A change in destination and plans....

Our Location: Socorro, NM

(2nd post today)
 

The day dawned with blue skies but cold temperatures. A heavy layer of frost on both the Dogsled and the Igloo was melting off by 8:30 am when we headed out. A couple of big rigs parked around us and a noisy engine was the back drop for last nights sleep. Oh well, we survived. 

 

The formations here at amazing.

 

Pulling out of Deming we headed north east on NM 26 to Hatch, the Chili Capital of the World. A very nice drive, good road, little traffic and wonderful views. A stop in Hatch at one of the little Chili Stores just to stretch and have a look. We chatted with the fellow there and he told us there was 6" of snow earlier in the day yesterday. We missed it by stopping in Deming. 

 

Blue skies and empty roads, what more can a person ask for?

 

At Hatch we hung a left onto I-26 North passing by Truth or Consequences, Elephant Butte and a few other little spots as well. We arrived at the town of Lemitar, NM and looked for the BLM land located here but couldn’t find it after looking for more than 40 minutes. I won’t go into the details but I’d like to give Garmin this GPS back with specific instructions oh how to UPDATE it and where they can put it after the update.

 

Riley noticed these guys in Hatch, NM.

We finally decided to do the logical thing and headed to the Walmart here in Socorro. We were greeted warmly and told we can stay for 3 to 4 days if we like. Thank you but 1 night is enough for us. We’ll move on tomorrow instead of spending the two days here we had planned had we found the BLM. 

 

If you've ever driven through Hatch, NM I'm sure you've noticed these fella's on the corner.

The day is sunny, and the skies are blue, blue, blue. The temps are reading about 56F/ 13.3 C with a slight breeze. A wee bit cool but still nice. We’ll take it and as many more as we can get. 

 

On both of our visits through Hatch we have stopped at this spot. Those are RED CHILI Peppers hanging there.

So that’s our day today. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit.
 

Scenic drive today. 

 

Until next time…. take care, be safe,

How can one not love these views?

 

Deb

(I realize in our last post from Las Cienegas I made an error in the time zone line, we lost only ONE HOUR crossing into New Mexico and will lose another when we cross into Texas. I inadvertently looked at the wrong  directions in our travels and was looking at our travel between NM and TX when I noticed the Time Zone Change but thought I was looking at Arizona to NM.)

A cold, ugly travel day...

Our Location: Deming, NM

 

(yesterday's post)

We left Las Cienegas under mostly blue skies with the sun beaming down on us around 8:30 AM. We turned left on to AZ 83 then hung another left onto AZ 82. We passed through the little town of Sonoita and on to the small wide spot called Whetstone. Another left on US 90 had us heading north to I-10 at Benson. We remained on 1-10 East for the rest of our day’s journey. 

 

At the Chevron Gas Station on the corner of US90 /AZ 82.

 

We had plans to stop at the Gage Rest Area just west of Deming for the night but the farther we travelled the less nice the weather. We had dark skies which turned to rain, which turned to wet flurries and finally on the road sides we could see snow. We did pull into the rest area and checked out the camping for future use. Other than the interstate there is also a train track on the opposite side of the interstate. However I think some ear plugs would remedy that issue. Due to the cold, snowy day we opted to move further along and ended up in Deming.

 

If you have travelled this road you know those rocks are at the rest area.

We filled up with fuel at $2.79 per gallon and managed to find a spot to park for the night. A bit noisy but we made do. The Walmart in Deming is very crowded and we opted to by pass that parking area. 

 

I love this rest area, it's so picturesque.

 

The temperatures over the day dropped to 35F /  1.6 C as we were motoring along and I was happy to get tucked up behind a building and out of the wind for the night. The wind was unsteady during the coming from the East or South as it swirled through the mountains on our drive. We had no wind to speak of  through the night and the morning dawned with blue skies and temperatures dipped low enough to put a heavy frost on the window of the Dogsled. 

 

 

Today is another travel day, we are moving a couple hundred more miles on down the road. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a wonderful day. 

This was the kind of grey day we had, then it started to rain, then wet flurries ....

 

Until next time…. take care, be safe,
 

Yes that is snow there on the road sides.

 

 

Deb

Windy, but scenic drive today....

Our Location: Rest Area, Lordsburg, NM



A belated Happy Thanksgiving to our American readers. Sorry I didn’t post yesterday I was lazy and just couldn’t make myself do it. We spent a quiet day at the White’s City BLM, the sun was out, the warmth in the air allowed me some reading time outside as well. We roasted a chicken, had mashed potatoes, stuffing and acorn squash for our feast. We had no complaints of any kind. 

