Donn Friedman

Assistant Managing Editor at Albuquerque Journal

my kids want to eat

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Articles

Essential Overland Gear: Leveling blocks

4 days ago | yahoo.com | Donn Friedman

Jun. 23—Many paid campgrounds present flat pads or level areas to park your camper. But that's not the case in many places, especially in dispersed areas. And you don't want to rule out camping in a beautiful area just because it isn't perfectly level. A level space is needed so you don't wake up with all the blood in your head or feet after a long, night sleeping.
Essential Overland Gear: Leveling blocks

4 days ago | abqjournal.com | Donn Friedman

Many paid campgrounds present flat pads or level areas to park your camper. But that’s not the case in many places, especially in dispersed areas. And you don’t want to rule out camping in a beautiful area just because it isn’t perfectly level. kAmp =6G6= DA246 :D ?66565 D@ J@F 5@?’E H2<6 FA H:E9 2== E96 3=@@5 :? J@FC 9625 @C 766E 27E6C 2 =@?8[ ?:89E D=66A:?8]k^AmkAmx? 72?4J #'D 2?5 25G6?EFC6 G69:4=6D[ J@F 42? =6G6= FD:?8 2 3FEE@?
ESSENTIAL OVERLAND APP: With Merlin hear, identify sounds of the forest

1 week ago | abqjournal.com | Donn Friedman

Listen up!Look up!After you download the app, you can identify those chirps and match them to the birds in trees nearby and soaring through the air using your smart phone. "Sound ID in the Merlin Bird ID app is currently available for 1,382 species of birds," according to the CornellLab web site. "Sound ID listens to the birds around you and shows real-time suggestions for who’s singing.
Cochiti Lake east side open again

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Donn Friedman

Jun. 16—Cochiti Lake along the Rio Grande is one of the closest places to Albuquerque for a quick water adventure. And in the desert Southwest, water adventures are few and far between. The lake is about halfway between Santa Fe and Albuquerque just west of Interstate 25, watch for the brown recreation signs. Cochiti Dam is one of the ten largest earthfill dams in the U.S., according to recreation.gov.
ESSENTIAL OVERLAND GEAR: Hockey tape

1 week ago | abqjournal.com | Donn Friedman

Sometimes duct tape is not the correct way to make a game time fix. You've loaned your rig to a fellow adventurer for a trip to Colorado, say to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Montrose County. The parking lot is a bit more crowded than New Mexico adventurers are used to encountering. A Colorado-tagged vehicle body checks a parking light on your van, leaving it cracked, hanging and clinging to life. Hockey tape to the rescue for about $3 a roll.
A bit of advice from a potty-obsessed showgoer

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Donn Friedman

Jun. 9—If you want to find a portable bathroom sooooooooooooooo clean you would hardly know what you can use it to do, follow the pumper. If you get up early, you can be lucky enough to see, and smell, the clean-up crew with the pumping trucks arriving. Chase after them, but not as closely as you would an ice cream truckBecause once their work is done, you can do your business. Be sure to let the fumes settle as you queue up for your turn.
Essential Overland Gear: Trash bag

2 weeks ago | yahoo.com | Donn Friedman

Jun. 9—Trash caddy. Spare tire trash bag. Dirty gear bag. Trail trash bag. Over tire bags are known by many names, and come in many different sizes and price points. The purchase price ranges from $35 to as much as $199 for a large, durable made-in-America, extra-large, infused with paraffin wax canvas carrier. Each bag works essentially the same and serves the same function: to give you a place to store stinky trash, wet towels, tarps and more after an adventure.
A bit of advice from a potty-obsessed showgoer

2 weeks ago | abqjournal.com | Donn Friedman

If you want to find a portable bathroom sooooooooooooooo clean you would hardly know what you can use it to do, follow the pumper. If you get up early, you can be lucky enough to see, and smell, the clean-up crew with the pumping trucks arriving. kAmr92D6 27E6C E96>[ 3FE ?@E 2D 4=@D6=J 2D J@F H@F=5 2? :46 4C62> ECF4<k^AmkAmq642FD6 @?46 E96:C H@C< :D 5@?6[ J@F 42?
Gilman Tunnels reopen after rock slide-related maintenance work

3 weeks ago | rrobserver.com | Donn Friedman

JEMEZ SPRINGS — You can once again drive into the Jemez through the Gilman Tunnels on scenic N.M. 485 to FR 376. After repeated rock slides, the tunnels and access to the Jemez recreation area along the road from the south were blocked in October, but it reopened to traffic May 22. “The Jemez Ranger District experienced a storm event in 2022 that caused considerable rock fall at the Gilman Tunnels.
Essential Overland Gear: Communication is key

1 month ago | abqjournal.com | Donn Friedman

Real overlanders usually use ham radios for communication, said Nicolas Villescas of New Mexico-Expedition at a recent rigs and coffee meetup in Rio Rancho. But there are simpler ways to start talking on the road if you have two or more vehicles. If you have cellphone service, you are ready to communicate as long as you have a car charger. But the whole point of adventuring is to get off the grid. Low-power walkie-talkies work well between vehicles.