Mother Nature was nasty again in Montana. This photo was taken a couple days before we departed. Friday and Saturday Montana was inundated with a massive snowstorm–our neck of the woods probably had 15-24″ of new snow. And so incredibly cold!
It was a cold, windy night in Wheatland, WY and we were quite ready to depart on Thursday morning. Foggy, cold–off we went to do battle with Denver, Colorado.
Denver was awful–we spent 30 minutes traveling 3 miles due to an accident and then the construction began. Rough, bumpy roads, lots of traffic, just not a pleasant experience. Colorado Springs roads were also under construction. Don’t these road construction people know winter is coming??
Pueblo and Trinidad, Colorado also had construction–it was just a tough 387 miles but we hit the jackpot with our Thursday night campground. The Cowboy didn’t like my pick for campground on Wednesday night in Wheatland so he picked this one. He scored!
We stayed in the NRA Whittington Center south of Raton, New Mexico. Within this huge shooting complex of 52 sections of ground there are two campgrounds set among the cedars and pines–all with full hookups, wildlife and views. Plus of all things, they have decent wi-fi. If gunfire bothers you, this isn’t the place to stay. There weren’t many people out and about on the different ranges today. We thought Ben Avery Shooting Complex in Phoenix was big–this one is gigantic! But at dusk it’s quiet and dark–our kind of campground!
These first two photos of the entrance to Whittington were taken through our filthy windshield–it’s an impressive complex.
Our site–gravel, not very level but with full hookups–$40/night. 
Our wildlife, right across the road from us.
Friday we rolled on down the road another 414 miles and ended up in Hatch, New Mexico at a small, tight gravel lot kind of RV park. Clean and neat but just a RV park. We are finally warm–warm enough to run the air conditioner! We LOVE the air conditioner in this Beaver–it’s in the basement–none of the roaring noise RVs usually have from individual ceiling air conditioners.
I have seasonal, unexplained, happens suddenly for whatever reason allergies. I’m thinking those cedar trees in the NRA campground did a number on my allergies. I was miserable Friday–sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes. Finally gave up and took a Benadryl which helped some but not enough.
The Cowboy didn’t sleep well Friday night and was raring to go on Saturday morning. Jodee, no green chile cheeseburger for us–Sparky’s closed at 4pm.😩 We pulled out of Hatch about 8am and rolled into the driveway of our home about 11:30. Whew–that was a lot of miles and my driver drove every single mile of it.
We had such a close call in Hatch. As with so much of our route this trip, there was construction in Hatch. The main street through Hatch had been recently paved and there was no striping added as of yet. The driveway to the RV park was narrow and the Cowboy edged over to the left a bit to give himself more room to make the right turn. Turn signals on and as we are turning some moron in a pickup roars around us on the RIGHT side honking his horn!! There aren’t enough bad words to describe this idiot–he drove around construction barriers right before the RV park driveway in order to pass us on that side. The Cowboy said he had been right on our trailer bumper since leaving the freeway. We had to stop and take deep breaths–I was cursing the guy–the Cowboy was shaking his head. I try so hard when I see a RV to give them room–I know how difficult it can be to maneuver those rigs into tight places. And speaking of tight spaces–it’s a good thing my driver is also an excellent backer–because you could not maneuver a forty foot motorhome pulling a 14 foot trailer out of the Hatch RV Park “big rig friendly” sites without at least one back up.
Now the fun begins! Unloading is never my favorite part and this year will be even worse as I brought so much food with us. The house looks great as does the yard–Milton does a fabulous job!
By late Sunday evening everything was out of the motorhome and the majority of it put away. I ran out of steam and just stuck the bins in corners until tomorrow–it can wait. The Cowboy started several projects today–we went and retrieved the backhoe from its summer home (our friend Brian stores it for us and uses it when he needs a backhoe.) The Cowboy is going to start the guest house porch roof project–uffdah–that’s a big project! 
It’s amazing what heat and water will do–our trees are growing so much, even the ones we planted this past spring right before heading back to Montana have grown at least a foot.
Restoration Cowboy Style 
We got back to central TX from Wyoming 2 weeks ago. I-80 closed today (again!), and we’re glad we’re back. This Covid thing has gotten old.
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Glad you had a safe trip and yes, this Covid thing has gotten old, way old!
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So happy to see you safely at home again in Arizona. Wow, what a trip!!
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It seemed this trip was way, way longer than any of the others–of course it wasn’t but the miles just kept on coming.
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Your Cowboy is a gem with all vehicles! But you knew that! Welcome back, those plants look very nice. I might need a pint of the Cowboys blood, as he has incredible energy! Take care, Rawn and Joann
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I hit the jackpot when I married Michael–he can do anything and has more energy than men way younger than he.
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Welcome back to the land of sunshine. So glad you made it. But close calls like that moron put you in make me so angry.
Already with the projects!!! Looking forward to your blogs about the progress.
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That guy was a moron–he’s lucky he wasn’t a flat moron!
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oh goody, I love to see your progress with the AZ home. You do such nice updates. I love your grass plumes. We’ll need some pics to refresh our minds.
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Photos will be forthcoming–and thanks, sometimes I think we are just winging it by the seat of our pants!
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So glad to hear you are back home here in Az safe & sound. Don’t over do it right off the bat now. Our temps up here in the valley have finally dropped those triple digits! Now for some real Az Winter😊👍
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It was so hot on Friday when we arrived–we are glad to see some cooler temps! Thanks for the welcome home message!
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So glad you’re home in Arizona for the winter (and safe!). It looks like you got out of Montana just in time. Brrrrr!!!! Enjoy those gorgeous sunsets and warm weather.
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We escaped that snowstorm by the skin of our teeth!
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Glad to read you are all settled. You don’t waste anytime getting started on projects…we would need a week to regroup!
Gay
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No, the Cowboy doesn’t let any grass grow under his feet!
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So happy the trip is behind you and sounds like
you found your home in good shape….no surprises,
Hopefully you can take your time getting settled.
Would like to see some first sight pictures of home,
like you have nothing else to do. 🥰
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No surprises this time. I will get right on those photos!😆
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Glad you made it safely despite the crazies. Unloading is a pain and making all those trips up and down the steps is a knee killer. Sounds like you are fairly settled. Glad you found your trees and bushes doing well.
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Steps are definitely knee killers!
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It seems none of us were meant to have one of those cheeseburgers 🙂 Alas, they will still there next time. Glad you survived the long drive, construction and idiot drivers, and are once again back at your AZ home! How wonderful to find your plantings doing so well. Thanks for bringing this lovely cooler weather with you, we’re loving it!
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It was a might too warm for us so we were glad to bring the cooler temps!
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I well know that great feeling of relief when one reaches their home destination after a long hard journey. Happy to see you made it safely. I really like the looks of those growing desert plants of yours. And I noticed how you placed the Cochise Stronghold in the photo as a central backdrop. Good stuff:))
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I love it when I get a photo compliment from the great photographer, Al!! This year’s drive was just a tough one.
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I love it when I get a photo compliment from the great photographer, Al!! This year’s drive was just a tough one.
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I THOUGHT I saw you on the highway south Trinidad Tuesday! We had been to Walmart to buy supplies and just got on the highway north when you passed going south. LOL My cousin were at a cabin north of Weston Co. We are back in Springfield MO and I head home to Texas in a day or two. Glad you got to your summer home safely.
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That’s amazing you would recognize us!! Safe travels!
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