Santa Fe and changes

So, we've been staying in Santa Fe, New Mexico for about a week now.  The air is very dry and cold and there are simply vast areas where there is nothing as far as the eye can see.

So, why stay a week?

Well, we've been talking and found that our setup (Watson and Tiny Holmes) just hasn't been as satisfying as we thought it would be. Don't get us wrong - we loved Tiny Holmes...but, it was... well... small... and we don't think the Truck Camper's maneuverability is enough compensation.

And yes, for those of you paying attention...that is snow on the top of the camper

So we decided to change things up a bit. Quite a bit.

Near Santa Fe is a much smaller town known as (wait for it....) Moriarty. Moriarty the town has roughly 2000 residents and is known for it's Pinto Bean Fiesta in October.

Great, so it's March...not October. Why are we here?

Moriatry is also known for soaring (Thomas was VERY tempted)... but that's not why we were here either.

Moriarty has an RV dealership - literally called RVSalesNM . They are, among other things, an Arctic Fox dealership. Back when we got the initial Holmes (Fifth-Wheel) we had considered Arctic Fox...but they were only out west and living in Florida; we never got a chance to visit.

But now we were in New Mexico....in a Sherlockian-themed camper...with an Arctic Fox dealership...in a town called Moriarty.

We had to take a look.

We met Valerie Chowning, the owner, and her brother, Clayton, and even Shiba the dog. Wonderful people with absolutely no pressure and an amazing amount of patience.  Clayton let us take a long look at an Arctic Fox travel trailer that seemed to call to us. (More room than could be imagined for someone who was used to a Truck Camper!)

Clayton knows campers - after working on the service side for years, he was able to provide a wonderful insight into both what is possible and what to watch for when choosing a camper.  Clayton also owns a truck camper, so he knew exactly what we both loved about Tiny Holmes and what our current problems were. After he got an idea of the things we were looking for, he showed us parts catalogs to see what options they could offer.  (This may not satisfy some but Thomas' geek-side loved to see specs and technical details)

Clayton

So....after a week of setup (getting some accounts in order; doing some maintenance on Watson; and fighting some snow), we swapped out Tiny Holmes and are now sitting in the Artic Fox 25Y now named Moriarty.

Our Moriarty Funko Pop! Vinyl figurine....that we had BEFORE we left

New Orleans, travelling through Texas, and Carlsbad Caverns

Well, we can say that we've been to New Orleans.

As one of us put it, "It's just not our cup of tea".  The music is great and it's definitely an experience; but we've come to realize we are not ones for crowds.  New Orleans is famous for their drive-through Daiquiris and partying.  We're just not much for partying.

So we've decided to change things up a bit.  We pushed through Texas on into New Mexico to see the Carlsbad Caverns.

We love to claim lots of sight-seeing in Texas but we pushed through fairly quickly.  We did see the land of Windmills in Texas though - both old and new.

New Mexico (and some of Texas) is definitely desert, which is very weird to a Floridian.   Humidity here is currently 10% - honest!  We actually stayed at one site an extra day and did nothing.  Why?  Winds of 30-50 mph with gusts of 70 mph.  Definitely not weather to be driving a truck camper through.

It was worth it, though.  Today we got to Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

You drive to the top of the caverns through a bit of twisty curves. That's the same road we're driving on below us:

You can walk from the top down to the cavern, but it's quite a walk.  We chose the elevator.  Pictures do not do the caverns justice.  They do have lights set to show the more remarkable features of the caverns and a mile+ walkway just to see most of it.  And that's just the sections of the cavern that is open to the public - there are another 30+ miles with areas yet to be discovered.

Just some of the photos...

One of the original ladders used by some of the explorers...

The Cavern is remarkable dry compared (it used to be filled with water).   But there are still places with water.  If you look closely - this is filled with water.

And it ran under the walkway...

Tomorrow we move on to Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

New Orleans...where there is rain...

We rolled into New Orleans yesterday from Mississippi.  We're safe and sound and Tiny Holmes (our Cirrus 820 Truck Camper) has been awesome.

We've been staying at several campground that have been out in the country.  The one in Alabama had a fair number of ducks and geese - instant alarm clocks.

