Benson AZ - SKP Saguaro Coop Park and Christmas

December 12-18-2017 thru 12-24-2017

Monday – Westward HO! Moved a few miles west to Benson AZ. The scenery was mostly flat desert until just before Benson when we drove through a dramatic mountain pass with lots of rock formations. Very cool. We arrive in Benson and will be spending 10 days at Saguaro RV park which is another Escapees affiliated property. The guests at Dreamcatcher said it is a very nice park and they were right! We arrived, checked in and were taken to our spot. Then walked around to check out the park and facilities.

Tuesday – Today we drove south through Tombstone and stopped in Bisbee. Walked around old town Bisbee which was really unique and picturesque. Its nestled in a canyon with steep hills on either side with many unique shops. From there was checked out a couple of towns across the border in Mexico, Naco and Agua Prieta. Once back in the park we attended 4:00 happy hour and ended up going out to dinner with a group from the park. Very fun!

Wednesday and Thursday – Spent the day at the park.

Friday – Today's adventure was checking out Chiricahua National Monument about 70 miles away. Chiricahua is located in the Chiricahua mountains is an spectacular area of rock pinnacles. The Chiricahua Apache called these pinnacles “standing up rocks” and the name fits. We took the 8 mile Bonita Canyon scenic drive to Massai Point. We walked the half mile nature trail then drove to the Echo Canyon parking lot. From there we hiked to the Echo Canyon Grotto about 1 mile round trip. This trail took you right up next to and within the rock pinnacles, some of which are so eroded at the base its a wonder how they are still standing. We would have liked to have taken a longer trail but it was late in the day and we did not want to get caught on the trail after dark. Maybe another time. We took a different way back to the campground. On the way out of the park we stopped at Faraway Ranch the home of the original settlers of the area. It was well preserved and very picturesque. It was a wonderful day.

Saturday – In the evening we attended the Brown Bag Party at the clubhouse. We know it as a white elephant gift exchange. Everyone attending and participating brings a $10 gift in a brown paper bag. Our badges are then drawn from a hat to determine the order of picking a bag. Your item then can be stolen two times before it stays with the last person. We came away with bottles of Kahlua and peppermint vodka. It was very fun and we got to meet many new people.

Sunday – Christmas Eve. It was warm enough today that social hour was held at the outdoor shelter. For our Christmas dinner Dennis cooked prime rib on the smoker grill along with baked potatoes and vegetables. We also samples our Kahlua and made White Russians and Kahlua and Creme. Yummy!!

Where we are parked: SKP Saguaro Coop RV Park – Benson Arizona – Site 107. This is an Escapees SKP Coop park. Most of the sites are leased by members with several guest sites available as well. We were put on a lease holders site that has made their site available for transient guests. The lease sites are huge and many of them have a large sheds or casitas on them as well as a spot to park your RV and vehicles. Besides the many full hookup sites there are overnight dry camping sites as well. The cost is $20/day for Escapee members, $30/day for non-members. This is for a full hookup site including cable TV. We were able to take advantage of a one time members discount of $50 for one week. NICE!

SKP Saguaro Coop RV Park

BISBEE AZ

Chiricahua National Monument and Faraway Ranch

Christmas Dinner at SKP Saguaro Co-op RV Park

Merry Christmas!!

Deming NM - Rocks and Sand

December 12-11-2017 thru 12-16-2017

Monday – Drove the 86 miles down to Deming this morning following I-25 down to Hatch then cut across on Hwy 26. We stopped in Hatch at a couple of Chile shops and purchased a chile wreath, green chile sauce and mesquite honey. We arrived at our next stay, Dreamcatcher RVPark, shortly before noon. In the afternoon we went shopping for groceries. At 4:00 we went to the clubhouse for social hour to meet some of the other residents.

Tuesday – Laundry and cooking day. We have full hookups here so we did lots of laundry. 4 loads in our little washer and hung everything to dry. There is virtually no humidity here that the wet cloths dry very quickly. We picked a frozen turkey yesterday and thawed it overnight. Today I cut it up. Dennis smoked a half a breast, a leg and thigh. The other half of the turkey we put in the freezer. I made soup with the carcass.

In the evening we went to Taco Tuesday at the nearby the nearby Quality Inn set up by the RV Park.

Wednesday – Today we drove south to the border and visited the little town of Palomas Mexico. It is not the big tourist attraction of Nogalas and Algodones. It does have a few dentist and optometrist offices. Several guest at the RV park have had dental work done here and have been very satisfied. Dennis needs an implant or bridge so we stopped at a dental office recommended to us. Their dental surgeon will not be available until end of January and they gave us an estimate of $1500 to do a dental implant. Another dentist actually took x-rays of Dennis mouth and determined that a bridge would work better for him. They quoted $750 for a bridge. We will get more estimates in Algodones when we get to Arizona.

