We hit the road again with our camper, this time to Texas and New Mexico! Our trip almost got thwarted due to the extremely brutal, hot temperatures this summer as well as the floods closing I-10 in Louisiana due to all the rain they were having. Onward we went, traveling I-20 instead.
Our plan this trip was to stay in a few locations as our base and make day trips to close by places we wanted to see. It took us four days to get out to Ruisodo, New Mexico. Crossing into Texas, we were reminded the speed limit increased to 80mph (yeee haaa!).You need to drive that fast or it would take days to cross the state! Driving around Dallas/Fort Worth was white knuckle time, scared to death to look ahead at where we were going. Keeping with our tradition, every time we pass through Tyler, Texas, we stop for lunch at our favorite BBQ joint, the Purple Pig. This was our fourth time eating here. You cannot beat their loaded baked potato covered with beef brisket along with a side of fried onion rings. As we passed through Midland, Texas we stopped and visited the Bush family home. Very typical home in a very typical middle class neighborhood.
Finally arrived in Ruidoso, New Mexico, our home for the next five days. Setting up camp was most aggravating to say the least. The connections were nowhere they needed to be and we could not get the camper level enough to unhook from the truck. The campground owners could not get it to work either so they lent us a 30-amp extension cord. An hour and a half later we were settled, ugh! Ruidoso, a small resort town, lies in the Sierra Blanca Mountain range of southern New Mexico, so very pretty. We took day trips to Lincoln, and a loop down to Cloudcroft and back through the Mescalero Reservation. Lincoln was very historic, with century old adobe buildings, Billy the Kid’s old stomping grounds. We stopped at a pistachio farm along the way which was great! Pistachio nuts, pistachio ice cream, and pistachio in white chocolate, what can you say? We could not help ourselves. In the historic area of Ruidoso, we drove past a mosaic picture of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” painting, one of my all-time favorites. Another project to add to my list of things I want to do.
Next stop was Las Cruces, with a detour to White Sands National Monument in Alamogordo, New Mexico on our way down. This had to be one of the coolest places we have ever visited! The sun shining on the dunes was so bright you could not even open your eyes without squinting. It was super hot so we could not stay out long. Climbing the dunes in bare feet was an adventure too, could not stay put in one place very long, the sand was scorching hot. This place almost looked like a winter wonderland.
Our goal in Las Cruces was to eat as much authentic Mexican food as we could. We had no problem accomplishing that goal. Unfortunately, we had to order take out in each restaurant and eat in the truck because it was too hot to leave our girls for a while. Food was great! We took a day trip to El Paso, driving the Trans Mountain Road along the Franklin Mountains overlooking El Paso. The scenic view was amazing, you could see El Paso and Juarez, Mexico from up there.
Onward to the Texas Hill Country. Our base here was Medina, just south of Kerrville. On our day trips we stumbled upon the small town of Bandera, which is now one of our favorite small Texas towns. There was a great hometown restaurant with the coolest décor, horses w/saddles as seats at the bar. The campground was high up on the mountain giving us great views of the Hill Country. Deer were walking all around throughout the campground, right up to people sitting outside their campers. I climbed up the mountain at the campground to the Medina Highpoint Summit, where the views of the surrounding area were beautiful. Unfortunately, on the way down, I slipped on the rocks and cut up my hand, arm, and knee. As long as the camera was safe, all was good. We visited The Alamo on a day trip, very surprising how small it was. It was cool seeing cowboy boots decorating farm fencing as we drove through the country side.
Traveling north to our friend’s ranch in central Texas for the weekend, we passed through the town of Brady, “The Heart of Texas”, known as the closest city to the geographical center of the state. Then made a stop in Llano to eat some Cooper’s BBQ. This was a highlight on our first xc trip so we made a point to stop here again. Pick what you want right off the grill, they cut it, weigh it, and you eat it. So delicious.
Heading back to Georgia we crossed the Mississippi River in Natchez, MS. Wish we could have spent more time there, but needed to head back for work. Two and a half weeks flew by, we are already looking forward to heading out again next year, but for more time. Retirement maybe? Just saying…
