An Escapees Welcome-Wow!

After a long, tiring drive for Eldy today, we stopped at the Escapees Park 22 miles north of the town of Carlsbad, NM., "The Ranch". Talk about a welcome! When you come in, they ring a school bell (the old fashioned way-with a rope handle) which summons residents of the park who want to welcome you with hugs all the way around. They say they are the "friendliest" RV park in the Escapees parks, and no doubt about that! I'll bet we got about ten hugs a piece! It's 14.00 a night plus electric, $.07 a kilowatt hour...can't beat that!

Pet run at the Ranch

This park is at the base of the Guadalupe Mountains, in the Chihuahuan Desert in southeast New Mexico. It's barren but beautiful to those who live here. I'm not a scrubby brush, cactus, tumbleweed, hot weather kind of person but it's ok for me for a short stay. Eldy likes the warm weather, I like the cool nights and we both love the clear sky, brilliant sparkling diamonds night sky, with all the stars as clear as clear can be. We have a very nice, spacious lot rented out from an owner. Firm gravel sites, plenty of room between us and the neighbors. This park has a VERY nice ranch house for get-togethers, meetings, reading, rocking in the rocking chairs out on the porch and a laundry facility on the premises. They have LOTS of activities for guests....poker, crafts, line dancing, beading classes, etc. Many of the residents in the park seem to live here full time, with some kind of small house or extra building with screened porches on their lots.

Meeting place/clubhouse for The Ranch

The weather is not going to be too great this weekend...high winds are coming with a strong cold front putting temperatures back in the 40's for a high during the day. That will keep the snakes underground awhile longer, I'm happy about that. They warned us about snakes and particularly rattlesnakes coming around when the weather warms up! Yikes! We can't decide whether to stay put or head closer to our rally destination, Yuma. We'll watch the weather for the next couple of days and see what happens...stay tuned! For now, here's another sign at the Escapees Ranch entrance...the "bus stop".

Beside the bench, the sign says,

And now, here's an update---we're going to see the Carlsbad Caverns tomorrow, then leave the next day...severe winds are coming....batten down the hatches, boys!