New Mexico – The Wandering RVer

Cool Finds in New Mexico

Not wanting to spend any more time than we had to at the RV park, I mapped out a long, circular day trip route. I’ve always wanted to go to Truth or Consequences, NM. Why? Well…it’s name is Truth or Consequences! Or as the locals call it T or C.

Up until March 31, 1950, the town was called Hot Springs, New Mexico. (Not to be confused with the 11 other states with towns named Hot Springs.) The change in the town’s name started out as a joke when Ralph Edwards, host of a radio quiz show on NBC Radio offered to broadcast his show from the first town to rename itself after his show – Truth or Consequences. The original intent of the citizens was to change the name back, but here we are 74 years later and it is still called T or C.

As we headed northwest out of town, I was looking for additional things to see or do along our route. I discovered something else that is also visible from space, like White Sands NP. Valley of Fires recreation area is located next to the Malpais Lava Flow. Approximately 5,000 years ago, Little Black Peak erupted and flowed 44 miles into the Tularosa Basin. The lava flow is four to six miles wide, 160 feet thick and covers 125 square miles. The lava flow is considered to be one of the youngest lava flows in the continental United States. From space, there is a stark contrast between the white of White Sand NP and the black of the lava field.

If I had read up on it earlier, I would have planned an entire day there. As it was, we made a brief stop to see a bit of the lava field…

Scientists believe Little Black Peak erupted from a small vent as a continuous lava flow for 20 to 30 years. I imagine this offered a better chance of survival than a mass ejection of molten lava. Either way, I’m glad I wasn’t around then!

As I was reading names of towns we would be driving through aloud to Steve, he decided we just had to go to Elephant Butte. (Of course, to be funny, he kept pronouncing it “butt”.)

We stopped at Elephant Butte Lake State Park. The ranger at the gate was kind enough to let us drive through without having to pay the entrance fee. We explained we just want to look around quickly. He did tell us however, if we decided to kayak, we’d have to come back and pay. Much like many of the other reservoirs we have seen, Elephant Butte Lake was very low…

But, they did have a very cool sand sculpture…

We left the beach area and drove over to the dam. I’d love to see what it looks like when the lake is full, but this was the view in early April…

I entered the address of the visitors center in T or C as our next destination. I was hoping they would have a sticker with the town’s name on it for my collection. In case you didn’t know, I put stickers on the side of the slide of cool places we visit. On the other end of the slide, I put stickers of all our national parks, forests, seashores etc…just like I do on the Jeep. They didn’t have any stickers, but suggested I take a picture of the sign on the way into town…

5 gift shops later, I did finally find a sticker! Another reason for visiting T or C, other than the cool name, is T or C Brewing Company!

The afternoon was flying by and we were still only half way through the route I planned, so we enjoyed a quick beer and headed to our next destination, Las Cruces. I’m sure you won’t be surprised, but there is a brewery in Las Cruces! And, you guessed it, that is where we went for dinner. We went to their North Main Street location and had a delicious pizza, spinach/ artichoke flatbread and some great Ice Box Brewing beers.

After dinner, it was time to head back to Alamogordo. By the time we got back to Waldo, we had driven 322 miles, visited 2 breweries, discovered Valley of Fires and laughed about butte versus butt. All in all, it was a fun, but long day. In the morning, we would be heading back into Texas, but more about that next week!

Coming Up…

“Hey Texas – We’re Baaaack!”

Welcome Back to New Mexico

With the FMCA Rally over, it was time to move. We had come as far west as we were going to for this part of our travels and it was time to head east, once again. Our entire spring travel was built around 2 required destinations. The first was the FMCA Rally and the second was Waco, TX to meet up with friends for the solar eclipse on April 8th.

I planned on 4 nights in Alamogordo, NM to visit White Sands National Park, Pistachioland and Truth or Consequences, NM. It was going to be a lot to pack into 4 days, especially when I discovered SO many other things to do in the area.

We knew we were getting close to Alamogordo when we saw a roadside monument for the White Sands Missile Range…

What we didn’t know at the time is that when they are actively firing missiles, the road we came in on would be closed for hours at a time. White Sands NP has a page of their website with scheduled closures. Luckily, we didn’t run into that situation, but were told it happens quite frequently. I guess we really dodged a missile. Lame joke, I know, but it was funny at the time.

