours through NM, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, etc.

Great pics, glad you made it without any major problems! I just moved 1,000 miles and know the feeling, although I wasn't piloting a massive bus!

Hey thanks! We love it here in NM & the drive was a fun but a too eventul trip! Whenever you get your bus completed be sure to look us up & try to make Datil a stop of on your trip! We cant wait to see more of the state in the near future!

Originally Posted by lornaschinske

Interesting that you moved to Soccorro. We left there at the end of October, although our skoolie is still there parked in my daughter's back yard. We were running a hot dog cart on the square. Too many folks running out of $$ and the weather got cold. So we moved down here to Corpus Christi. We skipped the El Paso section of the trip (moved out from NC). We pulled off I-20 at Odessa/Midland and headed to Socorro thru Hobbs/Tatum/Roswell/Capitan/San Antonio.

You gotta go to the Valley Of Fires. It's between Socorro & Roswell. We've never seen a lava flow (and this is an "active" area).

We will have to check out the Valley of Fires, sounds great! We do our monthly stock-up on goods & supplies in Socorro & are getting to know the area well (we moved to Datil). Sorry to hear that your bus is still in Socorro tho... It seems to stay quite a bit warmer in Socorro than it does in Datil, but the elevation is quite different there. Shame to hear you moved, would like to hook up with some other skoolies in the area! We were just in the square last week for the first time, was a bit dead tho... stopped for java at the coffee shop.

[ezbme]

Originally Posted by BIG-BIRD

Great pics and it reminded me of our trip from FL to TN. Big-Bird was loaded bottom-top, side-side with no room to spare. The wife drove the SUV with one of our sons and I drove the bus with our other son (they would trade places). Both vehicles had DVD players so they watched a lot of movies on the road...LOL. 1 dog (mostly rode on the bus) and two cats. Instead of an oil leak I had a tranny leak (which I checked at every stop). Big-Bird cruised nicely at 60 and I like you hit about 67-68 a few times. We spent the nights on the road (2) at Walmart parking lots (free) and then once we were here in E. TN we stayed at a camp ground (got lucky and got the LAST spot at Cherokee Dam) for $10 a night (Gold pass holder). We were there for only 4 nights as we had found a suitable rental house. After being here for a month I took Big-Bird back to FL to get the rest of our stuff out of storage (we have a lot of junk...LOL). I thought there would be a huge difference in the way she drove/handled but she drove nicely both empty and full. Now she sits behind the house packed full of stuff (I dread having to drag everything out and into the basement). But hey, no storage bill...LOL. Big-Bird served us well and we turned our move into an adventure that I don't think our kids will soon forget. If I had it to do all over again, I'd do it again.

Glad you made it to NM without problems! Hows the weather out there? We have now had SNOW twice this season already! Watching Floridians try and build a snowman was a comical sight... I laughed and laughed!

It is snowing as we speak! We have had more snow this winter already than is normally had for the whole winter! I remember in Florida (Orlando) in the 90's when we got a hail storm that was so bad the cars at the mall were frozen into the parking lot - about 1 to 2 feet when it was all done! All the car dealers were having killer hail sales on all the new cars! Was crazy...
Things here are great & we are still adjustiing to the off-grid living but it is getting easier.

Sounds like your move was a good time as was ours, minus the fact you had DVD players & I didnt even have a radio or a human companion... YAWN that was the hardest part of the trip!

[lornaschinske]

As you drive around Socorro, you will notice a lot of the vehicles have busted out windows. dinged roofs and hoods. This is from the "big hail storm" they had. Apparently if was a few YEARS ago. That is also why so many of the roofs on the houses are somewhat newish metal roofs. Insurance paid off on the houses but not the cars? At least that's what we were told by the locals.

My daughter also told us Socorro didn't get much snow. She's tickled that she gets a white Christmas this year (last year she was in Houston). She called us yesterday to say it was snowing. My other daughter told her it was nice and warm here (73F).

We prefer a "sandy" Christmas, not a White Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

[ezbme]

Originally Posted by lornaschinske

As you drive around Socorro, you will notice a lot of the vehicles have busted out windows. dinged roofs and hoods. This is from the "big hail storm" they had. Apparently if was a few YEARS ago. That is also why so many of the roofs on the houses are somewhat newish metal roofs. Insurance paid off on the houses but not the cars? At least that's what we were told by the locals.

My daughter also told us Socorro didn't get much snow. She's tickled that she gets a white Christmas this year (last year she was in Houston). She called us yesterday to say it was snowing. My other daughter told her it was nice and warm here (73F).

We prefer a "sandy" Christmas, not a White Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Matter of fact I have seen MANY hail damaged vehicles running around! We had 3 days of snow, off & on ended up with between 6 & 10 inches, depending on which way the wind was blowing! LOL It is so beautiful here & I am happy it has been snowing... 15 years in FL was too long for us!

Here is a shot of our property & the bus with SNOW for xmas!!

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by ezbme

... 15 years in FL was too long for us!

For me it was 20 yrs (I'm a 7th gen native, hubby is MI yankee transplant). We left FL for good in the early '80's (SW NC mountains) and only went back to visit family. Never again. We're too far away to go to FL and we've no plans to go back east either. I still think snow is best enjoyed on TV and David had enough snow in MI.

[Abbott]

Nice pics....I have always liked New Mexico.

[ezbme]

Originally Posted by Abbott

Nice pics....I have always liked New Mexico.

Thanks! We are loving it here... although the temps are taking a bit of getting used to coming from Florida!

[Abbott]

Originally Posted by ezbme

Thanks! We are loving it here... although the temps are taking a bit of getting used to coming from Florida!

I bet!

Once you get settled into that property with an entire spring and summer of chores done it will be real nice.

[ezbme]

Ya got that right abbott! I cant wait for spring to roll in so I can get back to doing things outside! We are expecting more snow tongiht!