Giving Thanks in New Mexico

Friday, November 29, 2013


This evening finds us tucked into Elephant Butte Lake State Park near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, or T 'r C. We're two spots over from where we stayed last winter. After adding two more days to our stay at Rockhound State Park, and having Thanksgiving there, we headed north this morning.
Rockhound was just what we needed after being snow hermits at Pancho Villa. I thrive best when I have a view and can also do some people watching. At Rockhound we were up on the side of of the Little Florida Mountains with a spectacular view of the Florida Mountains, the valley running south from Deming to the border, and the lights of Deming flickering like jewels all night below us.

Our campsite at Rockhound with the Florida Mountains in the background

Looking east at Spanish Stirrup pass between the Florida and Little Florida Mountains

Looking up the pediment of Little Florida Mountain at the mineral-bearing volcanic ash flows

We hiked the Thunderegg Trail up above and around the campground. Greg took some separate hikes to rock hunt. We saw lots of barrel cacti that were fruiting. It was still cold and windy, but all but one day we had sun. The temperatures are slowly rising, but are still below normal.

Kathleen posing with a Sotol plant

Cholla

Greg teasing a Fishhook Barrel Cactus

Fruits disappear as they get ripe, so many critters must be checking them regularly.

Rockhound's visitors center and museum

Giant Agave plant

Yucca

Yucca Stalk

We played “Chopped”, like the Food Network Channel, for Thanksgiving. We decided to see what we could make from the refrigerator and pantry. Greg became the grillmeister out in the wind, and we came up with a non-traditional, but really good dinner. We topped off the pork loin and veggies with Blue Teal wine from a Deming winery. Then we took a walk and enjoyed the glorious sunsets that New Mexico treats us to. So much to be thankful for!!!!

 

Rockhound Sunset

  
This morning as we packed up, Greg made a new friend. The elderly gentleman across the way came over to chat and give us the leveling blocks that he never uses. We sometimes need a few more than we have, so that was a nice gift to us. We actually needed them for the sloping site we wound up in today at Elephant Butte. If I was still preaching that would make a good sermon illustration about God meeting our needs!
 
Our neighbor has been full-timing in five different RV's over the years, for 32 years! He retired at 55, so we figured he is 87. He spends summers parked on his nephew's 500 acre farm in Ohio, where he's from. He was at Rockhound because he has a daughter with a house nearby. Greg said he was really spry, bending down to pull the blocks out of a lower outside bin. I've heard of people full-timing for 12, 15, 18 years, but 32 years must be a record!

We finally left and drove northeast out of Deming toward T 'r C. Our plan is to spend two nights here, and enjoy Elephant Butte Lake, and do laundry in town. Maria's is a great little Mexican restaurant we found last winter near the laundromat, so we'll stop there again. We were hoping to stop for lunch today at Sparky's in Hatch. We ate there last winter, our first experience with a green chili cheeseburger, and touted to be the second best in the state, on the Green Chili Cheeseburger Trail. The chilis are grown around Hatch, and aren't like the chilis you find elsewhere. There is a distinctive taste and heat that makes them unique. Well, Sparky's was closed. Greg looked crushed. Hmmm...how to redeem lunch? Then he remembered a great Green Chili Philly he had in T 'r C last winter at the Happy Belly Deli. We called to confirm it was open, and cruised down the main drag to the deli.

Large cattle feed lot. Lots of hay for the winter.

The road to Hatch

Peppers drying in the sun

The Rio Grande valley on the way to T 'r C

Broadway in T'R'C

Cool bike rack!

Happy Belly Deli!

 Greg enjoyed his Green Chili Philly, and I decided two green chili sandwiches in one week were enough, so I had soup. We walked around downtown a bit and drove out to Elephant Butte Lake State Park. We knew that we wanted to camp in the same area as before, so it didn't take us long to find a site and settle in. It also didn't take long for the Gambel's Quails to scoot by on the road, with their funny crested heads bent down and forward as they made their crazy “Whoop-whoop”, and “Ha-ah-ah-ah” sounds. We also saw two Desert Cottontail rabbits along our road. Our neighbor warned us that the coyotes come right behind our campsites at night.