The missile we didn’t dodge was the Zia Skies RV park. I knew we were in trouble when we turned onto Lemin Street…

Their website mentioned a locked gate, but this wasn’t the neighborhood I was expecting! What would have been really nice is if they had sent us the gate code, since there was no office at the park. And if there hadn’t already been someone in OUR site. It is the only RV park I have ever left a review for with the heading “DO NOT STAY AT THIS PARK!”

The weather was chilly and the wind just would not quit. That explains my hairstyle when we went to the 575 Brewing Company out first night in town…

Our first full day in Alamogordo was spent at White Sands National Park. From 1933 until 2019, it was known as White Sands National Monument. The NPS still hasn’t found the funds to update the signage…

The dunes at the park make up the world’s largest gypsum dunefield and are visible from space. A 16 mile (round trip) road leads you into the heart of the dunefield. I had no inclination to hike the dunes nor to sled on them, but it was fun to watch from the Interdune Boardwalk trail…

As we walked along the boardwalk, I marveled at the windswept patterns in the sand…

I was surprised so many people were sledding these particular dunes with all the scrub growing up when they could have driven a bit further to get to taller dunes with much less scrub. I was also surprised to see motorhomes with toads in the boardwalk parking lot…

As we drove further into the dunes, the views changed rapidly. We went from dunes with lots of scrub to acres and acres of tall dunes…

The most perplexing thing I saw was a sign where the road turns from pavement to packed sand…

Look closely at rule #3. Apparently, from Feb. 1-May 31, alcohol is prohibited, but it is allowed from June 1-Jan. 31. My guess would be Feb-May are the months of peak visitors. Extreme heat in the summer and snowy conditions in the winter would make visiting less appealing from June to the end of Jan. It was March when we visited, so no picnic with beer for us at the dunes.

I did see a really cool Utility RV in one of the parking lots. Given the shape of the license plate, it definitely came from another country, but I love the mural on the back…

As we were leaving the park, we stopped to take a picture of a dunes climber and his dog taking a break…

The weather took a quick turn for the worst when we got back to Waldo! I was happy we weren’t still driving around the dunes when it started to snow/sleet…

With another National Park off the bucket list, the next day we opted to knock an Atlas Obscura item off the list – Pistachioland! I love pistachios and almost always have a bag of them in Waldo for travel days, but eating pistachio ice cream in front of the world’s largest pistachio will only happen once in my lifetime!

The United States has the largest share of pistachio farming in the world, producing almost 40% of the crop worldwide. The trees at McGinn’s farm were still in the dormant stage. It would be neat to see them loaded with one of my favorite nuts!

Thank you for coming along. Have you been to White Sands NP or Pistachioland? Let me know in the comments below!

Coming up…

An unexpected surprise just outside Alamogordo!

Striking It Rich In New Mexico

With only one day left in Deming, we ere determined to make the most of it. After studying Google Maps for a bit, I was able to determine a round trip route which would include ghost towns, mines and, of course, a brewery.

Our first stop was the Lake Valley Historic Townsite. After silver was discovered in 1878, the town swelled to a population of over 4000 people. It wasn’t long before the mine played out and the people scattered in search of new opportunities.

The Bureau of Land Management has restored the chapel and the school house. There is a self guided tour and an interpretive walk but, unfortunately the site is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Our search for another ghost town, not far from Lake Valley, found only beautiful scenery…

Steve had done some research as well and thought we could throw a winery in as well. The “almost” ghost town of Kingston boasts of having the oldest continuously operating social club in the American west, The Spit & Whittle Club. With a little research, I learned Spit & Whittle clubs are a gathering of people to retell tales of the past. And Kingston certainly has a storied past, at one time, it was the largest town in New Mexico with nearly 7000 residents frequenting its 23 saloons.

As we searched for the winery, we talked about what life had to have been like in the 1880’s. The boom and bust saga is nearly the same for every mining town we have ever visited. But roughly 132 residents of Kingston, refused to give up, even after the post office closed in 1957. We never did find the Black Range Vineyards and contented ourselves with a drive along Percha Creek before heading out.

