I think we're officially ready to leave
Roswell! We are now headed out of town
and I'm going to show you..... You see all
those big white fluffy clouds up there,
evidently there's a storm brewing in
there!
We are heading down the road towards
White Sands National Monument and
currently sitting at about 4050 feet
elevation.
I can see sand dunes up ahead. I have no
idea where the actual monument is but I
believe there's a road or a loop that
you take when you drive through there!
We also found out that there is another
pass that we have to go over before we
get down into Las Cruces and the.....Ahhh... Is
that the ten down there?... And interstate
10! Well there's the sign right there,
White Sands
National Monument.
So I think we're here!....We are happy
campers now! We just pulled into the
White Sands National Monument to drive
the loop, which is 14 miles long. And..... The
station where they normally take your
money is closed! So we got in for free,
set to proceed and it's normally $5 per
person!
So.... Here we go! We're gonna go see what
these dunes  are all about!...Too cold! Look at these.
We just left White Sands National
Monument and we're now going to make our
way towards Las Cruces.
Because theoretically, we should be
out of the majority of the weather there.And...There's gonna be some places to hide
on the outskirts of there, I don't know!
But this rain is rather concerning because...
Alot of the drops are getting that
sloppy look to them! Which means they
were frozen not that long before they
actually reached our elevation. So we're
just going to have to take it as it goes
here. And we're going to definitely play it safe!
Well you can see now, we're actually
accumulating some precipitation
both outside and here on our windshield!
Basically if it gets to be too much,
we're just going to use a pullout and
if anybody bothers us, we'll tell them
not safe for us to proceed.
So, let's see what happens here!
Definitely on pins and needles!
We're making the last climb we have to
make before we drop down into Las Cruces.
We have to climb to 5720 and we are at...4562.
4562! So we have about 1,200 feet to go!
Definitely getting some bigger snowflakes up
here!
But ahh...We are just gonna keep going! We've got 22 miles to get to Las Cruces.
Hey guys! We had to just make a safety
decision. We pulled off the highway and
we're sitting in..... I don't know! It looks like a
gate area or an access road to some part
of the military base. If they have a problem
with us sitting here, I'll tell them to
go screw themselves because it's a
matter of public safety at this point!
And.... We just need to get off the road. But
what happened was, we were going just
fine up the hill,  the snow was getting
heavier but..... The traffic stops! So I don't
know if somebody slid out and there's,
the road was blocked up there or if
they're doing like escorts over.... Who
knows? But we saw this little turnout and
we just bombed right in here. And when we
first got in, its inclined. So we're
definitely not level. We start to slide
just a little bit, which kind of freaked
us out! So we went and put some of our
2x4 wheel chocks under all of the wheels.
So hopefully that holds us into place
and ahhh.... Who knows how long we're going to be
here? It's currently 10 minutes before
3:00 on a Saturday afternoon! How are you
spending your weekend?..... Since we are in a
winter climate, we're going to put up our
reflective insulation!..... This will help us
preserve the heat that we have.And keep the
furnace from running all night long! I
have a feeling we're going to be here
all night long and probably the better
part of tomorrow! ....What's going through
your mind right now?.... That we shouldn't
have waited until today to leave! That
we're always pushing the limits and this
is what happens!
And I knew that we said we'd just pull
off if we hit snow but.... This didn't
catch us blindside! We knew this was
coming when we drove up here anyway!..... Well
we knew there was a very realistic
chance we'd be pulling over somewhere in
the middle of the desert to ride out the
storm. So.... We can ride the storm out here or
we can ride the storm out at a Walmart
parking lot in Las Cruches or Cruces. I
don't even know how it's pronounced!.... I would
be much more comfortable, if we weren't
on an incline.... I think that heat from the
tyres has melted down to the gravel
that's underneath there.... And then we also
have the 2 by 4 wheel chocks as extra
insurance..... Those people have some kind of
an animal in their back truck. The back
of their truck!
Check out.....
This traffic!....So they've closed the Westbound or Eastbound lane.The Westbound is....
Open quote and quote....Hahaha!
But I don't think they're going very far!
I was outside about 10 minutes ago and
that little mini whinny RV was right
level with our vehicle so..... I feel so much
better since we're off the road..... And
there's another view of that.... It's
probably an Elk Pinthorn...Hahaha! Just had to show
yah! I am very relieved though! I was just
beside myself out there so..... I can relax
now! I'm gonna watch a movie. Not sure
what's going on out there but we just
had... A four-wheel-drive, sheriff's vehicle,
four-wheel drive, fire department vehicle
and an ambulance, all with lights and
sirens going, pass by us....Ahhh.... So it's
pretty nasty out there still! I'm really
glad we pulled off the road when we did!
And ahhh...Prayers for whoever needs them out
there tonight!
I'm glad we can just stay here where
we're safe!..... Well it's like 10 minutes
after I told you that we saw the EMS
crews going by!
