These are our friends Paul and Stephanie in front of their newly constructed home in Las Cruces, New Mexico. They had been on the road full-time in their RV for about 16 years or so (could be longer) and we were fortunate enough to have met them through our RV Group ~ the Escapees. They decided to sell their RV, get off the road and build their 'dream home'...this was after they traveled throughout the country and did their homework to find the best place for them to settle. They both retired early and while traveling Stephanie spent time writing a few books about traveling and the RV Lifestyle. We spent one night with them (which we appreciated) and parked our rig on the side yard just over their shoulders. What fabulous people they are and Al and I wish them only the best in their newly chosen lifestyle. Paul and Stephanie have been very active with Habitat For Humanity builds all over the country so they really knew how to build a house...and it shows in the way their beautiful home turned out. We had a really great visit and wish them all the best in their new life. Whatever they do they will do well ~ Everyone loves Paul & Stephanie...can't find any better.
Best of luck to Paul & Stephanie.

Paul and Stephanie at the frozen yogurt shoppe where we went to indulge in some terrific yogurt for dessert.
This was after we had one of the best Mexican dinners ever. Ole!

Paul and Stephanie's backyard.....
It sure took lots of work and concentration to put this together.

Well, we never saw the
White Sands Missile Range
but glad they let us know we were leaving it.....

Interesting Cinder Cone....We saw quite a few of these throughout our trip...
This Earth is quite the place.

Didn't realize that NASA was out here too!!

We drove right past the White Sands Missile Range. I kept my eyes on the sky....YIKES!

The White Sand comes all the way over to Hwy. 70 in New Mexico.

This was the sight we saw when we finally came to the bottom of the Cloudcroft, Alamogordo Pass. There it was..............all that White Sand. It sort of looked like snow, but it was the bright white sand.

The White Sands National Monument sign was sitting on the side of the Hwy. in front of all the white sand....Guess we thought that National Monument meant something was there besides sand...

We went through the Lincoln Tunnel in Lincoln National Forest....

We would pass many elevation signs as this is a very long and steep pass (6% for 17 miles).....many people drive around it. With our PAC Brake, Al just turned the brake on, put the transmission in 4th gear and down we went. I don't think Al even applied the brakes....
it was an easy pass compared to others we have been over and the scenery was marvelous.

Texas Pit BBQ's in New Mexico?

We passed through Cloudcroft, NM and noticed the enormous amount of new businesses and homes ~ all designed
for the skier....

Mayhill Cafe in Mayhill, NM on our way to
WHITE SANDS NATIONAL MONUMENT.

We are headed to Alamogordo and reached
Mayhill,NM and the old cafe, on our way to
White Sands National Monument, NM.

This sign helps with understanding the depth of these caverns
and they were definitely a sight never to be forgotten.

We finally arrived at the famous
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico..

This was quite the site inside the famous
CARLSBAD CAVERNS, New Mexico....

While driving down the road I spotted this old house nestled in the hillside.
Wonder what the story is behind this very
old stone home.

We are still in New Mexico....at the
Escapee Park in Lakewood, New Mexico...where we visited
with friends for 4 nights.
This is the main hall.

We met up with our dear old friends, Don and Robin who spend their winter's in
"THE PUMPKIN". When we first met them in about 1996 they were in a large
5th Wheel but decided that this little PUMPKIN can get them into much smaller places
and further away from civilization. They have a solar panel on the roof and actually
they get the internet inside this little PUMPKIN.....It is all set up to spend months
out in the desert or in a small treed opening by a babbling brook.

Yes, there is oil in Texas.....

Keep pumping guys ~ we need all the help we can get.

They say "IT'S ALWAYS BIGGER IN TEXAS"

but this was a 'WOW-ZER'!!!!

and part of the house was left out of this picture.!

We saw lots of trucks filled with cotton even in West Texas ~