Our travels took us through Gila National Forest, established in 1899. The Gila Wilderness Area, an area within the National Forest, was established in 1924. The wilderness area was the first of it’s kind in the world. It only took 40 more years for the Wilderness Act was passed.

The winding road up and down through the Black Range with lots of scenic overlooks to stop at, provided us many photo ops…

We were hoping to have a beverage in Pinos Altos at the Buckhorn Saloon, but it wasn’t going to be open for several more hours…

The Pinos Altos mine was originally known as “The El Dorado of New Mexico” and produced more than $8,000,000 in gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc before mining ended.

What we didn’t know when we left Pinos Altos was we would find the Santa Rita cooper mine a few miles down the road, one of the oldest operating mines in the US.

I have always loved the huge mining rock trucks. I mean, just look at the size of the tires!

Look how small the service truck is compared to the rock truck…

Our final stop of the day was Silver City…

Unlike the ghost or near ghost towns we visited, Silver City has not only not busted, but has tried to revitalize itself. At last we would find a beer and a burger…

After our late lunch at Little Toad Creek Brewery and Distillery, we checked out some of the buildings…

With the long drive back to Deming, we decided to call it a day.

I hope you enjoyed our search for ghost towns and will come along on our next adventure!

Coming Up…

Into Arizona

The Florida Mountains

We knew we were going to be in Tucson in less than a week, so we had the “special bolts” shipped general delivery to a post office there. 4 wheeling would have to wait. We heard about a dirt road around the Florida Mountains and thought, well, if it gets too bad, we can always turn around!

After a quick stop at the Spring Canyon Recreation Area, a separate unit of Rockhound SP, we went in search of Gap Road SE. The ladies we met at Luna Rossa winery had told us a family member had recently purchased a large ranch on the backside of the Florida range. She assured us the land wasn’t posted so when we came to the impressive entrance to the ranch, we knew we had found the right road.

The spring wildflowers were putting on quite a display as we got closer to the mountains…

At first, the road was a simple unmaintained dirt road, easy enough to travel…

I use an app called onX Offroad to find trails and to navigate when Google maps thinks we are clearly lost.

You can download maps before you set off on an adventure in case you find yourself without service in the backcountry. The problem we ran into was because it is part working ranch and part BLM land, there are so many unmarked trails, it can be difficult to know if you are actually on the trail you want to be. A couple times we had to backtrack, but doing so gave me plenty of photo ops…

The first closed gate we came to had me wondering it we would have to turn around, but upon a closer look, I could tell it was easily opened. It is meant to deter cattle not vehicles…

We did run across a 2 wheel drive pickup truck coming from the opposite direction. The driver told us he had accessed the road from Hwy 11 which was our endpoint. I was glad to have confirmation it could be done!

One of the things I really like about OnX is it can track us, even without cell service. I can then save the map of our adventures…

When we made it back to a paved road, I stopped tracking us and looked at the stats for trail…

Steve decided the perfect way to end the day would be to stop at the other award winning winery in Deming, Lescombes Winery…

Our bartender, Chrissy, certainly ranks right up there for a sense of style when it comes to taking a selfie…

After an adventure filled day, we headed back to Waldo. We only had a couple more days at Rockhound and were determined to see and do everything we could pack into our stay!

Coming Up…

The places you find when you are looking for ghost towns!

New Mexico – Land of Enchantment

Booking our travels months in advance can be a definite struggle, especially if we have to coordinate with an event or a meet-up with friends. By the time we got confirmation Steve would be working at an RV rally in Tucson, the only RV site available at Rockhound State Park just outside Deming, New Mexico was a boondocking site. But I wanted to go to Deming!!! We would just have to make do!