At the RV camp ground in Mississippi - we saw these mud mounds.  We had to ask what they are: They are crayfish chimneys (each holding one crayfish).

There were lots of them...

In New Orleans, the campground we're staying at feels like its in the city, or at least the suburbs.  It's a completely different feel.

This particular campground (a chain) expects to "direct you to your spot".   Since a truck camper is as maneuverable (or better) than most Class C's (and even come Class B) RVs.  We were polite - but had no trouble backing in Watson and Holmes.

We did mostly chores today as it rained far more than we would've liked.  Tomorrow we'll be heading into New Orleans -- details and pictures to come!

One year later (almost)

One year later (almost) and things have changed.

Our original 35' Fifth-Wheel Montana High Country 273RK trailer (Holmes) was modified to suit our needs.  We moved the office from the slide out to where the love seat was.  (Removing the love seat was a chore).  We replaced the king sized mattress with a sleep-number mattress.

Somewhere during this time, a pesky hurricane popped up that required us to evacuate up to Tennessee for a couple of weeks.  The RV park we were staying in had a forced evacuation...the day after we left. :-)

But that wasn't enough change. We needed major changes.

What major change you ask?

That Fifth-Wheel trailer is *TOO* big for us.   Can we go *SMALLER*?

How small?  Weren't we already at tiny home size?  Something like 250 sq ft?

Yep...*SMALLER*.  As in Cirrus 820 truck camper smaller (Tiny Holmes), or roughly 75 sq ft. (We traded in Holmes for Tiny Holmes).

It's hard to put into perspective how small the camper is.  There's barely enough room in the "hallway" for two people to get past one another, even two people who love each other. There's a dinette (more on that in a bit) that can seat two and a bed in the cab-over area.

And yet, as small as it is... it's comfortable.  One can relax and stay dry and cozy on a wet rainy day.  On mild days, we open the windows and get great cross-ventilation. When it's hot, there is A/C. When it's cold, a space heater does the trick.

But the real advantage Tiny Holmes has over Holmes?  We can pick up and go - leave a campsite and be on the road - in less than 10 minutes.  One person can do this. We can go anywhere the truck can go.

And that's before our modifications.  Of course we made modifications.

We decided to replace the bed mattress which was thin and didn't look comfortable, even given the nice mattress-plastic-box springy thing (Froli bedding system if you want to be technical).  So, we wanted to replace the thin mattress with a nice foam one.  Easier said than done. The foam mattress is shipped in a roll and is pre-compressed.  You simply unroll the mattress in location and it expands up to a nice 10" thick.  (Note to self - read instructions before unwrapping package).

So thick that it interfered with the TV swing out display.  Sigh.  TV and swing out display removed. We watch tv through the computer and weren't using the swing out one, anyways.

However, the Froli bedding system didn't seem to get along with the thick foam mattress either.  No big deal, simple remove the Froli bedding system.

The Froli bedding system isn't just for comfort.  It allows air to get underneath the mattress.  This airflow is necessary to prevent condensation.  Without the Froli system, we noticed moisture under the foam mattress in short order.  Time for another modification.

We considered trying to get the Froli system to work with the mattress but it didn't seem possible.  Instead, we lifted the foam mattress up a few inches by sliding PVC pipes (1/2" diameter) under the length of the mattress....ten of them to be exact.

Result - a lifted mattress and no moisture that we can detect.  (And no, I can't feel the pipes when I'm laying in the bed).

But these were just the beginning. We will explain more about our modifications in our next post. Thanks for reading!

And so it begins...

And so it begins....




We started planning our adventure back in 2013.  Our original idea was fairly simple: get an Airstream trailer, travel around the country, and work remotely.

Like all plans, the details have changed - the goals have not.

The Airstream idea has been dropped - replaced first by a fifth-wheel trailer and now with a Truck Camper (Tiny-Holmes) carried by our Dodge 3500 (Watson).

Working remotely is still being pursued but is currently on hiatus (a sabbatical to start).

First stop - Crawfordville, Fl.   Then on towards New Orleans!

Stay tuned for more!