This is the most popular state park in New Mexico, with an entrance to match

Today's vicious wildlife!

The lake looks lower than last winter even though the area had flooding last Fall when Colorado had their severe flooding. This time we will only stay a short time. The weather is forecasted to turn the middle of next week, and there is again the possibility of snow and cold temperatures. We've decided to head back to Big Bend National Park in southwest Texas and enjoy their warmer temperatures. We were surprised to discover last winter that we really enjoyed west Texas and Big Bend, so we're looking forward to more time to explore the area, and to warm up!

The state park marina floats so they can move it in or out as the lake falls or rises

View from our campsite

Running from the Snow

Monday. November 25, 2013


So, we got skunked and couldn't get into Rockhound State Park. All the electric sites were taken and we really wanted electric so that we could run our space heater during the storm. We made a quick decision to head south to Pancho Villa State Park, three miles from Mexico. After checking the weather we decided not to try to go north to Elephant Butte State Park in Truth or Consequences where we stayed last winter. That's our eventual destination, but they were expecting a lot more snow than further south.

I=10 from Lordsburg to Deming.

The big wind ahead of the storm stirred up localized dust storms

We stopped at the cheapest and most popular gas station in Deming, where our pump neighbor filled up his truck, ATV, and a half  dozen fuel cans.

Heading to Rockhound - typical Chihuahuan desert

The Florida Mountains

Before leaving we stocked up on groceries and went on a search for green chili cheeseburgers. Last winter we traveled to Hatch, NM, where the chilies are grown, in order to eat at the famous Sparky's. They advertised the second best chili cheeseburger on the Chili Cheeseburger Trail. In Deming, we found a good on-line review and went to The Patio, a small burger joint. I am not a burger person, but it was undoubtedly good enough to turn me into one! What a find, and even better than the burgers at Sparky's.

Survival food!

Then we drove the 35 miles south and hoped to get into Pancho Villa. No problem, there were plenty of sites. We hooked up the electric and water, which we later disconnected so that our hose and water filter wouldn't freeze. We put up the TV antenna to look for entertainment. Yay!! 17 stations, oh, only two were in English... We plugged in the heater and the hot water jug for coffee and tea, and checked the internet connection. It was good, probably because of the nearby border crossing and all the border patrol activity. Then we checked the weather forecast. Why does the weather out here totally fool the forecasters? The slight chance of rain two days before, had turned into a full blown sleet, snow, and wind storm. We thought we had run south of it, and we had, based on reports a few hours before. Now we were in it's path, so we battened down the hatches and waited. We were going to ride it out from Friday to Monday.

Friday afternoon's sleet progressed into Friday night's snow and high winds. We closed every shade and blind we had, and clothes-pinned a towel over the back curtain. The front of the refrigerator has a cold draft that blows out of it when the wind comes in that direction, so we hung a towel over it. We hung the insulated privacy curtain from the overcab bed and closed off the cab. Then we ran the space heater almost non-stop. RV's are notorious for their lack of insulation and thin windows. We have been meaning to get some reflectix, which is basically foil with bubble wrap sandwiched in the middle, that you can cut to fit the windows. It can be taken out in the morning, but we haven't found it yet.
 
We woke up Saturday morning to snow in the desert. Snow topped prickly pear and yucca. It was windy and gloomy. We hunkered down all day and Saturday night. Sunday it began to melt, but only because the ground was still warm from the previous seasonal temperatures in the 60's. The temperature struggled to get above freezing both days. But, the wind stopped and Greg took a walk around the park and visited the small museum that chronicled the 1916 incursion into the United States by Pancho Villa, and relics from the military base there at the time.