Normally, boondocking isn’t an issue since we have a generator plus our fridge and furnace run on propane, as well as electricity. With forecast lows in the 40’s, we knew we’d have to run the furnace. Do you think we remembered to check the propane level before heading to New Mexico? Of course not. We were about 17 miles from the campground when Steve realized we needed propane. Shouldn’t be a problem, most Love’s truck stops dispense propane and so do a lot of Tractor Supply companies. The was a Love’s in Las Cruces AND a Tractor Supply! Wouldn’t you know it, that Love’s didn’t and Tractor Supply was out. Yep, I’m still inserting choice words! Several phone calls later, I finally found an RV park in Deming who sold propane IF we could get there by 4:30. Phew! Shouldn’t be a problem. At 4:29 we rolled in and thankfully their clocks weren’t fast. Finally we could head to our site.

We spent our first day in Deming picking up the remaining Jeep parts (yep, it still wasn’t completely back together) and checking the visitor’s center for interesting things to do in the area. We discovered Deming has a Historic Landmark Walking Tour and an app to tell you about the buildings. Our first stop was the Deming Luna County Mimbres Museum, built as an armory in 1917…

Unfortunately, the museum was under repair so we couldn’t go in. The app would give us relative information about each building and often an interesting story as well. Like at the J.A. Mahoney building (no relation)…

Apparently, in 1906, the superintendent of the Deming public school and the principal of the high school, both married men, got into a shootout over the “rights of favors” of a school teacher. The shootout left the principal dead, shot in the middle of the forehead. A grand jury declared the shooting was in self defense and no charges were filed.

While I enjoyed hearing about all of the buildings, I was intrigued by the murals and sculptures…

We thought we would wrap up our first day with a stop at the Luna Rossa Winery…

But, as it turned out, we met some of the locals who convinced us to go with them to the Happy Camper Clubhouse for dinner and “mix tape bingo”.

While we didn’t win at bingo, we definitely won with new friends!

The plan for the next day was for Steve to button up the Jeep and I would go in search of some of the famous thunder eggs, geodes and jasper found in the region. It didn’t take me long to get distracted by the wildflowers…

There are marked trails, but you are free to explore everywhere on the mountain and surrounding hills. One of the things which makes Rockhound SP unique is its “finders keepers” instead of “take only photos” policy. I had picked up quite a few “pretty rocks” when I looked back towards Waldo to see if Steve was done working on the Jeep. That was when I realized how high up I had climbed.

In hindsight, I should have stopped, but then it became about reaching the top, not about “pretty rocks.” When I had climbed as far as I felt I could, I took a picture of the campground…

I had to zoom to 10 on my phone before Waldo was clear…

I texted Steve and asked him to take a picture from Waldo, but, try as he might, he couldn’t quite find me…

Upon my return to Waldo, I found Steve still slaving away. Come to find out, trying to work without a bench or all the proper tools can be a challenge. At long last, he was ready to re-install the front drive shaft, my off-roading plans would be saved! But wait!!!!! The new to us front drive shafts took different bolts than my old driveshaft. Special bolts, the kind you can’t buy in a parts store or hardware store. (I’m running out of choice words and beginning to recycle them now.) Since there was nothing more he could do until said special bolts were ordered, we called it a night…

Coming up…Spring Canyon and the Florida mountains

Just so you know, in New Mexico they pronounce it Floor -ee- da! Thanks for coming along.

Out With The Old

Almost all of the bloggers I know do a special post to mark the end of the year. I always enjoy reading them. Inevitably, it makes me reflect on our own travels, trials and triumphs.

2018 held lots of promise for us as we began our first full year of RV living and working. We knew we’d be starting in Florida, but had no way of knowing for sure December 2018 would find us back there. Hell, there were times when we were broken down, I didn’t think we’d ever make it back to Florida. But we did. We met so many wonderful people along the way. People who changed our lives, possibly without ever knowing so.

I count us a dang lucky…our adventures have been many and our trials have been relatively few, given our lifestyle.

I thought long and hard about how I was going to commemorate 2018. Usually I end up trying to pick a favorite picture from each month – a top 12, if you will. 12? Who was I kidding? We took pictures in at least 13 states, visited 15 national parks/monuments/preserves and drove through western Canada. I couldn’t possibly narrow it down to 12!

My solution was a collage made from every state we spent any real time in (and Canada will just have to forgive my exclusion of them in this post). The following collages are in alphabetical order, not the order we visited. So without further ado, here is 2018 in review…