We headed north out of Las Vegas. First stop was this roadside marker.
Hermit's Peak.
Headed north on Hwy 518. Most of this post is just scenery photos.
The highway ran through the Carson National Forest.
At Taos we headed east on Hwy 64.
Hwy 64 had some wicked curves.
Then we headed south on SR 434 through Angel Fire.
It was a fairly skinny road starting out....
but it turned into a 1 1/2 lane road with narrow bridges.
We took a different way south this time. Hwy 56 in KS was a wide road but it got skinny when we got to OK.
I was guessing whether or not we would see mountains before we got to New Mexico then I saw this peak off in the distance while we were still in OK. Ok the windshield was covered in bugs.
Just into New Mexico we heard a loud pop and looked back to see stuff flying from the passenger side of the trailer. Yep a blown tire. Thank goodness by this time, Hwy 56 had a nice paved shoulder.
We pulled the spare out and it didn't need air. We had to put the good tire up on boards so the jack would fit under the trailer.
The mud flap had gotten bent up over the top of the tire so we had to remove that first.
The old tire was in pretty bad shape. As always, we had checked the pressure in all of the tires before we had started the day's journey.
The tire bent this rod to the slide out so we didn't know if we should put the slide out that night or not. The next day we talked to the manufacturer and they said it was ok if we were careful. Just one of the parts we are getting to make repairs.
Later we stopped at a rest area and these antelope were grazing nearby.
While in Iowa on Sept. 21st my sister gave us some apples and loaned us her apple peeler/corer to get them all ready for making stuff. First you clamp the peeler/corer to something sturdy.
Then you stick the apple on the prongs.
Just rotate the handle and the apple moves forward to be peeled and spiral-sliced.
All peeled and sliced.
Just take it off, slice it once for apple rings or twice for apple slices. What a time saver!
A seasonal camper at Sleepy Bear Campground offered to take us and another couple to her favorite place to hunt for Petoskey Stone.
We had to walk down to the beach.
It was a lovely day with temps in the high 70's. The waves were coming in often so it was hard to see the stones.
Here I am looking while the others are examining their finds. Everyone except Nolan got wet up to the crotch and the front of my shirt was wet from leaning over and having waves hit me.
On the walk back to the car we saw these pretty flowers.
I'm wondering if they are related to peas because the vegetation looks like peas. 
I found two Petoskeys that might be worth working on. This is what they look like dry.
This is what they look like wet. Not a good photo but you can just make out the petrified coral.
I found lots of other stones I loved and just couldn't leave behind. Maybe I can find another home for them. Notice the purple one clear on the left.
I borrowed a metal detector from a friend/co-worker here at Sleepy Bear. He gave me a few pointers on how to use it.
Then I went off hunting. Found lots of lumps of melted aluminum before I figured out which beeps to ignore.
This was my take for the first 1 1/2 hours of hunting. I played with the md two more days and found lots more coins, jewelry and other stuff.
I've been wanting a Petoskey Stone and I found one by the pool. Started sanding on it but it's not a very good one. It's wet here so the "spots" (petrified coral) would show up.
A gal here at the park gave me a better one to sand and polish. I just got it done. Petoskey Stones are the Michigan state stone. Hopefully I can find some more to polish.
