i'm no superman

I'm back home this morning. My Weekend at Billy's has been canceled due to poor planning. I failed to take into account the triple digit heat, running the AC, and head winds which made driving at 60MPH a challenge. I made it roughly to the halfway point between here and Capitan, NM before I turned around and went back home. What was my reason for turning back? At the second stop I had a chance to do the math and learned the gas would have cost me $500 round trip. I was getting a whopping 9MPG (I normally get 21MPG on hwy's w/out trailer). This was unacceptable given that I'd gotten 15MPG (w/trailer) on a trip I took last Nov. You can see how much the heat affected my mileage. So I'm cancelling any trips until it gets cold again. Yes I drove home feeling very angry and defeated. At least the lesson cost me half what it could have, and there's still a little money to spare. I'll add it to the budget for the next trip.

I tried to save this by staying someplace out there, but there's nothing close to where I was. Big Bend was south of me but, after doing the math, it would have cost me the same in gas as NM. The Caverns of Sonora was the closest attraction with camping, but was closed on my way back home. It was also above 110 degrees the entire time out there. Now there was a pretty good breeze going, but even with, it felt like being in front of a giant blow dryer. Even my beagle finally gave up leaving the cab when we stopped so she could pee. She held it til we got home and took the longest pee I've ever seen.

The upside to the trip was getting a chance to catch up with lots of friends. One who deserves mention stayed on the phone with me during a small crisis. I neglected to refill my tank and hit a long stretch of highway. I was sure I would run out before making it to the next stop. I pictured the beagle and I melting on the side of the road until help arrived. That didn't happen and I made it to the next station while she distracted me with a risque story about her shimmying out of her pantyhose once during a road trip. When I refilled I learned there was only half a gallon left. That was too close!

The entire day felt like the "Crying Game" shower scene.

weekend at billy's

My best friend was going to hang out with me on my birthday this weekend but unfortunately air fares were way too high. I"m bummed that I don't get to show him around San Antonio and to the best BBQ house in Texas, The Salt Lick. I even planned to take Friday off to make it a four day weekend. Since this isn't happening I've got four days to kill. I was thinking about camping but being Memorial day weekend everything is booked up. My second idea was to go to New Orleans even though I have a thing against cities. This one is different in that it has two things I love dearly. Great jazz and amazing food. Two problems are my that I can't take my dog everywhere I want to go, and it's gonna be a busy weekend. What to do, what to do?

Billy The Kid

Enter one William H. Bonney. One of my guilty pleasures is collecting biographical books about gunfighters of the old west. The other is visiting the places these people lived, fought, and eventually died in. The bonus is that I'm going in the trailer and can take the dog everywhere I want to go. It's not full timing but I do get to pretend for a few days as I boondock in Lincoln and Fort Sumner New Mexico this weekend. I can't wait!

Steve

it's the little things

Not recommended for pot roasts or casseroles

... like this that make life easier. The Jetboil flash cooking system only boils water, but it does it really really fast. I've had my eye on this for a while but never could justify buying one since I really haven't backpacked in years. It wasn't until REI's upcoming sale ad that I realized that this would be perfect for the trailer. Normally I put away gallons of tea and the one thing I hate is waiting for the water to boil. This does it in a fraction of the time, and has multiple applications for cooking in general. I'm adding it to my kitchenware when it goes on sale this weekend.

The majority of the cookware in my trailer is camping cookware. The stuff is very light, compact, usually built for multiple uses. I've found replacements for almost everything I use daily except for my cast iron fry pan. Nothing beats it and it will most likely be transitioned from kitchen to trailer unless I can find a suitable replacement. 

Steve