Thursday October 31 Gila to Deming: After breakfast (and processing of the images), we started packing up. Barry went out to do the astronomy equipment while I worked on clearing the household and clothing. When I wrapped up, I walked out to help with the igloo and whatever else I could take down. We finally got on the road around 11:15 AM.
First stop was Walmart in Silver City to return the unopened wireless keyboard and mouse. We also had lunch at Del Taco. Then we went to Deming to find plats for the property at NMAV that we wanted to get the electrical estimate for. We had a bit of trouble finding the county clerk’s office, but eventually located it in the County Court Building. She was very helpful and provided two copies of the original plat and the 2004 replat. Then we went to Columbus Electrical Coop and turned in the request for an estimate with one copy of the plats.
We checked into the hotel and took a nap. Then we dressed for our evening visit to NMAV and went to dinner at Forgeddaboutit Pizza. We had been looking forward to that the whole trip! We were not disappointed. The pizza was great!
We drove out to NMAV to see the manufactured home of a couple we had met on Sunday, to look at the various properties one more time in daylight and then look at them after dark. After driving around to look at Lot 11 (Block 1), the lot for sale by an owner and the lot on Loco, we decided the lot on Loco could work if the electricity on Lot 11 was too exorbitant.
Then we stopped in and looked at the couple’s manufactured home. It was a Karsten Big Tex. We really liked it and it was very helpful talking to someone who had recently been through the whole process from land purchase to moving-in. They also showed us their metal building and pump house. After we left their house we stopped at each of the three lots and it turned out the one on Loco was the most favorable. The local lights (including the rest stop) were not too bad and the Deming light dome was partially hidden by vegetation and buildings. On Lot 11 there was nothing obscuring the light dome of Deming and Las Cruces. An added bonus was that we really liked the couple next door on Loco who would be our neighbors!
Mission accomplished so we went back to the hotel and went to bed.
Friday and Saturday - November 1 and 2 Deming, NM to Ft Worth, TX: Saturday night we went to dinner with some old friends at a nice country French restaurant, Saint Emilion, in the Ft Worth Arts district. We spent a couple of hours and caught up with each other’s lives. Then we went back to the hotel and turned in for the night.
Sunday November 3 Ft Worth, TX to Monroe, LA: We always dread that frantic drive across Dallas-Ft Worth on I-20, but we found the perfect day to cross in record time - early on the Sunday after the fall time change back to standard time! We flew across the metroplex and were soon out on rural I-20 cruising at 75 mph.
Monday November 4 Monroe to Bastrop, LA to Tuscaloosa, AL: Today we made a small detour to meet up with two of Lori's cousins. One lives in Arkansas and the other is visiting from California. We had some tome to kill before we needed to be there so we washed the car, got gas and then went to the Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge north of Monroe. There are walkways that jut into the lake to allow you to see the bayou and it’s wildlife. It was a very interesting place.
After we left Bastrop and got on the road we drove as far as Tuscaloosa then stopped for the night. On Tuesday October 5, we drove on into Canton. We got up early to avoid Atlanta traffic but got delayed by several traffic slow-downs due to construction on I-20. The planned four hour drive ended up taking almost six plus lunch. But we made it home around 2:30 pm and were happy to be home again.
It was a fun trip, we got some great photographs, visited with old friends and a few relatives and maybe found a place to move to. We now had some serious thinking to do!
