Drop Box #2 Mailed

Today the drop box to El Rito, New Mexico was picked up by my postman from my front porch. Again I did it all by Internet clicking and credit card. It was actually slightly cheaper to mail it by Click-N-Ship and have the postman pick it up than to take it to the post office. Obviously they are trying to promote the service and to compete with other shipping companies. I called several other post offices along the route today in order to find out their policies on General Delivery packages. Everyone I talked to was very friendly and helpful. We will see how it turns out in real life when I actually get there to retrieve my packages.

I also went to a post office near my work during lunch to mail a can of propane/butane to Pie Town and another can to El Rito. It was kind of an experiment. At first I was told that I could not ship the gas, but after some checking and a phone call the boxes were accepted. You have to have them available for inspection. So don't tape them up until they tell you to close up the box(es). They also have to mark a hazardous material code on the boxes in a couple of places. I don't remember the code right now, but I am sure it is in the regulations. They can only be shipped by ground, so send them early. You cannot use Priority Mail with hazardous materials, and there are strict size and quantity limits per box, as well as packaging requirements to ensure everyone's safety. If you decide to ship propane/butane then plan ahead. New Mexico is the main place where resupply is a major problem. The alternative is to carry more fuel, or use some other type of stove. Of course, you don't have to cook.

I don't expect as many problems finding it outside of New Mexico. My gas usage is one of the few details I never quite figured out. I am going to have an alcohol stove as a backup. I think I will be able to find something to burn. You can use rubbing alcohol or Heet (yellow bottles), which is methyl alcohol. You might find some air brake line anti-freeze (methyl alcohol again) at a truck stop, and then you are good to go.

There are four post offices in Montana whose physical addresses from the www.usps.com site are not recognized by the Click-N-Ship part of the system. However, someone from the Whitefish post office offered a work-around that I will try. The worst case scenario is that my wife will have to take those four packages to the post office here to ship.

There is still a ton to do and very little time to get it done. The air conditioning in my Xterra acted up today, and the belts look like they should be replaced before we head down to the Chihuanhan Desert. I will pick up the belts on my way home from work tomorrow, and my son-in-law is going to check out the ac tomorrow evening too. I don't think I will have time to change the belts before we leave, but at least I will have them with us in case one of them breaks.

I was going to post my list of post office drop addresses and pertinent information for later reference, but it is time to hit the sack. A week from tonight we will be in Mimbres. On Tuesday morning (next week) we will pick up our first drop boxes from the Mimbres post office and begin our four day journey to Pie Town. Stay tuned ...