Just a day in our life in Brown County, IN

Going to be a beautiful day today. Sun is up and it is already warm out. Hooray!

We’ve got everything out of Jennie – now we just have to give her a real good cleaning. Why doesn’t that sound like much fun? Instead of sitting here at the computer I should be out there.

Bill’s back is bothering him again, this time it has lasted for a few days. Sure hope he doesn’t need more surgery. But unless it gets a lot better soon he WILL go to the doc.

I found my computer program disks that were in the RV. Right where I put them for safe keeping in the box with the printer. But now I can’t find a couple pieces of stained glass that I made last summer. I want to hang them on the front door and they are no where to be found. So guess I’ll make new ones. I love working with the glass.

I was adding a stained glass piece I did last summer to the web site www.FantasyManorArtStudio.com  when I discovered I’ve completely forgotten what password I used with the site so I can’t publish the pages I updated. 

Actually I think gremlins are at work because I’ve tried every single password it could be. So now I’m waiting to hear from the hosting company about resetting the darn thing!

And my rant yesterday about the state sales tax – OMG! I’ve already got the letter with the access code – came in yesterdays mail. I’m impressed. And I’ve gone on line and filled in the forms. One thing taken care of. I hope.

Got our new weeping willow trees planted yesterday and more yard clean up work done. Things are starting to look really nice after a hard winter. And I went out and sprayed “Deer Off” to keep our hungry friends away from our plants. Now I have a bag of flower seeds I need to sprinkle out back between the house and the woods. Should do it today or tomorrow ‘cause it is supposed to start raining again Thursday. It’s so different here – I was sitting out on the back porch just listening to the different birds sounds. From the ratatattat of the wood peckers to the sound of our neighbors rooster. Soon we’ll hear the tree frogs and cicadas. And the occasional tree falling down and gun shots. I think I saw a couple humming birds yesterday so hurried and cooked up some nectar for them and filled the feeders. Haven’t seen any yet today. But this guy is back again this year. He's so pretty. 

And Bill not only listed Jennie for sale he listed the Ram truck too.

Both are on Craig’s list. 

Hope some one wants them. We sure don’t need them sitting around here.

Going to go hunt for my missing glass pieces one more time. I remember wrapping them in bubble wrap for storing but where did I put them.....?????

a little bit of RANTING

Whoopie! No rain for the next three days. AND the temperature is raising, might be 80 by Wednesday. That will make Bill happy. But more rain for the weekend. Second wettest April since record keeping began. Poor farmers can’t get their crops planted. Last summer most of the corn and soybeans were lost because of drought. Sure glad I’m not a farmer.

Right after breakfast I’m going out in Jennie and get the last of the stuff out of her. Just pots and pans, cleaning stuff, under the sink bathroom stuff and the bedding. Maybe we’ll even start cleaning her. So much of the stuff that was in her this year belongs in the Alfa (our other motorhome a 40’ diesel with slides) so it is just stacked in the garage waiting till we go pick up the diesel and bring it home for a while. Anything that is a duplicate is going right straight to Goodwill! I say now.

We got some good news bad news in the mail. The good part our house taxes are half of what they were last year. Yeah! The bad part – that means the assessed value of the house is half too. Oh well we’re not going to sell anyway so who cares. While on the house we are still waiting for an estimate on fixing the ceiling downstairs and the floor upstairs from the water leak. In the meantime can’t use the bathroom upstairs. And when they start fixing them probably won’t be able to use either one for a couple of days. Interesting thought.

My poor laptop – I wanted to use it last night and discovered my brand new mouse won’t work. What is it with mouses and that laptop? Maybe it is just batteries – hope so. This is the second mouse that has quit working in a couple of months. Speaking of quit working – got a new battery for my watch and it is keeping time fine now. Thank goodness. But that means the last battery lasted only six months – that is strange.

Worked on our web page some yesterday. All the necklaces etc I made during our trip had to be added. Got the bracelets completely added but still have to finish the necklaces. Got them on the page but still have to do the individual close up pages. Those take a while.  Necklace page if you want to check them out. Wonder how that new law that is being talked about – the one dealing with state taxes on on-line sales will effect little web pages like ours?

The next part is RANTING!

I am still trying to get the taxes the state wants for not selling any merchandise straightened out. What a joke. Took forever to get a real person on the phone. They explained what to do and it all has to be done on-line. Have to find the forms (they can’t send them) fill them out saying we didn’t sell anything and that should do it. And of course it has to be done before May 15^th. So I went on line. First I had to register. No problem. Whoops. Problem. After I registered I got a notice that to get to the forms to fill them in I need an access code. But they can’t email it to me. They have to send it by snail mail. WHAT? Everything that I have to do HAS to be done on-line but the one thing they have to do comes by USMail in 7 – 10 days. Maybe.

