With the time change from Mountain to Central, we lost an hour yesterday, so getting up at the same time was actually like getting up an hour early, which we did. As we were putting the horses in the trailer, I saw that somehow, Apollo had snagged his winter blanket in several places on something in the stall, and had made several large tears in it, darn it. They literally jumped in the trailer, as I suspected they would, tucked into their alfalfa, and off we went. No Dunkin Donuts here, and I refuse to do Subway for breakfast (rubber eggs!), so the only other place in town was a Sonic. After filling up with fuel, we parked next to the Sonic, but the front door was locked. As we climbed back into our respective vehicles, though, we saw someone getting served at the drive through, so we tried again, this time walking all the way around the other side of the building until we finally found an open door. We parked on the side street because typically Sonics don’t have much room around them, but evidently this used to be a McDonalds, so it had a large parking lot we didn’t see. No explanation (even when asked!) as to why the front door was locked, and considering the hour, the place was dead, with only two employees working. We got breakfast, and soon discovered why there wasn’t a crowd, the food was pretty poor. We hit the road at last, and headed for Dripping Springs, uneventful drive, thank goodness. We stopped at HEB and picked up a few groceries, starting our New Year’s diet tomorrow. Last year we definitely indulged ourselves, so this year, our goal is to get more fit. I’ve been walking regularly, but unfortunately, yesterday when I stepped up into the RV, my knee buckled again (it did this before, about a year or so ago), and it started to swell up like a melon. I should have put ice on it, but was in too much of a hurry, so I’m limping like crazy today. Arrived at my brother’s, as beautiful a day as we had hoped when we left on Sunday, got the portable electric fence up in no time, and let the horses loose, so of course they ran and rolled in ecstasy. Brother arrived home, and we got the RV set up behind the garage, in a different place than last year to avoid the northern wind, and a new temporary garage he had put up for his vehicles. Feeling tired, but still washed the sheets and showered before bed, knowing it only takes a good night’s sleep to be nearly fully revived from the busy trip!

Got up at the same time this morning, found another Dunkin Donuts across town where we picked up breakfast, then travelled to where my GPS said the location was, but we didn’t see any barn. Got Mike on the phone, and he guided us to the barn, which was at the west end of the same alley where we were at the east end, and before long, we were loaded up and ready to go, out by 10:30, a full half hour before we have figured. Hit the road again, next stop was for fuel, where Hubby was on fumes when we got to the gas station, but we wanted to stretch it as much as we could so we wouldn’t have to stop twice. Arrived at the Crocket County Fair Park in Ozona just as it was getting dark, but the person who was supposed to meet us as 7:00 didn’t arrive on time, so we were stuck leaving Clio in the alley until we finally had another guy offer us one of his stalls that wasn’t being used, which was fortunate because they were next to each other that way, and they settled down more quickly. There was some anxiety when there was a horse between them, though I’m sure they would have quieted down eventually. The stalls are only a block off the freeway, so it was noisy, so I’m expecting them to be cranky in the morning. By the time we got everyone settled, it was just before 8:00 and pitch dark, though the lights in the stalls evidently never go off. We were pretty tired, and got to bed fairly early.

Managed to get out in pretty good time, with just a quick stop at the dump station. We had hoped to do a good flush, but unfortunately, the water was still turned off when we got there, so that was exercise went faster than we thought it would. Found a Dunkin Donuts (by far our favorite fast food restaurant for breakfast) about 10 minutes outs, then settled down for a very straightforward drive to Las Cruces. Stopped at the southern New Mexico State Fairgrounds, called the number on the delivery gate, and received the code to get it. Found the stalls on the east side of the grounds, though almost all were uncleaned, but Hubby managed to pick a spot between two of the rows and we got the horses put away quickly enough. Settled in for the evening, knowing we have a long day tomorrow.

Ran out of propane early in the night, so it was down to 40 degrees in the bedroom by the time Hubby got up at daylight and switched the tanks. Brrrr! Was VERY glad I decided to wear my long johns to bed last night! I had gotten a little cold the night before without them, so decided to leave them on last night, thank goodness. Woke up to our neighbor knocking on the door to ask me to call the main office, as two of their spigots had split and there was water running through the middle of the campground. I made a quick call and informed them, then climbed back into bed to warm up a bit before starting the day. Spent the day packing up and getting prepared to leave tomorrow, with three days of driving ahead of us. Wanted to be able to get out early, grab breakfast on the way, and be in Las Cruces fairly early. I’ve made arrangements to pick up a load of alfalfa on Monday morning there, so we’ll get to Dripping Springs with enough alfalfa to last 5 or 6 weeks. New Mexico has the best and cheapest alfalfa anywhere, and would cost almost double there, so it’s worth the extra time and effort. Hubby was even able to get the satellite dish put away, so we should be able to get out pretty quick in the morning. Relaxed for the evening watching old movies and recorded TV programs.

Took a quick run out to fill up our propane tank, which we’ve been going through like crazy with extremely cold nights every night this week (in the 20’s, quite unusual for Tucson). Got caught in a little rainstorm on the way back from the Shell station, managed to throw a cover over the last bale and a half of alfalfa we have left before it got too wet, then settled down to a cold and rainy day and evening.

Took a quick run out to Walmart for a few essentials (and ran into Delford reading a Western Horseman magazine there!), got some gas for the generator, and paid up for another week of camping. Continuing to feel lazy, so again, we spent the rest of the day just hanging out.

Took a long walk with Billy today, since we’ve been to lazy the last few days to go, and I wanted to check out trails going in the other direction, and that are not on the map, so I headed northwest out of the campground and started following hoofprints. About a mile out, I passed a guy on a mule, and oddly, he looked familiar to me. I thought maybe he was the mule wrangler from the Grand Canyon we met several years ago, but he had much bushier facial hair, so I let it go and kept walking. Love the look of these trails here on the flats, boots won’t be necessary, and though it may not be overly interesting, the trails do seem to weave around in a complex network that would at least create some variety. According to my GPS, the walk ended up being 1.87 miles, a lot farther than I thought I’d been walking, though this one was definitely longer than most others. Just before arriving back at the camp, I ran into the same mule and rider, who had stopped at the entrance to the camp. He looked at me and asked, “You don’t remember me, do you?” I told him that he looked familiar, just that I couldn’t place him. He reminded me that his name was Delford, and we had met in the Pecos Wilderness in New Mexico earlier this summer. We had a nice chat, and I invited him over to the trailer to say hello to Hubby, and to get his phone number. He’s staying at a ranch on the other side of the flats, sounds pretty good, water and electric for $17/night. If they kick us out of here for overstaying our 14 day limit, we may have to move over there for a few days! Evidently, after leaving here in March, he’s planning on going to Dripping Springs, TX, exactly where we’ll be heading after the first of the year! Crazy, small horse world, twice in two days!