NM -- Socorro, 18-21 Feb 2020

Campground

Casey’s Socorro RV Park was just okay.  The location was convenient since it was just a short ways from the I-25 exit.  It’s rundown and basically a gravel parking lot.   Permanent residents occupy about 75% of the park.

As we have found in other such parks, there was one annoying dog that was put “out” on the RV patio and allowed to bark continually even when the occupants were home.  And the owners of the park don’t make any efforts to squelch such behavior.

There is only one bathroom/shower for 84 sites. They do keep it nice and clean.

The office doubles as a hair salon so Shawn was able to get his hair cut too.  That was a first in nine years to find a hair salon at an RV park.

There are 84 sites.  The back-ins along the rear fence are filled with full-time residents.  The other sites are pull-throughs and there is plenty of room to maneuver but the sites are narrow.

We were in an end site and were afraid to park our truck next to us since there were a number of folks leaving and driving entirely too fast early in the morning and in the dark.  So, we parked our truck over next to a big garage/work shop.

We had full hookups.  The wi-fi was barely usable.  Fortunately, we had a good data signal so we hot-spotted for the three nights we were there.  It would not be a problem to get satellite at any of the sites.

There was some distant train noise and an occasional loud truck getting off the highway.  Otherwise the noise level was not as bad as we had expected.  Still, we played our white noise at night.

Nearby Towns

Socorro has a population of about 9,000 and is the Socorro county seat.  It sits at 4,600 and has mild, dry winters and hot summers.  It is home to the Elfega Baca Golf Shoot, one of the two most difficult golf courses in the world.

Socorro has basic services and shopping.

Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city, is about 75 miles to the north.  It sits at a higher elevation of 5,312 feet.  With a metro population of just over a million people, you could find any service or shopping you would need there.

Adventures

Bosque Del Apache

One of the reasons we stayed in Socorro was so we could view more sandhill cranes.  The campground is only 25 miles from Bosque Del Apache, one of the areas where thousands of the birds gather each winter.

“The heart of the refuge comprises approximately 3,800 acres of Rio Grande floodplain and 9,100 acres of irrigated farms and wetlands. In addition to this, the refuge contains 44,300 acres of arid grasslands and foothills of the Chupadera and San Pascual Mountains.”

“The refuge is well known for the tens of thousands of cranes, geese, and ducks who winter here each year.  There have been 374 different bird species observed in the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge since 1981, making it one of the most diverse areas for bird species in the United States.”

“A twelve-mile-long loop road divided by a cutoff into a "Farm Loop" and "Marsh Loop" allows automobile drivers excellent views of wetland wildlife and raptors, and there are several short (1.5 to 10 miles) walking trails.”

We drove the 12 mile loop scanning for sandhill cranes.  We only saw a few cranes.  We had seen a post on Facebook that thousands were arriving in the San Luis Valley in Colorado.  We realized they had probably migrated from New Mexico.  We should have been there a week or two prior.

We did see a few odd ducks and a great blue heron in the ponds, a road runner crossing the road, some red tail hawks soaring above, and a bald eagle in a tree. We even looked closely for alligators in the irrigation ditches - ha ha!

We were excited to see our first wild javalinas in the desert this winter.  We had been seeing signs of them everywhere.  There were about a dozen pigs in the squadron.

Even though we didn’t see the birds we set out to see, it was a lovely afternoon and we saw a beautiful sunset.

VLA

“The Very Large Array (VLA), one of the world's premier astronomical radio observatories, consists of 27 radio antennas in a Y-shaped configuration on the Plains of San Agustin fifty miles west of Socorro, New Mexico. Each antenna is 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter. The data from the antennas is combined electronically to give the resolution of an antenna 36 km (22 miles) across, with the equivalent sensitivity of a dish 130 meters (422 feet) in diameter.”

Both Shawn and I are science geeks and wanted to go learn about the antennas.  The VLA was a good hour east of Socorro.  They built it in a remote area where there as little electronic interference as possible.

