Rambling RV Rat: New Mexico -- Land of Enchantment (Pancho Villa State Park, City of Rocks State Park, White Sands National Monument)

After our terrific time in Tuscon we toured a few places in Southwest New Mexico. New Mexico is quite deceiving. As you drive, it seems rather flat and level. Mountains always seem to be in the distance. And yet, we were always traveling at elevations of 4,000+ feet.

The view on our way to Pancho Villa State Park.

Our first stop was Pancho Villa State Park, recommended to us by friends Stephanie and Curtis. It is a small, but nicely laid out park in Columbus, NM, about 30 miles south of Deming, with expansive sites (large enough for Big Boomer and our 5^th wheel). Water and electric spots cost only $14/night. There is no sewer hookup, but a dump station is available, along with clean, flush toilets and well-maintained showers, should you be inclined to use them (this rat is a bit germaphobic, so I refrain from using public facilities. It’s bad enough I must put up with my parents’ cooties in my own bathroom!)

Pancho Villa State Park's extra large sites can accommodate even our set-up!

All of the sites have a covered shelter, stone picnic table and fire pit.

The town itself is desolate and depressing, with lots of vacant lots and virtually no amenities. In fact the few places of business are all closed on Sundays, so if you want to get something to eat, you are in the wrong place (even the grocery wasn’t open when we stopped by). But it is rich in US-Mexican history, most notably for the raid by Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, and the subsequent U.S. Punitive Expedition.

Is this a ghost town?

Hungry? Better not be on Sunday!

One of the few remaining original buildings left in town...the Old Hotel!

The Park is located right on the grounds of Camp Furlong and has a museum as well as original camp buildings (Rec Hall, Headquarters, Customs House) on site. Museum Docent Fel was absolutely fantastic! He was engaging and entertaining, and imparted a comprehensive, yet easy to understand (even for this pea-brain rat) historical account of Pancho Villa’s raid of March 9, 1916.

The descendants of the Columbus citizens who perished that day speculate the raid was in vengeance against the local mercantile owner, who took money for but never delivered arms/ammunition to Pancho Villa. Others believe the Germans were behind the raid, hoping to keep the U.S. busy with protecting its borders rather than get involved in World War I. But according to Fel, the raid was in retaliation for the US, under Woodrow Wilson, betraying Villa, not once, but three times: recognizing Venustiano Carranza rather than Pancho Villa as the President de facto of Mexico after Victoriano Huerta resigned; helping Carranza by transporting Mexican troops on US soil via US railroads; and then, the nail in the coffin, providing lighting from the copper mines to Carranza in his battle against Villa, which resulted in a reduction of Villa’s troops from 10,000 to 2,000. Villa returned to Mexico to regroup and strategize his retaliatory attack on Columbus, which took place in the early morning hours of March 9, 1916, and left 17 residents of Columbus dead, including one woman and her unborn child.

Fel had me hook, line and sinker—tell me more! Well, I learned that General Pershing, mentor and strategic/tactical trainer to MacArthur and Patton, was put in charge of the Punitive Expedition by President Wilson. Pershing’s orders: capture and/or disrupt Villa’s operation in Mexico after the raid occurred. Although Villa was not captured during this mission, (eventually he was assassinated in Parral), Pershing, using aircraft and motorized vehicles for the first time in warfare, was successful in shutting down Villa’s operation within 11 months. Thanks, Fel, for the fascinating history lesson!

An original armored attack vehicle used in the Punitive Expedition.

Yours truly flying a replica of the first aircraft used in warfare during the Punitive Expedition.

We stayed so long in the museum that day (nearly 3 hours!), we didn’t realize that the weather outside had turned from sunny and warm to overcast, cool, and WINDY! We saw “dustnados” forming, and tumbleweeds the size of a Smart Car blowing across the road. Dad checked the weather report—we should expect wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour throughout the evening!

A Dustnado is brewing!

We went back to the rig, battened down the hatches, and hunkered down for a wild and crazy ride. As if listening to the wind howl and rock the rig all night long weren’t enough, the coyotes in the area were yipping up a storm, which incited every dog in the park to bark incessantly. And just when one dog would shut up, the next one started in. Some made deep, baritone sounds while others had high-pitched barks. What cacophony! How am I supposed to get any beauty rest! And it seemed I no sooner drifted asleep than I heard roosters announcing it was morning. Coupled with the soulful coos of mourning doves, there was no sleeping in for this rat. So I got up, worked on my blog and pictures, went for a nice walk, and even found a geocache! I noticed the park was extremely quiet as I went about my daytime activities, and heard not a peep from any of the neighborhood dogs. Sure, NOW they all were SLEEPING!