While we were gone I got a letter from the IRS. Saying I owe them money from last year. And of course interest and penalties. But the strange part is according to their letter I over paid them. Huh? Or maybe I can’t do math any more. Their letter says

Tax you owe                2211.00

Payments                -   2233.00

Failure to pay                  22.00

Penalty                            66.33                                  

Interest                            31.60

Amount due                     97.93   by November 2012    - so of course there is now more interest due. Have not been able to get through to their phone – hours of wait time. When we’re in town next we’ll go to their office.

If we’d been home all this would be taken care of a long time ago. Going to work on my web page now see if I can at least get it finished. Still too cool and damp to go out to the RV. 

Wonderful friends Great Company

Sorry about yesterday. Seemed like the day flew by. Around 10 p.m. I realized I’d not posted. We were busy getting ready for our company. Straightening up, cooking (Bill not me) and running errands. Also had contractor come to look at the water damage and someone stopped by to look at the truck. Might be interested in buying it – I hope – we sure don’t need it.

One neat thing we did see yesterday but I didn’t have my camera with me is a new vendor down by the grocery store. Chain saw carvers. Boy do they have some neat stuff. One thing I fell in love with was a plant bench with carved owls on both sides of it. Bill liked a little black bear crawling out of a tree stump. Here is their web site http://www.ricknasby.com/homepage.html
Our company from Alaska – we met them in Mexico – came around 3 p.m. so that kept us occupied for the rest of the day. We spent the rest of the day visiting with our friends Craig and Charity. Bill fixed a delicious dinner. Veal picatta with parsley potatoes and salad. No apple pie though as I managed to eat the whole thing myself!
After dinner we introduced them to NASCAR racing on a short track. Unfortunately it was a boring race until the last 20 laps. Kyle didn’t do well – also didn’t do real well in the Nationwide race the night before. Guess every weekend can’t be great.
This morning it is raining supposed to rain most of the day. Dark and gloomy out. Good day to read.
We all went out to breakfast and then Craig and Charity left for Indianapolis where they have to decide how to return home. Fly or drive to Washington state.
Now we’re home and Bill is writing an ad for Craigslist for the Jamboree. Hate to see her go but……

Life in the Country

A day with no rain, at least not yet and it is up in the 60s.

Ran – well drove – into town this morning and got some plants. Didn’t we say we weren’t going to get any plants this year? The yard cleaner was here yesterday and now everything looks so bare we just couldn’t resist. Got some petunias for the pots out front and three beautiful weeping willow trees. And would you believe they were being delivered as we pulled into the driveway. Talk about service. Bought them from our local (Columbus) Menards.

Took some pictures around the house. Some growing wild flowers. They are all over in the woods and the yard.

Looking out on the side yard by the pond.

When the fishies heard me walking around they all surfaced looking for food. They need to wait for Bill to get out there and play with them.

Had to make another trip just a while ago into Nashville – this is our one and only grocery store for the whole town.

Need to pick up some bread and oil. Bill is making milanese – a whole lot of it. Then we freeze it and he can have sandwiches or dinner when ever he wants some. While in the store I noticed this magazine. Chickens – sure didn’t know chickens had their own magazines. Didn't think they could read......

Heading back home I just snapped this to show some of the flowering trees around here. They are so pretty.

And a visitor out back. Couldn’t get a good picture of the cardinals or the jays. Maybe later they will sit still. 

Trying to get some stuff done around here - vacuuming, laundry etc cause we are getting company tomorrow. Can't wait to see them. 

Also watching NASCAR practice on TV and tonight there is a Nationwide race. Hope Kyle has a better weekend than last. 

Getting back into the swing of being home.

Yesterday was UGLY UGLY – cold and rainy most of the day. It’s the end of
April for heavens sake – what happened to Spring?

We went into town early to see some friends and have breakfast then to Menards (our Home Improvement store.) Bill wants a couple more weeping willows for out front. Like we don’t have enough trees already. But they are pretty. Then of course to Wal*Mart to get what we forgot on Monday. I was craving apple pie so got a couple of frozen ones. Cooked one immediately when we got home. Half of it is gone and so is my craving. What was I thinking?

