Tumbleweeds & Traffic

Feb 16/2019  Weather cool 55, sunny but super wwwwwwiiiinnndddyyy!  Wind alert all the way to Las Cruces, New Mexico.  258 miles.  We left Tucson and drove east on I10 with west winds and some sideways gusts 25 to 45 mph.  Thank goodness most of it was pushing us. 

tumbleweeds blowing everywhere

  At times we had tumbleweeds blowing right into our coach.  Billy was shocked when a few hit us really hard!  No swerving.....   Early on (2:30 pm) we found a good spot at Las Cruces KOA.  The wind alert was on till 10 pm so we did not open any slides, no use looking to tear our toppers!    It was cool and down to 35 by morning (elevation here is 4,000 ft) but the campground has a great view from high up over the city at night.  We snuggled up and the wind let up by bedtime.  

Las Cruces KOA view over the city

Feb 17/2019  Weather warmer 64, sunny.  Wind nothing like yesterday, a bit behind us still.  On our way to Fort Stockton today.  300 miles.  There is not much across this part of Texas once you get past El Paso.  Darn that city always seems to be a bit of a snag for us.  One of our least favourite drives on I10.   Last year we had to detour off I10 for a short closure thru downtown..... Billy thought of it first thing this morning.  And yes there is another 2 mile stretch down today!  Crap.  We really need to get a handle on this.  We have a route around the city using the N375 loop and avoiding most of the Franklin Mountains which have unfriendly grades to deal with.  After today we are printing the friendly bypass route out and keeping it with our map for Texas.  No more going thru El Paso on I10.  Weekdays it is always extremely busy, and now two years in a row on a Sunday part of I10 is closed and a detour is setup. 

while we wait to get to the exit; cars flying thru the median to get out of gridlock

So here we sit in gridlock inching to the exit and the detour.  2 hours later,,,,,, ugh.  Yes 2 hours from coming into El Paso and getting out of El Paso.  Never again.  The Co-pilot (Rosey that be you girl) needs to print out those driving instructions and have them ready for next year.  Rest of the trip was a breeze to Fort Stockton RV Park where we will have a nice home cooked supper in the small cafe.   Small things make our day good again :)

Gravel parking lots

Nov 3/18 Weather sunny 65, low 38 in Albuquerque, New Mexico  303 miles 
Invariably we always have a day of wind on I40 coming west.  Our day was a normal short day and it was a good thing.  The wind was gusty coming right into the drivers corner.  Not a lot of fun and not good on the diesel fuel mileage.  We have crossed into another time zone, dropped an hour.  As well we loose an hour tonight ~ Daylight Savings.  When you come down into Albuquerque be prepared for quite an elevation drop, have that engine brake on.  Our stop tonight is the All American RV Resort.  It is a tad noisy with the freeway but a very nice park.   Completely paved.  Your thinking so, it's paved, so what?  Well after tonight its going to get dusty; you'll see.

entering the All American RV Park

And then the days of gravel parking lots begins.  If you have never been to the desert, do not be surprised by the rv parks.  Sometimes you can hardly tell where your site ends and the next site begins.  Haha.
Nov 4/18 Weather sunny 75, low 55 in Las Cruces, New Mexico 241 miles.  Today we head due south on I25 and drop onto I10.  This route is better we find for wind and less elevation as we get into Arizona.  Our night will be at Hacienda RV Resort.  A very nice gravel parking lot.   Wow, it is very busy when we pull in.  No we don't have reservations....but they do have a few spots available.  Had to laugh at the counter the fellow said it is "all you Winterbirds".  I wanted to correct him that we are "snowbirds, not winterbirds".  Funny, I let it go. 

