Tuesday, December 22, 2015
For our trip to Laughlin, we decided to take what we call
the “Southern Route.” It would have been shorter to angle up to Interstate 40
(our “Northern Route”), then shoot across, but a winter storm was approaching
the area and we did not want to take any chances, especially with areas in
higher elevations like Flagstaff, Arizona. We decided to make the trip in 3
days.
Leg 1 of our journey would be the shortest leg of the
journey at 291 miles. We left Lubbock about 9:30 and headed down US 62 for
about 40 miles to Brownfield. This is familiar territory to us, as we lived in
Wellman, a small town just outside of Brownfield, for 3 years in the mid-1980s.
The short drive was down a nice 4 lane highway. The wind was blowing, but not
much at the time.
At Brownfield, we turned due west on US 380, and the trip
immediately became more challenging. First, we lost our nice 4-lane divided
highway. Next, the wind grew stronger out of the southwest. This had 2 negative
effects. It really buffeted our trailer around, causing driving to be a bit
more stressful. It also reduced our gas mileage. We started the day getting
nearly 12 mpg, but that figure dropped rapidly once we began heading into the
strong wind.
US 380 from Brownfield to the Texas/New Mexico border has
numerous passing lanes, so this helped as there is considerable traffic on this
highway. Just before leaving Texas, we stopped in the small community of Plains
for gas and coffee. While the drive so far had been through farm land, the
country west of Plains gradually transitioned into traditional range land. With
flat terrain and no trees, vistas seem endless. Yes, there are occasional dips
and swells, but the land is pretty flat. The sun was out, and had it not been
for the wind, the drive would have been pleasant.
For RVers who might be reading this, the small New Mexico
community of Tatum has a couple of gas stations at the town’s major
intersection where access is easy for big rigs.
From Brownfield to Roswell is 134 long miles of 2 lane
traffic, so we were happy to reach this city on the Pecos River. But for
westbound RVers, getting gas is difficult. There are few stations with room for
trucks pulling trailers. We were finally able to negotiate a small 2 pump
station, though. At Roswell, US 380 merges with US 70 and becomes 4 lanes.
About halfway between Roswell and Ruidoso, the highway
begins following the Rio Hondo. This is really a lovely stretch, as the
tree-lined river is dotted with small farms and ranches. At the town of Hondo,
US 380 heads northwest following the Rio Bonito, while US 70 continues west
following the Rio Ruidoso. Hills begin to close in as the road weaves through
the valleys of these rivers.
As we approached Ruidoso, we began seeing snow on the
mountains, especially on the northern slopes. We lost our sun and seemed to
climb into the clouds, and we even passed through a few light flakes of snow as
our temperature dropped from the mid 50s to the lower 30s. We crossed the
summit near the Inn of the Mountain Gods and began seeing clear skies ahead.
From Roswell to Ruidoso, we had gradually climbed higher and higher while our
mpg had gradually decreased. And although the highway is excellent, our average
speed was also greatly reduced because of the climbs, the curves, and the
weather. At our lowest, we were only averaging just under 8 mpg. But once we
passed the summit, conditions improved and our mpg increased.
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| On the east side of Ruidoso, only a little snow is visible on the upper and northern slopes. |
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| On the west side of Ruidoso near the summit, snow was a bit more prevalent. |
Soon, we were in the small village of Tularosa, where we
turned south for our few remaining miles to Boot Hill RV Park. I’ll enter a
review of this park in another entry. Out mpg for the day averaged at 8.8.
