Killborne Hole, NM

Took alittle solo trip out to an area I had been wanting to explore for some time now. While researching the area I found there was an ancient volcano right in the middle of the area. It is called the Killborne Hole and is a 1 1/2 mile wide depression formed some 25,000 to 100,000 years ago when the area was under water. There is not much of a mound around the crater as it mostly spewed gas, however there is a small 75-100 foot mound around it, which if you didn't know what you were looking for you would just think it was a rise in the desert landscape. The crater itself is located approx 40-50 NW of El Paso, TX in New Mexico on a large expanse of BLM land. (Gotta love the west and all the public land)

Upon climbing the the mound surrounding the crater, this is your first view. I use the vehicle for scale. The crater is so large I could not capture the whole thing in one frame. The following 3 pictures are the crater from left to right.

Much of the interior walls are high mounds of volcanic rock.

Yours truely inside the crater.

After looking around inside the crater for a while, I drove a road the traverses the crater rim, then dropped down the outside of the mound.

The day was still yound, so it was off to explore the nearby mountains on Country Rd A008.

Several miles down, a road turned off and headed up into the mountains, so of course I had to check it out.

The road went for a mile or so and ended at a turn around about 1/4 the way up. The mountain range you see in the background are the mountains at Juarez, Mexico.

Lunch was in order, so I set up my chair and surveyed my Kingdom for awhile.

After Lunch it was time to head back. On the road home, I almost ran over this little guy sunning himself in the road. I just had to turn around and go back to see if it was a snake I saw and of course to get a pic if it was. I also took the pic from the safety of the drivers seat.

Another great adventure in the record books, since we will be leaving New Mexico soon, I wanted to make sure I explored this area before leaving.

Thats it for now, so until the next post, take care and see you then.....................

Butterflys and Coffee Makers

While we were at the Holloman AFB Campground, Sheryl noticed this cool little light one night in front of our neighbors RV. The next morning we went out and looked and it was this little solar powered Hummingbird light, Well Sheryl thought it was the cuteist thing and just had to have one. We happened to be walking through Lowes the other day and ran across them, they had three types, Hummingbird, flower and Butterfly's, we chose the Butterfly one. If you have not seen them, they turn themselves on at night and change several differnt colors, red, green, blue, etc. It fits in nicely with our other solar lights around the site.

One thing Sheryl and I like is our coffee in the mornings. Our old coffee pot was on it's last leg, so a new on was in order. We were at the base thrift store a few days ago and saw this Cuisinart coffee pot on the shelf for $5.00, so what the heck, we picked it up. Cuisinart coffee pots are pretty high dollar and would never spend that kind of money on a new one (yes, I'm a cheapscape). We made our first pot of coffee with it and Wow!! the coffee was great!!, I didn't think a high end maker really made a difference but it does. Well we soon found out why it was at the thrift store, as it quit working after a few days. Ok, by now we were spoiled and just had to pony up the bucks to get one, and so we did. I can tell you, if your a coffee person, go out and get you one of these, the difference is amazing and well worth the extra money.

Other than our two big purcheses this week, it's just been life as usual, hanging out, food shopping, laundery, you know, all the fun stuff. Sheryl is also awaiting another injection or two in her back, hopefully with in the next week or two, so we can start our jorney east. We are both biting at the bit to get going, but we also know, we need to be wait until then. So with that we'll leave you till next time.................

Exploring the Anthony Gap, NM

Along NM 404, near I-25 in Southern NM, is an area refered to as the Anthony Gap. The Gap is a low pass over the Northern portion of the Fanklin Mountains, connecting El Paso TX. with Anthony NM. The area surrounding it belongs to the BLM and therfore open to the public. It contains several square miles of desert, mountain foothills and deep washes, just the kinda area I love to explore. Since I haven't been out in the Jeep since we made it to El Paso, Sunday seemed like as good a time as any to check out the area.

The area can be entered off of NM 404, just East of I-25, on to Pipeline rd.

Pipeline Rd is pretty strait and runs along the western section of the area. From Pipeline, there are several roads heading toward the mountains, pick any of them and they'll take you well into the back country.

Some roads will lead you right to the foot of the mountains, however no roads actually go up into them. You will come to the state park boundry where the roads die off into hiking trails.

The trails can be as mild or as wild as you want, I prefer sticking to the milder side, but with enough interesting terrain so it's not just a walk in the park.

You can find several washouts to drive in, some you can follow for quite a while and others not so far, unless of course you a rig built for it.

Most of the roads can be tackled by most high clearance vehicles.

