Day 35, May 6, 2018 Moving from Las Cruces, NM, to Wilcox, AZ ...Hot all the way.

Well there are worse things than hot weather, but it is really hot, but more interesting than that is the humidity..,.or lack of it. Today it started in Las Cruces at 23% and by the time we arrived in Wilcox at 3:00 PM it was 12%. This evening  as I sit on the picnic table it is a stifling 7%. I do not ever remember a humidity reading that low.  But it looks like it will stay that way all week. Fortunately the wind is mild at 5 mph and gives a "cool" feel to the air. That is better I guess than a hot wind to boot.

First congratulations to all the college graduates at least here in the USA as I do not know what other countries time schedule is for collegiate graduations. Russia, Netherlands, Poland, Korea, Bulgaria, Portugal, Spain,  Canada, United Kingdom and the USA (Countries that have been reading the blog)

The road trip today was smooth and with the A\C we were comfortable in the truck. One gas stop (it is only 185 miles) and some stops to stretch, along with lunch under a shade tree no less. We arrived at Wilcox at 2:30. I had scoped out the truck wash there as we did want to get the salt  and dust off along with some mud from the back roads in the Rockport area ten days ago. The truck wash was just across from the KOA that we were to stay, so we took that in. Waited  for only one truck ahead of us. It was an old fashioned "two hands on"  type with 2 men doing an excellent job in getting the truck and trailer shining again. The owner, "A J",  was from India and his dogs name was "Billy". Working with him was "Daniel".  In 30 minutes we were driving across the street  to the KOA  and getting settled in.

First a lesson in dust storms!

For 100 miles these signs told the story

Correct procedure in dust storms

Sort of like "Burma Shave "signs of old.

The end. Didn't have to use them.

This is a "tamper"train. It can do almost anything  that is needed on the RR now without the  many crews of years ago.

 Here are some of the things that are automatic now in RR equipment.
Railroad automatic ‘Maintenance of Way’ equipment:
Shoulder Cleaners -Ditch Cleaners, Defect Detection Cars,  
Undercutters,  Ballast Regulators,  Spike Inserters/Pullers, 
Tie Cranes,   Tie Extractors/Inserters,    Rail Grinders .

The machines can lift the rails, pack the ballast, and put in what is required to make it correct.They also can straighten the tracks which was done by "eyeballing" previously.

{The campground here is all gravel (All) and three Roadrunners are having a field day getting grass on one side and running across the entire campground to their nesting site. It is a stitch. One came running by the trailer and didn't see me  and gave me a funny look and moved on in a hurry.}

Back to the day...
We were  in 92 F heat, getting the hitches off, the levelers in place and securing all the blocks and chocks and it is a way to work up a sweat. So, by the time Ruth and I were finished it was time to strip down and soak in the A/C for a while. I think it took me 45 minutes to get my core back down to normal.
 

The ubiquitous signs especially the Mexican and Indian crafts.

Typical scenery Beautiful mountains

This is Stein, NM a "ghost town" you can visit. We did years ago.

Eat your heart out guys!

And of course there is Arizona .

Very beautiful.

 So those are a few photos along the way  as the scenery is quite repetitious.  Tomorrow we will head for the Chiricahua National Monument which are a range of Mountains that catch the wildlife on their migration from Mexico to points further north. There are always birds to find there and some of them on the endangered species list, make it  a favorite pace for birders to get that "elusive bird" for their list. It is a 35 mile trip one way. Not as long as the 110 miles to Bosque del Apache. Should be cooler up there as well.