We also visited a bakery and The Pink Store. The Pink Store is a nick knack shop selling blanket, trinkets and lots Mexican pottery. There is also a restaurant. Their hook is they provide you with a drink while you are shopping, non-alcoholic or alcoholic.

On the way back to Deming we stopped at Poncho Villa State Park near Columbus and Rock Hound State Park near Deming. They are both very nice state parks in different setting. Poncho Villa is in a flat desert. Rock Hound is nestled on a south facing slope below a mountain face. Very pretty. Rock Hound is noted for its interesting rocks which you can hunt for and take home. We also visited nearby Spring Canyon which is a day use only park with multiple trails up the mountain and is noted for the Ibex that live in the area. We hiked part of a trail but did not see any Ibex.

Thursday – More sight seeing today. Headed north to Silver City. We walked the main street and peeked into a few shops. We stopped at the Silver City Cafe for lunch. It is a very artsy town with lots of history. In 1895 during a heavy rain a wall of water came through the town, washed away the main street and created a 55 foot ditch which is still there today.

From there we headed back toward Deming and stopped at the City of Rocks State Park. It is one of the places I had earmarked that I wanted to see and it did not disappoint. Dennis and I took a stroll over the rocks. Henry would have loved it. There is a campground among the rocks which is very cool. The electric sites were full but there were some non-electric among the rocks that were open. Some day we will come back and camp among the rocks.

We also stopped and checked out Faywood Hotsprings Resort that has hotspring mineral baths. It is not as nice as Riverbend in T or C but we would consider spending some soaking time there. They have RV sites as well.

Friday – Traveled east through Las Cruces to White Sands National Monument today. What an awesome place. Miles and miles of white gypsum sand. We spent a couple of hours there and even went sledding. Much warmer than snow sledding but not as fast.

Where we are parked: Dreamcatcher RV Park – Deming NM – Site 45. This is a full service RV park, 117 full hookup sites, clubhouse with laundry facilities. This is an Escapees RV Club park of which we are members. It is just a big gravel parking lot with not much scenery but it is clean and they give you plenty of room between rigs. Member weekly rate is $108 ($15.42/day). Monthly rate for members is $225 + elec.

DREAMCATCHER RV PARK - DEMING NM

SILVER CITY NM

CITY OF ROCKS STATE PARK NEW MEXICO

WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT NEW MEXICO

Truth or Consequences - Hotsprings and Ghost Towns

December 12-6-2017 thru 12-10-2017

Wednesday – Took a walk down to Elephant Butte Lake and around the park this morning. Then we drove over to the local Walmart to pick up a few more groceries and get fuel. The fuel prices here are as high as we have seen on our travels. We paid $2.99 at a Valero Station for diesel. Other places the price is $3.09. The rest of the day we puttered around the camper. It warmed up to around 58 degrees in the afternoon so I took advantage and sat outside to read for a while.

Thursday – The forecast called for highs only in the upper 30's today. We decided to take a road trip. First we headed into Truth or Consequences to check out a few of the bathhouses. We stopped at Indian Springs and looked at it. It is one of the old bathhouses and looked a little run down. We also stopped at Riverbend Hotsprings. It looked very nice and is located right on the Rio Grande River.

From there we headed north and west toward the old mining towns of Chloride and Winston located between the Sierra Cuchillo and Black Range Mountains. It was a pretty drive on two lane road (Hwy 52). A few curves and steep grades but not real scary.

Chloride was the most interesting. When we arrived we were met on the street by two ladies who welcomed us and opened the doors to the museum. Heather recently moved to Chloride after her and her husband “discovered” the place while hiking the Continental Divide Trail. We also met Linda who is the daughter of the Edmunds family who purchased and is renovating most of the buildings in the town.

The museum used to be the general store and was closed in 1923 with all its contents sealed inside. It was not opened again until the 1970's after the Edmund's purchased it and started the restoration. Most of the contents are original to the building and are displayed in their original location. We also checked out the gift shop next door which used to serve as a bar, a school and a dance hall. The Edmund's have purchased and restored many of the other buildings in town. It was like stepping back in time.

We started to drive up a dirt road out of Chloride that Linda told us about. It would take us into the Gila National Forest and to the Continental Divide. However after bumping along for about 10 minutes we decided it was too rough and turned around.

We then decided to take Hwy 59 west to the Continental Divide. The drive was beautiful. Even though it is winter I thoroughly enjoyed the scenery. The dark green of the junipers contrasting with the grasses, tawny and golden. There were clouds and snow showers in the upper elevations with peeks of sun and blue sky. Despite the cold it was a wonderful day.

Friday – Today we visited the Riverbend Hotsprings located on the shore of the Rio Grande River in T or C. While soaking in the pools we had a view of the Rio Grande and the Turtleback Mountains. The mineral water is pumped directly into the pool from the hotspring aquifer and varies in temperature from 100 to 107 degrees. The cost was $12 per person for a 50 minute soak. So awesome!!!!