And now the road is completely open! It
looks like some people are being
escorted down the eastbound side of the
highway but the westbound side is
completely open! So now the question is:
Do we..... Do we take our chances out on that
road or do we stay here?.... The roads
actually look pretty decent! So we're
going to go out and have a look-see. It
looks like they're ploughing the roads to!
So that's always good!
Decisions, decisions!
Well, if you can't tell, we decided to get
back on the road!
It's graveled...It's graveled?...Yes!... And... We have a good traction
right now. But.... I'm not lying my heart is,
just pounding! So....
Saying prayers and hoping that we make
it over this past with no troubles! We've
seen quite a few RVs go past us in the
last little bit here. And they're all
making it so.... I hope we're the same way!
Okay! We just hit the summit and now we're
headed downhill!
I'm going to take my chunk out of the
ahhh...middle gear babe!
Just keep going slow please.... We're at
5,400. I can see good gravel on the road and...
I'm gonna back down to one
because the grade is increasing. We got a
Class A coming up on our six...So this guy has the nerve to....
try passing us?
And he's going to Las Crusas like us!...Class A coming up on our side.
The lane is yours if you want it dude!
He's going back in! Changed his mind!
His wife is probably yelling at him:
"What are you doing?" "Get back over here! Damn it Jim!"
"You never listen to me!".... Hahahaha!...We are at now?...5222... So we only have to go
down to like 46 or 4300. Las cruces is at
46 or 43, I can't remember!...Yap something like that!
My heart isn't beating quite as fast now! It's
still pumping... Mm-hmm.... "Those ones are from Alaska they know what they're
doing.We are from Florida."...Hahaha! "We should stay behind them!"....Not
that we really do, I'm scared out of my
wits. Okay! I'm going to take us to the
closest Walmart. It's ten minutes away!...Alright!
8.4 miles...... I hope there's gravel
underneath all of this...I do to!
Just go slow.... Certainly not gonna do a break check right now!....No!...
I think I see gravel. It's just starting to stick now.....Yeah it is...
But fortunately it's not packed down on top of
the gravel yet.So the gravel is still there...Don't go too fast...
We are at 4570.....
Okay! So we're pretty much down!
I'm gonna gently slow us down because we are at the opposite of two.
The roads have improved but.... It's snowing
harder so it's just a counter balance!
We're just gonna keep going slow. We have
just, 4.3 miles to go!
There's another ambulance! Boy! Bad day
for some people.
I hope everybody's okay!
At least we're off the mountain and ahh...
And the roads so far have been good to
us. I'm not gonna....
They're getting better!.... Yeah!.... I'm not gonna
say anything until we're on solid ground
in the Walmart parking lot but.....
We're okay for the moment!...
And I think this happened just in the
nick of time! You can see it's getting
dark out.And ahhhh....
If it had gotten dark, we would have
opted just to stay there and not try
to move in the dark.
So I guess we got lucky....
I have never been so happy to see an
exit sign!! This is our exit! Quarter of a
mile.....
So we are almost there.... Okay! I'm gonna
take it really slow coming off this ramp!
I don't want to start sliding and slide
into oncoming traffic!....I know.
Left or right babe?....Left...Left or Right?...Left, left!
Point three miles ahead is the Walmart. I
don't see any other RVs in this parking
lot!..... Oh good! We'll have it to ourselves!...
Yeah and if anybody says anything I'm
gonna start crying!
"You have no idea what it took us to get off the
mountain! You can't ask us to move now!"
We made it! Just have to find a parking spot
and we'll be safe and sound off the
mountain! I am so relieved! So relieved!
Okay.... There is a perfect spot right in
front of the garden center.... And it has
like 4 bars of Wi-Fi!.... Okay guys! This
is it! We've made it. We don't have to
worry that we're gonna slide backwards
off that little parking spot we had! We
are off the mountain. Whatever happens,
we're on solid ground for the night.
We'll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow! Our
plan was to get to Las Cruces and that's
where we are at! Safe, sound and intact!
And we'll ride this storm out. Monday
morning it's supposed to get up to 48
degrees and the Sun is supposed to shine.
And we should be able to get back on the
road and head for the rest! So..... Thanks for
joining us tonight! Uhhhm... I have new
permanent spots for my fingernails in
the... In the chair here. But we're safe and
sound.....We also have Walmart Wi-Fi!...Hahaha! Ben's 
happy about Walmart WI-FI...So if I finish a video, I can upload
a video now!...Hahahaha!... It's the little things that
matter..Are you happy?.... I'm happy that we are parked and
we are not moving!.... Alright guys! I guess
that's been enough excitement for the
day! So we really appreciate you watching,
Be sure to Like, Comment, Subscribe, even
share the videos with your friends, if
you think they'd enjoy it! And remember...
To enjoy the ride!