Next on our travel itinerary was City of Rocks, another New Mexico State Park located 60 miles north of Columbus (on the other side of Deming). The Park, established in 1952, has just 10 water and electric hookup sites for $14/day. No dump station is available on the premises. We opted for one of the 40 $10/day boondocking sites. Like Joshua Tree National Park, the boondocking sites are nestled right within the rock formations (which supposedly resulted from a volcanic eruption 3.5 million years ago). Unlike Joshua Tree, we actually can fit our set-up in a few of the sites! It was so cool, and talk about privacy!

Nestled in the rocks!

Table Mountain in the background.

Hanging out in the rocks. Inside this alcove is our picnic table and fire pit.

The Park has over 7 miles of hiking/biking trails, and we trekked every inch of them. My favorite was Table Mountain Trail (elevation 5,726), with Observation Point a close second, both of which offer beautiful, panoramic views of the area.

How about this for a quiet out of the way location! The view from Table Mountain.

Another view from Table Mountain.

Observation Point offered spectacular 360 degree views, too.

But it sure was windy when we ascended! We saw quite a bit of wildlife, including antelope, jackrabbits, cottontail rabbits, Gambel quail, beetles, and ravens, one of which built a nest in one of the rocks within our site.

A huge raven's nest in the rocks above our camp.

Peter Cottontail came for a visit Unfortunately, I had to take this pic through our screen door.

A beetle crossing our path on one of our hikes.

Amazing wildflowers blooming in the desert!

A lovely sunset.

It is a great place to view the night sky, too. Unfortunately, the park’s observatory does not begin “dark sky” activities until May. This park is a real gem and seemingly a well-kept secret based on how many sites were available during our Sunday – Wednesday stay. And yet, we had a squatter on our site! Yup, it seems some hiker decided it was fine to park his/her car right next to our rig on our reserved site since it was near a trail head. What are people thinking! Talk about setting off our Jersey attitudes!

Some people just have no respect for campground etiquette! Mom left them a Jersey nasty gram on their windshield.

Using the website Campendium.com, we found water-front boondocking at Lake Holloman, adjacent to Holloman Air Force Base, less than 5 miles from White Sands National Monument, our final New Mexico destination as we travel home to Texas. This boondocking area is comprised of packed gypsum, so no need for us to worry about sinking in the sand. Getting into the area was a bit hair-raising (if Dad had any). We approached heading north on NM 70, which required us to make a left turn across south-bound traffic and enter through a VERY NARROW gate, while going over a cattle guard. Thank goodness Dad was at the wheel (Mom would have freaked out), and he is such a good driver. We had less than 1/2 inch to spare without hitting any of the posts! The good news is that, because of the angle of approach, getting out of the gate to leave the lake area is a piece of cake, even for big rigs like ours!

Looks can be deceiving! Things were much tighter than they appear.

To unwind, we took a walk around Lake Holloman. There was once a trail for wildlife viewing here (61), but a gate and sign tell us no public access is allowed anymore. We did see some sandpipers, ducks, and other water fowl on the lake, and even found a half-eater deer leg! Oh and one of the benefits of being near Holloman AFB is that you get your picture taken by drones!

Someone or something enjoyed a hearty meal.

Say "cheese" for the drone picture!

We decided to hit up the Monument at sunrise the next day. It was a wee bit chilly, registering at 36 degrees as we traversed along the Inner Dunes Boardwalk and then went off the beaten path. Unlike regular sand, the gypsum is cool to the touch--it does not absorb heat from the sun. Its crystals glisten like snow.

White Sands is truly a unique phenomenon. One does not expect to see sand dunes in areas where there is no visible water. But, according to geologists, once upon a time 250 million years ago, a shallow sea covered the area. As the water evaporated, gypsum deposited at the bottom of this sea. Eventually, these deposits turned to stone and the land uplifted. Then through the forces of rain and wind, the dunes began to grow. But change is a constant here at White Sands. Trails that are visible one day, may be gone the next. Huge plows come through to remove all the sand that has blown onto the road overnight. One worker claimed that he could remove snow 40 hours a week, every week of his lifetime, and never be able to keep up with the task of sand removal.

I decided to “leave my mark” by drawing my self-portraits in the sand in several places. I normally would never deface any natural wonder, but I know that my artwork will not last long.

