Caballo Lake State Park

Continuing our tour of the New Mexico State Parks, our next stop was Caballo Lake.  After much discussion between ourselves, we parked below the dam instead of overlooking the lake.

We noticed the cliffs across the Rio Grande really took on color near sunset.

One more of the new fifth wheel.

Now if you're wondering why I'm posting so many picture of the RV, it's so you'll recognize us if you see us out and about.  And it worked!  Our friends Donna and Bob of Traveling-U.S.A. happened to also be at Caballo Lake and tracked us down.  We spent a fun afternoon catching up with them.

We also met Ron's daughter's mother-in-law and her husband for lunch one day.  We see them about every three years.  She has to be the happiest person I ever met, so lots of laughter ensued.

It was getting a little warm that far south, so we jumped 180 miles north to Albuquerque.  We normally park at Sandia Casino for a night or two, but bad news.  What used to be free, now costs a minimum of $28!  To stay in a parking lot with no amenities!  So we moved three miles to the Cracker Barrel where we had the best meal for less than that. We're copying your good idea, Dave and Marsha.

Pancho Villa

We took a day trip to Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus, NM, which is just three miles from the Mexican border.  There is an impressive exhibit hall which explains the historic events that happened there.

On March 9, 1916, Mexican Revolutionaries under the leadership of General Francisco Pancho Villa raided Columbus.  They were looking for supplies and hoping to obtain horses, small arms, and machine guns from the army camp there.  I won’t go into detail, but the soldiers were able to rally.  After the revolutionaries retreated, there were 106 dead – 6 civilians, 10 soldiers, and 90 Mexicans.  (This count is changeable depending upon where you get your information.)

The docent at the museum filled in ‘the rest of the story’, which included background information and motivation, and was very interesting and knowledgeable.

 

One week later. 10,000 troops left Columbus under General John Pershing to seek out and capture Villa.  The “Punitive Expedition” extended 500 miles into Mexico, but never found Villa.

 

What I find most amazing – Except for the cavalry, the soldiers traveled by foot, down and back, 1000 miles in all through blazing heat and bone-chilling nights.  WOW!

Fun facts –

This was the last true mounted cavalry action by the U.S. Army.

This was the first U.S. military operation to employ mechanized vehicles.

Also the first to utilize airplanes, although with limited success.

The Army established its first operational airbase in Columbus.

George Patton was part of the expedition.

I have just a few pictures.  Early supply truck

Replica of the ‘Jenny’ bi-planes, which were underpowered and far from safe to fly. 

Here are some amusing directions on flying the death traps.  If you want a good laugh, click on it to read.

The Jeffery Quad Armored Truck, the U.S. Army’s first armored vehicle.  Built in 1915, two were placed along the border after Pancho Villa’s raid.

If you get in the area, I highly recommend a visit to Pancho Villa State Park.

Rockhounding

Yes, it must be a word, because our next stop was Rockhound State Park, located on the western side of the Little Florida Mountains.  We scored the last site in the dry camping loop – oddly numbered 0.

The wind continued mostly unabated for the three days of our stay, but we were able to hike the park trail when the wind dropped below 30 mph. 

Looking down on the campground.

Rockhound SP is unusual in that each visitor is allowed to take 15 pounds of rock.  Souvenirs can include a variety of rock and minerals, including silica, quartz, chalcedony, agate, common opal, jasper in a variety of colors, and geodes.  Ron carefully inspected this rock for hidden treasure.  (You can’t see it in the picture, but it was really sparkly.)

Ron went off on his own and found some interesting specimens including some cool yellow jasper, while I continued hiking along the slopes of the Little Florida Mountains.

Off to the west are the (big?) Florida Mountains.

I’m sure this little bird was just as disgusted by the wind as we were.  (After looking through the bird book, I’m guessing she’s a black-throated gray warbler, because of the white eyebrow and black breast which is not visible in the picture.  Feel free to correct me if you know otherwise.)

Syzygy

While in City of Rocks SP, we took a day trip to Silver City.  We had been there last year for a few nights and thought it was worth a return visit.  While walking around the cute downtown area, we came across this sign and wondered just what kind of business it could be.

Well, as we pressed our noses to the door like tourists, Patrick, the showroom manager waved us in from the other side.  He then proceeded to give us a tour of this unique hand-made tile business.  It was fascinating!  

Many of the tiles are cut with cookie-cutter type tools.  This day they were molding tiles with a protruding design - one at a time.

After drying on racks, the soft clay pieces then go into a kiln to harden into bisque.

Next is the glazing process which can be multiple applications.  These tiles were receiving four coats.

Next, the edges are evened and cleaned of any drips.

Then they are fired again to make the beautiful tiles displayed in the showroom and sent to customers.

It was an amazing experience to see all the individual attention and work that goes into each tile.  They obviously take great pride in their product and it shows.  If you ever get to Silver City, look them up and ask Patrick for the grand tour.  

City of Rocks

This year we decided to take advantage of New Mexico's annual state park pass.  At $225, it's a chunk of money, but it covers free camping in all of their state parks for a year.  For an extra $4 a night you can upgrade to hook-ups, but dry camping suits us just fine.

We began our adventure with the interesting City of Rocks State Park.  Being a girl who loves rocks, this is just my cup of tea.

After changing our minds a couple of times, we settled in campsite 14 which is named Gemini.  Although it was probably named for the giant twin rocks, there are also two rocks that have settled between the twins.

I have to admire the pretty blooms on the bird-of-paradise bushes in the area, although the landscape committee at Saguaro Park hates them because they sprout everywhere.

