Greetings from Las Cruces, NM!

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
I see you went to dripping springs. Another nice place to visit is on the other side of the Organ Mountains. Take 70 East until you go over the San Augustin pass, shortly after on the right is a State Park...….The Organs are different on the other side...……..if you continue on 70 for 25-30 miles you will hit White Sands Park on the left...….An amazing place, especially at night. You will go through a Border Patrol checkpoint on 70...….if you continue, you will hit Alamogordo. It has interesting things to see as well. If you are lucky, you may be able to visit Trinity Site in White Sands. They only open it to the public once or twice a year...……….this is the site of the first nuclear weapon detination.

Today we had some time to kill. So we drove up 70 to peek on the other side of the mountain. What an amazing view you get from the top of the pass. We drove into the Aguirre Springs campground to check it out. Someone drove 1 of those large school busses up there. No way would I drive my rig up there.

Those views dont disappoint. You can literally see for miles. Not a whole lot of homes out that way but plenty of open land to roam.
 

RoseRed

American Beauty
PREMO Member
We saw our first road runner today. We saw it and it, wait for it, ran across the road. No coyotes were visible in the area. I guess those things prefer to run instead of fly.
Thanks for the ear worm! 😂
 

Yooper

Up. Identified. Lase. Fire. On the way.
We saw our first road runner today. We saw it and it, wait for it, ran across the road. No coyotes were visible in the area. I guess those things prefer to run instead of fly.
Oh, c'mon. Calling BS on this one. Road runner birds aren't real. They're only old muscle cars! 🙃

Next you're going to tell us you were passing by an Acme gas station. Or Acme safe store. Or Acme fireworks store. 🙃🙃

--- End of line (MCP) :thewave:
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Those who complain about overcrowding and over population....they need to get out of their crappy city and head west. There is so much room out here it's not even funny. No wonder city people are so cranky all the time, they're stacked on top of each other like cords of wood.

When I see these big wide open spaces I think the people who make those ridiculous rush hour commutes are crazy. That is no kind of life.
 

littlelady

God bless the USA
I'd just like to point out there are MANY organizations throughout Louisiana that are specifically geared towards finding businesses, opportunities, events, and other people interested in continually using, developing, and supporting the tradition of French speaking in certain areas of Louisiana.

AKA FRENCH RESTAURANT MENUES TOTALLY IN FRENCH

Really? I am from Louisiana, and didn’t know that. :rolleyes: :lol:

As far as my comment to an option for English, I was referencing that every time you call on something, you hear press 1 for English, 2 for Spanish. I was trying to be humorous; which I suck at, but working on it. :lol: I have never heard an option for French. Have you?

Thanks for the reply. Laissez les bons temps rouler! Speaking of roll, safe travels to Vrai and Monello on their journey across America.
 
Last edited:

luvmygdaughters

Well-Known Member
We saw our first road runner today. We saw it and it, wait for it, ran across the road. No coyotes were visible in the area. I guess those things prefer to run instead of fly.

Was he crossing the road to escape a boulder someone/thing, may have pushed off a cliff?
 

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
We are currently experiencing a dust storm. The usually visible Organ Mountains are obscured right now. It's like someone pulled a gray curtain down over them. Traffic on the interstate has slowed down.

The few times I have been outside today, I was breathing in the dusty particles. They'd get in my mouth and I'd feel the grainy grit on my teeth. I feel sorry for anyone that had outdoor plans around here.

We've pulled our rear slide in. Most things outside have been mitigated against the wind. The bikes are laying down over our outdoor rug. And now we sit and wait. Talk around the campground is the worst of the winds will arrive around 6pm tonight.

It could be worse. We could be getting snow like Colorado.
 
We are currently experiencing a dust storm. The usually visible Organ Mountains are obscured right now. It's like someone pulled a gray curtain down over them. Traffic on the interstate has slowed down.
Watch out for falling kidney stones! :yikes:
 

Yooper

Up. Identified. Lase. Fire. On the way.
We are currently experiencing a dust storm.
...

We've pulled our rear slide in.
Ugh. One of the "ugh's" of RV'ing: grit getting into the RV via slide-out. Gets everywhere! Hope all goes well and stays tidy!