La Hacienda RV Park in Las Cruces

Nov 5/18 Weather sunny and hot 84/low 61 in Picacho Peak, Arizona 327 miles.  We are stopping so tomorrow we can get on I8 which is close by;  so this overnight is in the Picacho Peak KOA.   It is a dusty gravel parking lot and there are lots of trains going by too, at night it got cool enough we closed all our windows and put the fan on.  The grey noise of the fan seemed to drown out the road noise and we slept well.  Oh by the way did you notice an extra 100 miles???   Our body clocks were so screwed up with all the time changes, we were awake at 6:30 am this morning.  Our bodies think it is 8:30 am.  So we fell out of our 2:30 club today :)

Picacho Peak KOA

Crossing into Arizona from New Mexico on I10 is really pretty

Nov 6/18 Weather sunny and hot 82/low 65 in Quartzsite, Az 207 miles.  Ok this is the last sleep and tomorrow..... drum roll...... we will be in the Cochella Valley, Palm Springs area!  Yeah!!!  If you have never been to Quartzsite I guess you should come take a look.  A night, 2 nights, a week at the most.  It is a totally different kind of town.  Basically trailers conglomerated into a mini city in the desert.  Right now it is very quiet but come January it will be booming.  Flea Markets, Gem shows, RV's boondocking everywhere in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) desert.    For us a night is good at Quail Run RV Park.  Another gravel parking lot.  Pretty much.  To get here we came across I8, then headed north at Gila Bend on SR85 which pops you onto to I10 again.    We do this to avoid Phoenix.  Nothing wrong with Phoenix but I10 goes into it and out and the congestion is very heavy.  We figured this out the hard way a few years ago, it becomes a parking lot of stop and go, crawling through the urban sprawl.  The city center has grown so much in the last decade they need a bypass around this city.

Quartzsite Quail Run RV Park.  Like our cactus?  And what are those holes all around it?

Tip:  A couple of things, can you do this drive quicker?  For sure and that is why I put up the mileage.  Remember we don't make a reservation ahead so at 2:30 you have a good chance of a site, if you put 500 mile days in you better make a reservation and you might be coming in after the office is closed; you will want to have your after hours site package ready for you to pick up.
 

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin

Feb 20, 21/2018  Weather  in Las Cruces is sunny and warm 75 (warmer than we were in Tuscon - go figure?) cool at night 38.  Drive had a constant NE breeze at us.  A favourite spot of ours to overnight is Hacienda RV Resort.   Very nice park, long pull thrus and from the park we can walk to supper at Luna Rossa Winery and Restaurant (with 10% off too) and also to the Harley Davidson shop.  A walk after being on the road for the day is a good thing and we always need a new tshirt!

some dinner in Las Cruces at Luna Rossa 

Hacienda RV Resort Las Cruces

Next day Weather for the drive to Fort Stockton RV Park   (an old KOA but quite decent for an overnight stop) is sunny but cool especially on the high plain elevations, the night is going to clear and downright cold.  4 hours of 31 to 26..... bbbbbbrrrr.  We will crank on the heat and electric blanket tonight and not put out the water hose.

Fort Stockton RV Park

So enjoy the little Roadrunner Cafe here, do yourself a favour and have some down home cooking.  When we woke up in the morning the cars had frost all over them and the guy beside us closed his slide and the ice chips landed all over the ground.  Haha.  Oh we know, this is not Arizona anymore.  Humidity for one thing.   We will be at Marble Falls after this day and it is a place we have always wanted to see and camp at since coming out to Hill Country.  So many campers at Buckhorn Lake RV have come from Marble Falls and our curiosity will not rest till we stay there.  Plus it is still in Hill Country and there is motorcycle roads that we do not get to from Kerrville, makes too long a day from there. 

Tip:  During February both Las Cruces and Fort Stockton campgrounds were full - they said many many travellers coming and going.  So Rosey must book ahead and she did about 4 days ago.  Good thing....  (Calverley's would be proud of us - we finally did some reservations)

The Catwalk

Nov 5/17  Weather 71/41 sunny and breezy.  get the leathers on and it will feel good.

