Calmness Sets In–Albuquerque

   

Called Duke City Automotive at 9:30 am, the motorhome is ready to pick up. We arrived around 10:30, and by noon we were fueled up and sitting in the Enchanted Trails RV Park & Trading Post in west Albuquerque, up on top of the large hill heading out of town. 

Before we left Duke City, I managed to get a picture of “shy” Carlos (can’t show his face) holding the old fuel pump, and Aaron Messer, the head guy there, getting my keys off the board.

Although expensive, these fuel pumps, especially from the factory, are not cheap.  This pump ran $540, and they also put in a new fuel filter, and with labor and tax ($93), everything came to $1389.

All said, we could not be more pleased with the work done, their speedy service, and we are once again back on the road.  When these RVs are put together, many “after market” items, such as levelers, don’t take into account “what happens when a mechanic has to get into a gas tank.”  In our case, the back levelers had to be removed, and the mounting brackets, which is welded onto the frame of the motorhome, barely allowed for the removal of the gas tank.  Aaron said that they have had to cut off the brackets and weld on new ones once the job was finished.  And mechanic wages for working on motorhomes are more than a mechanic working on a car…so yes, it does get expensive.  That is part of the RV lifestyle.

We will be staying at the Enchanted Trails RV Park & Trading Post for three nights.  This time of the year the park is about half empty.  In the above picture you can see the flag...it shows a light breeze, way down from the heavy winds we have had these past four to five days.  But if you thought the “wind” has been playing havoc on your driving in the Southwest these past few days, just look at what it has done to this RV park.

 

  

There are tumbleweeds all over the place.  Those are all loose tumbleweeds along the fence. They are under RVs, under tables, under trees, and many just laying around.  When the lady apologized for the tumbleweeds when I checked in, I told her that with these winds I totally understand.  Did not know that I would need to clear my pad of them just to pull in…but they are light and easy for me to move (Marcia's cane came in handy...turned it upside down and just scooted them out of the way), which is why the wind moves them along so easily.  I also had seen something on the news last night about the high number of tumbleweeds due to the high amount of rain New Mexico has received over this past year.

    

One of the lures of this park is the vintage trailers and old cars that they have on display.  In fact, the vintage trailers are available for nightly rentals, and if interested in the types and prices, visit this page.

After a eight days of more than 2000 miles of driving, visiting friends and relatives, and being towed for 65 miles…we are ready for a bit of a “rest” as we wait for our travel window to open again.  As explained in yesterday’s posting, our tow service requires a three day wait between tows…and although we don’t expect to need the tow service again, one never knows.  At least now we will arrive in Sacramento with only some dirty laundry instead of a bunch of dirty laundry…luckily the park has a nice laundry facility to we intend to use.

And look what we are having for dinner cousin Casey!!!  How did you know Marcia had precooked up some BBQ for our trip???   It sure taste great!