American RV Park, El Paso, TX

We drove to LAS CRUSES, NM to see the sights. From the conical mountain named Picacho, standing solidly beneath the western mesa, to the soaring stovepipes of the Organ Mountains to the east, behind the hump of Tortuga peak, Las Cruces and its neighboring villages and towns occupy all of the Mesilla Valley and spill upward onto the heights. It’s an elderly city with many attractions, diversions and destinations.
The city’s name means "the crosses." Legend has it that the crosses were to mark the graves of three unlucky travelers on the Camino Reál, perhaps as long as 400 years ago. The blending of the indigenous peoples with the Spanish colonists and later the cowboy and western settlers makes for the compelling, spicy mixture of language, cuisine and lifestyle of today's Las Cruces. What was once a travelers' rest stop on that ancient road has itself become a destination for travelers — Forbes magazine’s number one small metro area in which to do business, and Money Magazine’s top area in which to live.
We drove through the historic La Mesilla town that has excellent restaurants and small shops. Couldn't stop long enough to really indulge ourselves.



Stahmann Farms, Australia's legendary pecan company, is the world's largest family-owned pecan grower, and harvests millions of pounds annually. The Company runs a fully integrated operation from farming to processing, value-adding, gourmet baking, sales and marketing. Located on US 70 between Alamogordo and Las Cruses, the above picture was of the dormant tree farms that went for miles. We stopped at their country store to explore and I loved the convection's and gourmet sauces and spent far too much. Everything I bought was superior in quality and taste. Their pecan icecream was to "die" for!
Ray's Reflections:
Our last stop in Texas was El Paso. We stayed just north eight miles, next to Camping World. Very nice large park with no foliage at all and a view of snow-covered mountain tops to our East and North. Traffic in town was heavy so I decided to ride to our next stop in Deming, NM 90 miles to the west and check out the parks in the area. The trip over and back was uneventful on straight I-10, loaded with 18-wheelers and most were friendly and waved back. Mountains would appear on the horizon and I started calculating how far I could see. Turns out in this area visibility was 40-50 miles, again no trees, but the desert view constantly changes. With an occasional herd of cows, road runners, and sheep. After looking at all RV parks in Deming, I changed parks to the one north of town. The one we had selected via internet was on a 1.5 mile dirt road. I do not Do DIRT!
I traveled to Deming by bike on a beautiful day, minimal winds and noticed many signs along I-10 warning of dust storms. The day we moved to Deming, we had head winds at 30-50 mph with gusts , now I understood the reason for the signs. Several days later, Marsha and I rode the bike to Columbus, NM, next to the Mexican border. The first mountain we passed on the left was Florida Mountain. Strange but true. Route 11 again was mostly straight with a border check point 6-8 miles from the border. Also, we passed an old movie set along the highway with fake frontages and a WWI original plane mounted 40 ft. off the ground on a swivel. We stopped at Poncho Villa State Park and took a few pictures and headed back. About 15 miles from the border was a tethered blimp, now in the Florida Keys tethered blimp meant radar, is this the same in New Mexico? b:if cond='data:blog.pageType !="item"> >

American RV Park, El Paso, TX

Wed. January 24, 2007 (Leave Alpine, TX)
We woke up to light snow, mostly melting and Ray checked the roads at the front of the park to see if traffic was flowing and it was. We started out at 9:00 am from Alpine to American RV Park, El Paso, TX where there is also Camper’s World facility to work on the motor of the RV and truck. Changed oil, etc. This is a very nice park and huge amount of sites to select from. Completely paved with lighting at each site and the hookups are new. The Franklin Mountain range surrounds us on three sides. We really enjoy seeing the change in the view of the mountains every day.
Thurs. January 25, 2007 Cold and windy. Raining all night and snow up in the mountains. The rest of the week is supposed to be clear and highs in the 50’s.
El Paso Alt. 3,762 is the largest U.S. city on the Mexican border; neighboring Juarez, Mexico’s largest border city. El Paso’s name is derived from an ancient mountain pass surrounded by mile-high peaks. El Pasoans celebrate Thanksgiving in spring and claim the first celebration was 23 years before the pilgrims’ celebration.
This vibrant city sits on the border with both Mexico and New Mexico. Enjoyed discovering its special mix of culture and traditions. Beautiful desert sunshine drenches this corner of the world more than 300 days a year.
Nomadic bands hunted big game in the El Paso region during the Ice Ages.
Here on the borderland there is a special brand of hospitality to visitors. From the top of the surrounding mountains you can see two counties, three states and two counties, all within minutes of each other.

Socorro very nearly lost its present church around the beginning of the 21st century, when problems with basic architecture and moisture entrapped in the adobe walls threatened the structure with collapse. In a remarkable community enterprise, volunteer organizations, at-risk youth groups, and “Welfare to Work” adult trainees – supported by the Catholic Diocese, universities, schools, endowments, associations, and civic and social organizations – joined in a five-year, 1.5 million dollar restoration project to save the Socorro mission.

You reach Socorro and its mission about three miles farther southeast, also off Alameda Street. The Franciscans founded the Nuestra Señora de la Limpia Concepción de los Piros de Socorro del Sur Mission on October 13, 1680, to serve Piro Puebloans who fled south to escape the revolt. The friars built the first structure within the next decade. They lost the original church to Río Grande flooding in 1740 and lost its successor to flooding in 1829. They moved to higher ground and built the current adobe-walled building in the early 1840s, with a formal dedication in 1843. Under the guidance of the Religious, the Piros (who spoke a now-extinct Tanoan language dialect) added the front façade, a belfry, a choir loft and transepts during the following decades. On October 19, 1845, they added a treasured statue of the mission’s patron saint, San Miguel, after it had been transported from Mexico to the mission by ox-cart.

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