It is a bit of a drive out to The Catwalk from Silver City, about 75 miles but we have nothing but time and a motorcycle!   This morning we were up early since the time fell back 1 hour last night.  I made a picnic lunch since most of the destinations in this area have very little to offer for lunch.  Last time we got caught with a bottle of water and a bag of Frito Scoops.  The ride takes us North West to a small town of Glenwood.  On the way there is nothing.  Nope.  Nothing.  hahaha getting used to that.  We always fill our bike up with fuel before leaving.  Good thing.

only bikers on the trail

the catwalk is quite sturdy

So yes you drive about 75 miles and then hike for a couple of miles in and out of the canyon on what is called "the catwalk."  Then a picnic lunch which was yummy and then back on the bike to ride back to Silver City.  But you know it was actually worth the day.  It is a day of history in the geological foundations of southwest New Mexico that draws you back to the mining in the early 1800's.  The result of cataclysmic volcanic actions, the area now offers a picnic spot next to Whitewater Creek, and a mile trail along steel catwalks that replace the original wooden stilted catwalks.  The town grew up around a mill with 13 claims about 4 miles upstream.

checking out the walls

on the other side of the canyon

The mill could not be built closer to the mines because of the rough, narrow canyon.  So workers constructed a 3 mile pipeline to provide water supply to the mill and town.  The pipeline hung on the canyon walls.  Today you can follow the exact route via the new Catwalk.  The newly constructed walkway cost $14 million just as couple of years ago.  The hike was very easy and quite gave you some beautiful views of the canyon.  Can you imagine the work to put in the wooden catwalk back in 1893???

catwalk suspended on walls of canyon

Geronimo Trail Scenic Byway

Nov 3/17  Weather high 74/low 41.  Spectacular Fall Day.    It was one of those perfect riding days.  The colours.  The smells.  The sun.  A ride to a neat little village for  lunch and back with beautiful views around each corner.   It is the essence of what makes us so happy to be snooping around. 

Geronimo Trail

The Geronimo Trail honors the great Chiricahua Apache Warrior, Geronimo, who was born west of here in today’s Gila Wilderness.   His great grandson (a medicine man) honored a plaque marking his birthplace near the Gila Cliff Dwellings.  Interestingly enough  the great grandsons name is Harlyn Geronimo.  Last name Geronimo!!!   While riding the scenic byway you could look up and imagine the landscape with Apaches on horseback watching us make our way along the route which is unspoiled—quiet, pristine, and teeming with wildlife and now the fall bringing out the luminous gold leaf Cottonwoods.

fall colours in a gulch along Geronimo's trail

From the Jornada del Muerto (Journey of the Dead Man)—the roughest and deadliest part of the historic Camino Real, which served as the main route north between Mexico City and Santa Fe—the Byway rises to more than 8,200 feet in the Black Range Mountains.
Emory Pass Vista in the Black Range Scenic Area reveals a magnificent view to the east for more than 40 miles.

View from top of Emory Pass

Going East you will descend into two ghost mining towns that once had up to 9,000 people living in the area.

Hillsboro General Store Cafe

Now Hillsboro has less than 150.  We found a very old General Store that is decorated in the local antiques and has a small cafe with all the old time accents.   There is a tiny little old post office from the 1800's which still serves the population.

Hillsboro Post Office

Our ride back to Silver City on the same route was just as great; odd how it always looks different going the opposite direction :)  Silver City is the perfect spot to explore all of this area.  Glad we found our way here.

Trail of the Mountain Spirits & Gila Cliff Dwellings

Oct 31/17 Weather sunny, high 60's to 70 for the next week so we are destined to get to Silver City, New Mexico; elevation is just under 6000 feet.  With the warm autumn season we will not have frost at night and fairly nice riding weather during the day.   Leaving interstate 10 the road is quite good for a motorhome (north US180) and about an hour later we arrived at Silver City KOA.

our map for the ride

the byway is back and forth; sensational motorcycle road

Our main reason to camp here was to ride out to the Gila Cliff Dwellings.  These interlinked cave dwellings were built by ancient Puebloan people in the cliff alcoves between 1275 and 1300 .  Archeologists have identified 46 rooms which they believe housed up to 15 families.   Plan on 6 to 8 hours on The Trail of the Mountain Spirits Scenic Byway.  It crosses six climatic zones and a broad swath of the Old West territory made famous by the daring exploits of Native Americans, Buffalo Soldiers, frontier families and scurrilous outlaws (Billy the Kid). 

the dwellings from a distance on the hike up

think about how they built the inside structures into the cliffs

walking inside the rooms

From the trail head station it is a mile hike with some steep rock climbing.  Instead of hiking boots we had our motorcycle boots and that was a good thing as it is a bit rocky and rough.  We saw a few little lizards and a snake (eek!!!) on the trail.

this little guy blends right into the rock

You can walk into several of the cave dwellings and ponder how these ancient people built these rooms and structures with no tools.  Hard to imagine life almost 800 years ago here.  

