Friday December 6, 2013, Las Cruces, NM

I stayed in bed this morning until the temperature came up to what it was when I went to bed last night.  Gerri got up earlier and went into the front room where it was warmer.  The temperature had fallen into the 20's during the night.  While I was still in bed I heard a neighbor scraping ice off his windshield.  It had rained off and on during the night but our windshield was clear of ice.  It is nearly vertical so water usually runs off before freezing.

We started our coffee and got caught up on Facebook and e-mail.  For some reason Outlook won't work on Gerri's computer, even after I installed a newer version.

Brr! Icicles on the coach

The only things to do before traveling were to unhook the power and bring the slides in  We were pulling out of the park by 10:15.  Did I say all we had to do?  There was lots of sheet ice on top of the slide out awnings.  We had to run the small slides in and out twice to get the ice off.  The large slide awning we tried 5 or six times and the awning was still out about 10 inches.  We drove to a Walmart before getting back on the interstate and tried once more.  Apparently the ice had blown away, the awning rolled up properly.

Ice crystals on the trees

Limited visibility

Once on the road it was still overcast and visibility got worse as we traveled west.  The shoulders on the bridges were icy and we saw one major wreck on the east bound side.  By the time we got to where I-10 and I-20 intersected I was down to 40 mph.  I couldn't clear the windshield because the wipers were iced up.  We stopped at a picnic area at mile post 185.  It was crowded and visibility wasn't more that a couple hundred feet.  I cleared the ice off the wipers.  I also made another pot of coffee.  It looked like it was going to be a long day.  The road signs have about 4 inches of icicles hanging from the bottoms.  I was thinking we will be lucky if we get to Las Cruces today.

The conditions with the icy fog reminded me of the Pogonip I have seen before in northern Nevada.  The road was icy on the shoulder and the grass and brush all covered with ice.  As we reached lower altitudes the fog cleared some.

We stopped for fuel in Van Horn.  While I was fueling up, Gerri heard a noise on the roof.  It sounded like some kind of knocking.  I couldn't think of any thing up there that would cause any noise.  The noise continued so I stopped to check it.  I had to get the ladder out to check the roof.
The noise turned out to be the the #60 TV antenna.  I couldn't find a way to stop it.  We tried turning off the 12 volt power.  No luck so we continued west with the antenna still spinning.

The check engine light came on just after we passed Soccorro.  I stopped at a picnic area and checked the oil.  All the gauges had were in the normal operating range.  The engine oil level was right.  When I turned on the engine the warning light didn't come back on.  Some time later the antenna stopped searching.  I guess it must have thawed out.

In the mid afternoon the weather cleared and it became sunny.  No more 40 mph.  Wrong!  We got to El Paso and for about 20 miles it was stop and go, going being about 30 mph maximum.

We had decided on stopping for overnight at the Hacienda RV and Rally Resort in Las Cruces.  We had stayed there during a Freightliner Club Rally in 2004.  We pulled in just before dark and were assigned the space next to the one we stayed in 8 years ago.  I had forgotten that we had gained an hour when we passed into the Mountain Time Zone.

I checked the map and our next destination will be Casa Grande.  It is 345 miles.  I made reservations at the Casita Verde RV Resort.  It is an Encore Resort so I got a discount because of our membership in the Thousand Trails system.

The resort is only a couple of miles from cousins Ben and Marridy's home.  Gerri will check and see if they are available for a short visit.

As usual TV and computer time rounded out the evening.