New Year's Day - Traveling

We left Las Cruces and headed down IH-10 East towards El Paso and Texas. The morning was cold and our water lines were frozen but we had loaded up water the night before so the situation did not cause any concern.

It was a travel day - all day. I'm sorry to report that the only excitement was the brief stop in the US Border Patrol Inspection Station along IH-10 outside El Paso. We have some pictures of the process. Basically, they announce via signage that all lanes must exit into, and under, a huge sun shield / shed into 2 or 3 lanes of traffic where each vehicle is inspected by a group of officers. They have cameras monitoring you as you approach and I assume they select which are the target vehicles during the slow creep up to the stop sign and the uniformed officer. Some vehicles get a lot of questions and some get waved on. We got waved on with nary a word spoken. Dexter was hiding under a blanket in his bed and missed the whole thing.

From there we merged onto IH-20 near Van Horn, TX. We drove through Pecos (leaving the Mountains behind us), Odessa, Midland, and into Big Spring. Miles & miles of Texas. We are stopped at MM 191 in a Rest Area having dinner and posting this Blog entry. Most of the larger Texas Rest Areas have free Wi-Fi and this one is no exception. We'll grab a movie (DVD) after dinner and sleep until dawn. We have just 4.5 hours to go before home with one required fuel stop. I plan to visit the Flying J outside Abilene at Tye, TX. Flying J has special RV pumps separated fromthe cars and the commercial trucks. With their free RV Card, you get the cash price (even using a credit card) and a one cent per gallon discount. If we get started early (like 6:45am), we can be in Carrollton and home by Noon Saturday.

Of the photos, some show the last vestiges of the mountains as we left the El Paso area and moved onto a broad plateau. I also included a few shots of the US Border Patrol Inspection signs and of the process as we approached the checkpoint.

Thursday - Almost to Texas

The day started in Benson, AZ, where we spent the night after a good cache day. No sign of the RV Park Manager this morning nor his warnings about knocking over the water spigot. We made it out safely and without any mishap.

Just a few hours later, we were crossing into New Mexico and speeding on towards Las Cruces. We arrived at the Hacienda RV Resort just before 2pm. What a difference from the Pardners RV Park. Wide streets, a clearly marked entrance and an office staff that greeted us warmly. They even wanted to meet Dexter and we brought him in for a look. His day was made with a dog biscuit and we marveled in the differences between the 2 parks. Of course, Benson was 20 bucks and this place was 70. I guess money does buy happiness!

They parked us next to a high dollar Prevost nestled among 3 or 4 other Prevosts. Being 45 feet long got us a super site and added another 10 bucks to the bill. This is being posted via their complimentary Wi-Fi but then I guess we really paid for it.

So, the highlight of the afternoon and evening was the drive out to see Steve & Raymond and their new place at the foot of the Organ Mountain range. The Organ Mountains are part of the southern tip of the Rocky Mountain range that ends in El Paso just 20 miles down the road.

The mountains look close enough to touch from their backyard but they were still a mile away and about a mile higher. Raymond said their place was about 4300 feet above sea level and the top of the tallest peaks stretch nearly to 10,000 feet.

We spent several hours talking about our mutual experiences in Quartzsite and learning all about their terrific house. It is very energy efficient and built in a southwestern adobe style with a courtyard and 15 inch thick earth walls.

We sat in their living room watching the sunset and talking about how they found the place, how long the drive was to Dallas, and all manner of other topics that occurred to us at the time. It was too cold this time of year to spot any rattlesnakes or scorpions in the desert just feet out their back door.

We left there about 8pm and had dinner at an Appleby's near the RV Resort. We're doing laundry tonight and will head back into Texas in the morning.

There is a Border Patrol checkpoint about 15 miles down the Interstate where everyone is stopped for a brief search & questioning but we have passed through them before and it is a simple process. Even Dexter, who is half Chihuahua, rates only a passing glance

The only photos I have to post are a couple taken out the front windshield of the RV as we descended IH-10 into Las Cruces. They show the Organ Mountain range in the distance. Steve & Raymond live on the far side of Las Cruces at the foot of these mountains.

Wednesday - The Return Trip

We started early as planned after topping off the RV diesel tank ($125.38 - thank you) and heading East. The Garmin evidently didn't know we could bypass Phoenix via AZ 85 and IH-8 but we drove that way anyway. It was a good decision and part way down the road, the Garmin caught on and led us the rest of the way into Benson.

We stopped at the Pardner RV Park which turned out to be pretty small and nearly full of slightly decrepit trailers (the monthly rate was $195 - go figure). The Manager was helpful and the daily rate was $20 instead of the $24 listed on the web site. The Manager didn't seem to know what a web site (or the Internet for that matter) was so we didn't press the point.

We decided to try some caches in the roughly 90 minutes of daylight left and found TWELVE ! Benson is a hot and cache friendly place.

We ate at Reb's Cafe (where the food was edible but nothing to write about). Dexter got his obligatory evening walk and we're posting caches and writing this Blog before bedtime. It will be an easy drive from Benson to Las Cruces tomorrow. I think I have Steve & Raymond's number and their directions to the RV Park. We'll send an email and/or call when we hit town. We hope Las Cruces is as cache rich as Benson.

Our only photo is of the Benson,AZ, Welcome sign and a couple semi-decent cache picture.