Nov 11 - 15 Remembrance Day and Snow in New Mexico!

Nov 11
Today is the day we honour those that served or serve to give us the freedom to live the life that we do. We should all be thankful for this freedom and take a minute to think of those who gave so much. I always bring up a picture of my Dad when he was training as a pilot in the Canadian Air Force back in his early 20's. Helps me remember. Lots of people say I look like him and yeah I see the resemblance.

Lee D. Roche (Dave's dad)

Lest We Forget

Good to remember but back to our travels. Today is a chore day for all of us. Les and Dianne took our truck over to the laundry while Steve and I are doing some other stuff. I used my new brake line wrenches and took out the fridge burner tube to clean the orifice with brake cleaner. It works better but not perfect. I'll buy a new burner tube at some point. It is a beautiful warm day today but the forecast isn't great, it's supposed to snow !!! What? We drove thousands of miles to avoid that. What the heck? We decided to extend our stay here at Carlsbad KOA by one day in case the road through the Guadalupe Mountains is bad. Today though is great.

Blue sky everywhere.

Leslie and Dianne came back with the laundry and we gathered at Steve & Dianne's to look at maps and do some forward planning. We are going to stick together for a little while. We're going the same direction and we can learn lots from these full timer veterans. Dianne made some reservations in Las Cruces, NM and Kartchner Caverns state park so that we are guaranteed a place ahead of us. We still have some gaps to fill but she booked us sites and Les and I just gratefully said yes and paid her. Our very own travel agent !! Thanks guys for being so great and helping us plan ahead. We went for a walk around the park and before we knew it the afternoon was done. We enjoyed a couple cold beverages outside while we could and went to our place for supper tonight.

Look at the big smiles lol.

We chatted for a little bit after supper and Steve & Dianne gave Margaret some exercise with the laser. Not sure who enjoys that more, them or the dog lol. The wind is picking up and the temp is dropping just as forecast. We'll see what the morning brings.

Nov 12

It didn't stick but I could hear it hitting the rig :( Snow!! Little crystals flying through the air. I'm not going outside till this stops. Well it stopped right away but we saw it and that counts. We got snowed on in New Mexico.

We had a leisurely morning and then all 4 of us hopped in our truck to go shopping at Carlsbad Walmart. No worries about keeping groceries cool in the truck box today. We both loaded up a cart at Walmart and then headed out for lunch. Dianne and Steve have been to other Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants and enjoyed them so we are trying the one in Carlsbad. We bounced around finding a table that didn't wobble and were all ready with our ID so we can order beer. Wouldn't you know it but they didn't even ask us for ID! C'mon! Steve even brought his wallet today. We all chuckled about that. Guess they figured we were old enough.

Hurry Les it's cold out, take the pic lol.

Wings are great and I ordered a brat with fries. Couple calories there.

It was too cold for an outside happy hour after we got back so we gathered at Collibaba's for a beverage. They introduced us to Rummicube. Leslie had played it many years ago and I never have so we'll give it a go. It ended up as guys against the girls. Let's just say that Steve and I tried very hard alright. Girl power tonight but we get another chance another night.

Nov 13

It's travel day today. We are going to stay a couple nights in Las Cruces, NM so that we can visit White Sands National Monument. It looks amazing online so we are excited to go see. We left Carlsbad KOA and stopped for fuel in Carlsbad. The weather had turned back around and it was a beautiful sunny day again. We are heading east on highway 62 out of New Mexico through El Paso, Texas and then up I25 to Las Cruces, New Mexico. We are driving through the Guadalupe Mountains which we thought would be bad yesterday. It's smooth sailing today.

Steve & Dianne's rig with Guadalupe Mountain backdrop.

So cool driving through this pass.

We briefly cut through the corner of Texas. Can't even really say we were in Texas but technically yes.

We were there for a little bit. Drove through El Paso.

Our destination is Sunny Acres RV Park and the lady on the phone had warned us about major road construction on the way in. She even called us while we were driving to make sure we had the right directions off the freeway so that we could get in as easy as possible. Really nice of her. We pulled in to the Park and got registered. Les snapped a shot of one of the signs at the entrance.

More than 1 grumpy old man lol.

Sunny Acres was reasonably priced at $32/ night and our sites were okay with full hookups but it wasn't picture worthy it seems. We don't have any pics of our site. There were some large bushy trees between us that needed a trim and a small piece of grass. I would stay there again but it wasn't a show stopper. The two ladies that we dealt with at the front office were super friendly and helpful. We both did our set up routine and enjoyed a cold drink outside on the picnic table. Leslie put together a taco salad for supper and we all just relaxed in the evening.

