RV Fun Trips

A Trip to the Southwest and the Plains
November 2007
The Southwest — Page 8

On the Road to Las Cruces and Alamogordo
Our day began with me driving our motorhome while following Kevin's and Tina's car with Kay driving our car following me. We had been invited to a Sunday morning breakfast at a restaurant where the parking facilities were uncertain. Kay and I planned to connect our tow-car after breakfast before getting on the road to Alamorgordo. As it turned out, this had been a good decision.

Our foursome arrived within minutes of the rest of our party of twelve. Tina told me that this Sunday morning breakfast gathering had become a weekly social gathering for the group. Some of the people attending were familiar from the previous evening. Tina introduced Kay and me to those whom we were meeting for the first time.

Breakfast was good and was highlighted by pleasant conversation and discussions. Tina and Kevin along with their friends have given me a new respect for the winter desert lifestyle. Kay and I are already looking forward to the time we can return to Tucson.

Even though our departure was delayed by this gathering, we found it to be a fun way to begin our day and to say farewell to all these nice people we met during our brief stay in Tucson. Kay and I pulled into a neighboring parking lot, of a business not yet open, to hook-up our tow-car. It was here that we said goodbye to Kevin and Tina.

The restaurant was next to I-10 which made it very easy to get onto the freeway. This section of
I-10 is currently under construction with all on-ramps and off-ramps closed for most of the way across Tucson. The place where we were able to get on I-10 meant that we didn't have to deal with merging traffic most of the way across town.

As our motorhome left Tucson the scenery looked somewhat familiar from a previous trip when came this way in 1998. Interesting rock formations gave way to a flatter valley scene with a backdrop of mountains looking in most directions. There is one feature that seemed to be somewhat new and that is the appearance of orchards along the way. Many of the trees seemed to be various kinds of nut trees including pistachios. They seem out of place in the surrounding desert landscape.

Interesting rock formation east of Tucson

This orchard in the desert looked out of place to me

Long, long trains seem to be ever present with many of them being made of automobile transport train cars. There must be a lot of cars being sold in the west because it seemed as if every other westbound train was delivering automobiles. On the flip side we saw many eastbound trains made up of empty automobile transport cars. This area of eastern Arizona and western New Mexico would be a great place for rail-fans to spend time.

As we entered New Mexico I noticed that we were pacing a train, on the opposite side of the highway from us, with our speedometer showing a steady 60 miles per hour. After a short time I heard the train's engines revving up as it slowly pulled away from our motorhome.

This train paced us for a while

We saw many very long trains crossing the desert

Up ahead I saw a large information sign I had been looking for that told us that we were crossing the continental divide at an altitude of 4085 feet above sea level. On the other side of the sign was a remnant of the original US-70 highway that was mostly replaced, in this area, by the Interstate highway. In some places I could see that the old US-70 had degraded to not much more than a gravel road.

The sign says it all — Notice the old US-70 roadway on other side of sign

It wasn't very long until the familiar silhouette of the Organ Mountains began to rise above the horizon. This meant that the town of Las Cruces would be coming up soon.

As the Mesilla Valley and the town of Las Cruces began to appear, as we came over a rise, it was clear that the sun would set soon. From our elevated vantage point on I-10 we could see the terminator line between daylight and dusk as it slowly crept across the valley below.

Line between afternoon and evening can be seen crossing Mesilla Valley

Las Cruces is where we would be leaving I-10 behind and making our way to US-54 via US-70. Sunset seemed as if it was chasing me through Las Cruces. Once in a while, as I made my way through the streets of town the low position of the sun would appear in a rearview mirror causing me to shield my eyes for a short time.

This cross street name is very familiar in California

Leaving Las Cruces the road began a long-incline toward the San Augustin Pass. Once over the pass our motorhome descended into the White Sands Missile Range where night fell on us quickly. With it being dark for the remainder of our drive, I figured I would come back on a future trip to visit this place.

It wasn't very long until we arrived at the junction with US-54, just south of Alamogordo, where I turned north and proceeded north to our night time destination. I had planned to stop for the night at a small RV campground. I called ahead earlier to make sure there was a site for our motorhome.

It was very dark by the time we reached the area where we began looking for the turnoff for the RV park. Kay and I both caught a glimpse of the campground sign just as we passed it. I made a U-turn and made my way to the Edgington RV Park. I figured I would have to fill out a night registration form before looking for a campsite. Before I could get out of our motorhome I saw a golf cart coming toward us.

The man in the golf cart was the owner/manager, John Davis, coming out to greet us personally. When I told him who I was he said. "Follow me." He jumped in his golf cart and began driving away in the darkness; I quickly followed. We were guided to one of the new pull-through sites that are 150 feet long.

I asked about registration and was told about the pricing — which is very reasonable — and how laid back the operation is. For example I was told that there is no checkout time, however, if I was still here after nightfall the next day I would be asked to pay for another night. A campground landmark is a windmill that can be seen from the road.

The campground is small, however, a very attentive owner really made for a nice experience. I was glad to be in the campground where I could kick back after a somewhat long day on the road.