Mammoth Workhorse, Day 9

Sunday, May 24

Couldn’t find Molly's ball! She wanted it, too! She doesn't always.

Everyone slept very late. Except me, because how else would I know they did? Ha ha.
Eventually I rousted them up and fixed pancakes and spam. Made some gravy for Edward (Ed was busy eating) (Edw still working on those leftover pork chops) and somehow managed to cement the bottom of my skillet to the stove. Heat on low and  little water eventually worked it loose.

Nothing much else went on that day.  We went to Walmart and wow was that a mess. On a Sunday?!?!

But we got some stuff for our Memorial day cookout -- hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken, kielbasa. We planned to have the cookout on Sunday instead of waiting. Which we did.

Ed and kids flew kites in the afternoon while I was walking Molly and doing some motorhome tidying. And that’s about it.

Mammoth Workhorse, Day 8

Saturday, May 23

Slow Saturday. It was very windy and sunny in the morning. That's been true of almost every day we've been here. The wind  dies down by noon and clouds start to build up, but it’s still hot. Not super hot yet—just in the 90s.

After fixing bacon, eggs and leftover muffins from Walmart, I jogged around the high school. Teams of kids were having soccer games on the football field and I wanted Ethan to see them.
But somehow they all decided to go, too. By the time they got ready and we drove (very very slowly behind a big RV) over to the field, it was fiercely hot. But one team was still playing so we watched for a while.

Then to Chuck Heinrich Memorial park to play on the playground. It borders Franklin Mtns SP and has cool trails all up into the mountains. No trees of any height--mainly creosote and stuff--so it would be pretty hot hiking around there. I saw a hummingbird but didn't have my binoculars with me--I took them but left them in the Jeep.

 

We returned after two p.m. and decided to eat an early supper at Lin's buffet. It was a longer drive on busier highways than I expected--route 54 and Interstate 10. They had pretty good food (but a horribly skimpy sushi selection) and plenty of variety. Very, very expensive, of course.

I ate pretty sensibly until it was time for dessert. Then I pigged out with pudding, cake, ice cream, and more cake.

By the time I finished my three (or four) desserts and we got home, Molly got only a short walk and it was pretty much time for baths. And of course time sped up until it was bedtime.

Mammoth Workhorse, Day 7

Friday, May 22

Railroad museum day! I’d mentioned to little Edward that there was a railroad museum we might go to, and he kept asking when. So I decreed that this would be the day!

We had an easy breakfast of quesadillas, oatmeal, sausage-egg muffins, and leftover pork cbops. Ed made the gravy. Then we headed out to Las Cruces to the railroad museum.

We had all three kids in the Jeep and google took us on the trans-mountain loop. Cool drive and much enjoyed. Only at the end of the 50-minute drive did they get restless and start to annoy us with the racket. It was fun racket, though.

We had to stop at the New Mexico welcome center for grownups to pee, so having that little break helped.

I can’t say enough good things about the train museum. There were three model trains, one of which was operational. Outside there were a couple of real trains on tracks—actual working trains—that came by, one slowly easing along, probably for show, and one that left the station picking up speed and tooted at us as it went by. 

 They had an interactive, big screen game--"build your own train.” On a timed challenge. Everyone tried their hand at that. And they had a big playset of wooden tracks for kids to construct their own track and run wooden toy trains on. Once Edward got started playing with that, it was hard to pull him away.

For the grownups, there were exhibits and an old guy working there who had lots of stories to tell.

 

After a good long time, we finally left and found a nearby sonic drive-in. Then we came back to the RV park and played on the playground. For supper we did carryout fish ‘n chips for grownups at the Tugboat Seafood nearby, and made chicken nuggets for the kids.

Mammoth Workhorse, Day 6

 Thursday, May 21

 What a waste of a morning!  We spent hours looking for Edward's finger splint. Fruitless search. They finally gave up at 11 and we ate breakfast at the New Clock diner. Of course the morning specials ended at 11. But it’s a convenient place with okay food, although not spicy enough to become my new favorite Mexican breakfast joint.

After that Edw and May went to pick up something, and when they returned Ed and I made a quick Walmart run (alone). In the afternoon we went to nearby splashpad but the water was turned off.  So the kids played with water guns and then we all practiced some soccer.

 We got back much later than planned and started cooking supper in the family room kitchen.  We didn’t eat until about 8pm. I was exhausted!

 

Mammoth Workhorse, Day 5

 Wednesday, May 20

 Edward and May got accepted at all three houses they applied for. It was an easy going morning. I made bacon and served up some chocolate chip muffins from the grocery. May did laundry.  Molly and I went jogging and then I did some motorhome cleanup work.  I tried to fix the sunshade on the driver’s side window--we will see how good a job I did in the morning.

 I cut up a watermelon for lunch. A Walmart watermelon—horrid, unripe waste of money!

 Then we hung out for a bit; Ethan and I played ball until time to go. The plan was to see their rental house, play on the nearby playground, and eat. But by the time we navigated the horrid almost rush hour traffic to get to the house, it was after 5. So we just reversed course. I believe we ended up eating at Texas Roadhouse.

 

 

Mammoth Workhorse, Day 4

Tuesday, May 19

Edward and May went to more house-seeking appointments, this time at 9 and 11.  Their plan was that when they returned, they would choose three places at which they’d put in applications. Oddly enough, the one they ended up liking the best wasn’t even on their list of tours—they’d driven by it and saw the for rent sign.

View from the RV Park 

So Ed and I did breakfast with the kids again—spam, eggs and leftover quesadillas. The kids ate lots.  After that we took them to Walmart and bought a bunch of food to cook. It was a tiring and difficult trip. The nearby Walmart was immensely crowded and the kids, while well-behaved for their ages, were somewhat frisky. But we survived.

When we returned the parents had come back in time to serve their kids lunch, after which they had to fill out tons of application forms and do some printing.

Our site, right across from the family room

 

So the kids and I played in the family room, having a great (and tiring) time.

When we returned, I helped Ed cook a massive pile of pork chops, gravy, and frozen veg.  It seemed a successful meal: it wasn’t expensive, everyone ate, no one complained, and we didn’t have to tip the wait staff. I didn’t get any of it, but I was too tired to care.

After supper I took Molly to the dog park with Ethan and Elyanna.  Good fun mostly. Then we played ball in the grassy area.

Sounds boring? Yes, yes it is. No birds were seen; no nature observed; no long walks with the dog. But at least we did our job and the kids got their rental applications completed.

 

 

Mammoth Workhorse, Day 3

Monday, May 18

 Edward and May had an 11:00 appointment for rental house tours, so I cooked bacon and pancakes and spam for a long, leisurely breakfast. Sadly, I forgot to reserve Ed's two slices of bacon, so he didn’t get any. The kids ate lots.

The parents ended up being gone all day. Ed and I took the kids to Sunrise park playground. It was nice but not great; still we had a very good time.

 

For a late lunch I cooked chicken nuggets and shells ‘n cheese. And the kids ate lots. Then we walked over to the Marathon gas station and got ice cream at the Mexican ice cream shop next door to it. For reasons unknown, Elyanna totally refused to touch her ice cream bar with real strawberry slices in it.  But their parents returned while we sat outside eating, and they were able to finish the ice cream.

 Then we all had supper at Love Pho 4. It was fast and close by and had very good food—my tofu dish was the best I’ve ever had. Sadly, it was a little too expensive to make a habit of. And of course Ed disliked his fried rice thingy.   No matter—we can’t afford to keep eating out.  I made a quiet vow to cook more meals even though I’m already sick of cooking.