We parked near the visitor center and shut off our cell phones per their instruction before going in.  We watched a film with information on how it was built, how it operates, the discoveries they made about our universe with it, and how it is being upgraded. Then we went on a half mile walking tour of the area.

The walking tour took us to the Radio Sundial, past the Whisper Dish Gallery, on to the Radio Astronomy Gallery, and finally to the base of one of the 230-ton working antenna on the array. From there we headed toward the control building’s outside staircase to the observation deck for a view of the array itself and details about the supercomputer processing taking place inside the control building. The walk returned us to the Visitor Center.

My favorite interactive display was the Whisper Dish.  They had two dishes set up several yards from each other.  We each stood near the dish and tried to softly whisper to the other.  It was amazingly loud standing in the dish.  The concave shape really amplifies sound!

Finally, we drove to the antenna assembly building to get a good view of one of the transport cars.

It was all very fascinating.  Now, when we hear astronomical news, we’ll have a much better idea as to where it’s coming from and how the array works to gather that data.

“The VLA is in the midst of a 7-year project to make a complete, multi-epoch map of the 80% of the sky visible from its location.  This project will reveal millions of celestial objects previously unknown to science, with a tremendous potential for new discoveries.”

As we were leaving the VLA, we could see a large bird near the side of the road.  It was feeding on a carcass.  As we drove closer, we slowed and realized it was a Golden Eagle!  Though it was sad to see the dead critter, it was providing this majestic bird with needed sustenance during the scarce winter.

  

Family

The first night we were in Socorro, we drove an hour north to Bosque Farms to meet Shawn’s cousin Shasta and her husband Darren.  We received a pleasant surprise when we walked in and their daughter Khyira was with them.

We met at their favorite restaurant, Sopa’s.  Just like any good New Mexico restaurant, they had green chili.  But they don’t ask if you want hot or mild.  And it was all hot!  Still it was delicious!

Bernalillo and Rio Rancho

 Stagecoach Stop RV Park

“Stagecoach Stop RV is a quiet hidden park away from the city traffic and noises, yet a very convenient location, only a 5 minute drive to I-25, just minutes away from a variety of dining establishments, and within walking distance to Walmart store.”

“We are located 16 miles north of  Albuquerque’s Historic Old Town and 40 miles south of Santa Fe, with a spectacular view of the Sandia Mountains to the east.”

Stagecoach is a nice RV resort.  It has 85 paved Pull-Through Spaces with full-hookups, Heated Seasonal Pool/Spa all year round.  The Restrooms/Showers and laundry were all were all clean and nice.  Plus, they have an Exercise Room, Rec Hall and a Mini Theater.

The park was 98% filled and it was primarily full time residents but they do limit the year of the rigs and everything looked tidy and well cared for in the nicely spread out sites.  Their philosophy is, “maintain a peaceful and neighborly atmosphere and remain a safe place for all.”

We could barely hear traffic at night from the nearby Highway 550.  It was much quieter than the KOA where we have stayed before.  If we were to stay in the area again we would return to Stage coach.

Rio Rancho is a suburb of Albuquerque sitting at about same elevation of 5,282 feet and boasts a population just shy of 100,000.   “It is the third-largest and also one of the fastest expanding cities in New Mexico.”

Family

We spent Saturday with family.  First, we met Uncle Skip at his favorite restaurant, Weck’s, for breakfast.  He surprised us by bringing cousin Ashlynn along.  She is a gregarious young lady and we enjoyed our time with her.

Next, we went to visit Shawn’s Grandma.  Grandma Sue was so happy to see us.  Shawn had loaded a few hundred of his family’s pictures including pictures of Grandma when she was much younger.  She really enjoyed looking through the pictures and sharing stories with us.  Shawn also had many pictures of our future home so we could tell her about the house first hand.

We met cousins DJ, Heather, and Kyllian for dinner at The Range, an Albuquerque landmark. They have been serving up “ordinary food done extraordinarily well” ever since 1992.  We enjoyed the food, but more than that we enjoyed the company.  Conversations with DJ and Heather are always lively and now Kyllian is old enough to join in.  We look forward to adventures when they come to visit us in the San Juans!

