As a general rule we try not to drive more than 200 miles in a day. However, since there was not much to see along I-10 in west Texas, we ended up driving 530 miles over our first two days after leaving Kerrville. Fortunately we barely had to leave the interstate the entire trip. We drove 230 miles the first day and spent the night at the Fort Stockton RV Park. The site was a pull-through that was easy to get into. The park had a restaurant but, since the cook was off, they brought in pizza and we got a free dinner.
We pushed it even farther the second day, covering 300 miles before stopping at Las Cruces, NM. We had decided to spend four days in Las Cruces, both to explore the sights and to rest up after the long drive. We stayed at the Las Cruces KOA. The site was the narrowest one we’d ever stayed in and required us to park one of our vehicles in the overflow area. Despite this, the KOA was on top of a hill and our view of the mountains was great.
Jan had spotted a large roadrunner statue along the highway as we drove into town and we had to visit the rest stop to get these pictures.
On Saturday morning, we first visited the Farmers & Crafts Market of Las Cruces. The market covered seven city blocks on Main Street and included the stands for over 300 vendors.
Next we toured La Mesilla, a village near Las Cruces that had a rich history in the 1840s-1880s first as a Mexican colony and then part of New Mexico. Now Mesilla is more of a tourist attraction with more than 50 shops and restaurants. One of the shops we visited was once the courthouse where Billy the Kid was jailed and sentenced to be hanged.
On Sunday, we hiked the Dripping Springs Trail that took us to the ruins of an old resort, to a waterfall fed by the Dripping Springs, and to the ruins of a sanatorium that had been used to treat patients with TB at the turn of the century. Since the trail took us to an altitude of over 6,000 feet, we were huffing and puffing a good part of the hike.
On Monday, we did another hike. This one, the Bar Canyon – Soledad Canyon trail, took us to the ruins of an old stone house and then deep into a canyon to see a waterfall.
GordonsOnTheGo 