Etchings in the sand.

We continued on to Alkalai Flats Trail. Let me tell you, this trail was anything but flat! It was about as flat as my rotund belly (I was going to say my Mom’s chest, but I do try to keep this G-rated)! We spent nearly 3 hours trekking 5 miles up and down the gypsum dunes. To think Moses and Jesus had to trek through desert sands like this for 40 days and 40 nights! With my stubby legs, I struggled to keep up. It was like doing 3 hours on a stair master! Then I found crawling up like a crab made things so much easier! Coming down, I just dug my heels in and leaned back. Like my Mom, I may not hike conventionally, but I get the job done! It was fun going so early in the day, when the sands were only disturbed by two other couples before us that morning. We returned later in the day to witness sunset and were surprised by how many footprints were now visible, as well as the tracks of various wildlife, including a fox, rabbit, coyote, and even the slithering patterns created by snakes. Unfortunately, our photos just do do this place justice.

As I listened to the melodramatic sounds of Taps emanating from the Air Force Base at 10 p.m., I went to bed feeling exhausted but gratified. I am so blessed to witness the marvels of White Sands and so many other wonders of nature!

Another beautiful sunset on the lake!

We had three more days of waltzing through Texas before we arrived at home base in Livingston, so we stayed at some of the most expensive campgrounds in the country for the next two nights—Walmart lots. You see, we always patronize the store when we stay in the lot, and never seem to leave without spending $100. While some Walmarts are starting to prohibit overnight parking, the stores in Fort Stockton and Seguin still allow the practice. We knew we were back in Texas--humidity, blooming wildflowers, and oilfields.

As you can see, we boondock/dry camp (no hookups), quite frequently, and in the case of Quartzsite, for a significant amount of time. Preserving and protecting our water resources has always been important to us. When we were in our "sticks and bricks", we were active volunteers and financial supporters of environmental organizations dedicated to this cause. We would use barrels to collect rain water runoff to nourish our plants and gardens; we installed limited use faucet heads; and we never let the water run needlessly when brushing our teeth. So water conservation efforts when boondocking are easy for us to do. Some people equate boondocking with taking showers once a week, wearing clothes until they are ready to walk away from them, and using public restrooms to limit black tank dumping. However, we subscribe to the Six P’s: “Proper Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance” (as evidenced by the fact we planned for this lifestyle for 14 years prior to implementation). Therefore, we have invested in the necessary tools to accomplish boondocking without sacrificing hygiene, convenience, or our normal lifestyle. Our 2015 Montana fifth wheel has 110-gallon fresh water tank, two 45-gallon gray water tanks, and a 60-gallon black tank, which are bigger capacities than many rigs on the market. In addition, we have a 150-gallon water bladder that conveniently folds up into the size of a Tupperware container, and we have a 32-gallon blue boy/poop wagon. As a result, we take hot, adequate-length showers daily. Mom cooks and washes dishes regularly, although we do save the dish water to flush the toilet. (After all, food particles are gonna end up in the toilet in one form or another.) And, as I mentioned earlier, we refrain from using public restrooms. In Quartzsite, after removing our motorcycles from the “garage” of Big Boomer, Dad builds a rack system to hold the water bladder and blue boy. Hence, we never have to rehitch to take the fifth wheel out to dump/refill fresh water. For energy, we have solar (6 AGM batteries, 915 amps, 1130 watts of panels), wind turbine, and dual Honda EU 2000 generators. So even in an apocalypse, we can sustain ourselves totally off-grid.

At the dump station!

Filling up the bladder!

Pumping freshwater into the rig.

Our desert set-up!

Our generator set-up.

It helps also that we are not "gadget" people. Dad percolates his coffee rather than using a Keurig. Mom does not blow dry her hair. And we don’t use a toaster. We do run an 18 cubic foot residential refrigerator and have a 7 cubic foot chest freezer. We watch television, though average only an hour or two a day. And Mom does most of her cooking using the convention oven (and she cooks up a storm), but monitors length of usage to ensure we never take the batteries down too low (To extend our batteries’ life cycles, we strive to never go below 12.32 volts/70%). While we have spent quite a few bucks, our investments have paid for themselves between tax credits (solar/wind), savings on campgrounds, and ability to stay in more remote, picturesque areas with few neighbors. Boondocking isn’t for everyone, but this Rambling RV Rat loves the freedom it provides.

We would like to thank some amazing organizations for all they do for the RVing
community: