Giving thanks

Last Sunday we made it to our boondocking spot down near Carlsbad, New Mexico, without any trouble but my hope for fewer things shaking the 5^th wheel did not come to pass. It has been super windy, pretty much since we got here. The 5^th wheel is holding up fine but we get some decent strong gusts from time to time that shake things up a bit.

Other than the wind, things have been good. We’re keeping on top of our propane use, water consumption, and solar intake and so far (6 days into our 13-day stay) everything is right where it should be. I doubt we’ll have any issues with our propane, water, or power supplies. As expected, the only thing that will decide how long we can be off-grid will be how quickly we fill up our 50 gallon grey wastewater tank (the one connected to the shower and bathroom sink). We should make it through this two-week stay fine, but I’m not sure we could make it three weeks without having to dump that tank at some point.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and it hit a little hard not being able to spend the holiday with friends and family. I think we knew being out on the road over the holidays was going to be a little rough but we’re doing our best to make this non-traditional Thanksgiving a good one.

We spent most of the day exploring our 20^th national park, Guadalupe Mountains, and had a great hike through the park.

We truly feel blessed and fortunate to be on this adventure and to see all these amazing places. We definitely don’t regret for a second the decision we made and we have plenty this year to give thanks for.

When we got home we had some leftover curry to finish up but today we’ll make our Thanksgiving-like meal. The kitchen in our 5^th wheel is great and I’ve been able to cook just about anything I would back in a house, but the oven is a little too small to attempt a turkey with all the trimmings. So we’re going to make a big batch of potato corn chowder, bake up some fresh bread, roast some veggies, and make pumpkin bread for dessert. I’m hoping by noon the kitchen will smell a little more like a kitchen should on Thanksgiving.

Tomorrow we’ll spend the day exploring our 21^st national park (Carlsbad Caverns) and then we’ll have one more week at this boondocking spot before we move up the road to the city of Carlsbad.  This weekend won’t end up being like most Thanksgivings have been in the past, but I doubt we’ll forget this one anytime soon.