 

Some sights along the way. Stop at a Texas picnic area.

High winds last night through the night had us rocking and rolling until around 4 AM, but then they quieted as quickly as they arrived. This morning we woke to pretty warm temperatures and needed only a zip up hoodie to be outside. We quickly packed up and we were pulling out of the area before 8 AM. It was a bit of a white knuckle drive through the Guadeloupe Mountain Range as the winds are rough in the area, cross winds, head winds, side and tail winds, some all at the same time, or so it felt anyway. We moved along steadily and crossed into Texas pretty quickly after leaving the BLM land. Uneventful drive took us through El Paso, Texas and westward through Las Cruces,  Deming and finally Lordsburg, all of course in New Mexico. We pulled off at Exit 20 at the Lordsburg Rest area where I had read that one could pull up to a little picnic area and spend the night. Ummmm..not quite. It’s at Gage, NM that one can do that, NOT the Lordsburg rest area. So for future reference, I-10 GAGE, NEW MEXICO both directions have nice little rest areas which have picnic areas that include a road way to the little covered area. Areas look big enough to turn a rig around and one can stay for 24 hours at either of these stops. The Lordsburg Rest Area is just long slots like most truck parking at rest areas. FYI, a train track runs past both areas and trains can be heard, both are located right beside I -10 was well.

 

Sorry for the fuzzy pic but it was an action shot, we were driving. Roadrunner at Las Cruces, NM.

 

We did stop in Deming to check out the Walmart parking lot as we have plans for only one night stopping tonight. The lot was full and the empty lot beside where we stayed last time has a ‘Code of Conduct’ sign which says No overnight parking, but a few people looked to be parked there anyway. We however opted to continue after a fill up of Diesel for $3.07 per gallon.

 

Some mountains we seen today on our drive.

 

We pulled into our Lordsburg Rest Area around 2:30 MT, dropped the feet so we aren’t as prone to Rock ’n Roll, and had some lunch. I called Dad, chatted for 20 minutes or so catching up on the deer hunt. Two deer, Rick and his son  Jason were the lucky shots. After that Riley and I took a few loops around the rest area to get some leg stretch in before coming inside and closing the curtains for the night.

 

Signs along the roadway today.

 

Some sad news from sister in law Janet yesterday. Their friend Peter passed away yesterday. Peter and his wife Vicki are wonderful people and I am certain Peter will be missed. Peter has been battling a very aggressive type of cancer for a while, his passing is still a shock of sorts. Vicki and family are in our thoughts. Janet and Dennis flew back to Toronto today but will return to Indian Wells in the near future. 

 

A few sights including El Paso from the downward side of the mountain, top right picture.

 

There you have it, our last couple of days. I hope you enjoyed your visit.

 

Some more views of our scenic drive today.

 

Until next time…. take care, be safe,

Deb

We traveled into the future and then back into the past today....

Our Location: 

BLM on US 62 East, near Carlsbad, NM

 

(the pictures with the odd colour of blue or fog like appearance is due to the blue tint on the window of the Dogsled)

 

A cool morning when we woke in Deming, about 49F/9C but we moved right along and didn't bother with the heater. In fact we didn't take long to get ready to roll out, we had chores to do before we hit the road. We left the empty lot, which still had at least a half dozen or 8 rigs still there, and I'm sure over half of the overnights had already left. The lot seemed pretty full when I last looked outside last night, rigs, trucks, cars, MH, 5'ers, etc. I was a bit worried that the Valaro 5R gas bar would have a busy dump station but not a single soul was there when we arrived, nor did I see anyone there while we were in the lot. It took us about a half hour to dump and fill with water before we moved out to the pumps to give the Big Dog a drink. He was getting low, right about the 1/4 mark which is low for me, I'm always looking to fill around a half. However I knew we'd be getting fuel first thing so I didn't worry about it. 

 

Looking out at the view from the rest stop at Las Cruces, NM on I-10 East.

Historic Marker for Las Cruces, NM.

 

We were on the road after all chores were complete around 9:15 am. Pretty good timing I think as we had about the same number of miles to put in today as we did yesterday, about 245 miles/394 km. According to Phoebe (RV GPS) it would take us about 5 hours. She was pretty close to being right on the money although she did get us to make a wrong turn which I had to correct by pulling a U turn at one of the cross overs. More later.

