Las Cruces, NM, 40 Ft. Road Runner, Old Mesilla, NM

We have moved from Cactus Rose RV Park in Texas to Mountain View RV Park in Bowie, Arizona with stops in Lamesa, TX, Hackberry Lake Recreation Area in Carlsbad, New Mexico and Western Skys RV Park in Vado, New Mexico.  While at Western Skys we spent part of a day in the Las Cruces, New Mexico area.

Our site at Lamesa, TX - free camping at the city park with water and electric hook-ups

Our site at Hackberry Lake Recreation Area near Carlsbad, NM - free camping on BLM land

An oil rig on BLM land near the camping area

Sunset in the desert the first night

Sunset in the desert the second night

40' by 20' roadrunner sculpture near Las Cruces, NM made entirely of scrap materials - amazingly realistic from a distance

Las Cruces, NM and the Organ Mountains in the background

The sculpture is made of old sneakers, electronic parts, crutches, etc

Legs are made of strips of old tires

We visited "Old Mesilla Village" the original settlement at Las Cruces that features original architecture from the mid to late 1800's

Basilica Of San Albino 

Town Square

Original stick ceilings in the Thunderbird de la Mesilla

1800's architecture

The old courthouse (now a gift shop) where Billy The Kid was brought by Sherriff Pat Garrett to be put on trial for murder in 1880.  Billy was convicted and sentenced to hang but later escaped after being transported to Lincoln, New Mexico.

More typical architecture

Western Skys RV Park - Vado, NM

Our site at Western Skys RV Park - pretty close quarters

Our current location at Mountain View RV Park in Bowie, Arizona (not far from Fort Bowie - a noted fort in the area - (see the next blog - coming soon)

Medina Lake RV Park, All White Deer, San Antonio River Walk, The Alamo

On Saturday we traveled from the Colorado River Campground in Columbus, Texas to Medina Lake RV Park in Lakehills, Texas.  This is another very nice a Texas size campground - we hiked the perimeter of the park and it was almost 4 miles.  It is located on Medina Lake which is an 8-1/2 square mile man made reservoir on the Medina River.

Our Route

Our Campsite

Donna and Darby down by the lake

Another view of the lake

View from directly behind the camper - if you look close you can see about 30 deer in the picture

Egyptian Geese - these geese are not native to the US - they are from Africa - I read that there are wild populations of them primarily in California, Texas and Florida - most likely decendents of birds that escaped captivity from zoos or private collections

All white deer on one of the hiking trails - not an albino - note the black nose and dark eyes. This condition is called leucism.  White deer with some brown are generally called leucistic or piebald - still a pretty rare sight

A few of the many friendly deer at the park.

This is the biggest buck we saw

 The Alamo

View of  one of the walls around the Alamo

The Alamo

Close-up of the entrance to the Alamo

San Antonio River Walk

We were more impressed with the San Antonio River Walk than the Alamo.  The River Walk is below street level in the heart of the city and extends for several miles with restaurants, hotels, shops, etc.  It is a very peaceful place in the heart of a bustling city.

Back at street level - our first unicorn of the trip!

Horse drawn carriage in front of the Alamo complex

Four Days Of Rain - Colorado River RV Campground

We moved from the Intracoastal Park in Louisiana to the Colorado River RV Campground in Columbus, Texas.   The campground is located on the Colorado River (this is another Colorado River - not the more famous one in Colorado).  We got here on Tuesday and it has rained the entire time until this afternoon - we are leaving tomorrow AM so we didn't get out to see much.

Our Route

This is a very nice 1000 Trails campground - lots of space and lots of amenities.  Photo below is of the entrance.

Our site in the pecan grove - most of the big trees in the campground are pecan trees.

View of the Colorado River looking south near our campsite

                                View of the Colorado River looking north near our campsite

A flock of white pelicans (not a great picture - it was taken from inside the RV in the rain so it is a little hazy)

More white pelicans taken from inside the RV

There is a heard of approximately 20 deer that live at the campground

We were able to take a 3 mile hike today around the campground and took this photo of two turkey vultures in a dead tree - I was facing the sun so the picture looks like it is in silhouette