Billy climbing down the ladder from the dwellings

Taking a picnic lunch would be a smart thing.... but on our Harley we had a couple bottles of water and a bag of Frito Scoops!!!   When I put the chips in our backpack Billy was laughing at me; but he was glad we had them.  There is no place to eat out there!!!    The ride back gave us time to think about how fascinating the ancient people of  the West were.  Did you know the Mogollon - early Puebloan's were a very small people.  The men were 5 feet at the most and the woman were 4' to 4' 5".  Obviously small but "mighty".   They are known for their unique pottery style  - Mimbres black and white. 

Mimbres pottery

Mimosa Time?

south along interstate  25

Oct 29 & 30/17  Weather is so nice we thought lets stay a couple of days in Las Cruces.  78 high, low 44 then 80 high, low 47.  When you are located in Albuquerque it is pretty much a straight shot south on I25 to Las Cruces.  Easy 240 mile day.  Oh yes much more our style.  Not much along the way but we noticed it was the best leaf peeping day we had on the road this fall.  Kind of odd it is in New Mexico; that would not be the place you would expect.   The yellows and golds were effervescent!

golden bronze tree at the entrance to this ranch in New Mexico

Hacienda RV resort is a nice place to stay and it has a close proximity to Old Mesilla Village where the restaurants are great.  We unloaded the Harley and went for a ride out into the countryside through pecan orchards; on the way back we stopped at St. Clair Winery & Bistro.

St. Clair Winery & Bistro in Las Cruces

Billy just liked the name since we lived on Lake St. Clair for years.  As it turns out it was a fantastic lunch and we left with a bottle of Mimosa!!!  Didn't know you could get it bottled and we thought this will be great for brunch one day soon.

Mimosa from St. Clair Winery

Landmarks

March 12/17  Time change this morning!  Peeked at the clock and it was 8 am.  Did a snooze and woke up at 9 am.   Put the coffee on and realized it was 10 am.  Boy its going to be a really short day if this continues!  Ha ha.  
Weather  very cool and cloudy morning 60 F, a storm went thru in the night and today will be below normal.  Good day to putz around.
When downloading some pictures just now I came across a couple landmarks that are worth putting up on the blog.

Las Cruces Roadrunner

Driving on interstate 10 thru Las Cruces, New Mexico we made a pit stop at the rest area which is up on the plateau before dropping down into the city.  They have a Roadrunner statue which is recycled materials from a local dump.  Roadside America has it listed as a stop and see.... Mr. Roadrunner is 20 feet tall and 40 feet long and standing guard over Las Cruces. 

The Wall between El Paso and Juarez

Continuing east on interstate 10 you will pass thru El Paso, Texas which seems to go on forever.  Billy does not like the road here, he feels it is narrower going thru the city; almost like they made 2 lanes into 3 at one time.  The city is stretched out along the border of Juarez, Mexico.....And that is the landmark picture.   You can see "the wall" from the interstate.   It is 18 feet tall and was erected in 2008.   It also goes on forever.

Carnivores Indulge

Oct 27/16  Weather sunny and hot, 82.  low of 53.
Amarillo Texas. 
For miles you see advertised -  The Big Texan Steak Ranch - 72 oz Steak Free.
What is all this about?

The metal Amigos that welcome you to Amarillo KOA

We got a nice campsite in Texas at the Amarillo KOA and found there was a free shuttle limo that would take us to The Big Texan Steak Ranch for dinner.  This is such a treat for us having them pick you up and take you back.  Why not? 

