relo and reprovision in Espanola
early start to beat the heat
It’s bearable in the mountains but the nearest laundromat appeared in Espanola, 30mins a away and ~3,000ft lower in elevation. Since dog has to remain in the van I got an early start so we could get back before it got too warm.
Had coffee and broke camp around 0545. Arrived to shop in Espanola around 0630. It was ~50F when we arrived.
walmart “supercenter”
I did my Big Reprovision here, although this WM was a bit of a disappointment. It was called a Super Walmart but the grocery section was more like a normal WM. Selection was rather limited, which in turn limited strategic shopping options. I did pick up enough Manager’s Special meat to have several meat-based meals.
The wifi was decent, and I d/l’ed my queued content while shopping: podcasts and some YT videos. Saw 2-3MBps downloads, so about 16Mbps through their 5gHz access point.
I returned to the van, decanted all the meats into more packable quart ziplocs. About a half-pound of pork rib ends wouldn’t fit so I put them in the Instant Pot to make for lunch.
gas and water attempt
The reputed water supply was next door at the Murphy gas station. I topped off the tank, tested the outdoor spigot with a silcock key (water was on) and went inside. Clerk refused to allow access, saying it was non-potable. That’s almost certainly BS, but whatever.
laundry and dogwalk
Stopped at a local laundry and did a double load, which is 90% of my clothes. The cycle didn’t say how many minutes it would take and it turned out to be very…. slow. That’s ok for $4. But since temps were steadily rising I opted to remove the clothes when they finished to line dry at camp.
During the long cycle Muffin and I went for a walk.
unexpected water
The walk led to unexpected water; the gas station next door had one of those high-rise, higher-pressure spigots that are my preferred fill method. Yes, please! After picking up the laundry we stopped at the station, got the water, and made a token purchase (Dasani water).
return through LANL
I had read that civilians can pass throught the labs if they show ID. It would cut a couple miles off the route so I chanced it.
The guard allowed it but required a cursory inspection of the interior of the van. It wasn’t a big deal for me but did inconvenience those that lined up behind me. There were many red lights, all of which I caught.
I think I will just take the long way around next time. The through-route and the long route rejoin on what I assume used to be controlled area, because there is an old guard shack there:
power situation back at camp
The combination of about 1.5hrs of alternator charging and no trees on the roadway :-) meant the bank was ~94% when I returned to camp around 0930. Even after cooking the excess meat in the IP.
setup for a hot 14d
I usually set a minimal camp (5 minute breakdown) but the heat requires a bit more setup:
- shadecloth over side door area
- bugscreen over side door, allowing it to stay open
- “zerograv” recliner under a tree - because of the low humidity it’s quite comfortable in the shade
If rain or wildfire appears I’ll need to move to somewhere easier to extricate from. At the moment there is no significant precip on the 10d forecast.