Day 14, 2015-05-04
We drove from Hueco Tanks SP to Mesilla, NM this
morning. We had been to Mesilla about 30
years ago and things have changed. It
used to be a sleepy village miles away from Las Cruces. Now it is a sleepy village in the middle of a
city that has grown up around it. It
still has its old charm. Our first
visit, we ate at La Posta, but on recommendations from friends and family, we
ate lunch at the Double Eagle. Hands
down the best Mexican food and “Award Winning” margaritas we have had since we
can remember. It’s almost worth the
drive from Florida just for this.
After lunch, Bettie bought some chilies,
then we headed for
our next stop, City of Rocks State Park on the road from Deming, NM to the Gila
Cliff Dwellings. We made a Walmart stop
in Deming and were pleased to find they had a complete liquor store. We stocked
up and took off for the SP. On HWY 180
we encountered some brutal cross winds. For
the first time, I could feel the trailer moving around a bit, but it did a good
job of staying behind the truck and we did not have any problems.
City of Rocks SP is a unique place, a rocky volcanic
upthrust in the middle of the prairie.
This place looks like it dropped in from outer space. NM has done a great job in this park, with
many of the campsites located back in the rocks, which give them an
other-worldly feeling. Bettie wants to
come back for another longer stay.
Day 15, 2015-05-05
Huey, Huey! It’s
Cinco de Mayo. We started the day with a walk through the City of Rocks
SP. The more we walked the more we were
taken with the beautiful views and the excellent campsites hidden back in the rocks. We will definitely make a return trip
here.
We made the short 67 mile drive to
the Gila Hot Springs Ranch, just 4 miles from the cliff dwellings. Our motorcycle friends would really like Hwy
35 – lots of ups and down and many turns.
I rarely got out of 3rd gear.
We stopped at an overlook and ran into a guy who was an Ice Road Trucker
travelling with an Israeli guy who has already hiked the Appalachian Trail, the
Pacific Coast Trail, and is now hiking the Continental Divide from Mexico to
Canada. The IRT guy said they were going
to the hot springs so the Israeli guy could recuperate a sore heel. Little did we know there were natural hot
springs in this area, but when we checked into our RV park, they were part of
the deal. The ranch has created three
naturally heated pools that are really a treat.
We walked down to check them out and there were the two guys from the
overlook. We didn’t join them in the
pool. We went back later and got one of
the pools by ourselves.
While soaking in
the pool (all afternoon), we were joined by a young couple who are working for
the park service doing a bird survey of the area and an RN who has just retired
in Silver City, NM. Amazing how friendly
people are in a hot tub. The
conversation was non-stop. Then the
owner came down to check on things, mostly to make sure everyone had paid. The Campbells have owned the property since
the 1940’s and it was interesting listening to his stories of the past. The pool was a little hotter than he wanted
it to be and he told us the only way he can control the heat is by the amount
of water he allows to enter the pool. He
has to rely on evaporation to cool it since the spring water is between 140 and
165 degrees. Big problem today because
it was so humid the evaporation was slow.
Humidity was all the way up to 8%.
Damn! All-in-all, we enjoyed great
conversation and had a really enjoyable afternoon soaking in the heat. It was margaritas and taco salad tonight to
commemorate Cinco de Mayo. Not a bad way
to celebrate.
Day 16, 2015-05-06
Today we visited the Gila Cliff Dwellings, then decided to
take it easy for the rest of the day. The
cliff dwellings are just as spectacular as they were 20 or 30 years ago when were
last here. Here are a few pictures for
you.
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