Rain let up a little in the afternoon so we hauled more stuff out of Jennie. I thought we had it all out but realized all the computer program disks I always take with us “just in case” haven’t surfaced yet. And a couple of books I haven’t read yet are missing. Guess I need to start going through the bags in the garage. Right now I’m transferring all the data on the laptop to my external hard drive so I can transfer some of it to the PC. Finally got most of that done and the PC updated. Hope I didn’t delete anything I still need.

The sun is now out and it is pretty but still cold. Doing the last of the trip laundry and still unpacking bags and trying to remember what came out of the Alfa so we can put it in a different pile for when we get it home.

Spent part of the day reading a library book that I needed to finish before tonight when it expired. First time I’ve even come close to not finishing one in seven days.

Going to post this now as I heard the dryer buzz.

This year in the motorhome we did 5,963.4 miles and were gone just one day short of six months 179 days. Longer than usual. 

Wonderful Day Yesterday.

It still seems strange to be home. Yesterday I had to look for the plates to serve dinner. And sitting here at my computer desk using the big PC instead of the laptop. I go to check something and realize I need to transfer it from the laptop to here. Just haven’t got around to it yet.

It rained here yesterday while we were driving back from Indianapolis (more about that later) then stopped and now is raining again and getting much cooler. Supposed to rain most of the day. So far Indiana is experiencing the 4th wettest April in history. Lots of flooding in the northern and western parts of the state.
So yesterday. Spent early part of morning still taking care of business. Last year when we put some of the Wind Spirits in the Antique Mall for sale – ha ha- we had to apply for an Indiana business license. So we did. We had a booth for two months and didn’t sell a thing. Just cost us money. Well when we got home we found a letter from Indiana Tax wanting $780 in taxes to cover our sales. WHAT SALES? And a fine for not filing the forms. WHAT FORMS? So after a long push 2, push 5, push 3 telephone game we got a person who could explain to us what happened. Because we didn’t file the form – which we didn’t know about and which we were supposed to complete on line the gov estimated a tax amount. Nice of the gov. So any way we either have to go on line register with the business section, fill out the form saying we sold nothing or fill out a form to saying we opened the business and closed the business the same day…….and that should take care of everything. Do I believe that? Well we’ll see.
So after that long telephone conversation we were sitting and shaking our heads when the phone rang again. It was our 4th son Paul. He was between planes in Indianapolis and would we like to come up to see him for lunch? Is the Pope Argentine? So we jumped in the car and headed up there. Picked him up and went to a diner to lunch.

Great to visit with him.
Then drove in the rain to get home after leaving him at the airport. By the time we got home the rain had let up so we started to drag stuff out of Jennie. Now we have stuff in bags all over the house and garage. While unloading our friend, our house sitter, showed up so we had him carry a few loads then stopped for the day. I fixed a roast and potatoes and we visited for quite a while. After dinner we sat out on the back porch and enjoyed the evening and watched two deer feed.
So ended yesterday – now we’re off to town again to get things we need and have breakfast. Then home to do some cleaning that needs to be done before we have company this weekend.
Just called the insurance company about the water damage. They will get back to us within a day or two.

Great Day

Didn't get a chance to post today between unloading, taking care of business and running into Indianapolis to visit with our son who was between flights. Totally unexpected.
So will write about it tomorrow.

Back Home in Indiana

Yes we are back home in Indiana. I really did try to get to this sooner to day but didn’t work out that way as you can see. Yesterday evening we were pooped. I was in bed trying to read by 8:30 and turning the light out by 9:00. We got quite a bit done after we got home yesterday. Brought most of the food out of Jennie from the refrigerator, freezer and cupboards. Then had to put it all away in the house. Also went through six months worth of mail. Luckily only a couple of bills that needed taking care of. Guess I should be glad for the Internet and paperless billing and paying. Nice to sit and read all our Christmas cards though.

One of the hardest things with coming home is getting used to going up and down all the stairs. From the walk out basement where all our hobbies are kept to the top floor where the computers are. Up and down and down and up. But back to our last day on the road.
I mentioned that we left the campground while it was still dark out as we were both up and couldn’t sleep because of the trains. This is going through Saint Louis. At least I didn’t get us lost this time.

Once into Illinois it started to get light out. A kind of pretty sunrise considering all the clouds.

As it got daylight we started to see all the standing water in the fields. Looked like we were passing lakes when we really were going through farm land.

And by Illinois the gasoline had gone up to $3.59 a gallon. What happened to the 3.09 in Oklahoma? Not too much to take pictures of crossing Illinois that I haven’t already photographed many many times.
So here into Indiana – only about 100 miles from home.

And more flooded farm lands around the Wabash and White Rivers.

Oh Boy – Brown County – 30 miles from home.

And then Nashville our town – seven miles from home.

The little (four blocks long) main street of Nashville.

The last mile home. It has sound.

And here is Jennie out front. A lot of the trees already have their new spring leaves on them. Another week or two and everything will be really green.

And a quick look over the porch rail towards the woods. Looks like all our little fishies made it through the winter. They were waiting for Bill to feed them.

Took a look in the 1st floor – main – bathroom and saw that the ceiling has quite a bit of water damage to it from the leak in the upstairs bathroom. Will call the insurance company tomorrow to see what if anything can be done to repair/replace it. The wood floor also has some minor damage from the standing water. And the tile floor upstairs is now loose---arrgg---always something. Thank heavens our friend checked on the house every couple of days or this could have been a real catastrophe. Seems like it might be a leak in a pipe in the wall behind the toilet.
While we were in Mexico I read in our hometown newspaper that there was a problem with the county water. I wrote about it. Lots of iron in it was discoloring the water. It was okay to drink but not to wash clothes in!!! Anyway – in the basement is a ½ bath. Usually no one uses the toilet down there during the winter so I’ve got into the habit of flushing it once or twice when we get home to make sure it works okay. Well let me tell you I had the scare of a life time. Thought my heart was going to jump out of my mouth. When I flushed it the bowl filled up with BLOOD RED water! EEK!! “Somethings been decapitated in the toilet tank.” Ran through my mind. Before I made a fool of myself though I remembered the iron in the water. After a couple of flushes it was running clear again. But I still haven’t lifted the tank lid to make sure nothing horrible is in there.
This morning we had to go to town – Columbus – to get gasoline – here in Nashville it is 3.79 in Columbus at Sam’s Club ONLY 3.47. Get poor Willie washed he was still covered with red dust from Sedona and traveling. Also to stock up on meat, chicken and fish from Sam’s Club and to see if any of my favorite authors had new books out. A couple did. Whoopie.
Also to Menards to see our friend who takes care of the house and to Wal*Mart just to replace what we used while in Mexico. Jelly Beans and Ice Cream.

And that’s about it for yesterday and today. Still a lot left in Jennie and then we need to clean her from top to bottom as we are going to sell her. Hate to do it but we sure don’t need two RVs.

We are Home

A very short post today. We left Missouri before it got light out and got home around noon. Eastern time now.
Have part of the RV unloaded. Just the food and electronics not much else. Why is the stuff so much heavier to take out than to put in. It will take us a couple of days to get everything out and then we have to give it a good cleaning as we plan on selling Jennie.
Will write more tomorrow morning when my brain is working again.

Horrible Night

It is 3:30 in the morning and both Bill and I are up. There is a train track right next to the campground and a train goes by on it every half hour! Have not been able to sleep at all. The last one - the final straw blew his horn seven - SEVEN - times. Last time for this campground for us. $40 a night and we can't even get TV because of location and trees. It's a KOA  Saint Louis West on the I-44.
So guess we'll get home in plenty of time to watch race today.
Missed the truck race yesterday but guess that was okay as Kyle had a wreck in his truck half way through the race. Oh well every weekend can't be good. But this one has been particulary bad. Wrecked his car in practice and blew engine in truck in practice.
Next post from home.

300 Hundred Miles from home.

Well which news should I talk about first? Yesterdays brakes or today’s adventure? I guess a little of today and then yesterday and then back to today.

So first off we are in Eureka, MO about 35 miles west of Saint Louis and less than 300 miles from home. Long day over 500 miles, but then tomorrow will be shorter. Home tomorrow. YES!
Back to yesterday. Here is Bill watching the mechanic fix the brakes.

He got to the RV park about 11:00 and it took a couple of hours to get everything done so needless to say we spent the night in where ever we were. El Reno, OK I think. The front brakes were fine it was the back ones that had problems. The pads were gone! Gone! Gone??? Where did they go? I don’t know. And he also put the front tires on the rear and the better rear tires on the front. So that was the brake saga.

This morning we got an early start – 7:30 – it didn’t get light there until after 7:00. Got through Oklahoma City with no problems. Went the way we always do - through the city - the heck with that Kirkpatrick (or what ever it’s called) Turnpike that goes around the city.
We picked up the Toll Road I-44 just outside of Oklahoma City. The weather was cool and overcast most of the day with just some wind. The scenery was kind of neat. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Oklahoma so green.

We stopped for breakfast and gas at a Flying J and to our surprise the gasoline was only $3.099. – That’s quite a bit cheaper than it was in Mexico. Followed the toll road all the way to the Missouri Border. Only two toll booths though. Each one was 9.75 – but the road was very good. And $9.75 seemed so much cheaper than $118.95 – the equivalent in Pesos. And we actually had room on both sides of the mirrors getting through.

I have a question. What on earth would make a person name their roofing company “Fairytale Roofing”?  Just wondering. Saw a billboard for it.

Lots of water laying out in the fields – guess from the rain a few days ago. Sure glad we stayed put and missed it. So into Missouri.

We were planning on stopping in Joplin. Well that didn’t happen. So I found the next RV park, didn’t stop there either. And so it went until we were in Eureka – clear across the state from Joplin. Did enjoy all the redbud and dogwood trees we saw in bloom. I hope ours at home are still blooming.

Also for the first time I saw a sign for a 66oz burger. 66 Ounces! In Doolittle, MO. I guess it is free if you can finish it and the fries and drink in one hour. Otherwise it costs around $37. Strange! Link -

Had to stop for gas one more time – aggravation of the day. A gas pump in a truck stop that won’t let you put more than $100.00 in your tank. It’s a TRUCK STOP for heavens sake. A lot of times you have to rerun your card to get another more gas and another receipt – but this one wouldn’t let us do that. $100 and that was it……

We got here at 6:30 – I thought it was 5:30 but discovered my watch is losing time again. The battery is only six months old so I guess maybe it is time for a new watch. Think I’ve had this one for about 20 years. Hate to give it up though as I really like it.
Also the old camera did a really weird thing today. It numbered the pictures the same as yesterdays pictures?!?!?! And it is getting harder and harder to get the pictures off of it into the laptop. Something wrong with the connection I guess. Trying to tell me something.
After we got settled in – nuts! Can’t get TV too many trees in campground. But MiFi is working good. I actually cooked dinner tonight too. Figured The Driver deserved it. Fixed steak with mushrooms and onions and butter parsley new potatoes. And I even did the dishes.
Before I forget. Russells Truck Stop is in New Mexico about three miles west of the Texas border.
We both will be really glad to get home - just too many days away. Six months.

Waltz across Texas

Like the rest of the US we are sitting here in El Reno, OK watching TV. Can never begin to understand people like that. We are also waiting for a mechanic to come this morning to check the brakes. He will be here after he gets delivery of hopefully the brake pads we need. If he gets here and can do the repair in time we will continue on our way. Had planned on getting to Joplin today….. If not we will stay here until tomorrow. Plans made in jello as always. Bill’s back seems to be a little better this morning. Still sore but not painful.

The sky is clear and the sun is up. It got below freezing here last night. Good day to travel I hope. 

So back to yesterday. We left Tucumcari and stopped just up the highway a ways at Russell’s Truck Stop. I had read about it in a blog I follow and wanted to stop there. It was well worth the stop. Not only was breakfast in the diner delicious the place is interesting. The diner part.

In the travel center – this is the entrance into the restrooms. Elvis on one side Marilyn in her iconic white dress on the other

There is also a classic car museum. OMG! I want them. Everything from 1929 Roadster Coupe to a 2007 Shelby Cobra. Just a couple of pictures of a few cars. A 1958 Ford Fairlane Skyliner.

Don’t know what this is but it was really red with lots of chrome.

1958 Chevy Impala and a 1954 Belaire

Another picture of the Belaire 2 door hardtop.  Check out all the stuff in the background. Too much to see in one stop.

An Elvis doll.

A Roy Rogers display.

Our friends from Canada stopped there too and we visited again for awhile. On our way again. Just a couple of miles and we were crossing into Texas.

Just a shot out the window of a portion of a small town we passed through.

Catching up to and passing our friends. They are hauling a load – truck, 5^th wheel and pulling a trailer. They are headed back to Nova Scotia where they own a campground.

Continued on through Texas where the wind started to pick up. I’ve taken so many pictures of the ride through Texas of the huge cross in Groom and the leaning water just down the road and already posted them several time. So no pictures of Texas – Entering Oklahoma – another state closer to home.

We stopped at a Flying J to fill up and who did we see there? Our friends stopping for lunch. They planned to drive for several more hours.

The red dirt of Oklahoma was really prominent yesterday. Don’t ever remember it being this red. Maybe it’s because the grass and bushes were so green.