The view from our camp at Pancho Villa

 

Our closest neighbor

 

One of our neighbors

This morning, Monday, we decided to head north and try again to get into Rockhound. After taking advantage of “real” showers, we started the drive back to Deming. The drive was beautiful! The Florida Mountains were snow covered and dramatic. We saw snow covered cotton, red chili, and sorghum fields. Since it was Greg's birthday, he decided to do an encore of the green chili cheeseburger at The Patio. Actually, he got the Wildcat Burger that included two strips of bacon! With the fresh cut fries and the huge 8 ounce 85% lean patty, we were stuffed and waddled back to the rig!

Snow melting from the yuccas and cholla cactus (with yellow fruits)

Snow on a cotton crop waiting for harvest

Snow on the Florida Mountains where Rockhound is

We drove up to Rockhound and found a great campsite on the slope of the Little Florida Mountains, with a view of the valley and Deming, and the Florida Mountains. The campground had three foot drifts that had to be plowed out today, so we were happy to have avoided the worst weather by going to Pancho Villa. Not as scenic with the flat Chihuahuan desert, but certainly not as wild.

Snow covered Florida Mountains

The road to Rockhound State Park and the Little Florida Mountains

Campground nestled at the base of this mountain in the snow

The sun came out this afternoon and we opened all the shades and let it heat up the interior. Tonight it will be 25 degrees, so we are all closed up again after watching the sun set behind the Florida Mountains, and the lights coming on below us in Deming. We are signed up for two nights, but may stay longer. Tomorrow we'll hike up the mountain above us and look for semi-precious gems and check out the view. It will be good to get outside again!

The view from the campground at Rockhound State Park

Sunset from our camp at Rockhound

Quartzsite Craziness, Ajo, and Wild Weather

Thursday, November 21, 2013


Well, we never found the mega-multi-armed saguaro cactus, so after a quiet day on Tuesday, Greg explored more mining roads, while I made new curtains for our back window, we left Dome Rock Road on Wednesday. We decided to use up the rest of our water since we were going into Quartzsite to refill it and dump. After both of us showering, we managed to keep our shower water use to about nine gallons. I solved my hair washing dilemma by washing it in the kitchen sink. A “real” shower is going to feel incredibly luxurious!

This Episode's Fierce Wildlife

Sunset over Dome Rock

Our first stop in Quartzsite was the RV Pit Stop. There for $10 for dumping and an additional $4 for water, we got ready for more boondocking. Our next stop was K&B which was a combination hardware store, home store, and RV store under one big awning. We found some LED lights to try in our incandescent and halogen light fixtures. They should draw down the battery far less when we dry camp.

You can find any kind of RV-related service in Quartzsite

Water is precious in the desert

Many stores do not have real buildings

Outdoor-only restaurants are typical also

 Next stop was the Desert Oasis Bookseller. It is run by Paul who is known as the “Naked Bookseller”. As we drove into the parking lot he was outside tending the outdoor tables and had his back to us. All we could see was his long hair, straw hat and nakedness. When he turned around we could see his aviator sunglasses and his “sack” cinched around his privates! Sewn on it was a tiger or shark tooth. To be honest, he's got some age on him, and is pretty lean. Too much time in the dry, sunny desert has made him leathery. He quietly went about his business while we browsed. We purchased a few items, but to make change he had to leave to get it. As Greg said, he didn't have any pockets!

Yep, Paul in the all-together

This is the UFO section

Paul is also a Vaudeville star.

