Friday, March 17, 2017 - Dreamcatcher RV Park, Deming, NM

Friday, March 17, 2017 - Dream Catcher RV Park, Deming, NM

We took our time getting around this morning since we only had 122 miles to travel.  This is our normal pace if we are not on a tight schedule, and this is the pace we prefer.  It was 10:00am before we pulled out of Mission RV Park, after I dropped a birthday card in the mail to our granddaughter Emerson.  She will be 2 on Sunday. We hope you have a wonderful birthday Emerson and we'll see you soon, after we get home.

Our drive today was so nice and for the most part pretty easy.  We had a little snafu this morning getting on I-10.  Yesterday we took I-10 to the Scenic Drive Overlook and the entrance nearest us was closed so we had to go to the next entrance.  This morning we just drove right past the first one, not even realizing it was open this morning until it was too late - then we ended up in the left turn lane at the next one and had to do a big circle around to get back up on I-10.  Oh well, it was just 15 minutes of time - no big deal!  What was really neat, we laughed about it - so that is a sign that we are relaxing more even though traffic in El Paso was very, very heavy and more than we typically deal with, but we made it through just fine.  Dean does a wonderful job driving our rig and I'm so thankful for him and his calm - even though he may not always feel that way he does a pretty good job of making me feel more calm!

Shortly after we passed through Las Cruces, AZ I received a phone call from our good friend Pam Horstman, a member of the SKP group we belong to for our 4-state area Chapter (KS, OK, AR, MO). We had a nice visit.  Just before she called I pointed at the sky to show Dean the large chinook helicopter flying over, and just a minute later he was pointing upward.  Then I realized what he was pointing at--we were passing into New Mexico.   I caught this second sign in time to get a picture.

We made a stop at the rest area just a short distance down the road. While I finished talking to Pam, Dean got out for a pit stop.  After he checked the tires and did a walk around, we got back in the truck, ready to leave.  As he started to pull out our Tire Pressure Monitoring System started beeping and indicated one of our tires was losing air.  So we stopped, backed up a bit, and got out to check it.  We could find no sign of any leakage.  We got back in and took off.  This time the TPMS did not go off, and all was fine.

I happened to get a picture of this large metal roadrunner not too far down the road, and of course I had to snap a couple pictures of the scenery along the way.

Large metal roadrunner sculpture.

All was well with the tire the rest of our trip to Deming, NM where we are spending the night at Dream Catcher RV Park.  This is a SKP owned and operated RV Park.  The park has few people in it but the ladies in the office said it would be almost full by evening as people stop for a night or two on their way to the Escapade in Tucson.

The RV park is pretty much sandy/dirt makeup for both the roads and sites, but comes with full hook-ups, and the sites are wide enough you can pull a vehicle in between sites with both of them occupied. They have a nice gathering place for games, a laundromat and showers. The ladies also told us they are serving breakfast tomorrow so we'll probably partake of it since we missed our normal Friday morning breakfast out. They are having biscuits/gravy, eggs to order and coffee.  I think it sounds great because I will not need to fix anything in the morning or clean up afterwards!! The overnight parking price is right at $20, which includes a discount since we are Escapee members.

There is a social at the clubhouse at 4:00 or 4:30.  We might walk up to see what is going on for awhile before we eat dinner.

Shortly after we set up we had to make a trip to Wally World - our first since before we left home, and believe it or not we just needed a few things.  I pre-cooked and froze some food before we left and tonight we are having orange chicken with rice.  Yum yum!  

Take care and I look forward to telling you all about our time in Tucson.

Thursday, March 16, 2017 - Mission RV Park, El Paso, TX

Thursday, March 16, 2017 - Mission RV Park, El Paso, TX

Another great sleeping night for us, although when I woke up this morning and my Fitbit showed 6:45, I thought I had really slept in again.  Wow....2 days in a row.  However, once I hit the "on" button on the coffeepot and picked up my phone to check emails I realized my Fitbit was still on Central Time - it was 5:45 here.  That's okay though.  Mornings are my favorite time of the day.

Once we checked our emails and finished our chores, we left to do some exploring in El Paso. We checked TripAdvisor and the #1 Things to Do was the Scenic Drive Overlook - so that is where we headed.  Here are a few pictures I took as we turned off on the last road leading to the Overlook.

