we are so out of here..

Driving to Albuquerque was very interesting... there's a whole lot of NOTHING across some parts of New Mexico, but all types of trucks on the roads... (Andy, these are for you... )

              So... the drive itself was mostly uneventful, but the engine light kept flickering on the RV.  We were not amused... Charlie made an appt with an engine maintenance crew here in ABQ for 8 AM then next day while CJ made an appt with the Honda dealer, at 9 AM to have the Element checked for any damage caused by that damn rock.  This meant getting up at 5 AM... again, not amused!

              We dropped the RV off and took the Honda to the dealer.  The Element checked out fine, so with bright spirits we headed back to check the RV... and ended up sitting and waiting until 4:30 that afternoon to find out it was just a wire shorting out, which was causing the check engine light to flicker... oh, day wasted... but at least both vehicles were fine, PHEW!  
              Wait, there's more... on the way back to the KOA, we get a FLAT TIRE on the RV... &*&#^%%&$!!  WHAT ELSE IS GOING TO GO WRONG TODAY?!  We limped back to the park, and called a mobile tire service who deals with RVs.  A very nice young man found our problem pretty quick... one of the sensors for the low tire pressure had come loose from the valve stem, allowing the air to slip right out of the tire.
              At this point, Charlie was ready to turn it around and head back to Austin, and CJ was ready to help!  The final deal of the day was our lovely dog trainer Cheryl C. called to tell us that she took Earl into the Vet... apparently his allergies went into overdrive... why, oh why do we have to have prima donna dogs?  Thank goodness for Cheryl, the staff at Dog Camp, and Dr. P at Century Animal Hosp... between them, we know Earl and Sissy will be fine.

                  Next day:  We decide to carry on with our journey, and not just go home and turn the RV into a large planter.  Turned out to be a lovely, wonderful day!  We had a nice sleep in, and spent the morning just putzing about, then headed to Santa Fe, which was just up the road.  LOTS of great art galleries, none of which allowed pictures.  LOTS of turquoise jewelry. LOTS of funky shops, one where we bought Wallace a sheepskin! LOTS of tourists... so we decided to bail out of town and headed up to Los Alamos, where CJ spent some time as a kid.