 

He's an ugly looking bird, isn't he?

 

A recycling project to show the world....

 

We pulled into the Las Cruces, NM rest area to see the big Road Runner in all his splendor and I wasn't disappointed. The views of Las Cruces are wonderful and I wish I could have seen them at night but perhaps another time. A wonderful sight even in the day light. After a short 15 minute break we climbed back in to continue on our drive, checking out the time it was 10:30 am when we were taking the on ramp back to I-10 East. It wasn't long before we left Las Cruces, NM in the review mirror or in our case, our out side mirrors and entered the state of Texas. We didn't know but Texas isn't in the same time zone as NM or at least our phones didn't think it was, and moved us an hour ahead AGAIN. 

 

 

The drive through Texas was long and uneventful and we like those uneventful kind. The scenery passed from mundane, dingy, dirty to mountainous, beautiful, breathtaking, rugged, inclines, declines, sharp corners, and flat scrub land that went on for miles out the window. At times we didn't see a single person, living creature or vehicle, just us. The land looked great for cattle but nada, not one for a long time, eventually a couple turned up but it wasn't until we were almost out of Texas. The mountain regions, like I said were stunning with captivating views and picturesque vistas. The mountains ranged from rugged, cold, unyielding stone to softer, greener, layers, and once again to hard edged, angled white shale/limestone like appearance. The colours also varied on the same mountain as stark white lines showed in various places, indicating water ways that were bordered by darker, denser looking areas. Sand, gravel, and shale also seemed to make appearances. The vegetation is now grass, stunted Yucca's, bushes, and other larger leafless trees. The flat lands showed off seas of dark green,almost black vegetation in some places and yellowish grass showed in many places. 

 

I was worried we'd be taking THAT road, but we didn't. Phew.....

A quick jaunt to the top to take some pictures shouldn't take too long huh? Riley wouldn't go for it.

 

We followed this route back into New Mexico where the time once again dropped back ONE hour to what we had been this morning in Deming, so we drove into the future only to drive back into the past. We've been time traveling. 

 

Long straight road, can you see it way off in the blue mountains, that's where we're going.

 

 

Various views today including the city of El Paso Texas as seen from the 375 Loop.

 

The route we followed was 1-10 East to 375 Loop, to US 62 E/US 180. That was it for the roads we travelled today. Our Phoebe's got us royally confused when we left the 375 Loop, I was certain we should go left but she insisted it was right, of course once I was committed in the lane to go right, she changed her mind to 'turn left at the light'. I was tempted to drop her out the window, and do her some serious harm with a number of tires. However, I managed a quick U turn and we were once again going the proper direction. That was our only issue for the day, how nice was that? 

 

Looks like cattle would do well here if you added a water tank.

These things look like Joshua Trees but I think are Yucca's of some sort, but they've grown oddly and look very similar to an immature Joshua Tree.

 

I found this campsite on a free site, actually I found two of them but this one came first so we tried it first. After crossing back into New Mexico on US 62 go to Mile Marker(MM) 10, and immediately turn right (coming from the direction we did) it is BLM land, you cross a cattle guard and the road isn't great but not nearly as bad as some we've taken. It's a bit rough so slow down and take your time. About a mile back from the roadway you begin to see some boon docking sites. Some are bigger than others, some are more geared to bigger rigs (although the tenters seem to like these ones best), some are back in, some are probably pull thru. We parked just off the roadway and continued on foot for about a mile. Found a great spot and walked back to the Dogsled, climbed in and headed to what we figured would make an excellent place for us to spend the next number of days. We arrived to find someone from further back off the road had come forward to claim our spot before we could get to it. Next time Riley will stay until I come back with the Dogsled to ensure that doesn't happen again. 

 

White sand like dust, wonder if this is alkaline dust?

I love this majestic mountain, it almost looks alive and ready to tell stories...

 

We continued further on and came to a big spot at the fork in the road. We decided this would be the place to call home for a while. It's a big spot, wasn't hard to get level and although it's pretty windy here I don't know if it would have made a difference in the other spot or not. There are no trees, only low growing shrubs, yucca's and some grass. We have a fire ring that was still smoldering from the folks that had left here and pulled into the spot we wanted. That's how quickly they had left here. There are plenty of people around, and I'm sure it will prove to be interesting as the week continues. 

 

Breathtaking!!!

