Little Vineyard RV Park and On to Arizona

October 16 - October 20, 2014

With the car sitting at the Ford Dealership in Demming, New Mexico, we paid a weekly rate to stay at Little Vineyard RV Park. Unfortunately, there was no vineyard around. Most of the Snowbirds haven't arrived yet so we had the place practically to ourselves. We spent the time catching up on paperwork, finishing craft projects, watching TV, swimming in the pool, sitting in the cool shade of the motorhome to read and just relaxing. Ted rode his bicycle to the Ford place and to Walmart which is just beyond a couple of times. The new transmission is on its way and the service manager is checking on a pump and cooler for the transmission that will hopefully eliminate the overheating problem. The park has a Thursday night ice cream social and a Sunday night hamburg and hotdog meal at the clubhouse at really low prices so we took advantage of them both. Last night at the dinner we chatted with a couple from Alaska who have done a loop from Phoenix to Alaska, across Canada to Newfoundland, down the east coast to Florida and back to Phoenix all in one year. They are way more adventuresome than we are. They told us of a great campground near San Diego in the town of Santee which is part of the water district. Hopefully we can go there in the spring as we love that part of the country.

Trial Loading

Strapped Together and Towels to Protect the Woodwork

We had done a trial run the other day and found we could get the kayaks into the motorhome and still close it up for traveling so we loaded them in this morning and struck off for Arizona, leaving the car behind. The only downside to having the kayaks in the motorhome is we don't have access to the bathroom or refrigerator. I guess we have to do what most people do when they travel, stop at rest areas. Poor us!! We stopped at the Ford garage to get our kayak gear from the Escape and went to Walmart for a few groceries before hitting the road. I-10 runs through Demming so in no time we were on the flat, straight road heading west. What amazes me is how flat it is and all of a sudden there is a mountain sticking up out of the plains. You can see for miles and off in the distance we could see a big rain shower. We went through a very short period of rain but up ahead we could see blue sky. When we crossed the Continental Divide at an elevation of 4,585 feet we never would have realized it as the land was just as flat as could be. It was some different than crossing the divide up in the Rockies earlier this summer.

Deming, NM to AZ

Rest Stop into AZ

As we approached Patagonia Lake, the hills became covered with ocotillo with mesquite and various cacti mixed in. As with most lakes in the west, Patagonia Lake is man made. We entered the campground and past the Casita of Kathy and Mary Lou on our way to our campsite. They were only a few sites from us and came over while we tried to level the motorhome and get set up. They also helped get the kayaks out for us so we could find the bed and get at the back end of the coach. We visited for awhile at our campsite over beers before moving to their site where they prepared a great dinner for us. We saw them two years ago when we were out west but it still takes a lot of wine to catch up on whats what in each other's lives. We stumbled home in the dark after a great evening under the milky way with great friends. 

Ocotillo