Next

Now we are in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Our nine year traveling odyssey has ended. However, we are thrilled to have a home base in a great community and we will continue to make occasional trips.

We'll have a finale blog that summarizes our nine years of travel out in a week or two.  We’re having fun looking through nine years of pictures and memories so we can the share the “BEST” with you.

(258,455)

NM -- Oliver Lee State Park, 14-18 Feb 2020

Oliver Lee State Park is named for Oliver Lee who moved to the area from Texas in 1885.  He was a rancher, cowboy, and gunslinger.  He notoriously was involved a range war and was chased down by Pat Garret. Later in life he was a senator and one of the founders of the city of Alamogordo. 

The location of the ranch that is now a State Park is situated on an alluvial fan below the Sacramento Mountains.

The State Park is about 16 miles southeast of Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Campground 

The campground is a large loop with pull-through and back-in sites.  Some of them have tent pads as well.  There are only a few reservable water and electric sites.

We arrived on the Friday before Presidents’ Day weekend around 1pm.  When we arrived there were about eight empty sites.  By the end of the night, they were all full and the campground stayed full through the weekend.

Our campsite was a large square open area with a fire ring.  We backed the trailer in at an angle to give us a good view up to the ridge.

We did not have any hook-ups but we managed just fine with our solar and one tank of water for four days.  The water spigot was not too far from our site so we filled out fresh water tank before we parked.

We had two bars 4G Verizon phone and a decent data signal.  Satellite would have not been a problem if we had connected.  We could live without it for four days.

Unfortunately, we had a tent camper across the road from us the first two nights.  They were in and out of their car till late at night and we had to listen to the slam, slam of the car door.  Otherwise, even with the campground being full, it was very peaceful.  We enjoyed our walks around the large loop a few times a day.

We were in site #31 which we liked but if we were to come back to spend more time, we’d like to try and get a reservable site with water and electric:  Site #2, #3, or #4.  We liked #3 the best!

Nearby Towns 

Alamogordo is 16 miles northwest of Oliver Lee.  The city that has a population of just over 30,000 and sits at 4,336 feet.

Alamogordo sits in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert bordered by the Sacramento Mountains to the east and Holloman Air Force Base to the west.  Alamogordo is known for its connection with the Trinity test, the first explosion of an atomic bomb.

The small city has basic services and shopping. 

Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city, is about 225 miles to the north.  It sits at a higher elevation of 5,312 feet.  With a metro population of just over a million people, you could find any service or shopping you would need there.

Adventures

Heart of the Desert Pistachios 

“Heart of the Desert Pistachios are the home-grown product of Eagle Ranch in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Our pistachios are harvested, processed, packaged right on the farm – guaranteeing the freshness and value of our pistachios are second-to-none.”

"Our award winning pistachios come in nine unique flavors. For the “pistachio purist” we have the traditional salted & roasted, or unsalted & roasted pistachios. For the more adventurous, we have flavored pistachios in red chile, red chile & lime, extra hot red chile, Hatch green chile kernels, garlic & green chile, and garlic & onion.”

We had wanted a tour of the ranch but they are only offered Monday through Friday and we visited on a Saturday. However, the friendly lady in the wine bar set up a video for us to watch.

We learned pistachios are harvested in September by shaking the trees.  They also grow grapes for wine and have 24,000 vines that they make seven different varieties of award wining wine from.

We bought some pistachios and a few other knickknacks.

White Sands National Park

White Sands was just designated a national park in December 2019.  Previously it had been a National Monument.

“Rising from the heart of the Tularosa Basin is one of the world's great natural wonders - the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert, creating the world's largest gypsum dunefield. White Sands National Park preserves a major portion of this unique dunefield, along with the plants and animals that live here.”

The incredibly white dunes can be seen for miles away as you approach from any direction!

