Go West old man!: Willcox

Last night was cold and raining. You haven’t heard that too much this winter! Down to 36 by this morning. When I was out walking Skye at 9 there was no moon, not even a glow where it was. So much for wormy eclipses. For that walk I had dug down in the storage room for my rubber LL Bean shoes, wore my full length raincoat and pulled the hood up.

This morning was another cold day, but it made doing the errands easier. No temptation to go hiking. We heard that the CNM had closed the road up the mountains due to tree damage in the road. Probably snow too. We saw snow in all the hills around us above maybe 4800 feet. We are at 4200’ here in Willcox. It’s a similar forecast for tonight but a bot warmer. We are back on a campsite with the power plugged in. I got out the electric heater, save some propane while we are awake. Of course there is no wind and the moon is up bright.

So we got a lot of laundry done, I went out searching for a place to print a couple pages to renew my driver license. Went to a print shop on Google Maps, the real estate agent said she had been there 8 years and the print shop was there before her. She printed one page but the flash drive wouldn’t print the second. Back to camp to refresh the file and duplicate it on a second drive. Then to the library for printing. And the PO to get it out. The DMV website would not renew my DL online, time to get a new photo. Just show up at DMV before my birthday to have the photo taken. Great…. Send email query and I’m told to call them. Hour long wait warning so put in for a call back. They actually called back fairly soon. Simple, fill out the paper form and mail it with the check and a letter saying why I can’t appear for a photo.

Anyway, after all that we found the Rex Allen Cowboy Museum. He grew up here in Willcox, set up this museum and some family, Rex Jr and his kids, still come to the Rex Allen Parade every year. Lots of photos coming.

And this evening we went out to the Texas Barbecue restaurant for some ribs & brisket. Excellent! During a quiet moment there another of the long trains came by. Carlene was away from the table so I counted the cars. 152 cars, four engines in front and two pushers mid train at about car 100. We’ve seen lots of trains this length here in Willcox.

Also in the restaurant we met up with a couple we saw yesterday at CNM and agin today at the museum. They’re from Denver. They’re a very friendly couple; too bad they’re headed out of town.