We've had quite a bit of strong wind during our stay, but I understand it's the same in the whole southwest.  We did manage to get in a couple of morning hikes.  One day we walked around the two-mile loop and checked out all the other campsites, which is a hobby of ours.  But today we hiked in among the rocks.  So cool.

This was one of many that looked rather unstable.  I guess they don't have earthquakes around here.

It wasn't long before Ron was seeing figures in the rocks.  He must have more imagination than I do, but even I agreed with his opinion on this Yoda rock.

I'm glad that the park officials allow visitors to wander instead of staying on a trail.  I think it enhances the experience.

From atop a nearby hill, you can really appreciate the unusual landscape.

This was certainly a great start to our NM state parks adventure.

And We're Off Again

During our winter stay in Mesa, AZ,, I take a break from writing our blog.  We had some visitors, took some hikes, and generally did our normal wintry things. But the most time-consuming and expensive thing we did was to trade in our 30' Class A motorhome for a fifth wheel.  Of course this involved also buying a truck.  Here's our baby when we picked it up at the dealership.  It's a Northwood Fox Mountain 235RLS.

As soon as we got it home, Ron went to work installing solar panels and controller, as well as an inverter/charger with remote controller.

And the work didn't stop there.  He moved all the wiring to install four AGM batteries and reinforced the bin floor for a generator.

Except for the batteries, we ordered all this online.  Imagine the poor UPS driver who had to deliver the generator!

He also installed towel racks and coat hooks, and converted the pantry into a closet by removing shelves and adding a clothes rod.

On April 12th, we left Mesa and traveled 150 miles to our new lot in the Escapees Saguaro Co-op in Benson, Arizona.  This is actually our second lot.  The first was completely empty and we upgraded to one that is almost empty.  This one has some concrete and pavers, but the reason for the move was the orientation of the lot.  The first lot faced southeast and the afternoon sun hitting the side of the RV was a killer.  This lot faces west which works out much better for a fifth wheel with no windows in the front.

The first thing we did was weed, just like we do in Mesa.

But for poor Ron, the work continued with hanging things (pictures, clocks, more hooks) and fixing up the imperfectly positioned pavers and edging on the lot.  He added a shelf in a large cabinet next to the door.

This involved staining the shelf and supports, which I could understand, but I think only he would stain his hat rack which was a slightly lighter wood.  After all, it will be covered by hats!

Sometimes he did relax a bit.  Notice how he placed the things on the wall so he can lean back in his favorite resting position.

We've been here for 10 days and are leaving tomorrow.  Being the procrastinator that I am, I waited until this evening to take pictures.  The lots here are leased and any improvements to the site are added to the cost of the lease.  The maximum building size, which is elegantly referred to as a casita, is 288 square feet.  They range from shed size . . .

To very substantial, with park trailers instead of RVs.

Note - the park trailers are not added to the lease and must be removed or sold independently when a lease is terminated.

This is one of my favorite casitas in the park.

As members of a co-op, we all have to pitch in to make the park a success.  Because we are rarely here, we work with the landscaping committee.  Ron and I worked on the area around the clubhouse this visit.

And finally, here's the view of the Dragoon Mountains out the rear window of our fifth wheel.

Tomorrow we're leaving here for New Mexico where we plan on hitting many of their state parks.  Hopefully, I'll soon catch up on reading other blogs.

2016 Year in Review

We left Mesa in April and spent two gorgeous weeks in Sedona where we enjoyed several hikes.  My perennial favorite is the Teacup trail with its view of Coffee Pot Rock. 

Continuing north, we stopped at several national parks, beginning with the Grand Canyon. 

Then we joined up with sister Diana for visits to Zion,

 Bryce Canyon,

 Capitol Reef,

 Grand Teton,

 And Yellowstone.

We said good-bye to Diana and moved into Idaho where we saw a marriage proposal at pretty Upper Mesa Falls.

 We spent awhile in central Idaho, loving the beauty of Redfish Lake and the Sawtooth Mountains,

Then moved on to western Montana’s Bitterroot Valley.  The Blodgett Canyon Overlook view reminded me of Yosemite Valley.

 After crossing Lolo Pass back into Idaho, we stopped to admire the giant Western Red Cedars in DeVoto Memorial Grove.

Then we continued north through Idaho.  After stops in Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint, we hit our northernmost point in Bonners Ferry where we hiked to pretty Pyramid Lake.

 We traveled southwest across Montana to Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area.  Straddling Montana and Wyoming, it’s a spectacular place.

 On our way south, we drove through Wind River Canyon and stopped in Poudre Canyon.   We spent two weeks in the Denver area to celebrate Ron’s birthday with his family.  We enjoyed several nice hikes including the Fountain Valley trail among the red rocks in Roxborough State Park.

 Bishop Castle, located southwest of Pueblo, Colorado, is a very unique roadside attraction and one man’s lifelong project.

 After stops in perfect Salida and Pagosa Springs, we hit New Mexico, where our highlights included Abiquiu Lake . . .

 And nearby Ghost Ranch where we hiked the Chimney Rock trail.

 We made a stop in historic Santa Fe, and then moved on to Cochiti Lake where we visited Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks NM.

 One of the highlights of our summer travels was the spectacular Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.

We finally made it to the interesting Cat Walk in southwest New Mexico, which just reopened in May after a disastrous flood in 2013.

 From Silver City, it was a fairly long day trip to Gila Cliff Dwellings NM, but we had never been there so off we went.

 And our last high point before returning to Mesa in late October was a return trip to awe-inspiring Chiricahua NM.  What a place!