I enjoyed looking at the homes and the beautiful trees in the yards.  You can see the mountain where the Scenic Drive is located in front of us.

The road was like this all the way to the lookout and down the backside.

Looking to the west from the Overlook.

The park below the overlook.

The above plaque explains a change in the course of the Rio Grande between the United States and Mexico along or near the border of El Paso and Ciudad Juarez where property was exchanged between the two countries.

This house sitting atop the hill was quite stunning.

Looking south from the overlook.

A home we drove by as we left the scenic drive.  It was just very serene and inviting.

We drove Loop 375 which runs along the border.  You can see the fencing on the Mexico side.  The Rio Grande is beyond the fencing.

Border crossing.  You can't really tell from this angle but it was backed up quite a ways.  

We had lunch at La Palmas.

Our lunch at La Palmas was good but I was looking for really great.  I ordered a variety plate so I could try several things.  It consisted of a taco, cheese enchilada, chile relleno, and a pork tamale, along with beans, rice and guacamole.  Dean ordered two tacos and two enchiladas.  He also wanted cheese dip, so we ordered a side order of their chile con queso.  Well, they brought a bowl - I think it would have been enough for about 10 people.  The chiles were cut in long strips and the cheese was clumpy and it was more like a soup. We both thought it tasted okay but was not at all what we expected.  Their salsa was quite good and had just the right amount of heat to it for me, however Dean is not a big salsa fan. The tacos were great and they used homemade tortillas so the tacos get a 4.5, and the rest of it was just okay.  I would probably give it a 3.5 overall, based on a scale of 1-5.

After lunch we came back to Bentley and rested after our big meal.  About an hour or so later we decided to take a drive back east and then south.  As we drove in on Wednesday it appeared there was a significant amount of agricultural land near the border, so we drove down to see it.  They had evidently planted the crops and were now irrigating.  Below I show a picture where the water is being released into the irrigation ditches, and just below it is one where they are flooding the field.  The field has embankment around it to contain the water within each field.  It was really interesting to see.

Mission drawing, on the overpass embankment.

These trees were so beautiful.

Pumping water into the irrigation ditch.

Water being released into the field to irrigate the crop.

Tomorrow we will pull up our landing gear and head on west to Deming, New Mexico.  This will be a new state for us so we will get to add another state to our map.  It's a short drive compared to the last two travel days, and should only take us 2.5 hours or so.  That's the way we like to travel!

Thanks so much to everyone who follows our travels.  We are having such a great time seeing things we had only hoped to do once we retired.  It's a huge blessing to be able to now do it and we are thankful everyday for the opportunity.

I always enjoy hearing from readers, so don't be shy!

Wednesday, March 15, 2017 - Mission RV Park, El Paso, TX

Wednesday, March 15, 2017 - Mission RV Park, El Paso, TX

We slept with the windows open last night and both of us slept very well.  The temperature dropped to mid-50's and I've decided that is the perfect sleeping weather.  Something about sinking down in the covers when it's cold always makes me sleep better and Dean agrees.  In fact it was a little after 6 before I woke up. We didn't waste much time after coffee and breakfast in packing up and leaving Ms. G's.  We had a long drive ahead of us - 7 hours, even though we lost an hour by the clock shortly before we arrived in El Paso.  I told Dean I was just getting used to daylight savings time and now we fall back again.

A shout out to my Aunt Lil who brought Dean and I a little gift before leaving on our trip.  She makes these wonderful bowl holders - if you have something hot (soup) or cold (ice cream or cereal) they are great to hold your bowl while you are eating.  I tried mine out this morning and I LOVE IT!!!! Thank you Aunt Lil!!!  We love you!

Our bowl holder for really hot or really cold food items.  It works great!

We left at 8:45am and arrived at the park at 2:55pm (Mountain Time).  We are at Mission RV Park. It's a large RV Park right off the Interstate.  It's a packed dirt parking lot, with paved roads, and full- hookups.  They have a nice pool, playground equipment for the kids, a mobile repair shop on site and a really nice laundry area.  We have 50 amp, water, sewer, cable and wi-fi.  We paid more for it than we normally would at $37.75 a night with a 10% discount, but it's a convenient location and we are enjoying the amenities.

