Clovis NM to Las Cruces, NM

As the winds rose and temperatures dropped in Mule Shoe, I made ready to depart and go into Clovis NM and then southwest toward Alamagordo by way of rt 70. There was no picture taking time as the wind seemed to prevent me from making any time on this leg of the journey. Going into Roswell the daylight was fading, I did make a quick stop to let the dogs do their business, however not finding a convienient place to park for the night and no real rest areas like on the interstates, I kept going. Getting into the mountains the traveling wasn't too bad, but I could not see a place to pull off in time to get off the road. (I know..... I really need to plan better) Up , up, and round and up somemore in the mountains, always warning signs when I came to a steep down grade. I let my past semi-driver  training kick in and finally spotted a Walmart up a the hill on the left coming into Ruidoso, A quick look at traffic and sharp turn to the left had me going up to the parking lot. I surely hoped they had no problem with letting RV'ers park there overnight. It was late and I was tired. My eyes were tired. dogs had been fed and pottied earlier and were settled so I just went to bed.... didn't even change into my comfy jammies. Hopefully the pups could hold till morning and not go in the kennel. 

I woke to sunshine and cold in the morning. Having not really seen the hills I had been climbing through after dark, I was a bit delighted at the scene that met my eyes in the morning.

 I love western mountains!

The openness and vastness all around makes me feel very peaceful!

I had brought the dogs out to potty but the parking lot was paved clear up to the guide rails. Now Izzy had no trouble scooting under to do her business, but Sasha was another story. She would not jump the rail and thats likely a good thing because it was almost straight down on the other side. I wasn't sure I could get her back over if she had jumped. She also would not potty on the pavement, being of the fine upstanding breeding she is (Haha) After coaxing her I finally took them back to the motorhome and proceeded to get on my way. I would just have to find someplace else safe to stop where there was dirt and/or grass.

This was Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation land. I

 had seen a few casinos I could have stopped at but I made my way down the mountains and pulled off where there was a very wide paved spot and relieved the pooches there.

Across the highway, down into the valley below

the purple mountains were very magestic looking....

Sasha looking for gophers!!

Mountains we had just come through...

The little town of Tularosa, just north of Alamagordo, deserves a revisit! A very colorful town with interesting shops that I glimpsed as I made my way through town. Just no place to stop...

After Alamagordo we drove through an area I had been at before, delivering military freight in the semi with hubby. I was not prepared for the memories it stirred up;  memories of when we were proud and humbled to be able to serve our country delivering military goods after 9-11. This was the White Sands Missile Range and Holloman AFB.

I was able to stop for the night near Las Cruces, letting my dogs out of the kennel for supper and some play time with me before retiring for the night.  Tomorrow we fuel up, get the propane filled and head over to Willcox, AZ for a few days of kick back before going further. I have laundry to do and bookwork to catch up. I'm sure Sasha and Izzy think its about time for some real outdoor exercise

Thanks for coming along on my journey....

1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.