Okay Cowboy, that there is our limo shuttle

Billy is getting his appetite ready to go in

We can always watch someone try to eat the 72 oz of meat in an hour.  That is 4 1/2 pounds plus a roll, baked potato, shrimp cocktail; for $72.  You pay up front and if you eat it all in an hour you get your money back.   Over 9,500 people have done it!  Ah well no takers the night we were there, but the steak was mighty tasty.  That is our little 16 oz. ribeye.
Almost forgot:
Just had to show you what we found in the gift shop....  really a Texan pistol case?  Isn't that what everyone needs!!!

can't think of anything to say about that

Oct 28 & 29/16  Weather still warm 79, night 51


Next day we moved along to Albuquerque and parked at American RV Park  and the following at Holbrook KOA in Arizona.   Both good places to stop along the way west. 

Chile Sauce and a Trip to the Moon

March 4/2016  80 a bit of cloud cover today, 50 tonight.
We took a motorcycle ride north along the historic El Camino Real trail specifically since we had seen two interesting town names.  The first one was Hatch - which is the Chile Capital of the World..... and then farther along was Truth or Consequences.  That name truly piqued our interest.  What could be there?  What an odd name.  The backroad trail follows along the Rio Grande River.  Which in this area of New Mexico is little more than a stream.

Hatch Chiles

all kinds of dried spices

We stopped in Hatch where a very tiny village had half a dozen shops that sold sauces, dried peppers and all kinds of spices.  I couldn't resist to get a couple of jars of the Chile sauce for my boys and then some Bay Leaves for my mom.  Back on the Harley we headed up to T or C.   At the visitor center in Truth or Consequences we found the hugest thing to hit the town...   Spaceport America.  Richard Branson's headquarters for the commercial spaceship trips to the moon. Virgin Galactic and Space X.  We only had time to walk around the visitor center but there is a tour for 4 hours via shuttle bus only to the actual facility which is about 45 minutes away in a desert basin.  Maybe next time we will plan for that, the pictures of the building look like something in outerspace! 

The tour takes you to this building - Spaceport America

Missiles and The First Atomic Bomb Test Site

March 2/16   We went to the White Sands Nat'l Monument Park and stopped at the White Sands Missile Range Army Base to see the Missile Park and Museum on site.  Before you can visit the 1 acre park you have to go into the Visitor Center and have a background check completed on each person.  No video camera's and no pictures allowed of the base.  Photography is limited to the museum and the missile park facing the mountain range.  There were a couple people ahead of us and short of a half hour we have our background check completed and we were allowed to walk over to the Museum/Park.    Many of you will know this Army Range from 1945.... the 600,000 acre range was the site used for the first Atomic Bomb Test, code named Trinity.  The site of the Trinity Bomb can only be visited 2 days per year.  The base is currently active for missile testing and range recovery operations.  The museum artifacts and information were very interesting history. 

The Missile Park

Billy walking up to a missile

V2 rocket captured from the Germans in 1945

rocket launchers inside the museum

pictures of the 1st Atomic Bomb explosion in the range here in New Mexico

During the Cold War 145 sites held Hercules Nike Missiles to protect all major US cities

Heart of the Sands

March 3/16 Weather 82, night 52. 

on Dunes Drive in white sands national monument park

Waves of brilliant white sand dunes make for one of the most unusual drives today, about 70 miles north of Las Cruces.

odd formations of the gypsum sand

a pull off during the drive

 The White Sands National Monument run by the National Parks Services provides the 8 mile scenic Dunes Drive.  This is the worlds largest gypsum dunefield...the dunes range up to 60 feet high and move 12 to 16 feet per year. 

a massive dune

Road graders keep the drive open.   About halfway thru the drive the road is completely covered in sand, so we just putzed along about 5 mph.  Billy felt it was a bit slippery on the motorcycle.   The sand is so bright white you swear it is snow when looking at pictures.  At the Visitor Center they actually sell plastic sleds for the kids to slide down the dunes, just like snow tobogganing!  Millions of years ago this whole area was Lake Lucero.  The lake is still here but a portion of the size it was.   The White Sands National Monument covers 275 square acres which is 176,000 acres.  Huge,,,, one of the most unusual places we have seen in North America.

looks like soft snow

some vegetation survives?

a yucca framed in white