We were shocked at how crowded the parking lot was at the Visitor Center.  We found a spot to park behind it. I quickly snuck in and got my last sticker and stamp to go in my National Parks Passport book.

Then we headed into the park on the main road. The further into the park we drove, the more the road was covered with sand.  We imagine that they have to plow it as we’ve seen in similar locations.  People were driving on the white sand similar to how they would drive on snow.

Shawn and I were amused as the car in front of us pulled very slowly into a parking area almost like they expected to go slip-sliding.  It did look like snow covered ice!

We parked near the amphitheater and area 19.  We headed up into the gypsum dunes.  Because of recent rains the sand was hard packed and was easy to walk on.

I knelt to feel the sand and it was cold to the touch.  It also stuck to my hand like fine styrofoam peanuts.

We could see a number of barefoot and boot prints in the sand.  After a quarter of a mile into the dunes they disappeared.  We felt like we were walking on sand that had never been walked on by humans before.

We did a large counter clockwise loop.  We took pictures of distant Sierra Blanca Peak, 11,981ft high, with the dunes in the foreground.  They are striking images.

We were amazed at the formations that the plants made with the sand.  The yuccas have to compete to stay on top of sand and the dune.  If they get stranded without sand in their roots they will die.

We took a break on top of one of the larger dunes.  We were only a few miles from the parking area but we were completely by ourselves.

As we headed back, we could tell when we were close to the parking area as the yells and laughter of people playing in the sand reached us.  Children and adults alike were sledding down the steeper dunes.  We saw a few toddlers with their buckets and shovels.

It was fitting that such a special place was the last National Park that we would visit during our nine years of full-time RV traveling. 

After visiting the dunes, we drove through Holloman AFB.  Shawn's Dad was stationed here back when Shawn was a toddler.

Riparian Trail 

There is a trailhead behind the Visitor Center at Oliver Lee.  You have the choice to do the lower Riparian trail or Dog Canyon Trail.  

The Riparian trail is only about a half mile long and meanders around the nearly ephemeral creek running out of Dog Canyon.  During spring runoff and monsoon there is good water flow otherwise, it is a slow lazy hit and miss trickle.  During dry times it is possible to scramble up the creek bed a few miles.

When we combined the Riparian with a full walk around the campground, we were able to do about a mile and a half.

Dog Canyon Trail 

Two days later we took a right at the trailhead behind the Visitor Center to hike up the more challenging Dog Canyon Trail.  “The Dog Canyon Trail provides a rigorous day hike up the western escarpment of the Sacramento Mountains.  This steep trail rises 3,100 feet in 5.5 miles and is open to hikers year-round.”

“The trail provides great views of the Tularosa Basin and White Sands to the west.  The trail winds through three vegetation zones: Chihuahuan desert scrub and grassland, pinon-juniper woodland, and ponderosa pine forest.”

Shawn was feeling good and I was so happy to have my mountain man join me.  I'd been missing him.  Our goal was just to go up to where he felt comfortable.  Out and back trails are good for that.

The trail did not mess around and immediately climbed up.  It was just the aerobic workout sort of trail that Shawn and I love!  The trail is available right from the campground and has plenty of elevation gain to give us a good workout.  And the spectacular views were a bonus.

We stopped from time to time to admire the views over the basin out to the dunes to the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.  We also admired the groves of yuccas, the New Mexico state flower.  They would be impressive during the summer and full bloom.

We hiked up to the two mile point and took a nice long break.  We could see the trail continuing to climb the escarpment.  It was a great turn around point.

We had only seen one other couple on our way up the trail but we saw quite a few folks on the way down.  It is such a great hike to do if you are staying in the campground!

Next… 

After Oliver Lee, we spent a few days each in Socorro and Bernalillo, both in New Mexico.

We are in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Our nine year traveling odyssey has ended.  However, we are thrilled to have a home base in a great community and we will continue to make occasional trips exploring the southwest.

We'll have the blogs out for our final stop in the next week or so. In addition, we will also have a finale blog that summarizes our nine years of travel. 

Parting Shots

  

(258,000)