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Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM

Dawn, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, January 14, 2008
Dawn, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad, New Mexico, January 14, 2008

Brantley Lake State Park is a desert park at the southernmost lake in New Mexico offering year-round camping. Historical exhibits in the visitors center depict the Wild West town of Seven Rivers, flooded in 1988 by completion of the dam across the Pecos River that created Brantley Lake.

I like the campground in the Brantley Lake State Park but find my Verison Broadband internet access suffers a lot of dropouts. There is a good Verizon 1X Extended Network signal here I've had several dropped calls on my cell phone and so many drop outs on the modem access that I've just about given up trying to do anything significant on line.

Resources

I've used the UPS Customer Center, 2435 West Texas Street, Carlsbad NM 88220 for package delivery - the Park will accept packages for guests but the Amazon database does not recognize the address as valid.

The Carlsbad Laundry, 604 West Church Street, Carlsbad, NM 88220 - (575) 885-5609 is an accessible old but clean and friendly laundromat.

Both of these resources are pinned on my Google resources map.

Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM

Nights I've camped here

  • Thursday, December 17, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • Back on December 5th I mentioned New Mexico's plan to close the park system December 23rd and 24th this year as part of an employee furlough program the State put in place to help deal with their budgetary shortfall. It's time to start drifting toward a solution to the problem of where to make my Night Camps those nights so tomorrow I'm going up toValley of Fires Recreation Area in Carrizozo NM. Image: Lava field dawn, Valley of Fires, Carrizozo NM, April 28, 2009.
  • Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • Boy, can I procrastinate! "X" commissioned me to design a Christmas present for "A" way last summer and I finally finished it and shipped it today (FedEx, don't fail me now!). She wanted to present him with a custom fitted leather knife roll for the favorite kitchen knives he travels with. Image: Traveler's leather kitchen knife roll, December 16, 2009.
  • Tuesday, December 15, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • Another Lazy Daze rolled in this afternoon, a Blue & White Mid Bath, not one I recognize. I wonder who it is - that makes three of us Lazy folks here now. Image: Available, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, December 9, 2009.
  • Monday, December 14, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • Image: Afghan Pine, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, December 9, 2009.
  • Sunday, December 13, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • Image: Sunrise, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, December 9, 2009.
  • Saturday, December 12, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • There isn't much color in the landscape in southern New Mexico this time of year. The often colorful sunrises and sunsets are a special and welcome treat. Image: Early Dawn Sky, Site 42, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, December 9, 2009.
  • Friday, December 11, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • Ah! to awaken to a gorgeous sunrise, the sweet smell of crude on the breeze, the gentle sound of a make-or-break pipeline pumping engine thump...thump....thump thump......thumping in the background - 'tis comfort food to the fulltimer rolling into a peak oil future. Image: Sunrise, Site 42, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, December 11, 2009.
  • Thursday, December 10, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • This was a nice quiet day, much of it spent working at straightening out the mess over at my Clippings and Collectanea pages. I made some headway but there sure is a lot to do to get those pages in order. What a mess! Image: Sunset at the dam, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, December 10, 2009.
  • Wednesday, December 9, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • I'm going to take a break and kick back for a few days. It's been a long time coming and finally, knock-on-wood, there are no pressing rig repair crises looming over me and I want to get some sort of equilibrium back into this crazy life. Image: Dawn, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, December 9, 2009.
  • Tuesday, December 8, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • I rolled out early this fog shrouded morning to breakfast at the Pecos River Cafe before heading across the street to Forrest Tire to see when they might have time to rebalance the front tires. Image: Remembering Site 37, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, December 7, 2009.
  • Monday, December 7, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • Today they crew at Forrest Tire in Carlsbad will install new front shocks and rebalance the front tires in an effort to eliminate the right front tire bounce and cupping that has been plaguing me for some time now. Image: Blue Monday, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, December 7, 2009.
  • Sunday, December 6, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • Yesterday dawned bright and sunny - then clouded over and stayed cold. Today dawned bright and sunny and the sun stayed around most all day, and took the rest of the remaining snow over the hill with the sunset. We like it. Image: Dawn, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, December 5, 2009.
  • Saturday, December 5, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • New Mexico has implemented an employee furlough program to ease its budgetary shortfall and will be closing the State Parks on those furlough dates. I sympathize with the State's need to trim their budget but these closures are sure going to complicate life for us full-timers a bit. We can't just go home. Image: Replacement Shurflo water pump, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, December 5, 2009.
  • Friday, December 4, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • This year I was determined to leave the northeast a month earlier than my usual November 15th departures. I didn't make it - the grinning gods kept me busy with mechanical problems - it was November 20th by the time I tamed them enough to dare head out. Image: Snowsbirds at rest, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, December 1, 2009.
  • Thursday, December 3, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • Amazon has shipped the new water pump. Image: Wiring and water pump under the sink, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, December 3, 2009.
  • Wednesday, December 2, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • I guess I get at least one more turn in the barrel (where does that expression come from anyway). I woke up about 4:00am - cold. The power is out again. But just in my rig this time - the lights are on at the bathhouse and in a few rigs I can see from here. Sheesh - what is it now? Image: Snow in the park, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, December 1, 2009.
  • Tuesday, December 1, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • Yesterday I got nicely settled in here at Brantley Lake State Park, hooked up to electricity for the first time since I left NM last spring and what do I awaken to? Snow. More snow than I've seen in years. Image: Snow at dawn, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, December 1, 2009.
  • Monday, November 30, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • After being startled on an earlier trip through the west to discover you can actually see the Texas/New Mexico border on the ground I've been watching for it ever since. I saw it again today crossing from Texas into Hobbs, New Mexico. Image: Google map of the TX border at Hobbs NM, screen shot November 30, 2009.
  • Monday, January 5, 2009 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • Charlie repaired LD's transmission leak today and all is well. Almost. I've moved up to Brantley Lake for the night and once again have no usable internet access here. Image: Dawn, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, January 14, 2008
  • Tuesday, January 15, 2008 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • Today's journey: None, I stayed right here in camp. Image: Untitled, near Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad, New Mexico, January 16, 2008.
  • Monday, January 14, 2008 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • Today I went in to Carlsbad to shop, access the internet for a bit, and have a talk with my web host about a persistent outgoing email problem I've been having. That all accomplished I visited the Living Desert State Park just outside Carlsbad on my way back to Brantley Lake. Image: Feeling prickly, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad, NM, January 15, 2008.
  • Sunday, January 13, 2008 - Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM
    • Today was a travel day and a fairly long one that took me north up TX 17 from Fort Davis, Texas to Pecos, Texas then north up US 285 to Brantley Lake State Park, a few miles north of Carlsbad, New Mexico. Image: Dawn, Brantley Lake State Park, Carlsbad NM, January 14, 2008

Over Fifty

Some of this has been painful for me, but it's all been wildly instructive. And it convinced me that nearly every person over fifty should try to find a time to sit down and engage in the same exercise, even if you never intend to publish anything. You need to think about what really meant something to you. Who did you really love. Who really made you what you are. What the seminal events did. And also it's an incredible discipline. Because I found it shocking to me what I remember and what I don't. It's shocking to me what I can remember factually and how hard it is for me to be absolutely sure about how I felt at the time. You know, how did I feel when I was 16? I don't really know.

Bill Clinton, on writing his memoir, in an interview with James Fallows, the Atlantic Monthly

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