We got a late start heading south on 95 towards Yuma. A lot of RVer's stay in Yuma in the warm winter, but our goal was to make it to Ajo by nightfall. There is a favorite boondocking spot on BLM land just south of town, that we have read about on a lot of blogs. It's in the Sonoran desert, where you are surrounded by saguaro cactus, and just north of Pipe Organ Cactus National Monument which borders Mexico. We reached Yuma and drove east on I-8 until we arrived at Gila Bend. From there we headed south to Ajo.
Racing the sunset we arrived at dusk. There was a beautiful sunset as we drove back Darby Wells Road. A wide graded road took us a mile back into the area along the high tailings piles from the nearby copper mine, the oldest in Arizona. We reached a fork in the road with a sign that said that area is frequented by smugglers. Hmm...We drove both directions on the forks. There wasn't a soul anywhere! All the white RV's stick out like sore thumbs amongst the desert vegetation. No one was there! It was getting darker by the minute, we had to turn around twice, and frankly, I didn't want to boondock there without other campers. We drove back into Ajo and checked into Belly Acres RV Park.

Yuma Proving Ground

Gila River

Dates

Dust from plowed farm fields along I-8

AJO

Copper tailings piles

Darby Wells Road next to the copper pit mine

Sunset is pretty but not when you are trying to find a campsite

It was disappointing to miss camping in such a beautiful and interesting spot, and we had already boondocked for 12 straight nights and were hoping to stretch it longer. Belly Acres was a sweet little park, the brother and sister who own it were very friendly and we slept well and felt safe. Well, I slept like a log. Greg woke to the howl of coyotes and heard what sounded like quail “whining” under the rig to get away from them! The owner thought they might have been javelinas, but we don't think they would fit, and in our encounters with them last winter in Texas, we never heard them make a sound. Anyway, Greg couldn't wake me, so I missed the “surround-sound” experience.

A neatly kept little RV park

Ajo Town Plaza

This morning with the sun shining, we decided to leave the area and drive east across the Tohono O'odham Nation. We considered going south to the Pipe Organ Cactus National Monument, but after checking their website and finding parts of the scenic drive closed, we assumed due to border problems, we didn't go there. The drive across the reservation was scenic with thousands of saguaro cacti along the route. Just before Tuscon we were going to head south into Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge to dry camp, and then tomorrow head east through the mountains across a scenic route towards New Mexico.

Sonoran Desert on the Reservation

Kitt Peak Observatory southwest of Tucson

We pulled over for lunch and checked the weather. What?! When did this big rainmaker get in the forecast? A small chance of rain for the next few days had turned into major flooding in the area we had just come through and where we were going. A lot of the boondocking spots are dry washes that turn into rivers in a downpour. Okay, change of plans. We decided to get on I-10 and sail on over to New Mexico where we were heading eventually anyway. That state looked to be getting less rain, but more wind, and everywhere was getting unseasonably cold.

Weather moving up from Mexico

We could see thunderstorms from 20 miles away

Threading the needle between storms

A few patches of blue sky

We managed to avoid most of the rain coming from Arizona into New Mexico. We could see huge downpours around us. At dusk we pulled into the Lordsburg, New Mexico welcome center where we spent a wild, windy, sleety night last winter. This time we pulled way over to the end of the parking lot. Last year we parked in the middle and had trucks pulling in and out on both sides of us all night. We found an Albuquerque TV station and discovered that the weather forecast had worsened and there is going to be snow and mixed precipitation over most of the state. It looks like we can go south of Deming to Rockhound State Park and have most of it miss us. They have electric hookups and we can run our space heater and ride out the weather and cold while we cocoon for a few days. So, tomorrow we'll get some groceries in Deming and be all set. Over the next few weeks, we plan to stay at several New Mexico State Parks and use our annual pass to camp for $4 a night. Then we'll start to work our way to Florida for Christmas.
Once again we've been chased out of Arizona by the weather, twice last winter. This year we have also been finding closed areas and uneasiness due to border issues. It is frustrating to be shut out of beautiful, wild areas, or having to be extra alert due to possible dangers because of these issues. We vacillate between feeling like it is much ado about nothing, and feeling like it is a serious consideration. I don't know what the answer is, and don't want to debate the politics, I just know that we are unable to freely visit amazing places within our own borders and it makes me angry and sad...