The few times I have been outside today, I was breathing in the dusty particles. They'd get in my mouth and I'd feel the grainy grit on my teeth. I feel sorry for anyone that had outdoor plans around here.
As an aside, when I was stationed overseas in an area prone to these sorts of weather events I was out cycling when pounced upon by a sandstorm (Republican one, no doubt, due to the pouncing). Ugh! Hours to get the grit out of me, days to get the grit out of the bicycle.

--- End of line (MCP)
 

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
I wish I had a better before picture. This 1 is a sunset attempt. But you can clearly see the mountains in the distance. The 2nd pic isn't zoomed in but it's the same highway sign in both pictures.

136275


Dust storm effect
136274
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Holy cow! We are having a major dirt storm because of the high winds (50-60mph, so says the weatherman). You can't see the mountains anymore - it's just a gray dirt fog that appears to be getting closer to us. We've pulled in the slides because the wind was playing hell with the awnings that cover them. Stretch them out....WHUP! as they snap back. El Paso airport (an hour away) has stopped flying because it's too much wind.

So....good. Dirt storms like this make me rethink my love affair with LC on a permanent basis. Or maybe not because every place gets crappy weather. PCB has hurricanes that wreak havoc, we've just never been there during one.

But this is really something.

I still remember how terrified I was the first time we had scary weather. I was so cute! :lol:
 

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
Today we have our mountain view back. It's still windy but nothing like yesterday. Temps have dropped, in the low 60s right now.

136308
136309
 

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
Dinner tonight was at Dick's Cafe. New forum member DC101 recommended it. I wanted the meat loaf but they had already run out. Vrai had the green chili burger. We sat at the small counter and chatted up the help. Previous we tried to eat there Sunday but they close after lunch that day.

We appreciate when people who have already been somewhere we end up, make suggestions of places to see or locales to eat.
 

littlelady

God bless the USA
Dinner tonight was at Dick's Cafe. New forum member DC101 recommended it. I wanted the meat loaf but they had already run out. Vrai had the green chili burger. We sat at the small counter and chatted up the help. Previous we tried to eat there Sunday but they close after lunch that day.

We appreciate when people who have already been somewhere we end up, make suggestions of places to see or locales to eat.

The green chilie reference made me laugh. Yes, it is fun to see where y’all go, and the members who respond that have been there. Keep on RVin’ on. Wishing y’all safe travels. :bann:
 
Last edited:

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
Today our travels took us to White Sands National Monument. I realize that nobody is going to plan a vacation around this place. Vacations are planned around Yellowstone or the Grand Tetons or Yosemite. But that doesn't diminish how amazing this place is.

We drove from the south on route 70. Once you leave the city, you gain elevation until you arrive at the mountain pass. It's roughly 5,700 feet above sea level. Once you come over the pass, there is is. Right in front of you. This enormous expanse of land that goes out for who knows how many miles. You can see mountains in the distance. How far away is a guess. If you saw a picture, you'd be all ho hum. But to experience it is something else.

Here's a Google earth pic of the pass:
nm-san-augustin-pass-google-earth-02-400.jpg


Arriving at the national monument, there is a visitor center, museum and gift shop. 1 of the unusual items that the gift shop sells is disk sleds. People take the disks and slide down the sand dunes. In the park there is an 8 mile road to see the different sights. The first portion of the road is paved. Then it becomes hard packed sand. The sand just sort of appears. The terrain is scrubby, more scrubby then all of a sudden it's sand. Lots of sand. Everyone has seen sand at the beach. This view is unique and different.

The visitor center was full of cars from all over America. I'm glad that people go out of their way to visit this place. We brought Apollo with us. This was a good location since we could take him with us on the boardwalk trails. I'm thankful they had the boardwalks so we could proceed above the sand that would have made walking much harder. We didn't drive the entire 8 miles of loop road in the park. There is only so much sand you can look at. I was hoping to spot another road runner actually.

Around the park it looked like ominous rain clouds were forming. Very little rain falls in this area. Somehow plant life manages to survive in this harsh climate. Humans are encouraged to take a maximum amount of water with them while in the park.

Today is 5 years from when Vrai & I had our first date. She says we are on the longest 2nd date ever. Today is another different place where we can celebrate. I wonder where we will celebrate next year.

Pics to took to follow.
 
Top