Dust Storms, Generators and Dirt Lots on our way to Las Cruces

March 7 and 8th 2012, Travel Day to Las Cruces.


Well, we finally made it to Las Cruces today, staying at Hacienda RV Park. We’ve stayed here in the past.
The journey was interesting. When we left Usery Mountain Regional Park, our goal was to travel 200 plus miles to Willcox, Az. The night before had been very windy and I didn’t get much sleep as I was worrying about the weather. However the next day it was calm in the morning and we made good time after departing around 8:30 pushed by a tailwind. We made it to a fuel stop at 12:30 about 30 miles from Willcox with Paul and Paula. It was cold and windy. We collectively decided that since we were making very good time, we should push on to Las Cruces which would put another 200 miles behind us for a total of approximately 400 miles. We usually don't tow much over 300 miles in one day!

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Some Flowers in bloom under the foreboding skies.

So, off we went, again making good time but beginning to notice that the wind was becoming more of a crosswind instead of just pushing us and the dust was picking up as we passed into New Mexico. As we continued we saw the usual signs warning of potential dust storms. However, we soon passed two electronic signs that read “I-10 closed at Lordsburg to Las Cruces take alternate route”. Now come on...what alternate route is there for this portion of I-10 when in fact, as we later found out, the few highways in the area were being closed due to a dust storm! Paul and I discussed the matter on our walkies but with no alternatives, decided to press on noting that the NM D.O.T. radio channel was not reporting a closure. Unfortunately as we were leaving Lordsburg, we were routed off the interstate near a Pilot Truck Stop about 116 miles from our destination. Probably 50 or more 18 wheelers were crowded into the truck stop. We drove past and Paul lead us into a dirt lot with several RVs.

Our overnight parking lot among fellow RVers

We huddled for awhile and I turned on my handheld CB radio and for the first time since buying it a year ago, used it to try and get some information from the chatty foul mouthed truckers. But all they had to share was vulgar entertainment and misinformation.
As you can imagine, it was still windy and getting cooler. We had already opened up two of our slides and by 5:30 with no word on when the interstate would re-open, Paul and I both took out our Honda generators and fired them up, confident that we would be spending the night. Of course after getting situated around 6 p.m. we noticed that the interstate was again open. Well too late for us, we had already cancelled our reservation and were resigned to staying the night in the dirt lot.
We shut the generators off before going to bed. I only have one battery for my rig and thus decided not to run my furnace overnight without the generator running. I woke up around 5:30 comfortable under the covers but astonished that it was 46 degrees inside the rig and 32 outside! Maggie and Rico must have been freezing! I got up and turned on both generators, ours and Paul and Paula’s. After turning on the furnace we warmed up and after an hour or so were able to get ready to move on.

Rico bundled up for the night!

We got back on the road by 8:30 with temps still in the low 40’s. Two hours later we were pulling into Las Cruces. Too early to check in at Hacienda RV Park, we decided to get a late breakfast at the big rig friendly, Cracker Barrel. We got checked in around 11 a.m. and spent the rest of the chilly afternoon setting up and then turning in early! It only warmed to 56 degrees but it should be in the mid 70’s later in the week.
We each paid the $267 weekly rate which includes cable, WiFi and full hook-ups. Joyce and I really like Las Cruces and Paul and Paula had only spent a day or so in the area last year and wanted to spend more time.

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Hacienda RV Park, Las Cruces, NM

June 16, 2011 Hacienda RV Park, Las Cruces N.M.
We were up and rolling by 8:00 from the Eagles Nest RV Park in Junction Texas. We had a short 165 miles to travel to Las Cruces via El Paso. It was cool with temps in the 70's as we got going.



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We passed through the Mountain Time Zone near the New Mexico border which for us meant it was an hour earlier. I hadn't taken that into consideration and realized this may affect the volume of traffic we would encounter in El Paso. Sure enough, we hit El Paso around 8:30 MST and thus encountered traffic that brought us to a crawl for 20 minutes. After the traffic cleared and we got to moving at highway speeds I stayed pretty much in the same lane as it was nearly impossible to manuever through the traffic.

