Days 201 to 203: Leasburg Dam State Park, NM

The construction outside of Franklin Mountain State Park created a bit of a hassle for us, so rather than doubling back over the mountain to return to where Alea had ended her ride, I opted to coast down hill and pick up a different spur of the Southern Tier route.  Doing so saved us a lot of time and extra miles, and the stress of dealing with rush hour in El Paso.

We traded the Chihuahuan Desert for the Sonoran Desert, crossing into New Mexico a few miles into the ride.  Our route took us through miles and miles of pecan groves and cotton fields (the former providing great shade from the sun).  There were no hills, light traffic, often decent shoulders and even the chip sealed pavement was smoother than what we had experienced in Texas.  About 15 miles into the ride, the brisk side wind swung around to become a quartering tailwind.  Once that happened, I managed to easily keep the speed up over 20 mph for the remainder of the 29 miles to Leasburg Dam State Park.

Old pecan groves on both sides of the highway...

While passing through Las Cruces, we stopped at Borman Ford to ask their help in determining why our gas mileage had declined steadily over the summer (starting at 24 mpg, now barely over 22 mpg).  One of the service advisors, Lucas, came out to take a look under the hood.  One of the things that he checked was the air filter, which was supposed to have been changed during a Walmart oil change earlier in the summer.  It turned out it hadn't been.  The new air filter seems to have helped, as we've averaged over 27 mpg for close to 200 miles driving without the camper.  If our mileage drops below 23 mpg when we resume towing the camper, then the camper is likely the cause of the poor mileage.  That would suggest perhaps there is a problem with the axle bearings, though it could also be possible that the trailer brakes could be dragging.  

We are camped about 15 miles outside of Las Cruces at Leasburg Dam State Park ($10, primitive, water available, push button showers, and a great adobe structure shading our picnic table).  We elected to stay three nights, as it gave us a chance during our second day here to know for certain how our solar panels are working.  They weren't, as they were wired incorrectly.  It took some time, but it appears I have figured out how to wire it correctly - the LED on the solar plug indicates there is current coming from the panels, and the LED on the camper's solar controller indicates that the current has reached it.  We still aren't convinced that it is charging our battery, so we may need to stop in Phoenix to have someone take a look at it.

An evening fire in front of our picnic shelter.

Since we are finally having some pleasant weather, we have taken the time to be tourists once again.  For most of the summer, that has been next to impossible, as the high heat and humidity meant we couldn't leave Lana unattended for very long.  

We drove out to White Sands National National Monument, site of the largest gypsum sand dunes in the world.  It is pretty interesting stuff, since it is fairly smooth and won't rub your skin raw, like quartz sand can do when it gets under your sandal straps.  It also doesn't appear to retain heat as easily, making it very comfortable for walking bare footed.

The monument is located within the White Sands Missile Range, so on our way back home we stopped there and visited their Missile Park.  There are dozens of test missiles on display that were used to develop guidance and propulsion systems, which over time were incorporated into various missiles (like the Minuteman missiles that my father was involved with at Vanderburg AFB in the early 60s, and those that NASA used for the space program).  It was a very unique collection of artifacts and well worth the brief detour.

Lana says "Is that a flying saucer?"