Our drive today was LONG, however we did see some beautiful scenery.  I am just going to include pictures I took along the way.  Other than traveling through the cities of Midland, Odessa, etc. that appear to be gas and oil communities we didn't see much else until shortly before we arrived in El Paso, well unless I missed something when I was napping!!  (I apologize for the glare from the window or any spots on the windshield).

Our site

The covered area with garage door is the mobile workshop, the covered building to its right is the swimming pool, indoor; and the brownish building is the office area.

Playground area for kids.

We plan to check out the City of El Paso tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have some neat things to share in tomorrow's post.  One thing I know for sure I want to find is a really good Mexican restaurant with homemade corn tortillas,  Yummm!

Tuesday, March 14, 2017 – Ms. G’s RV Park, Loraine, TX

Tuesday, March 14, 2017 – Ms. G’s RV Park, Loraine, TX

I was up early this morning (4:45) after a long night of waking up almost on the hour.  The parking lot here at the fairground is well lit – too much for sleeping well as far as I’m concerned.  I could not remember what I had used to cover the windows when this has happened before, and even if I had remembered, when I did, the old beach towels I carry for this purpose were under the bed.  Not sure Dean would have thought much of me lifting the end of the bed in the air while he was sleeping in order to retrieve them.  Now let that picture set in.  HAHA  I guess I was so tired when we went to bed I fell asleep without even noticing the light outside.  I  have made a mental note to be sure and check this out in the future.

I’m usually up early anyway, and soon I was enjoying a cup of coffee as I read my morning emails which consist of mostly RV blogs and devotionals.  Once Dean got up we watched the news, ate breakfast, got ready and between us we soon had things packed up and we pulled out of the Cleveland County Fairgrounds at 8:45.  We have a long travel day to Loraine, TX, almost 350 miles.  We do not really enjoy long travel days, however on occasion it’s just easier to get it done.  I managed to take a few naps, so I feel rested now.

I took several pictures throughout the day as we passed through southern Oklahoma and Texas.  We enjoyed the landscape.   Here are a few pictures:

The last time I was in Medicine Park was in 1969 when my cousin Randy graduated from the 8th grade.  He and his parents lived here while his dad was stationed at Fort Sill.  His grandma and grandpa Paul (who was my great-aunt and uncle) brought me with them.  

If you enlarge this picture you will see the beautiful buffalo embossed in the concrete overpass railing.

We enjoyed the beautiful green fields. 

Seeing cattle grazing is very peaceful to me.  Could not resist taking this picture - I missed a really good one earlier.

President George W. Bush Bridge over the Red River at  the Texas State Line.

Red River

Entering the State of Texas.

Falls at the entrance of Wichita Falls, Texas.  I was not quick enough to get the best picture.

It was 33 degrees when we left Norman this morning.  I like the weather in Texas!!

Another beautiful green wheat field.

Equipment used to pick cotton.  We saw many cotton fields that had already been harvested.  

Here you can see the leftover cotton from the fields along the side of the road.

This was the courthouse in a small town called Anson.  I apologize for the dirty windshield but the courthouse was just to pretty to pass up.

An old wagon near the courthouse.

The two pictures above are of the wind farms that were in every direction from us as we drove this part of the highway near Loraine.  After we arrived at the RV park, a gentleman told Dean this is the largest wind farm in the US.

Enlarge this picture and you can see the surprise visitor out our window as I started working on my blog post.  EEK!!!!  I sure didn't want to startle him/or her!!

Cotton baled up.

Bentley at Ms. G's RV Park - Loraine, TX

Cactus just across the road from where we are parked.

Pictures of very old mesquite trees located in the park.  The owner said they were over 100 years old.

Just a little information on the park itself.  Brad and Dawn are the owners and very nice people.  They were very accommodating. The park is two years old and a work in progress.  It was in need of mowing but overall it served our purposes well.  We had 50 amp electric and water hookup.  It is very peaceful here, except for the occasional train.  I barely noticed the first train.  After that we opened our window and the only other one we've heard was very noticeable.  This is a Passport America Park.  The rate was $20 for 50 amp and $15 for 30 amp.   They have a fire pit and cooker available for campers to use.  

We left Norman at 8:50 am and arrived at Ms. G's at 3:45 pm.  Tomorrow our destination is El Paso. El Paso Cit---eee!  I can hear Marty Robbins now!!!