Site 175

We made good time and arrived at Hacienda RV Resort around 10:00 MST. We had stayed in this park last year. It is a nice clean park. The rates are reasonable in the summer off-season. The park is probably less than a 1/5 filled. We paid around $30 per night. We quickly got checked into site 175 which is a large pull through and near my father's site. My Father and Karen were out shopping so we were able to get set-up quickly before they came back.

Maggie and Rico were very excited to see them. Maggie is especially fond of Karen and my Father. She often hangs out with them in their RV. We were able to hang outside for a bit before it started to get hot with temps just over 100 which is unseasonably hot for Las Cruces. It was also windy by late afternoon.

Smokey Sunset

I didn't take any pictures till later in the day when we again emerged from our rigs. Evening and morning temps are beautiful. I captured the sunset which was particularly orange due to the smoke from a forest fire in Mexico.

Maggie and Rico hanging out on their mat.

After initially registering for just two nights we were persuaded to stay till Monday. One reason we decided to come to Las Cruces was due to the fact that a couple days ago we discovered one or our two sets of keys for the Jeep were missing. After thoroughly searching the rig, I called my sister who was still camping at N.A.S. Corpus Christi. She searched our former RV site and found the keys in the grass! How fortunate is that? We made plans to have her mail them to Hacienda RV Resort. 

I don't like to make reservations but sometimes feel it's necessary for popular areas and holidays. So today, we made reservations for 3 nights beginning on Monday in Santa Fe at a RV Park in the City.

Hanging Out at the Mercados in Las Cruces

January 18, 2011 Sunny Acres RV Park Las Cruces.

The last few days have been spent relaxing, visiting relatives and the local markets (mercados).

On Saturday, we went to the downtown mall Farmer's Market. We weren't looking for anything in particular, but wanted to just stretch our legs and look around. 

Las Cruces Mall Farmers Market

Las Cruces Mall Farmers Market

Mariachi's

On both Saturday and Sunday morning we awoke to see several hot air balloons floating in the skies out our back window.

Ballons out our back window.

We were told there was a ballon rally going on over the weekend.

On Sunday, we picked up my Cousin Bonnie and her daughter Stella. We spent the day in the town of Mesilla at their downtown market.

This market was much smaller and located in the town square. However, the buildings in the town of Mesilla are filled with history and old charm.

We had a fantastic lunch at El Comedor passing up the more expensive but popular restaurants like La Posta de Mesilla.

While browsing the many shops before lunch, we came across an art gallery. Now to be honest it had a sign with the words "tortilla factory" so that's what I thought it was. We went inside and determined that it wasn't a tortilla factory. It was an art gallery that at one time had been a tortilla factory. As we browsed the shop we heard two ladies, at least one of whom was an employee, laughing and having a good time. I struck up a conversation with them as they seemed very cordial. At one point I asked about the best restaurant in town and they gave me their opinions. However, Ella (pictured below) said that none of the restaurants made enchilladas and especially the chilli sauce as well as she can. I joked that we would be over for dinner and she actually invited us. However, I graciously refused. Next thing I know she's offering to give us a jar of her homemade chili (enchilada sauce). Long story short, we came back after lunch giving her time to walk home and come back with the sauce.

Ella and her enchilada sauce.

I thought that it was such a sweet and kind gesture for her to give us her homemade sauce. We haven't had the chance to sample it yet and hopefully, my cousin Bonnie will make some enchiladas for us with the sauce before we leave! 

Later in the afternoon we stopped off at another relatives home for a short visit before calling it a day.

You meet the nicest people on the road.

