It Just Keeps Getting Better

Went to Ft. Davis in the Davis Mtns last weekend. Left Thursday afternoon got there just at dusk. 200 miles, about 4.5 hours at 55 mph. The paved road in, is rough, narrow, hilly and twisty for about 25 miles. But so little traffic maybe 1-3 cars, I drive a lot down the middle some.
We put in some carpeting a friend gave us. It helped with road & drive train noise. But it really helped keep the RV warmer and our feet never got cold. It was warmer also than our last trip to Leasburg Dam. This time: Mid 30's at night, 60's during late afternoon.
Friday we went to McDonald Observatory to see a Lunar observation. It was very interesting, informative, and views through a 16" computer run telescope were spectacular. It was semi-cloudy and we could still see much detail.
Linda lost and found her keys to the bike, we have more spares now. The rough road caused the coffee pot to 1/2 fall down and we found many more rattles, now fixed.
We saw many javelinas and deer. Luckily not at night back from the Observatory.
There is a 75 mile loop around the west side of the Davis Mtns we've take many times. It is very scenic and remote. Just to the south is Alpine and Marfa I drove to on Saturday by myself. Also less than 100 miles, but very scenic. We checked out the local reality company photos, homes are moderately expensive. But there is no shopping or medical help, except for 30 miles down in Alpine. Reselling a home probably would take years.
The return trip home was very windy, 15-30 mph headwinds. We took it better than the last trip thru there, more experience, and used the mtns to shield some of the winds.
Got 9.2 mpg going both ways. Last time it was windy only got 6-7 mpg. I slowed down (25-35-45 at times), rather than fight it. We were the slowest thing on the Interstate. Most RV's were still going 70 into the wind (That would be upwards of 100 mph headwind). There is NO conservation in this country. We still got home by 1:00 pm, Why rush? We're retired!

Our first

We went just a short distance to Leasburg Dam State Park on Friday in the RV. It is just 20 miles north of Las Cruses in Radium Springs.
Thursday was cold rainy and snowy day here, so it was not warm on Friday either. We arrived between 4 & 5 pm so we did not get a spot with electric. My first concern was no water, I only carry enough to flush the toilet a few times while we are traveling. We found water and hooked up twice for more.
As soon as the sun went down it turned cold in the high 30's. Got down to 23 overnight.
We put 3 blankets on the bed and went to bed about 8-8:30. I had the 12v propane heater on but turned it down to 50 inside. Getting out of bed to use the bathroom was a quick process. The heater both nights came on every 10 minutes.
Sat. I invited the motorcycle group to have lunch with us. 2 that said they were coming didn't, but Mark, Susy, Chris, Cristina, Mom and Helen did. It warmed up into the mid 50's, Linda cooked a great feast, and I did hamburgers on the grill. Great time. Before dark they all left. It did not get as cold Sat. night so we only had 2 blankets and I kept it warmer in the RV.
We only used about 30% of the propane tank with lots of cooking on the propane stove/oven. I had the run the generator 3 times in 2 days to charge up the 2 6v batteries that runs the lights and appliances.
So did we really miss not having 120v house power? Not really. The TV, stereo, computer (recharging) and electric heaters would not work but we all could survive without them. It was roughing it for us, still had lights (12v) and heat. There were 2 tenters in the park I would not do nor have done in 30+ years.
We only used about 1.5 gallons gasoline using the generator for 2 hours to recharge the batteries. Even with that we still got 8 MPG.
My new ScanGauge monitoring 30 engine functions works great too. Still debugging extra readings. It helped me find a sweat spot for holding the throttle in a fixed position for maximum MPG and got 11 mpg on the way home, after the 8 mpg fill up. The $131 spent will have a payback.
I was able to go for a 2 hour bike ride on Sunday morning. I drove up to Caballo dam and found many empty spots, so we could have had power. But it was 45 miles more north and our company may not have showed up Sat.
Good experience. We can stay anywhere now. But came home with a list of things needed if we dry camp again, also known as boondocking.
The Venture in the pic starts up in cold weather and after sitting for weeks. Love it too. It gets dirty fast behind the RV on dusty roads and in the rain.