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

A truly wonderful day, sunny and fairly warm.....

Our Location: BLM Land, White’s City, NM

A cold night left us with frost on the window of the Dogsled and a bit of a nip in the air until the sun finally stopped playing peek a boo with the clouds this morning. The predicted rain didn’t happen and we ended up with a wonderful day. Lots of sunshine and warmth as well. 

We are parked just in front of the sign on the right.

 

This morning started off slowly as it took me a while to get going for some reason. About 10 AM I headed out for a walk back to our spot from last year. Not as far as I thought it would be but I was surprised to see 2 vehicles with multiple tents back there. A third car left earlier this morning. In fact one of the vehicles is parked right across from our spot from last year. 

Our last year spot on the left and the car/tent across from our old spot. Well beyond the sign.

I walked around for a while, snapping a few pictures and just enjoying the sights of the area. A nice spot and it’s too bad they have put an end to the camping further from the road, it’s much nicer back there. However I’m not complaining. I did see some burnt Yucca type stalks that may have been part of the reasons for closing down the camping. They’ve used some kind of blade, like a grader blade or a bulldozer blade to make a swath in front of most of the deeper campsites to discourage, but not stop one from getting in to them. So many tracks leading off across the flat spaces, when it tells you stay on the road ways. So many people make it bad for the rest of us. 

Flowers and blooms in the desert.

Back home we decided to head into Carlsbad and to the Chevy dealership. I’ve been watching the oil level closely since leaving Cobourg and decided I would have them check it as it well. It was down. Not drastically but enough for me to plan on taking it to a dealership in Arizona to have them look at the oil pan leak again. Still under warranty and I want it fixed. We stopped in a few other locations to check out the camping on our way home but truly I don’t see anywhere that one can camp except a park. So it’s something to keep in mind if you are travelling in this area and planning on staying near White’s City on the BLM. 

Various cacti on my walk today.

We just finished adding ANOTHER jug of Blue Def (added one in Mississippi) before heading out, hood shut and just pulling out of our spot when I spotted a silver truck coming toward us. We stopped at a wide spot in the road and an officer of some sort, asked me about us parking us. Who’s land is it, are you living here, etc. My answers: it was BLM land when I stayed here last year, has it changed hands? We arrived yesterday and plan to spend a couple days in the area. Is that a problem? Would you like us to move? His answer was no and that he was just curious. I asked him about a Chevy dealership in Carlsbad, he answered in the affirmative and we were off. Thought it a bit strange that he didn’t know the land was BLM, he had  something with STATE on his sleeve. I couldn’t see the whole patch though. No markings on the vehicle either. He had just pulled over a big rig as we were adding the Blue Def as it caught my eye to see the truck pulling over. 

Back home we enjoyed some sun, leaving the big door open until it started cooling down around 4 PM. Lunch was a nice loin roast with carrots, potatoes, onions and a few spices. We added a salad and for dessert some grape jello. A tasty little feast it was. 

 

As I write this post there is a new vehicle not far from us, going to spend the night as well. A number of vehicles have come and gone today and they all seem to be like us, surprised that they can’t park here any longer. Except like I said close to the road. Not a lot of room for bigger vehicles except in the spot we are in. More like car camping, tent camping and van camping. Small motor homes maybe but it might be rough getting to a spot. Watch for downed fence posts with barbed wire attached, it seems some one has torn down a lot of it and just left it laying around. Some left strung up across some of the trails should be flagged as it’s very difficult to see and someone could get badly hurt.  Our high temperature reached 60 F/ 15.5 C today with little wind. A very nice day indeed. I also managed to fill the Dogsled’s bowl for $3.09 per gallon today, much better than the $3.15 - $3. 59 we noticed in some places.

So there you have it, our day here at White’s City BLM in NM. We’ll be staying put for the American Thanksgiving tomorrow but will move on Friday morning. Further west is calling us and we are going to answer it. I hope you enjoyed your visit.

Until next time…. take care, be safe,

Deb

Arrived near White's City, NM......

Our Location: BLM,  White's City, NM

 

A chilly start to the  morning in Crosbyton, TX but the sun came out and warmed everything quickly. Not a hot day but not a cold one either. We finished our chores, garbage, money in the drop box, hooking up, etc all before 8 am this morning. We were driving through the small town of Crosbyton, TX by 8:03 am. We headed west on US 82, which joined with US 62 near Lubbock. We took this the entire way to our destination.

 

Still in Texas.

 

We drove steadily for the morning, stopping only once. The fuel economy on the Big Dog has increased back to it's normal rate due to the fact we had no head winds today. We had steady side wind that continued to pick up as the day went along. Once we turned at Carlsbad, NM heading more southerly I noticed once again the headwind playing havoc with us but only a few miles as our destination was close. We crossed into NM at 10:45 AM Central Time, which became 9:45 AM Mountain Time. 

 

Some of the signs we took in today.

 

We stopped at the Walmart in Carlsbad, NM to pick a few little items before heading on. Of course I took the wrong turn, going left instead of right but it was a nice little tour of the town before we once again got ourselves heading off in the proper direction. 

 

Christmas decorations in the small towns we went through today.

 

We located our desired destination near White's City, the BLM land at MM 10. Hmmm....only camping by the road, I think. It says no camping beyond this point and so we parked just in front of the sign. A fellow Ontarian pulled in just as we were getting set up and he too is parked between the road and the signs. Closer to the road than I would like but oh well, it is what it is. We parked here last year but much further back and why they do not allow camping I have no idea. I'll have to ask around to find out. Tomorrow we'll go back toward the Caverns and find another place to park or at least to check things out in a couple other spots we noticed. 

 

More decorations.

 

A call to my dad after we set up the Igloo for the night. Hunting season is upon them up there. Brother Rick managed to get himself a deer. No idea what kind, how big, etc but he got one. Nephew Jason says he could see one through the trees and dad didn't see anything. So I guess Rick was the lucky one, he seen more than the one he got. A call also to daughter Courtney to chat. Snow in Ontario, the Toronto area at least. Cold she says and more snow on the way. I do believe winter has come early this year in Ontario. I'm going to call daughter Bradey when I finish this post. 

 

The New Mexico country side.

 

So there you have it, our travel day. Not much exciting, but we like it that way. We travelled about 230 miles/ 370 KM today. The high temperature was 56 F/ 13.6 C this afternoon. A bit of wind if you step out around the Igloo but other wise it's nice. 

 

Tonight's sunset.

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your day. 

 

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

 

Deb