Travel Day to Sunny Acres RV Park, Las Cruces, NM

January 14, 2011 Sunny Acres RV Park.
We were up by 7:00 to get ready. It was a travel day. While I walked Maggie and Rico, Joyce got the inside ready for the slides to go in. I had not unhitched so the truck was already connected. We had the slides in and all I had to do was raise the BigFoot gear on the fifth wheel. After raising the four landing gear, I noticed the left rear had not retracted completely. It needed to come up another couple inches. I tried the control panel again to raise the rear to see if the errant jack would continue to retract...but, it wouldn't. Great! I quickly called the customer service number for BigFoot but got directed to a voice mail. Isn't that what usually happens! 

RR BigFoot Lever in the down position.

Looking at the jack/leg I decided to extend it and then retract it. No deal. Finally I decided to lower the right rear jack lower than the left and then raised them both and that worked. When I had initially raised the rear jacks in unison, the left rear had further to travel than the right rear due to the uneven ground. So it stopped retracting when the right rear finished retracting. By using the control panel I was able to lower the right rear lower than the troublesome left rear and retract both. It appears the limit switch is not working on the left rear. Needless to say, I lost some time figuring that out.
After finally pulling out, we headed for the dump station in the back of the campground and took care of business. In our haste, we failed to check our walkies and discovered that I couldn't communicate with Joyce in her Jeep as we left the park. So after driving down the road and pulling over to figure out what was wrong we discovered that one of the walkies was nearly dead already. Apparently it hadn't been placed in the charger cradle properly. So we were left with only our phones to communicate down the road.


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Out on Interstate 10 we decided to stop for fuel in Benson, Arizona. We pulled into a Shell Station large enough to accomodate our rig. I was shocked to see the diesel was $3.69! I needed the fuel, so I bit the bullet as we had over 200 more miles to go.
We stopped at a truck stop in Deming Arizona for a quick lunch break and to walk the dogs again. By then a BigFoot technician had called me back. He also suspected a bad limit switch and promised to mail one to me.

Down hill to Las Cruces from Hwy. 70

290 miles and about 6 hours later, we pulled into Sunny Acres RV Park surrounded by the urban strappings of Las Cruces. After checking-in, we were given a golf-cart tour of the available sites and we were impressed with the size of the sites. We chose site 24 which is a pull through at the end of a row of back-ins.

We paid for a week long stay for $230 which includes full hookups, WiFi and cable. It's a nice RV Park that originally was a mobile home park, thus the large sites. The roads however, are very dusty dirt.
After unhitching and getting level we opened the slides and discovered that the kitchen slide tore the linoleum.

This happened because a screw fell off one of the ceiling fan blades while in transit and got jammed under the slide tearing the linoleum when we opened the slide. It's not the first time screws have fallen from the ceiling fan blades. I need to get some Loctite to put on the screws!
In summary, it wasn't our the best travel day, but I can't complain too much!

Dinner with Cousins and Joyce blogs on her excursion in Mesilla

June 2-3, 2010.


We spent the last couple of days in Las Cruces and Mesilla, NM. On Wednesday June 2, we awoke to a beautiful sunny morning after temperatures in the mid 60's overnight. We were invited for breakfast at the home of my father's cousin, Bonnie Lilly. Her nickname is short for her spanish name that I can't begin to spell or remember. We drove to Bonnie Lilly and Palo's home in Las Cruces and were treated to a wonderful breakfast of Huevos Rancheros.


By the time we left it was almost noon and had warmed up considerably. We went back home to Hacienda RV Park. Later that evening Bonnie Lilly, Palo and Bonnie's brothers met us at our rig and then at a restaurant in Mesilla, NM. owned by another cousin, Cafe Don Felix.

We all had spectacular Mexican food. Perhaps, the best combination platter I've ever had.

The following day I worked with my father, trying to repair a leaking propane hose on his rig. My father's cousin, Billy met us and took us around Las Cruces on errands. Joyce went with the cousins to Mesilla and wrote the following blog entry:


We planned a girls day out shopping and lunch today.  Our cousin Bonnie, who is a resident of Las Cruces, took us on our shopping trip to Mesilla, NM.

