Shake Rattle and Roll

And all that shaking happened after we arrived at our campsite.

Weather reports indicated that April Fools Day would be no joke. Rain was likely to greet us in the morning. Strong winds in the afternoon might try to shake us from rolling down the highway.

We asked our campground host in Las Cruces if we could extend our stay a day. “No available sites,” we were told. We were not surprised. RVers make a mass exodus from their winter encampments on April 1^st to head home. Las Cruces, New Mexico is a day’s drive east from where we had spent the winter. One of our neighbors in Tucson opted to stay a few days after April 1^st to avoid the rush and could not stay in the same park that we had selected due to the horde of RVers heading east.

We opted to leave at the crack of dawn and completed much of our departure checklist before we climbed into bed.

Our neighbors were gone before the sun brightened the sky. Although the overnight winds were mild, we do not tow our trailer at night as the trailer’s wheels cannot be easily seen when making tight turns out of the campground.

The moon, not rain, greeted us in the morning as we finished our checklist. We left our campsite between dawn and sunrise with just enough light to see. In El Passo rain splattered across our windshield just enough to justify turning the wipers on for one quick pass. Otherwise our planned trip to the village of Van Horn, Texas was uneventful.

Many campgrounds do not allow RVers to arrive before their prescribed check-in time, typically 1 PM and as late as 3 PM. We arrived at 11 AM. Earlier than some campgrounds expect people to check out.

While Lori check us in I mused that if this campground were to reject our early check-in we could travel on to our next stop and still arrive at a reasonable hour.

Then the wind started. I put on a mask due to the dust.

As soon as we were positioned in our campsite I scurried to connect us to water and electric while Lori chocked the wheels and positioned the block under the tongue jack. We were level, stabilized, and snug inside within in minutes.

Then the wind blew harder.

While we sat eating lunch at our dinner table the wind enveloped neighboring RVs with dust, shook the trees, and rattled our trailer.

Weather forecasts for tomorrow promise gentle winds and clear skies.

Next stop Monahans, Texas for two nights.