Ghost Town Bummer

Is This A Motel ??

We passed the Stein Ghost Town on the way into Willcox and couldn't stop so we went back to tour it. Bummer it was closed being fumigated for some reason. Since we were close to Lordsburg, NM we decided to go there and fill up the car at Flying J and have lunch at their buffet.

Another bummer...they don't have a buffet. This is the first Flying J we've been to that didn't have a buffet. We found another restaurant that was highly advertised and went there to eat. Another bummer, the food was not really good at all and the service was not to good either.

We drove through Lordsburg which was an old cow town and take some pictures of what was left of it, not much I'm afraid.

Touring White Sands Missile Proving Grounds

We finally had a sunny day when the high winds has calmed down. We wanted to tour as much of the Proving Grounds as possible. They have very strict restrictions on where you can take picture

White Sands Proving Grounds is the location of a site called Trinity, which is where the first atomic bomb was detonated.

Mesilla New Mexico

Mesilla Church

My cousin Frank took us for lunch at La Posta de Mesilla which has been in business since 1850. It originally served as a way station for the Butterfield Stagecoach Line.



La Posta de Mesilla


The United States government established Fort Fillmore in 1851 to protect the newly conquered territory and its people.


Billy the Kid Poster


Outlaws such as Dutch Hubert and Billy the Kid frequented many of the bars and dances in town. It was at the jail in Mesilla that Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to hang in 1881. This is the town
from which he escaped.

Las Cruces, NM to White Sands Missile Grounds

From Anthony, Texas to Las Cruces, NM is about 26 miles but from Las Cruces to White Sands is another 30 miles or so. The directions we were given told us to take US 70 off I-10 and drive to White Sands.

We dove all the way through Las Cruces before we found US 70 and that route took us through a part of old Las Cruces. Once we got through Las Cruces we soon learned that we had to climb a mountain that was about 6,000 feet and almost straight up too. There were several big trucks going up the mountain and they weren't able to do more than about 25 miles per hour. We were able to drive up at about 45 miles per hour.

When we got into the base we soon learned that they didn't believe in street signs, the only ones we could see were on the left side of the road. We missed one turn and had to go about 3 blocks before we could turn around and find the street we wanted. After that is was no problem getting to the FAMCAMP.

There are only eight sites but they are long, level and well appointed. They have full hook-ups at each site and a covered patio with nice picnic tables.

The scenery is beautiful mountains on three sides and the sunrises and sunsets on them are pretty. The name is somewhat misleading, we looked and looked and never did find any "White Sand".

Flying J in Anthony, Texas

We finally got rid of some of the high winds for a while and made it safely to Flying J in Anthony, Texas to refuel and eat supper.

We have found Flying J to be very RV friendly, they have a seperate island just for RV's and you can fuel up with either gas or diesel and propane is available there too.

Flying J usually has a real good buffet and of course you can order from the menu as well. The food here was real good and you can go back for seconds if you like.

We joined about five or six more RVers in spending the night there. It was reasonable quiet and the parking lot was fairly level.

The sunset view from there was nice.

Tomorrow we're heading to White Sands Missile Grounds to spend three or four days in their RV Park,

On The Road Again

The time has finally come when it's time for us to get back on the road. We don't like to stay in one place too long.

We're planning a trip out west and then into Canada and Alaska later this summer. We hope to have a couple from Alabama join up with us and see some of the west they have never seen.

The trip from Tarpley to El Paso was a little rough. We fought head winds most all the way and they were from 30 to 40 miles per hour.

We had a man pass us driving a truck with a horse trailer behind and he passed us like we were parked. About 45 minutes later we saw where he had hit the right guard rail and skidded across the highway and over turned. We saw them getting him out of the truck and they had already removed his wife. We didn't see any horses but did see one cow. They had four State Troopers and two paramedic units there.

We spent the night in a Passport America RV Park close to the Balmorhea State Park. Their sites are 100 feet long, full hook-ups with cable TV and the rate is $10 per night. Real quiet and the sunsets and sunrises are beautiful.

Have You "Herd" Of Goats

Our new friend, Judi Martin, the lady who did the upholstery work on our couch and valances has a ranch not far from here and she raises goats.

She told Jerry that she had recently had a lot of baby goats and of course Jerry just had to see them. They were real cute and lovable and friendly. Jerry got a big kick of picking them up and loving on them. If we had more room I believe she would have brought one back home with her.

I took a few pictures to give you an idea of how many baby goats there were.

Our New Couch

Main Color

Our couch has been in the RV since we bought it in June 2000. We've tried to find either a new couch or maybe a pair of lounge chairs but they won't fit. The couch is sitting on a ledge that is twenty-four inches wide and the couches and chairs we've looked at are too wide.

We were fortunate to find a lady in Tarpley, Texas that could recover our couch and also redo the valances above the windows and the ones above the driver's seat and front door. We selected the material and she said she could have the job completed in about a week.

She brought the finished couch and valances back and installed everything. It's real pretty and makes the coach really look different.

Alternative Color

Mixed Colors

Valance

A Tour Of A Miniature Horse Ranch

Our friends, Suzie and Henry Birdsong invited us to come down and see their new miniature horses. Also Jerry will be able to see the one she held in her arms last year when it was just about twelve hours old. They have about thirty horses now and each one has a name and they are as gentle as lambs.

A Visit To An Old Texas Town

Jerry and I with our new friends Howard and Sandi decided to drive down to Hondo, Texas and look over this old town. Hondo was founded back in the 1800's and orginally was a cow town but now is mostly farming country. Hondo is also on highway 90 which is a road that goes from Florida to southern California.

The secenry from Tarpley to Hondo is pretty and goes through a lot of Texas cattle ranches.

The girls found a large antique shop and of course spent quite a bit of time there.