I've made it this far and I haven't been in a hospital or a riot yet.

Don't forget to click the pic, someday you may want a click of your own.

My full hookup camping spot at the SKP campground Deming New Mexico

I pulled out of the Pima County Fairgrounds about 8 o'clock this morning and made it the 200 miles to Deming New Mexico a little before lunch.

The skies were a little smoky from the forest fires in the area but not enough to be a problem. Traffic was light, and even though I didn't count them, I would say there were a few more semi-trucks than cars on the road, and I only saw two RVs heading West the whole 200 miles.

I checked into the Escapees RV Park and signed up for two nights in a full hookup site. I know, I know, I'm supposed to be a boondocker, and I am, I'm just a sissy boondocker that can't deal with heat over 100° without air conditioning. I had planned on staying in the boondocking area like I always do, but when I got out of the truck to go in the office and that hundred degree heat hit me, I wimped out and paid for full hookups.

This, Escapees Park, looks like it's about half full, so I got to skip a site on each side of me, so at least I'm not close to anyone. I decided to stay for two nights because I've got a couple of little projects I would like to do, and I thought I would drive over to Rock Hound State Park and see what was going on.

But after I got set up at the campsite, I realized that my annual New Mexico state Park sticker expired the end of May, and I would have to pay to get into Rock Hound. That thought rubbed me the wrong way because I've already paid for several months of Park visits that I couldn't use because the parks were closed and it bothers me that now I would have to pay because I feel that THEY OWE ME.

I don't expect a refund or anything like that. But I feel in fairness that New Mexico parks should add a few months onto my next annual sticker purchase, or discount the cost of my next sticker purchase. I know it might sound cold, but to me, business is business. I paid for a service that the State of New Mexico offers, and through no fault of my own, I was prevented by the State from using said service. And as my attorney would say, "I need to be made whole."

                           theboondork

Cactus garden at the Escapee Park. Sometimes the Yuccas get old, heavy, and have trouble standing up. Come to think of it I have the same problem.

Few people realize that the Dream Catcher Escapees RV Park is the oldest RV Park in the country. But, this picture taken during the last part of the Civil War is proof positive.

Not many people know the story of how an RV Park came to be in what was once Old Mexico, but the man who was there, and knows all about it, still walks, stumbles, and falls amongst us. Yes, it's Barney the old fat man.

As we all know, Barney was in the Army. but, he seldom talks about the time he served as a scout under Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman during the Civil War.... Mostly because he can't remember.

At the beginning of General Sherman's march to the sea, the Army was supposed to head towards Georgia. but, instead of turning east, Barney had his Compass upside down and headed West. And since General Sherman was sleeping off a drunk, he never noticed until they got to what is now New Mexico.

When the Army of the North ran out of food in the middle of a godforsaken desert, and had no place to stay, Barney suggested they build an RV Park so they would, at least, have a comfortable place to camp. And when the Army pulled out, they could sell it to other people who were lost in the desert. General Sherman thought that was a great idea and raising a half-empty bottle of scotch into the air, he shouted HOO RA!!!  And fell off his horse.