Our Quiet Spot in Billy the Kid Country

Friday, 17 July 2015
Deer Crossing RV Park — San Patricio, New Mexico
Temps: Hi 89F (32C) / Lo 63F (17C)

A few more days and it will be a week since we left Santa Fe and arrived in San Patricio, New Mexico — a tiny little community in the central region of the state.  No one recognizes it when I mention the name, but if I say we’re between Roswell and Ruidoso — closer to the latter than the former — than the light bulb goes on … heh, heh, heh ;-)

Rufous Hummingbird

Considering we haven’t done much, hard to believe the time has flown by so quickly and we’re already down to about three weeks left in our stay here.  After finally catching up on my Santa Fe posts, I thought I’d do a post to introduce you to our home through the first part of August.  Glad we came this year as the property is for sale and might not be around next season.

The drive on Monday from Santa Fe to San Patricio was an easy one.  Just 214 miles (342 km).  It was mostly on highways that went through small towns like Carrizozo and Capitan (known best for its Smokey the Bear Museum), and took us on part of the Billy the Kid Trail.

A 214-mile (342 km) drive from Santa Fe brings us to San Patricio.

When we started asking around for a not-too-distant-from-Texas place for a summer stay, one name kept popping up: Ruidoso, New Mexico.  We looked at campground options there, but frankly none of them were attractive enough for us to consider a month-long stay.  However, the search for Ruidoso campgrounds also popped up a place called Deer Crossing RV Park … 14 miles (22 km) east of the popular town that honestly seems to turn into “little Texas” in the summer months.  Even here at Deer Crossing, we’re the only ones with a license plate from a state other than Texas.

Welcome to Deer Crossing RV Park.

As befits the tiny community of San Patricio, Deer Crossing is a small RV park — just 15 spacious, pull through sites.  While the number of sites might be small, the place is not cramped — there’s plenty of land all around us … covered with grass that is diligently mowed by the owner/operators.  It’s a 50+ community, so no kids running around; no partiers … at least not of the loud-music-blaring variety.  Those who have been here for a while do get together for happy hour frequently.  We’ve been invited to join them, but haven’t taken them up on the offer yet.

Two rows of sites on Calle del Sol and Calle del Luna — or, Sun and Moon streets.
Sites are assigned on a first come, first served basis.

When we arrived around 2:00p on Monday, Denise — half of the owner/operator team … the other half being Roy — greeted us at the office.  She walked us over to the site we had reserved — one of the two premium sites … meaning end units with no neighbors on the patio side.  Once we agreed that the site would work for us, she left us to get settled.  Wait, what about paying the $500 monthly fee?  “Oh, I’ll catch you later,” was the response.  (By the way, no tax on monthly rates; but electricity is extra … which is the norm with long-term rates most everywhere.)

Like the other buildings in the RV park, the office is painted in a bright, cheerful color.
But check out that giant spider on the roof about to jump on Mui … should I warn him? ;-))

Love these sculptures with the swaying grass adding a sense of movement to the display.

Dotted around the property is some fun artwork.

Our gravel site is long and level.  There is a tree on either side, which did require some maneuvering to ensure branches weren’t touching the rig when we opened the slides.  Denise had said they would cut any branches as necessary.  We parked closer to the tree on the patio side so that only one would need to be trimmed to accommodate our awning.  We had to also make sure that our rooftop satellite dish could see the southern sky well enough to get a signal.  A little to the left; a little to the back; a foot forward … and we were perfectly positioned at the end of Calle del Sol.

There’s the Phaeton in site 8 for the duration of our stay.

A closer look at site 8 — we have a mailbox, a picnic table, a grill … and no neighbors on
the patio side.  Oh, and courier services deliver to the site!  What more could we ask for?

Our site from the far side of the loop road.

The disadvantage of a small park is that there aren’t loops and loops of roads to walk around for exercise.  We make a loop around the RV park in the morning, walk out to Don Mauricio Loop outside the park, walk in one direction first, walk in the other direction next, and return to walk another loop around the park.  We’re at an elevation of 5,600 feet (~1,710 m) here, and although the temps drop down nicely overnight, it does heat up quickly once the sun gets above the horizon.  So we’ve been doing our walks before breakfast and chilling the rest of the day while we catch up on “stuff.”

The club house has a nice picnic area, and …

… houses an extensive collection of DVD’s on shelf after shelf … honor system.

When we first arrived, Denise mentioned that this is monsoon season.  When I hear the word monsoon, I think of driving, heavy rain for hours on end.  That has not been the case.  Except for the first night when we had steady rain for a couple of hours, the wet stuff has been of short duration.  We have blue skies and sunshine for much of the day.  Puffy white clouds gather as the day goes by, adding interest and texture to the skies.  Then, it starts to get gray.  Suddenly … thunder booms and lightning cracks.  Rain falls … big, heavy drops that beat a furious and loud rat-a-tat-tat on the roof.  And then it’s over.  The cycle might repeat a time or two, but in short order the sun is out again.

Stormy afternoon skies in short order …

… give way to blue skies and sunshine.
I love having all that empty space to look out on.

That Deer Crossing is a quiet park goes without saying.  Can’t hear the traffic from Hwy 70 at all — at least not at this end of the park.  The only sounds are those of birds chirping and horses neighing from adjacent ranches.  Speaking of horses, there is a bit of a problem with black flies since there is livestock nearby.  I found a solution, though.  I use one of the fans we carry to keep the flies away when I sit outside in the afternoon when our patio is in the shade.

And speaking of birds … haven’t researched all of them yet, but there are quite a few of them flitting about.  I need a longer fast lens, but I did manage to capture a couple with my camera.

The bird on the left is a House Sparrow; the other two … well, who knows!

Western Kingbird	House Finch

Seed feeders are not allowed, but there are plenty of birdhouses that Denise and Roy have put up.  Hummingbird feeders are welcome … I regret we didn’t bring ours, but our neighbors have a couple of them on their patio.  They receive plenty of visitors all day long and we get to enjoy them as well.

Black-Chinned Hummingbirds feasting at a feeder.

Black-Chinned Hummingbird (female)

Rufous Hummingbird — migrates through the area in July-August.

Black-Chinned Hummingbird (male)

Feeding frenzy!

Although it looks like the black-chinned female is giving the rufous male the “evil
beak”, they end up sharing a feeder after they switch around their positions.

One of my favorites of all the hummingbird shots I took.

So why are we at an R&R kind of RV park when we are admittedly on a road trip and haven’t roamed about much?  As usual, I need to research some of our overseas trips coming up this fall.  But, there is quite a bit to see and do in the area.  While we don’t plan to go too far afield — Roswell and White Sands are both out this time — we will venture out a bit to some of the closer areas of interest.  We will stop by the Visitor Center Mui spotted on the way into Ruidoso to get some suggestions.

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