However, you must cross several areas of wash outs, which require 4 wheel drive to get through. They can be filled with deep ruts and loose rock/sand.

Miles of area to explore.

After several hours in the desert, it was time to start heading back, you can just see the town of Anthony in the background.

As I was headed back home, I found this fellow hanging out atop a power pole, and he was nice enough to let me get a picture before flying off.

It felt good to get out, I was pretty surprised, I didn't see another person in the area the whole time I was out and this was on a Sunday. The solitude was great and sure beat running into a lot of folks when your trying to get away from it all.

Again, thanks for playing along, I can highly recommend this area if you ever passing through El Paso and need a break from it all. Sure am going to miss all the open land as we head East, but it's good to know it'll still be here when we come back.

Amigo Airsho, El Paso, TX.

This weekend is Airshow weekend in El Paso and we had pretty good seats right here in the RV Park. Briggs Army Airfield where the Airshow was held is right across the hiway from the park, so all we had to do is sit out on the patio and watch the show. I know the pictures are not that great, but those are the USAF Thunderbirds as they flew over the RV park.

El Paso Winds

The El Paso winds came up and bit us pretty hard the other day, ouch!! While I was gone to my VA appointment, the winds came up alittle. Sheryl was inside the RV and heard the awning start to flap, so she went outside to put it in. Just as she was half way through putting it in, a very strong gust came up..............and it was all over but the cryin. The awning ripped right off where it connects to the trailer so there is no saving it. When I came home, there it was, just laying all over the patio and poor Sheryl with that, I tryed so hard look on her face. Well I couldn't be mad, as it can and does happen to lots of folks, and it was just our turn, so we'll just have to see about a new one.

Well, we took our lumps from the wind, and decided to go out for a nice dinner. We've stayed in El Paso several times before, mainly in hotels by the airport. Each time we are here, we see Jaxon's Brewhouse and want to try it, but never seem to make it there, so thats where we headed. Well, it was worth the wait, excellent food and a nice casual atmosphere. Sheryl had the Salmon and I had the BBQ plate, penty of food at a resonable price. We can highly recommend Jaxon's if you are headed to or though El Paso. It's just off I-10 at Airline.

A few days later, we able to move from our site next to the hwy and deeper into the park. The hwy noise is much quieter here and we are also able to pick up the WiFi signal from the clubhouse, so no more packing up the puter and walking up the hill.

Not much else to report, Sheryl is still pretty sore from her procedure and awaiting her final treatment in a couple of weeks. She (we) are really hoping this will greatly reduce her back pain.

Ok, till next time, take care and thanks again for checking in on us.

Ft Bliss RV Park, El Paso TX.

Well, since we are going to be here for a bit, I thought I'd do a quick write up on the park so you can see where we are staying. It's a very nice park, well kept and large spaces, the staff is friendly and very helpful. Above is the entrance to the park with the office right up front and spacious parking for your rig while you are checking in. The only issue with this park is it very close to the hwy and thus has some traffic noise.

The spots are large and well kept, with a picnic table at each. The only thing that would make it better is if they had a shade shelter over the tables. However the trees are planted in a way that provide shade in the afternoon/evenings.

Wider shot of the park and our site.

The park has 73 spaces and they are building more right next door, should be open this month.

There is a nice Clubhouse with attached laundry room. The Clubhouse is the only place you can get WiFi, unless you have a space close. But thats ok, it gets us out of the RV more.

Inside there is a full kitchen/dining area.

Also, a TV area with comphy sitting. An exercise room is just through the door.

All in all it a very nice park and will be good for our time here. Wish we could be on the road more, but the Dr's appointments are spread throughout the month.

Thats it for now, just a quick veiw of our new home for the month, El Paso and Ft Bliss have everything we need to kept us entertained also.

So until next time, keep Lovin Your Life as we do ours!!!

Goodbye Holloman, Hello El Paso!!!

Goodbye Holloman AFB, we packed up and headed out Thursday morning. Got a bit later start than we had planned, but after being there for so long, we made some good friends and spent time saying goodbye. So on to the start of our Gand Adventure, first stop, Ft Bliss RV Park, El Paso TX.

Hello El Paso, It was short trip as trips go, 1 1/2 hours, from park to park. The change of scenry is the best part. The RV Park here at Ft Bliss is really nice, abit nosiy from the hwy traffic, but nothing too bad. We'll be here for approx 1 month until Sheryls back proceedures are finished and her Docs release her. In the mean time we'll just be exploring the area and enjoying the new place.

Take Care for now and thanks for coming along as our adventure officially begins.