 

Taken through the windshield so the blue is abit off due to the tint on the glass.

 

We were completely set up and Riley had started some lunch ( I was outside doing a few things) by 4 pm MDST. I called my dad to let him know we'd arrived, we chatted for about 25 minutes, about the freezing mark at his house, snowy and blustery but not really accumulating on the ground. 

 

Imagine being a cowboy on a horse crossing this land...

Sand dunes, this is what I expected the desert to look like....

 

Lunch was a chicken stir fry, Riley did a fantastic job. Thanks Riley. You've been cooking quite a bit lately, and I appreciate it very much. 

 

Hard to beat this kind of view....

 

 

 

Can you see the heart on top of the mountain? Looks like it has veins too... (again taken thru the tint on the window)

 

After that we both settled down, me to edit pictures and Riley to play her game. Don't ask me what game but she plays it a fair amount, I know this because she talks to it and I'm pretty certain like a child it doesn't listen very well. She continues to talk and of course, it continues to ignore her. So I'm not sure why she enjoys it but she seems to. 

 

Some view isn't it? We drove that road in the middle of the picture just a few minutes before this was taken.

It's hard to describe these kinds of views, don't you think?

 

So there you have it, our last travel day for a few days. A few fun facts for those that care, and for me to remember some day. The highest elevation we reached was just under 6000 feet, we passed through the Gaudalope Mountain Range today, the temps on our drive ranged from 50F/10C to 65F/18C today. We are currently sitting at about 3200 feet and are approx 10 miles/16 km from the Texas state line, and approx the same distance from the Carlsbad Caverns National Park near Whites City. We are approx 40 miles southwest of Carlsbad, NM. NOTE TO SELF ABOUT ROADS: The roads today were poor to good to very good. Some of the interstate needs some attention, while I didn't find any holes I did find lots of worn pavement that has worn down to the previous pavement. Other places were good, but you can tell where the construction has been as they didn't fill the rumble strips very well and it makes you wonder about the tires for the first little while. The mountain incline roads were pretty steep for the most part, the declines were also pretty steep in places and more gradual in other places. Again picnic and scenic views were part way up and one would have to start uphill from a full stop. Overall, a road I would take again, a route I would take again. 

 

Isn't it amazing how such very different rock forms can be found so close together? 

 

Wonder how old some of these are, and what stories they have to tell.

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit and I appreciate the time you spent with us today. Feel free to leave a line if you feel so inclined. I will answer each one. I hope you've had a good day doing whatever it is that kept you busy. 

 

Imagine looking for cattle in those thickets...

 

Until next time... take care, be safe, 

 

 

Goodnight from A long and lonesome highway.....

 

Deb 

 

 

 

 

From Apache Junction AZ to Deming, NM......

Our Location: 

Walmart Supercenter, Deming, NM

(1021 E Pine St)

The morning dawned to the sound of wind, steady wind and a beautiful day came into being. I was awake long before the sun showed it's wonderful self over the edge of Superstition Mountain but I didn't get up. Although it would be a travel day I still wasn't in any hurry to roll out. A text from  my sister around 7 am (Arizona time) finally told me I should get out of bed.

As promised, yesterday's para glider at Superstition Mountain.

 

Queen Creek Tunnel once again....

Riley was up by then too and we chatted about what time we hoped to be on the road and where we were heading, and you know the drill. We had a quick sandwich for breakfast and before long were busy doing those 'travel day things'. We skipped our hot drinks though as we tend to linger over those and it wasn't that kind of day. We were totally hooked up and ready to pull out by 8:10 am (Arizona Time). We took our time and managed to avoid most of the death wish holes in the road and before long we were on the hard top of N. Hackamore Road. 

Praying hands, and a face or two, do you see them?

Appears a bit skinny here due to the high sides......

It took us no time to make our way to Tomahawk Road, Old West Highway, and then onto US 60. We followed US 60 for a long way, all the way to Globe, from there we climbed onto US 70 East and stayed on it all the way to Lordsburg, NM. 

I love the colour of the rock here.....

 

Yes that is snow on the mountain top, isn't it beautiful?

