Jun 17, 2013 - Las Cruces, NM

Mon., June 17th – Our first family connection began today. We met my youngest sister, Anna, her husband and their 12 yr. old daughter, Emili in Las Cruces, NM. It’s been 5 years since we’ve been together. We enjoyed catching up with an evening out at their favorite “border food” restaurant, Andele’s Dog House. After planning meals for our next few days of camping together, we headed for Walmart to grocery shop. Floyd is an avid New Mexico backpacker, so his expertise will be very helpful as we set off for the Gila Wilderness tomorrow.

Apr 15, 2013 - Where are we?

It was another 40 mph wind day so before it got really bad we went to see Big Daddy's flea market on N. Main. This address gives the impression that it is downtown in a parking lot. Turns out North Main is Hwy 70. We could see it from the road but couldn't figure out where to exit. Finally had to back track and take a feeder road. Upon arrival we thought maybe we had crossed the border but having been in Mexico for 2 months back in 2008 we had never see a market place this bad. There were piles of clothing we would have rejected giving to...

Apr 13, 2013 - Flee the Market

We went to the crafts , farmers, flea market. Holy flea Bite! It was the oddest place we've ever been to and we might hold the record for weird flea markets.There were tragic garage sale set ups in the parking lot which included $5 retreads, broken vacuums, and velvet paintings. Inside we're booths with henna tattoos , clothing , hair cuts, leopard seat covers, homemade tortilla chips, all manner of salsa, rustic furniture, and dollar toys made in Mexico. Of course my hubby managed to buy chips, salsa, a NFL Saints pot holder rack, and...

Apr 12, 2013 - Driving through Desert

The drive from Tucson to Las Cruces was through the desert, then there is more desert and at the end it was in the desert. You could see the snow at the top of the mountains in the distance.There were lots of whirling dirt devil spouts, every few miles there was a lone green tree with a windmill water pump close by. They were the only green in an a sea of sand and gray tumble weeds. The road signs all gave high wind warnings and what to do if visibility was zero. One should have said pull over and have a good cry. In amongst the cactus...

Mar 31, 2013 - Las Cruces, NM

We Have been in Las Cruces, NM for the last couple of days today we went to the White Sands NP, Cloudcroft and Ruidoso, NM. White Sands National Park has large Sand Dunes made up of Gypsum washed down from the surrounding mountains and dissolved by rain and snow then blown by the wind to form the dunes. This has happened over thousand of years and must be seen to believe. They actually plow the roads as if it were snow. See Pictures. We then left there and traveled up into the Lincoln National Forest to Cloudcroft going from the high 60's...

Mar 17, 2013 - Arizona in the Rear-View Mirror

Time to leave Arizona behind and point the RV eastbound for Oklahoma City. We rolled out early since we will lose an hour today when we go into Mountain Time. Arizona is on Pacific Time when daylight saving time kicks in. Our destination for today was Las Cruces, NM. Today was our first day towing with our new SMI Air Force One Braking System. Joe had checked it all out but I'm always the consummate worrier in the family. We were about 30 miles east of Tucson when we went through a particularly rough patch of road. Very shortly after, a...

Mar 5, 2013 - A Long Day's Journey

We knew today would be a long travel day, so we were up and on the road at the crack of daylight, which is just after 7:00 in Texas. During the night, we heard the wind howling and rocking the rig, not a good sign. High winds across the southwest can wreak havoc on travelers. We have been watching the upcoming weather guesses closely. There is a system that is supposed to hit Arizona on Friday, but hopefully, we will have clear sailing until then. -- Our goal today was to get through El Paso and into New Mexico. By the time the sunshine was...

Feb 21, 2013 - New Mexico

Today we traveled from Pecos Tx to Las Cruces New Mexico, The first couple of hours thu Texas was high Plains . VERY flat at between 2500 to 3500 ft above sea level. you are always climbing and don't realize it. VERY STRONG HEADWINDS. fuel mileage went from 8mpg to 6 mpg. We then went into a mountain area in the very west of Texas. very few towns, no ranching or farming just the occasional oil rig and suddenly there was El Paso. A large city in the middle of nowhere right on the Mexico border. Over 650,000 people. Juarez on the Mexican side...

Feb 10, 2013 - Organ Mountains, Mesilla, from Las Cruces NM

Las Cruces is one of my favorite cities. It is small, clean, shopping if you want and a wide assortment of restaurants. Nancy and I have been here 6 times and really enjoyed the area. In fact, at one time, we were thinking of buying a home here in Las Cruces. That was then and this is now, so we stopped by for a visit. After the Quartzsite trip we are looking for a little R&R and less desert sand. We are staying at Sunny Acres RV Park, which is a first for us. It is a Senior Park and since I just had a birthday I qualify:)). There are a...

Feb 4, 2013 - New Mexico

Left Tucson just after 11:00 today and headed east. I was a little slow getting started after yesterday's Superbowl party and Saturday's trip to Phoenix to watch the NHL again. (We got $40 tickets for the upper bowl for $30 from a scalper and then proceeded to the lower bowl about 15 rows up from the ice surface and just in front of the goal line! They were probably $75 seats but lots of them were unoccupied.) It was an uneventful ride through some different rock formations today. I stopped for gas once and to connect to the internet once...

Jan 29, 2013 - Dust storms, desert and mountain ranges

Today we are in Las Cruces, NM. It's 36 degrees. We stayed at a brand new Hilton Garden Inn and got in a nice workout and southwestern breakfast before hitting the road. We had a quick look around Historic Mesilla, NM - a town with its beginnings back in 1848 later officially purchased by the US government via the Gadsen Purchase. Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced in Mesilla - he later escaped! Noon was upon us and it was time to get on the road. No sooner did we get on Rt-10 west then a dust storm with near zero visibility blew in....

Jan 22, 2013 - Las Cruces, New Mexico

We vistied several local sites here. The first was the Old Mesilla Village. 150 years ago it was the major stop for travelers going between San Antonio and San Diego. Visitors to see what an 1800’s border town looked like. Western Legend Billy the Kid once stood trial for murder in a Mesilla courtroom, and the Mesilla Plaza was once a major stop for the Butterfield Stagecoach. Originally, Mesilla was part of Mexico, but with the signing of the Gadsden Purchase in 1854, the village became part of the United States. Today, .Another important...