March 4, 2017

 The other day we were talking to Jan and David Sasse about some of the places we have been during our nine years of traveling and the Ruidoso/Lincoln City, NM area came up.  Joyce and I were there back in 2010 and really enjoyed touring the area.  So, here is another:

“Places We Have Been and You Should Too”
Ruidoso/Lincoln City, New Mexico

 Ruidoso is located in the Sacramento Mountains about 75 miles west of Roswell on US Highway 70. The drive up is fairly easy with just a few hill climbs on the route.

 While here we took a drive on the Billy The Kid Scenic Byway that we really enjoyed.  Get more information at the Visitor’s Center located next door to the Hubbard Museum of the American West in Ruidoso Downs.  While there be sure to tour of the museum as well.  If you are in town during horse racing season you might like to take in a race or two.

 If you are into gaming the Inn of the Mountain Gods located just out of town in the place to be.

 Lincoln City State Historical Site is located on US Highway 380 West about 31 miles from Ruidoso and should not be missed when visiting the area.  When we were there the weather was great so walking around town was easy.

 There are several small museums in town and some really cool shops as well.

 Not to be missed on you tour of Lincoln is the Lincoln County Courthouse and Jail, famous for being the last place that William Henry McCarty, Jr., also known as William H. Bonney and Billy the Kid was held for a short time.  He escaped on the April 28, 1878 killing Deputy James Bell on his way out.  By-the-way, the “jail” was not a place with holding cells.  The Kid was simply chained to a hook in the floor.

 The very short Lincoln County War was fought in here in July 1878.

 Since the whole town is the historical site, if you have something to eat in one of the two places there you might very well find yourself in someones home.  We ate at The Dolan House and when I asked to use the facilities I was told to walk down the hallway then to the right.  Well, the hallway leads to the owner’s living room and the restroom is their personal facility.  From looking at the web site it appears they have done some work on the place since we were there and have turned the house into bed and breakfast.

 There are several RV parks in the area.  Joyce and I stayed at the Circle B RV Park which we found to be very nice.

February 27, 2017

 On a sad note, yesterday morning we had to say goodbye to Dave and Jan.  They have become good friends and will be missed and we hope to meet up with them someday down the road.  Happy trails y’all.

 Later in the day Joyce and I drove up to visit John and Marlene Breitenbach at their beautiful home near Canyon Lake in Spring Branch.  They took us on a tour of the area and then fixed us a delicious steak dinner.  Thank you for the hospitality John and Marlene.  Hope to see y’all again in the near future.

John & Marlene"s Home.

Here are a couple of others in the subdivision.

March 2, 2017

 “On the road again….”

 Yesterday morning we finished packing up about 10:30 and after saying our goodbye’s to all our friends we hit the road to begin our spring travels to Oregon,  Traffic on I-410/I-10 was heavy until about 10 miles out of San Antonio but we did make it through without too much trouble.

 After making some weird turns directed by our GPS we arrived at the Triple T RV Resort in Kerrville, TX around 2 PM.  We’ve been to this Passport America affiliated park several times and really like the peace and quiet of being out in the country.  We had planned on staying at the Elks Lodge in town but their rate is $20 a night without full hookups which is the same here at Triple T.

March 3, 2017

 Good morning from the Parkview RV Park in Fort Stockton, TX.  We pulled in here about 3:00 PM yesterday after a fairly easy run from Kerrville.  This place is nothing but a large field with hookups but at $14 a night on our Passport America membership it beats the heck out of Wall-Mart.  Oh, there ain’t one of those here.  The park does have 30/50 amp electrical, good water pressure and sewer hookups.  The WiFi is also free and pretty darned good most of the time.

March 4, 2017

 Yesterday morning Joyce noticed that our Norcold refrigerator wasn’t cooling as it should.  I checked it out and found that it was actually running on propane.  Well, guess what.  The propane tank was empty.  When the repair shop called to tell us that our rig was ready I asked them to turn the refrigerator on so that it would start cooling.  Rather than turn it to Auto the technician selected LP instead.  This caused the automatic selection of power source to not select AC power when we plunged it in back at the RV park.  We didn’t know this since the only indication we have on the control panel is a green dot that indicates that the refrigerator is working.  Lesson learned!

 On the way we stopped at a Valero truck stop in Balmorhea for fuel.  Since the cost was $2.70 a gallon we only put in 30 gallons.

 After a quick breakfast we left the RV park and after a short stop at the Flying J to get some propane (at $3.00 a gallon by-the-way), we jumped on the boulevard headed west to the Fort Bliss RV Park in El Paso.  This famcamp doesn't take reservations so we stopped at a rest stop and called to check on availability.  We learned that they had three sites left so off we went beat feet and got in here at about 1:45 PM local with the time change.

 The RV park is large with 133 full hookup fairly level sites and is actually off-post.  There is an exchange gas station with a convince store just outside of the park’s entrance.  Our rate was $17 with the National Park’s Access Pass discount.

 After getting set up we drove over to Freedom Crossing, the post’s shopping area.  This mall area isn’t your typical exchange/commissary that you see on most military bases.  Freedom Crossing is more like a indoor/outdoor mall in large cities.  Not only do they have a main Army and Air Force Exchange and Commissary there is also The Grand Theater, a Game Stop store, a Things Remembered and even a Dollar Tree.

 Food selections are Anthony’s Pizza, Burger King, Starbucks, Buffalo Wild Wings, Chipotle, Denny’s and a Texas Roadhouse where we had supper last night.  Heck, they every have a Shamrocks Irish Pub here.

 Freedom Crossing is the model for what is to come for other U.S Army posts. Fort Hood in Killeen, TX recently opened something very similar to Freedom Crossing and we have heard there is one planned for Fort Bragg, NC as well.

Granddaughter Abigail Getting Award.  Proud Grandma and Grandpa!

 I think we will leave if here for now.  Until next time.

Barry & Joyce