On Sunday the 19th we packed up and hit the road to the Triple T RV Park in Kerrville, TX. Our plans were to just stay there one night then drive on to Fort Stockton and on up north to Roswell, NM. Well, all those plans changed in a hurry.
The weather forecast for the Fort Stockton area was for high winds with gusts up to 50 mph with the same on I-10 all the way there. The weather guesser's were calling for rain and thunderstorms for south Texas so we made the decision to stay put in Kerrville. That turned out to be a mistake in a big way. Buy the time we discovered that the forecasted winds were not as bad as predicted, it was much too late to move.
As the afternoon went on we saw that the forecast's went from rain and thunderstorms to severe thunderstorms with rain amounts in the 3 to 8 inch range and possibility of tornados. Not good folks!
At 6 PM we decided to close up the rig and ride out the storms in the parks clubhouse. After we settled in and got the TV tuned to the Weather Channel, several other folks came up as well. So we all sat around watching the TV and keeping up with the weather on our smart phones and my iPad.
Around 7 PM, the sky unloaded with torrential rains like we haven't seen in a very long time, accompanied but lightening and some small hail. To make the evening more interesting, we went into tornado warning mode three times, raising the "pucker factor" a few notches. There were several reports of tornados touching down to the south of us but fortunately we didn't get one in our area.
Around 1 AM things settled down some so we all headed back to our rigs to get some sleep. When we extended our slides and going up to the bedroom we noticed that our carpet on both sides of the bed was wet and some water was dripping down through the bat-wing antenna crank tube. We just sopped up what we could and then went to bed at that point and deal with the leak in the morning.
Around 2:30, we heard a tremendous crack from some lightening that shook the rig. We immediately knew there was a strike somewhere close to us but we didn't how close until in the morning. When talking to the park owner in the morning, he asked me if I heard that crack. He told me that the lightening strike hit his neighbor's house and the resulting fire burned their house to the ground. Those homes are only a mile from the park!
The source of our leak was the wire tube for our antenna. The calking was gone completely and since the rains were so hard, water ran down the tube, onto the top of our bedroom slide and then ran down onto the floor. Got 'er fixed.
So, we had a very interesting and eventful time in Kerrville but something we hope to never see again. We really dodged a bullet there! Learn more about the storms here: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CFYQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.srh.noaa.gov%2Fimages%2Fewx%2Fwxevent%2F2012_0319_event_writeup.pdf&ei=uoJwT7zbA-SOiALpt4n7Dg&usg=AFQjCNHwf1QYN5ymvIAwVUlGofkdHTW1Yg
On the 21st we finally got on the road, spending one night in Fort Stockton, TX and then one night in Roswell, NM before arriving here at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, one of our regular stops when traveling on I-40. The Famcamp here is huge with very large pull-through sites that is always welcome when your pulling a 43 foot rig. Kirtland has all the amenities including diesel fuel at the gas station...at $4.09 a gallon.
Yesterday we made a visit to the Unser Racing Museum and has turned into the highlight of our stay here in Albuquerque. The museum's displays tell the story of one of the most celebrated racing families in America, from Louis, Joe and Jerry, down through Bobby and Al Sr., to Bobby Jr. and Al. Jr.
Then there are the race cars. The collection includes cars that were raced on Pikes Peak, AROC, dirt tracks and of course, Indy.
The Unser Museum is actually two in one. In another building there are displays of art and the Unser collection of vintage automobiles. Also housed here is the extensive trophy collection.
03/26/2012
Yesterday we went out to the Petroglyph National Monument.
After checking in at the visitor center, we took a hike in Boca Negra Canyon and climbed to the top of the mesa. Some of the petroglyphs date back at least 700 years and it's believed some may be up to 3000 years old.
This is our last day at Kirtland. Next stop, Winslow, AZ.
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