The historic Mesilla Plaza is surrounded by restaurants, shops, and art galleries where we enjoyed browsing around most of the day.

Mesilla also has a wild side.  Many outlaws and rustlers walked the streets  and Billy the Kid was one outlaw that was often seen in the bars in town.  In 1881 Billy the Kid was tried in this building on the Southeast corner of the plaza and sentenced for the murder of Sheriff Brady. People say he still haunts the Old Courthouse building on the corner.

Mesilla is a strong religious community that revolves around San Albino Catholic Church.  Built in 1907, the bells of San Albino are an important part of Mesilla. They ring to wake the town to early mass at 6:30am. They ring for deaths and funerals, baptisms, and marriages.

The three of us worked up a healthy appetite, so after picking up another cousin, Deda, we all went to a cute restaurant called Cafe Josefina. 

The food was excellent and we all enjoyed our meals before heading back out to the plaza for a little more shopping.

I could have found a lot more to buy, but I only came home with a quilted tortilla warmer.  The store clerk said you can also use it to microwave potatoes to perfection--of course you don't puncture them, and 5 minutes on each side.  What the heck--I'll give it a try.

The four of us started getting tired around 3:30pm so we headed home after our long, but most enjoyable shopping day.  I forgot to mention that the temperature was in the high 90's that afternoon, but I dressed cool and comfortable, so it was not too unpleasant.

Travel Day to Las Cruces,NM Hacienda RV Resort

June 1, 2010.

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We woke to bright sunny skies over Davis Monthan A.F.B., Tucson, AZ. Temps overnight were in the low 60's so as usual we slept without the a/c. Today was a moving day. Moving on to Las Cruces, NM.

The four of us and our two rigs, got going and on the road by 8:30. We had almost 300 miles to travel today to make it to Hacienda RV Resort in Las Cruces, NM.

Once on I-10 we soon hit some steep rolling hills and gained some altitude pulling out of the Tucson area. I noticed the cooler temperatures at the higher elevation but it wasn't long before we were descending into the hot valleys.

We fueled up in Lordsburg, NM at a Flying J in the RV lanes. Just as I had finished filling my truck with diesel, I noticed a sticker on the pump that read Low Sulfur Diesel, this can damage diesel engines built after 2007. Great! I checked the other pumps in the RV lanes and they read the same. So I checked the diesel pumps in the car lanes and some had stickers that read Low Sulfur and others read Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD). The latter being what I need to use. Well I quickly checked with management as I thought all diesel produced and sold in the U.S. (except Agricultural use) was ULSD. I was wrong however as the government doesn't mandate the transition till Dec. 1, 2010. I was told by employees that all the tanks in the car lanes and RV lanes actually were ULSD and just mislabeled as the diesel all came from the same tank. I certainly hope that was the case!

Back on the road, we had lost an hour crossing into New Mexico from Arizona due to the change from Mountain Standard Time to Mountain Daylight Time. 

So after about 6 hrs. and 270 miles, we were in the Mesilla Valley of Las Cruces. 

Just off the interstate at exit 140 we arrived at Hacienda RV Resort in Las Cruces at about 3:30. 

We paid the $30 a night summer rate for 3 nights. My father has cousins in the area that he wanted us to all visit, so we plan to leave on Friday. We quickly got set up as temps were in the mid 90's. However, by 6 pm it was already cooling and comfortable outside.


It turns out my Surge Guard still works and must have cut power at our Davis Monthan A.F.B. Agave Campsite due to high voltage. Something I suspected when I checked the voltage with a volt meter in our rig.

Hacienda RV Resort is nice but, I wouldn't call it a resort. My father's rig and ours are in adjoining pull through sites. 

The pads are a fine dusty gravel with sites separated by shrubs. The campground is just yards from the interstate so there is the truck noise. There is not a pool, only a hot tub which isn't too appealing while temps are in the 90's. However, the park is well maintained with no permanent residents and everything is clean. We should enjoy our short stay here.