I filled up one of my propane tanks here at the Fairgrounds this morning, and these full tanks certainly aren't getting any lighter. I started my full-timing life putting my newly refilled propane tank in the bed of the truck to transport back to the Arctic Fox. But it got too heavy to lift it into the bed of the truck so I started carrying it in the passenger seat floorboard, that way I didn't have to lift it as high. Well now even that's starting to feel heavy, I'm not sure where I go from here, maybe I'll just tie a rope to it and drag it behind the truck.

And if that wasn't enough work for one day, I also hitched up the Arctic Fox, dragged it over to the dumpsite, and emptied the black and gray water tanks, to get ready for my carefully planned and scripted move tomorrow morning. It sure takes a lot of the fun out of going somewhere when there are plans involved.

So now I'm all packed up, hitched up, and things are put away, with not much left to do but bring in my living room slide and be on my way. And just about this time is when I would normally say something like... I'm heading for New Mexico but I don't know exactly where yet. I might stop in Deming at Rockhound State Park, or maybe head up to Silver City and stay at the City of Rocks State Park. I guess we will all find out when I get there.... If those days are over it's too bad, they will be sorely missed.

                                        Theboondork

I wasn't interested enough in seeing a bunch of Dinosaurs to actually pay to go  there. So I walked over to the area while they were closed, and took two pictures from a couple of hundred yards away through a chain-link fence.

These dinosaurs are supposed to be life-size and this critter is really big. So for those of you that wish all of the extinct animals were still around, why stop with the Dodo Bird and the Woolly Mammoth, let's bring this one back too, 40 feet long and can swallow a human being without even chewing. Since I spend a lot of time in the Colorado mountains I have similar feelings about folks that want to reintroduce Grizzly Bears to Colorado.

I went to Walmart this morning and picked up a few things, and filled up with diesel on the way back. I don't think I'll be driving anywhere until it's time for me to leave Wednesday morning so this seemed like a good time to fill up.

 I'm pretty sure I'm going to stay in Deming New Mexico overnight when I leave here, which will give me about a 200-mile drive, which is as much distance as I want to cover in one day. When in Deming I will probably stay at the Walmart overnight, I've done that before, and it's always been okay.

With my one-track mind I've always found it difficult to think of anything else once I've made up my mind to go somewhere, it seems like my destination is the only thing that interests me until I get there. Normally that's not a big deal because I don't make up my mind where I'm going to go until the last minute, but with reservations hanging over my head, and me having to be somewhere at a certain time, getting there on time is all I can think of.

I'm hoping when I get to Elephant Butte State Park they will be able to clear up a few things about boondocking at the state parks in New Mexico that I don't fully understand. For instance, most of the time boondocking is just an area where you go, just like here at the Pima County Fairgrounds, there are no campsites laid out, it's just a few acres over there next to the lake where you can camp. So how do I make a reservation for that? Does the state Park know how many RVs parked helter-skelter in those 5 acres it will hold? And if not, how does the state Park know when to stop taking reservations for that area?

Personally, I don't think this whole situation has been very well thought out. So I'm hoping they will go back to something resembling normal and not have reservations for boondocking. Who knows, maybe I will find out when I get to Elephant Butte that things are already pretty normal again.... Or is normal too much to hope for nowadays?

                                          Theboondork

This little girl is so small she's having trouble hanging on to the horse. Not as much trouble as I would have, but troubles nonetheless.

Some of the Hunter Jumpers, checking out the competition.

A few of the Hunter Jumpers horse trailers parked next to my boondocking spot. At least the flies leave me alone when there's horse trailers around.

My favorite hot dog place here at the Fairgrounds. Rumor has it this is where, shall we say, horses that don't perform exceedingly well end up.

I hoofed it back over to the Hunter Jumper competition again this morning but only for a little while, I was more interested in watching the show than taking pictures this morning, and it gave me something relaxing to do.

My days here at the Pima County Fairgrounds in Tucson Arizona, have wound down to a precious few and I'm now required to leave here on the 14th so I can be on time for my reservation at Elephant Butte State Park by the 15th. This is not the way I like to travel, but I will have to deal with this until I find a way to live the way I want, without having to decide when and where I want to be several weeks from now.

And speaking of when and where I want, I feel that if I can live in a smaller, easier to deal with, easier and cheaper to drive RV, I may be able to find more places I can stay, possibly without depending on the New Mexico state parks reservation system, and more time staying on BLM land.

Some news person on the Internet was making a point that bringing people from all over the world to Mexico and getting them into the United States, across the Mexican border, which is controlled by the Mexican drug cartels, has reached a point where it's almost as lucrative to the cartels as smuggling drugs.

Now I know that bit of information has almost nothing to do with me and my travels except that I don't see any time in the near future when I will feel safe and secure anywhere near the Mexican border. I know other folks want to go there, and I say more power to em. But for me, there are other places I can go so I don't need to take even the slightest risk of stumbling into drug smugglers or other nefarious types that are coming across the border in droves while the border patrol is tied up taking care of all the little kids.

                                                     Theboondork

They start them young on the Hunter Jumper course, it's not quite as dangerous as some of the other horse sports

Hunter Jumpers live to jump. But they don't care about hunting even though that's half their name.

A picture from the old days? Could be. They dressed just like this when I was in high school resetting the jumps they knocked over.

There was a couple of womenfolk that looked a little long in the tooth, which is horse talk for "old as dirt."

I guess they're okay while their still on the horses back, but it's a long way to the ground when you're that age.

This is either the proper way to sit on a jumping horse, or me hanging onto his mane for dear life.

At least the girls don't have to worry about what to wear during these competitions. I think their grandmother can hand them down their old boots and jodhpurs.