02 January 2010

Postcard from New Mexico

Las Cruces, NM


We're getting really good at taking forever to get going in the morning! It was nearly checkout time (11 AM) when we pulled out of Benson, AZ. But we eventually made it out the gate and onto I-10 and trucked on down the road.

There's a serious problem with Arizona highways: the &^%$#! rest stops are all closed! Don't know if it's the season or budgetary issues, but it's a pain in the bladder for old toots like us. We finally pulled over at the exit to a closed rest stop and used the toilet in the Dog House. I was pissed, but I got over it! :) The only real issue with the Montana FL3655 is that, in a situation like this, we have to extend the dinette slide a little to be able to squeeze into the toilet. We managed to get moving again before the Highway Patrol found us.

So what happened to the warm southern winter!
After a stop at a Love's in Lordsburg, NM for lunch [ someone had driven into the corner of the building and really messed things up ], we pushed on to the KOA in Las Cruces, NM. It was cold, windy and cloudy but we managed to get hooked up before dark, so it was a good arrival.



Organ Pipe Mountains, Las Cruces.
And we had a glimpse of a spectacular sunset under the clouds.

The forecast was for 26 deg F overnight, so I disconnected the water only to discover the temps got nowhere near that low. You, the astute reader, probably wonder how I would know that. Easy: We spent from 1 AM to 2 AM tracking down Kelly who had bolted out the door without a leash. It's a no-no to have your dog outside unleashed. Do you suppose if she'd gotten away from us dragging her leash behind her it would have been technically OK? She had a great time running at full speed from shadow to shadow as she played her version of hide-and-seek.

Nice level sites on parallel parking strips in Las Cruces KOA
Here we are all snugged down for our stay in Las Cruces. We decided to stay 3 nights instead of 2 in order to avoid being on the road on New Years Day. I can't imagine things are any different in Las Cruces than in Santa Fe when it comes to driving under the influence, so better safe than along the side of the road with a bent RV.









Las Cruces "town center"... sort of
A cruising friend from the Keys asked us to find the town center, so we did... here you go Michael! Had no trouble at all finding it! :) I think we got the last available parking spot. It's a SuperCenter and the lot was full on this New Years Eve!

We'll be on the way tomorrow (Saturday, 1/2/2010) headed for Van Horn, TX.

ps- I really hope everyone remembered to hop on their left foot while saying "Rabbit, Rabbit!" on Saturday morning. We did... gotta keep that good luck coming! :)

2 comments:

  1. Ya know, a little common sense here could go a long way. Toilets at AZ rest stops are probably either clogged, or frozen. Maybe they don't open for NM residents. Now about the mixture of the dinette w/in-doghouse toilet. Just don't eat & poop at the same time. And don't eat too much, or you may not fit through the squeeze. Sounds like the LC Supercenter had a pretty big bash on NY Eve. How was it? Did someone "accidentally" leave the doghouse door unlatched. After all, Kelly does need her daily walk, etc. Everything's bigger in TX, so look out! They say it's snowing there too. Keep warm out there, everybody.

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  2. I am glad we missed nothing the one time we tried to found downtown Las Cruces. Any ttime that place is mentioned I shudder.

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