Lots of farm fields were filled with new crops – lots and lots of green. The wind was still picking up strength so we decided to call it a day at the KOA near El Reno, Oklahoma. We’ve stayed here before. For a KOA it is inexpensive $31.50 a night. Long pull throughs with WiFi and cable TV. Also in a small depression so we were protected from the wind. Just up the hill is the Cherokees Trading Post and a restaurant and gas station. We’re about 35 miles west of Oklahoma City.

After parking we got info from the main office about mechanics so Bill started making calls looking for someone who would come out to the campground to check the brakes. Finally found someone and as I said they will be here sometime this morning. So now we sit and wait. 

Oklahoma

We are about 30 miles west of Oklahoma City for the night and maybe longer. We left Tucumcari this morning around 8:00 - it was blooming cold out! Bill and our friend Tim getting ready to leave.

We drove 324 miles and are in a KOA campground. Hope to get going again tomorrow but there seems to be a problem with the brakes in Jennie.....She is groaning and growling like crazy when we're stopping. Bill thinks we lost a pad??? We have a mechanic who will be here first thing in the a.m. to check them out. So until then we're kicking back and Bill is taking care of his back. Between the peyote salve, advil and time he says it is feeling a little better. Sure hope so.

Heading out Not sure how far we'll get.

Oh Boy! - We're up but barely moving - well Bill any way. He managed to POP his back last evening when he was hooking up the car - Can just slowly get around this am. Put aspercreme on it and gave him a couple of Advil - hope it kicks in and he starts feeling better.
We will get on the road but now don't know where we'll get to. It is quite cold here - low 30s and there is some wind. But lots of blue sky so hope it will stay okay. We're heading on the I-40 east.
I see from the news that the entire state of Indiana is undert a Tornado Watch for most of the day.

More murals from Tucumcari, NM

So far it is a cloudy cool day here in Tucumcari. But at least we aren’t supposed to get the really bad weather – but it is going below freezing for the next two nights. Brrrrrrr.

We have company here now.  A few years ago in Mexico we met a couple from Canada who own an RV park in Nova Scotia. Since then we’ve kept in contact but haven’t been able to catch up with each other in our travels. Well they are on their way east from Las Vegas and stopped here to visit with us yesterday. After checking the weather they decided to spend the night here too. So great to be able to visit with them again.

But first things first. The mural in the RV park that I posted a picture of the other day. A reader noticed that the center of it looked a little “off.” So I went back to check it out. The center section is a separate piece of ¾” wood that stands out from the two sides. That is why it appears different in the photo.

The added on piece is to the right - the shadow of the 3/4" shows plainly. 

Took this picture last night of the Blue Swallow Motel – at one time this whole section of Route 66 was lined with motels with great neon signs. As late as the 1990s this was a very vibrant busy town. 

The Blue Swallow Motel during the day. Neat old car parked out front.

100% refrigerated air. 

Today is kind of cloudy but tried to get some nice pictures of a few more of the murals. These are part of the Blue Swallow Motel – front James Dean leaning against a car.

And on the side. Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe together and Lauren Bacall looking out a door.

There are 35 murals in this town, some big some just a figure on the side of a building. By searching for Tucumcari on my blogs for the last few years you'll probably be able to see most of them.

And the mural of the train. 

Double clicking on the photos will enlarge them. 

The building behind it used to contain an art gallery owned by the painter of the mural. It is now closed and empty. Too bad so much of the town is closed and empty. More about that later.

Another couple murals this one on the side of an old gas station.

This one on the side of a motel. It’s kind of interesting because the wall isn’t smooth. It is off set blocks

.Something to do with nothing. We were riding around earlier today and spotted this trailer. Cheerful looking.

And we found this Historical Marker. Some info about early Tucumcari. 

Last night while eating dinner in Del's we asked one of the servers about the town. Specifically what was keeping it going. How do people make a living here now? His answer was kind of discouraging. He told us the town is slowly dying. Tourism has slowed way down. The railroad has moved to another area and the ranchers are slowly selling off and out because of the drought. The town has gone from about 20,000 inhabitants in the 1990s to around 7000 now. For a while a group was trying to establish an artists colony here to attract people. That didn't take off. But he said the college here is one of the foremost on wind power technology and that brings in and keeps some of the younger people here. 

So sad in driving around we see so many empty houses and businesses. Sure hope something happens to turn it around or at least stabilize the economy.  

Oh! The sun just popped out - goody. And no wind yet. Maybe we'll get out and about for more pictures later.