We split the drive from Kerrville, TX to Deming, NM into two chunks. We thought about going to Davis Mountains State Park near Fort Davis and then up to the nearby McDonald Observatory. It was an extra 2,000 ft elevation increase and a winding twisting road. Maybe next time. We thought about stopping in Ft Stockton but that left a long second day. So we headed to Van Horn a ways west of where I 10 and I 20 come together.
Van Horn has earned a bad reputation about not being friendly to RVs stopping on their streets. I am not sure why. There are several RV parks and they seemed just fine. Nothing special about the overnight or the park but they had a small cafe/pizza place in the park. We saw several folks bringing pizza boxes back to their RV. We did not.
The next morning we got fuel, about 50 gallons. We normally run between 90 and 150 gallons when driving across country. The coach holds 194 gallons. I don’t see much sense in carrying around an extra 400 lbs of fuel.
On to Deming, NM. West on I 10 is long and not much to look at.
About the same all the way.
Except where the entire west bound lanes get diverted through an immigration check point. We waited our turn, drove up past dozens of cameras where they saw we were from Minnesota and that we were older white people. They just waved us through.
To get to Deming we have to go through or around El Paso, TX. We have been through El Paso several times. There is almost always construction, congestion, delays and lots of traffic. So instead of taking I 10 through El Paso we went around.
It was a bit longer but about the same time and a much easier drive.
Shortly past El Paso we arrived in New Mexico. I 10 follows the Rio Grand River up towards Las Cruces and between I 10 and the river there are immense farms growing hay and almost as large cattle feed lots. Everything looks and feels different to us as we get into New Mexico. It is very familiar, very comfortable and somehow different.
Another hour and a half or so to Deming. We stayed at an Escapees Campground named Dreamcatchers. We have been here before, an easy place to stop. There is a motel next door with a pretty good restaurant where we ate an early supper one day.
We drove the Jeep Cherokee north one day to Silver City. It was about 80 miles. We had heard it was a nice place to visit. Along the way we stopped at City of Rocks State Park. It was pretty interesting. It is old volcanic ash and rock formation. Most of the surrounding area has long ago eroded but the particular area was harder and is still here.
There were trails all over to follow through the rocks.
The rocks covered an area about a half mile long by a quarter mile wide.
There was a small camping area with electric hookups and lots of campsites all over for just about every type of camper. Almost all of the sites were full. Another popular New Mexico State Park. Most we have seen have been someplace we would stay. Electric sites are $14/night. Out of state campers can buy an annual camping pass for $240. Unlimited camping for a year. Electric sites cost $4 extra per night. Pretty inexpensive.
Silver City turned out to be a long drive to an uninspiring destination. It is an old mining town. There is still very large open pit copper mines nearby. This is big scale mining where they also find some silver and gold but mostly copper. Huge mountains of tailings, huge pipelines moving used water into large man made lakes of used (contaminated) water.
Not much there to get us to return.
We went to The Deming Luna Mimbres Museum. http://www.lunacountyhistoricalsociety.com. We have been here a couple times before, worth the stop.
I spent some time looking at art work. There are some amazing pieces here.
These are all local artists.
This one reminded me of a Gustave Baumann wood block print.
One of the volunteers at the museum told us she grew up in the Deming area and knew where this Texaco Station was. She said it was gone but the small building behind is still there.
They have an expanding military exhibit area that goes all the way back to the mid 1800s through the present. Much more now from the Vietnam era.
Next stop is Tucson, AZ.
More later, Much Love.
Roger and Susan
Home2 with Roger and Susan 
Roger and Susan, another great posting. I agree with your comments on El Paso and thanks for the alternate route. Also the art work at the Deming museum is just great. We must go there. Silver City I think is a destination with a cool name but agree it is not worth stopping. Either on the way or while in Tucson, consider stopping at Tombstone and Karchner Caverns if you have not already done so. Welcome to “sunny” AZ!
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28° this morning, but sunny.
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