RoadNotes: Ruidoso, Continued

Seeping Springs CG, Ruidoso Downs, NM - July 2 through 6, 2016

Picking up where we started on the previous post where we were discussing Seeping Springs CG. It was an older campground, obviously designed for smaller travel trailers. The sites were 16 foot wide which postively roomy until you put an 8 foot wide RV with 2 foot deep slides and 2 sets of compartment doors that need 2 feet on both sides to open. All of a sudden you’re up to 14 feet wide and your neighbor is REAL close.

Fortunately our site was long enough that we could park Sunny in front and set up our shelter and chairs in back.

Which was good, ‘cause there wasn’t any room on the sides. After squeezing in (forgot to mention the stumps) and getting Big Guy situated we had a minor catastrophy happened. We hooked up to the park water system and had no water pressure. I could find nothing wrong with our hoses or valves. It turned out, that even though I had flushed the connections (which includes hoses, valves and filters) before connecting to the RV, the external water filter got clogged by debris from the park water system. I guess next time I’ll flush the park pipes too, before connnecting our stuff.

In our previous post we also mentioned that this RV park was trying to attract Escapees and offered them a 50% discount. Being a typical American, we love a bargain and for 50% off the regular price, we can overlook a lot of shortcomings.

One of the first orders of business was to find some local brews. Well, it actually wasn’t a local brew, being from the Sierra Blanca Brewery in Albuquerque. But we found it at the Rio Grande Grill and Tap Room.

We drove up to Monjeau lookout, a fire lookout tower constructed of stone, where EJ enjoyed the cool breezes and views. The elevation at the tower is 9,500 feet. A welcome break from the heat down below.

I though it was pretty cool too.

We also drove the artist studio loop over a period of two days and really enjoyed the diverse types of creativity. And EJ even picked up an item that will fit nicely in Big Guy.

We took a day and drove over to Cloudcroft to go hiking.

We got intrigued with this little fellow.We think it is a pocket gopher. He would quickly dart out of his hole, grab a blade of grass, and rapidly back rear first into the hole.

After our hike on the Pineland trail, we wondered through downtown Cloudcroft, where EJ found another small item to complement Big Guys interior. We also went on an open house tour to see what $132,000 would get us. Always on the lookout for that “perfect” spot you know. We decided we didn’t need another project even though the area is beautiful.

The days get away from us and before we knew it, it was time to celebrate the 4th of July. We asked around town and at the RV park where the local fireworks display was going to be. But as it turns out, Lincoln County, where Ruidoso is located, had a county wide ban on fireworks because it is so dry. Then we saw a flyer for the Mountain of The Gods Casino on the Mescalero Indian Reservation. And they were advertising, among other things, a giant fireworks display. And you know me, crowds are not my favorite thing, so we started asking around if there was another place to view those fireworks. One of the folks in our campground suggested a viewpoint up on a mountain and described how to get there. Great, we thought. Our own private viewing area. Away from the crowds, just EJ and me. Perfect!!

This is what greeted us. Cars and people everywhere. I guess everyone else wanted their own private viewing area as well.

We get settled in and meet a coouple, complete with 2 kids, from Tallahassee, FL. You can see the FSU symbol photobombing our picture.

Even though we had to watch the fireworks through the trees,it was still awwesome.

EJ had been planning a road day to go exploring. We were looking at 100 plus miles, something we would have been reluctant to try in the old Honda Element. The comfort of the, new to us, Ford Explorer makes long drives a pleasure now.

In Tularosa, NM we stopped for lunch at the 49 Grille. Surprisingly good food and they even had a decent stout. After lunch, we take a walk around the area, but the 100 plus degree heat cuts that short.

We are on our way to Valley of Fire Rec Area, but we get sidetracked by a sign pointing towards some Petroglyphs at Three Rivers Rec Area. The temperatures are even hotter now, but we brave a short half mile walk to see the ancient art.

As a bonus, it turns out that there are 2 long pull sites with 50 amp electric and water here at the Petroglyph visitor center. It’s not advertised, but we checked the hook ups and they work. Something to consider when it’s not so hot.

We finally make it to the Valley of Fire outside of Carrizozo, NM. Naturally we arrived just after the visitor center closed, so we couldn’t get any good information about the park and campground. But we did walk a portion of the main loop trail. But again, the high temps tempered our desire for any long hikes.

The lava formations look interesting. Maybe we’ll be back in the fall.

And finally, my favorite story of Ruidoso. Towards the end of our stay here at Seeping Springs, an Earth Roamer pulls in next to us. This is a maxed out truck camper that retails for over $500,000. That’s right, count ‘em, a 5 followd by 5 zeros. We got to talking with them, and found out they were a youngish, 50’s couple and they had just purchased their Earth Roamer. It’s their first RV and they don’t have a clue about how to use it, or what it’s capable of. In fact, they were headed to a boondocking rendezvous to learn how operate it.

What was funny was their half millon dollar RV was brought to it’s knees by 6 “AA” batteries. Or rather 6 dead “AA” batteries. Its water system would not work without those six little batteries. Apparently it was a touch type system that relied on a small electric current to make it work. We think there is such a thing as too fancy, expeciallyh in a rough and tough offroad vehicle like an Earth Roamer XRV. They had no spares, so we gave them some from the extra batteries we carry with us.

We wish them well and hope they quickly learn about the systems on their rig.