We leave Oliver Lee Memorial State Park around 8:30am to travel to Deming, NM. It was cold with temperatures around 22 degrees and slightly breezy, resulting in a real feel of 18 degrees. Ron gets us hitched up really quickly and we are soon travelling down the road.
In the distance, we see the snow-capped Sacramento Mountains. This mountain range is one of 3 located in New Mexico and extends 80 miles north-south and 40 miles east-west. They are very rugged looking, and we wonder how the early pioneers traversed them and what passes guides led them through.
The Tularosa Basin where Alamogordo is located, is known for growing pistachios and there are several farms in the area with over 12,000 trees on 95 acres. It takes about 15 – 20 years for trees to mature to full production. We also see a lot of pecan orchards and they also benefit from hot, dry weather. We hope to buy some of each at a farm near Deming.
We take Highway 70 out of Alamogordo to Las Cruces, which is a fairly large town, located about 40 miles from the Mexican border. Here we are to get I-10 heading west to Deming. I have been using Apple Maps with CarPlay for our navigation and we really like it over Google Maps. It’s worked great making our travelling easier – until today. Sometimes you get so reliant on a technology, that when it’s not working you are lost. We didn’t get lost but we went out of our way about 15 miles before realizing it and in back-tracking, a total of 30 miles out of our way. After realizing Apple Maps was taking us the long way around on a highway road through the mountains, we turned around, heading back to Las Cruces where we can catch I-10.
About halfway through the trip, we see a US Customs checkpoint. We’ve seen them before, but none were open, but this one is, and all cars and trucks have to go through it. We slowed down and stopped by the booth, but they waved us on. After going through the checkpoint, Apple Maps finally routes us on I-10, and we think it may have been avoiding the checkpoint on our route today – no other logical explanation!
From our Campendium app, we read about RV Sunrise Park in Deming. It is inexpensive ($20 per night) with full hook-ups, including cable and Wi-Fi, plus it has good reviews. They also have a small laundry room, and we are close to stores for supplies. The gentleman who owns it is 87 years old and although we didn’t meet him, I spoke with him on the phone, and he is very cordial and helpful. The park is not a resort but fits the bill for a couple overnight stays before heading into Arizona.
We were hungry and after setting up, picked out a local restaurant, Si Senor. Ron chose a burger and fries, and I went with the Tilapia, rice, and green beans. It was good food and a nice atmosphere. After eating, we checked out a local park that is located near the campground. This was a former sand pit that the city made into a park. It looks like they have more work to do but the conceptual idea is great, and the community is enjoying it. There is a small pond now in the ‘pit’, that is now used for fishing, and it appears the water is recirculated by a series of pumps before cascading over rocks and back into pond. There are several nice playground areas with rather unique playground equipment and picnic tables, a small zip line, and other fun things.
There’s lots of sun today and 52 degrees is pleasant but it’s going to be cold overnight, dipping down to 24 degrees.
2025 Airstream Travels 