Nov 14

Happy Birthday to Leslie's brother Dan! Cheers to many more.

We all jumped in our truck this morning for a trip to White Sands National Monument. We have read about it and we're looking forward to it. It took about an hour and a half and we pulled into the lot for White Sands. Again our Park Pass worked for all 4 of us to get in. That Pass has more than paid for itself.

Such a cool building, love the look of it.

We went in the visitor center and watched the short video about how the White Sands developed over time. The short version is that mineral crystals from the nearby mountains erode and blow across the landscape in the desert wind. As the crystals tumble they get smaller and make the sand. The dunes build and flow with the wind and the rain over thousands of years and cover the desert floor with what you see. That's not the super technical explanation but it's basically like that. We hopped back in the truck for a driving tour and some walks in the dunes.

See, I was pretty accurate.

Margaret loved it when we let her off leash to run in the sand !

Someone "hearts" the sand lol.

Steve & Dianne walking on the dunes.

Shows how it builds and flows in little waves.

Close up.

We walked on the dunes and some of the interpretive trails. It is so impressive! Looks like a huge snow pile but much warmer lol. At one of our stops we noticed this very unique bus conversion.

Lots of cool details like marine outdoor lights and the port holes.

Link to their page

We completed the driving loop and headed back to the highway to head south again. The White Sands Missile Range Museum is on the way home so we want to check that out.

The Museum is on a military base and there are security gates before you get in. Well today it was Leslie's turn to forget her ID and there was no way they would allow us on base without it. We had to turn around and head back south without seeing the museum. Unfortunate and it's too far to get her ID and come back. 

Our next stop is old town Mesilla. Many of the buildings are from the 1800's and it is a great place to walk around and check out the sites. First though we are all hungry and a little thirsty so we headed to the Spotted Dog Brewery to take care of that. Leslie doesn't have her ID and we all expect she won't get served. They didn't even ask for it at all! Seems only the Lucky Bull was strict about that. Three of us enjoyed our burgers but the black bean burger that Dianne ordered was badly burned. She couldn't eat most of it and got zero discount when it came time to pay. The server did offer to take it back and get another but we had already waited quite a while for our food. Probably would have taken a lot longer to get another. Pretty disappointing for Dianne as she really only got her sides and the free peanuts in the shell. 

Good thing the beer was okay.

We drove towards the old downtown area and looked for parking. It's a little snug with the dually and they have some one way streets that are quite narrow but we found a great spot right by the church.

Beautiful old church in the town square.

It's not very busy this late in the afternoon.

See below for description

Very cool bits of history around the square.

We walked around and took some pics and then Leslie found "The Chocolate Lady"! She bought some dark chocolate store made turtles for us to try. OMG, they were so good! We drove back to Sunny Acres and relaxed for the evening Travel day again tomorrow.

Nov 15 

Happy Birthday to my big bro, John ! Keep givin' er pal. 

We didn't need to be in a big hurry this morning because we are only going about an hour further west. We decided last minute to drive from Las Cruces straight up to City of Rocks state park north of Deming, NM. We can't reserve a spot there but we can take a shot at the first come sites. We arrived at City of Rocks by about 1pm and stopped at the visitor center to ask about available sites. Steve & Dianne are over 60 feet long and driving a big rig so they don't fit just anywhere. As it turns out our luck was with us as we got the last 2 power/water sites! No dump station onsite though. We have to return to the truck center in Deming for a free station there, about 20 miles. Steve got the drive thru site #9 and Les and I took a back in site #3. They warned us that they were turning the water off overnight due to freezing temps but would turn it back on in the morning. We filled our fresh water tank right up and stayed disconnected from the tap. No problem there. This is a real gem of a state park! Beautiful views and all the facilities are spotless. Hiking trails out our door and this huge city of rocks to explore. Awesome! All this for $14/ night !! That's fantastic. 

Our site #3 a great back in spot with a covered table and fire ring.

I am pushing it over ;)

One of the dry camping sites for a smaller rig.

Looking out from inside the site. 

This is getting to be a long read so we'll stop here for now and next post we'll give you some great shots of the park from our hike up Table Top Mountain that is outside our back window. If you ever get to New Mexico this place is a must see. Only a short drive north of I10. We have reservations further ahead of us or we would stay longer. Fabulous place and we love it !