Saturday – It has warmed up a little with daytime temps reaching into the upper 50's and low 60's and much less windy. Today we took walks around the park and down by the marina. We met the manager who is originally from Pewaukee and is the son of Jack Safro, the car dealer. He manages the marina on Elephant Butte Lake. In the evening we attended the Luminaries Beach Party. This is an annual event held in the Park sponsored by the friends of Elephant Butte Lake State Park (EBLSP) is used to raise money for the EBLSP July Fireworks and the Make-A-Wish foundation. The roads leading into the park and beach were lined with paper luminaries. On the beach near the marina there were several campers parked and they were offering samples of soups, stews, hot beverages and sweet treats for donations. It was a great time as we met and talked to several locals.

Sunday – Spent most of the day at the park. The Packer game was not televised here nor was it on any of the Sirius channels. But because it went into overtime we were able to catch the winning play. Go Pack! After the game we went for an early supper. We wanted to experience the baths at Riverbend again only at night so we headed over there after we ate. The baths were awesome and the lighting was magical.

Where we are parked: Elephant Butte Lake State Park – Truth or Consequences – Lion Beach Campground – Site 72. 173 developed campsites, 144 with water and electric, 8 with water, electric and sewer, RV dump station. $14 per night for water and electric site.

CHLORIDE, NM

MAIN STREET

THE GENERAL STORE AND GIFT SHOP

GRAFTON CABIN

GRAFTON CABIN

ROCKY ROAD

END OF THE ROAD.....FOR US!

CURIOUS DOGS

SO BEAUTIFUL!

WIDE OPEN SPACES

 RIVERBEND HOT SPRINGS SPA

BEACH PARTY

FORGOT TO MENTION THE HUGE BONFIRES

Back to New Mexico

December 12-3-2017 thru 12-5-2017 Back to New Mexico

We are back in Albuquerque after being gone for a month. We returned to Wisconsin the end of October for a couple of reasons including a Kohler retirement party and Thanksgiving. In addition the timing worked well and we were able to help Alex with moving to Madison for his new job.

Alex and Monica have been dating for over 3 years and have been living together for a year. They had been discussing marriage for a while. They decided to get married at the courthouse and in order to facilitate our travel plans so we could attend they scheduled the ceremony for Friday Dec. 1. We stayed in a hotel in Wausau with Sheila and Henry on Thursday night. We all attended the wedding along with Monica's sister Daniela and her husband Evan. It was a brief but lovely ceremony. Alex had a busy day as it was his first day of his new job. We all went out for breakfast after the ceremony then Alex and Monica headed to Madison and Dennis and I started driving south to New Mexico.

They plan to have a family and friends celebration sometime in 2018 and another one in Romania in 2019. I am looking forward to meeting Monica's family someday.

When we returned to Wisconsin from New Mexico in October we drove it in two days. On the way back we decided to allow a little more time. Friday we made it as far as Springfield Illinois. The second day we stayed in Tulsa Oklahoma. Both days we stopped before 7:00. On Sunday we made it all the way to Albuquerque. We picked up the camper and towed it 8 miles down the road to the Enchanted Trails RV park. We had stayed at this park the night before we delivered the camper to storage. (See Oct. 24 post for campground details).

Monday we went grocery shopping and tidied up the camper. We did some cooking including smoking a chuck roast to freeze for later meals. Dennis put some water in the tank since tonight it is supposed to get below freezing and we will want to unhook the hose.

We stayed at Enchanted Trails for two nights. On Tuesday we hooked up and headed further south to Truth or Consequences and Elephant Butte Lake State Park. It was a short drive (160 miles) and we arrived shortly after noon. This state park is on a large reservoir that is very popular in the summer. There are 3 developed campgrounds as well as several undeveloped campsites. It is also unique in that campers can park almost anywhere in the park including the beach. We chose the Lion Campground and site 72. It has water and electric hookups and a nice view of the lake.

Truth or Consequences used to be called Hot Springs and for good reason. There is a table of hot, geothermally heated water that lies under the town. There are several bathhouses in T and C where you can soak in the healing mineral water. We are hoping to visit some of these bathhouses and indulge in the “healing waters”.

Temps: Its been a little cooler than we would like but we are still in the high desert so I guess this is what you can expect. Daytime temperatures have been in the low to mid 40s. Night temps in the upper 20's to low 30's. Still better than being in Wisconsin where the high temps for the next few days is only supposed to be in the mid 20's.

Where we are parked: Elephant Butte Lake State Park – Truth or Consequences – Lion Campground – Site 72. 173 developed campsites, 144 with water and electric, 8 with water, electric and sewer, RV dump station. $14 per night for water and electric site. There is WI-Fi in the park but it is very slooooow.

ELEPHANT BUTTE LAKE STATE PARK