Yesterday was day 42 or our planned 84 day RV trip (1/2 way) prior
to moving into our newly purchased townhouse in Victoria on April 12th.
We were at the City of
Rocks State Park, New Mexico – a park recommended by several friends and other
RVers. It is characterized by an unusual
rock formation – vertical tower like rocks in the middle of desert
country. There are ten campsites with
electric and water hook up and then 45 “dry” camping sites. It is at an altitude of 5200 feet.
After Las Cruces we firstly visited nearby La Mesilla
Historic town. It was established as a Mexican town after the 1848 treaty of
Guadalupe that ended the Mexican-American War. However after continuing disputes
about the border with Mexico, soldiers raised the U.S. flag in the Plaza on
November 16th 1854 marking the signing of the Gadsden purchase – the
last major territorial acquisition within the contiguous United States.
We then traveled further east to spend half a day at the
White Sands National Monument which was established by president Hoover in
1933. A remarkable formation of sand
that is composed of Gypsum (anhydrous Calcium Sulphate). In one area there was a Jamboree of many Cub
Scouts and their families from the region. It was good to see the children
having such a great time playing on the sand as if it was snow and tobogganing
down the dunes.
This was our furthest point east. From this point we are heading west and to-day crossed the continental divide again (6500 feet) from the east to the west.
We then spent two nights at the Leasburg Dam State
Park. This is adjacent to the Rio Grande
and the site of a dam established first in 1908 to divert water from the Rio
Grande and enable the development of a rich agricultural valley. On the second day there was a major windstorm
and dust storm and each night the temperature dropped to below the freezing
point. However with clear blue skies it only takes an hour or so for the
temperature to rise rapidly as high at 70F later in the day.
We decided to take a scenic byway to get to the City of
Rocks Park and travelled through Lake Valley, Hillsboro and Kingston. Hillsboro
was originally established after the finding of gold. We had not realized that
the route took us through Emory Pass at 8228 feet. It is in the Gila national
forest and the Mimbres mountains. Amazing views from the pass and interesting
to be in a forest of fir trees. There
was a fair amount of snow on the side of the road from the weather system the
day before.
At the City of Rocks we enjoyed a day of hiking
and bird watching. We identified Gambel’s Quail, White-Crowned Sparrow, Canyon
Townhees, Bendire’s Thrasher, Blackthroated Sparrows and a Cactus Wren. The early part of the
day was great for hiking before the wind got up.
Now we have moved on and are at Lexington Pines RV Park at Safford, Arizona where there is Wi Fi and a chance to do some laundry.
On the way we visited Silver City (5900 ft) where there was an excellent museum showing the extensive mining that has occurred in the area starting with silver in the 1880s. To-day nearby is the second largest copper mine in the U.S.
We are heading in the direction of the Grand Canyon which we hope the weather will permit us to see at this time of the year.
Now we have moved on and are at Lexington Pines RV Park at Safford, Arizona where there is Wi Fi and a chance to do some laundry.
On the way we visited Silver City (5900 ft) where there was an excellent museum showing the extensive mining that has occurred in the area starting with silver in the 1880s. To-day nearby is the second largest copper mine in the U.S.
We are heading in the direction of the Grand Canyon which we hope the weather will permit us to see at this time of the year.
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