For those that are interested, I'm going to write the next little piece of information for myself and anyone thinking of taking this route (again). Tomahawk Road, Old West Highway and the beginning of US 60 is not fast, it is city driving with 2 way, 4 way stops, along with numerous stop lights. I find the stop lights more concerning as the speed limit is anywhere from 45 to 55 mph and I take longer than a car to stop so some advanced warning would be nice. The road is good with a few bumps and humps but nothing major. When the stop lights cease to be an issue (about Gold Canyon) the road is good with double lanes, speeds are higher around 65 mph. The route to Superior is good, not difficult at all. I believe from around Superior it becomes a two lane road with passing lanes. IT IS ON THIS PORTION OF THE ROUTE THAT I WISH TO MAKE NOTE. The grades are very steep, sharp, twisty, turning, and appear to be narrow. I know they are regular width but to be honest when the  side of the mountain is standing mere feet from the roadway on both sides it appears narrow. The views are scenic and wonderful to behold but as a driver concentration is extremely important with no time to sight. A few pull offs were available but they weren't on top of the mountains, on the up bound it would have required a standing stop to immediate grades (steep or pretty steep, not gradual grades). The few passing lanes were helpful but still they weren't quite long enough in some places and appeared to stop at the very top of the mountains, not after you crested the top but just as you are cresting, meaning you had to get back into traffic before you actually managed to get to the top of the climb. The curves and twists were sharper than I would like but not bad or difficult but again one had to really concentrate while driving. This portion of the drive for me was  stressful and not the most comfortable drive I've ever accomplished, but it is very doable, although I would caution myself and anyone else going to do this drive to be aware of ice warnings as well. The downgrades are steep as well but usually pretty short. The city of Globe is much larger than I thought and I would like to return for a visit some time when I'm not hauling my home behind me. Historic downtown would be fascinating I'm sure.  US70 from Globe to Lordsburg, NM was fantastic, wonderful, leisurely, scenic and pleasant and made the stressful drive earlier seem worth the effort. Did I mention it was scenic? It was a beautiful, relaxing couple of hours on a 2 lane highway with not a lot of traffic, or at least we didn't seem to have much. A stop in at Taylor Freeze in Pima, AZ right on the roadside of US 70 is a good stop, great milkshakes there. My only complaint about this portion of the road is there is no warning of pull offs available and you are past them before you realize they are there. Signage for historical markers would also be nice as I noted a number of  markers but I didn't notice any advance warning of them. As I said before unlike 'non towing vehicles' I can't just stop quickly and safely so these were pretty much all bypassed due to being unaware of their locations.

 

Left picture we could see in someone's yard when we stopped at a wide spot in the road for a stretch. Top right picture is a fixer upper we noticed on our drive. Bottom right, for any folks that read many western books, Globe was a well mentioned place and as we can see from it's founding, it's been around a long time.

Scenes from our drive today, including the passing over of the Continental Divide.

From US 70 we continued onto I-10 East at Lordsburg, NM and made our way to the Walmart at Deming, NM. We crossed into a new state and therefore a different time because Arizona doesn't do DLS but New Mexico does, we therefore had to move the clocks ONE hour ahead even though we are still in Mountain Standard Time. We are actually parked in the vacant Home Depot lot next door to Walmart as are at least 10 other rigs. The big rigs are parked on our side of the Walmart parking lot of course just across the fence.  

Along US 70, absolutely stunning...

Still warm temps although I put on long pants as I find the wind a bit cool but Riley likes the temperature. We arrived around 2:30 pm NM time, parked, put out the slides and dropped the front feet to give us a bit more stability, and headed to Wally's for a few items on the grocery list. We had to make a second trip after we'd had lunch because we'd forgotten to take our drinking water jugs to fill and both were empty. Between the two of us we managed to consume 4.5 gallons of water in about 3 days. Must have been pretty thirst these last few days as 5 gallons usually last us about 5 days. 

 

A massive open pit mine, we could see it for a long ways but didn't know what it was until we were closer.

I called my dad when we arrived but left a message telling him where we are and that we arrived safely. I'll call him again tomorrow night when we land at our next destination. So we've settled in for the night and are tucked comfortably at the outside of the parking lot and will enjoy our night here. Some facts for the day, we reached elevations of about 4600 feet, the temperature ranged from 54F/12C to 69F/20C, we battled a pretty strong head wind all day used about 3/4 of a tank of fuel which is approx 30 gallons travelling 243 miles/391 km. It took us about 5 hours travel time. We are currently sitting at 4335 feet in elevation.

 

I can see a bear skin rug, can you?

Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit. Feel free to drop a line if you like. 

 

Don't you think this should be on a postcard?

Until next time... take care, be safe, 

On a long and lonesome highway bids you all a good night.

Deb