Drive to Bottomless Lake State Park, NM

We got up this morning and checked the weather in the Roswell, NM area and decided to head to the Bottomless State Park just east of Roswell.  Our friend Russell Smith has stayed there a couple times and said it was a great place to spend a few days.  So, we packed our bags and the MH and hit the road around 11AM.

The Pilot station nearby was our first stop of the day.  I wanted to top off the fuel tank in the MH and car before we headed out.  I try and run on the top half of the tanks when we are on the road, since you never know what the prices are down the road.  I check with Gas Buddy and have a good idea, but don't want to run low looking for a good price.

We took RT 70 through Las Cruces and made the big hill climb east of town and then down the 10 mile grade on the other side.  The missile range wasn't having any tests today so it was an easy drive through the area.  We came upon the Border Patrol checkpoint and whizzed on through.  

 

 Note the flags on the flag pole.  Same pole, but a few minutes apart.  One is slack and the other standing straight out.  There aren't any obstacles to slow down the wind and it can/was quite gusty.

A few miles down the road was the entrance to the White Sands National Monument.  There were some strong wind coming through this area a couple nights ago and the sand (gypsum) was on the edge of the road heading west.  If we had an hour to spare we would have driven through the park and check it out again.  We've been there a number of times, but it is always nice to see the dunes.

 

The route we chose took us through Ruidoso, NM and over the 7.500 ft summit and then down to the town.  Ruidoso is known as a speed trap, so we obeyed the speed limit and made it through fine.  We were followed by a police car for a few miles, but I kept the MH speed under the limit.  They will have to catch another unsuspecting person to add $$ to their coffers.

 

Coming down from the summit.

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