Let The Goold Times Roll

[dougrobyngoold]

New Mexico Tech Golf Course & A Little Hike - Socorro, NM

We played a couple rounds of golf at New Mexico Tech Golf Course - gorgeous weather and the course was in nice shape. The clubhouse was a pleasant surprise - I had an amazing veggie burger (made in-house) and a nice cold brew after our second round. The layout of the golf course is an easy walk, there are a couple of challenging holes. Definitely worth stopping to play if you are making your way down or up I-25!

We also did a nice little hike just a few miles up the road from our camping spot. We went to check out a NFS campground, took a short walk up the road from the campground and found this nice, easy trail through the forest. The trail was next to a piece of property that was for sale - looked like a bit of a fixer-upper!

Tomorrow we are headed out - need to find an RV Park to dump and get water near Albuquerque. We have enjoyed our stay here at Box Canyon - it was much quieter than the last time we were here.

[dougrobyngoold]

The Box National Recreation Area - Socorro, NM

After a gorgeous sunrise over Caballo Lake, we made the short drive to Socorro and then a couple miles west to The Box. This is a dispersed camping spot, basically in a parking area at a trailhead. There is a vault toilet, which is a nice benefit and helps keep our water usage down. Looking forward to a couple of rounds on the New Mexico Tech Golf Course and a bit of exploring in the Cibola National Forest.

[dougrobyngoold]

Caballo Lake State Park - Caballo, NM

After a fun morning of laundry and grocery shopping before leaving Las Cruces - we made our way north to Caballo Lake State Park for the evening. Let me just say that doing laundry this morning was especially painful. I placed a roll of quarters on top of the washing machine and it proceeded to roll right off the back of the machine into a deep, dark, irretrievable hole! What a bummer! Doug had to drive back to our campsite to grab another roll - I won't be doing that ever again!! YIKES!

Anyway, we are camped in a quiet, pretty spot for the evening. Happy for the showers and dump station before we head to Socorro for a week.

[dougrobyngoold]

Red Hawk Golf Course - Las Cruces, NM

Another great New Mexico public golf course! $20 to walk 18 (after 11:00). This is a links-style course, the greens were in great shape, the rough was PUNISHING!! Pretty views and fun holes, we barely saw anyone until the last couple of holes. Lots of construction going on around and on the course, but it didn't interfere with our play. We would definitely play this course again.

Tomorrow we head a bit further north. This has been a fun stop, lots of great golf and things to do in Las Cruces.

One last Las Cruces sunset:

[dougrobyngoold]

Dripping Springs National Monument - Las Cruces, NM

Another windy day, but a trip to Dripping Springs was the perfect activity. What an interesting area. We took a short walk up the Dripping Springs National Recreation Trail to the ruins of Van Patten's Mountain Camp. It was worth a couple of hours to check out the monument - there is a small visitor center, picnic area, hiking trails, and restrooms - it is a fee area.

Info on the Organ Mountains from the Visitor Center:

View of Cuevas Rocks from the Visitor Center:

Up the trail to Dripping Springs:

Then we checked out Van Patten's Mountain Camp:

Absolutely incredible that someone hauled all of this material up to this spot! Lovely walk up and back on a pretty spring day in Las Cruces:

[dougrobyngoold]

Organ Mountains Hike - Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, NM

Today was cooler and a bit windy, so we decided to take a hike from our camping spot. We could see a trail winding up the mountainside, we did manage to make our way there. The views across the valley were amazing, but the wind was a bit cool and we made it a short 5-mile hike.

Desert plants are amazing!

We were a bit wind-blown, but look at those jagged mountains!

[dougrobyngoold]

Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum and Rio Grande Winery - Las Cruces, NM

The winds were howling today, so no golf or hiking. We did manage to make a visit to one of the local museums. The New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum is a gorgeous complex - well-maintained and inexpensive (we paid $5/person with Doug's military discount). Due to the windy conditions, we chose to skip the outdoor exhibits - which included livestock pens and barns. We had a good time checking out the indoor exhibits - which covered the history of New Mexico farming and ranching. Informative and well-laid out - absolutely worth a visit.

Old wagon wheels & how they were shaped:

Loved all of the farm equipment and old transportation modes:

An old gas pump, explanation in second photo:

Loved this windmill:

Also, won't be complaining about how "uncomfortable" my bike seat is after seeing this:

After exhausting ourselves wandering through the museum (we have very limited museum tolerance), we headed down to Rio Grande Winery for a little wine tasting experience. A great way to spend a windy spring day in Las Cruces!

[dougrobyngoold]

Sonoma Ranch Golf Course - Las Cruces, NM

This course was a LONG walk - lots of distance between holes. First, it was only $20 to walk 18, after 11:00 - which is a phenomenal price! The starter was super-friendly (as are most people we meet in New Mexico), he was impressed that we were walking the course. That should have been our first clue of what laid ahead! This course was fun, plenty of surprises and LOTS of bunkers. A couple of really long carries and punishing rough and natural vegetation, if you missed the fairway. All told, we were exhausted by the end of our round. However, we would definitely go back and play it again - having a little course knowledge under our belt would make it a bit easier (perhaps).

[dougrobyngoold]

NMSU Golf Course - Las Cruces, NM

We are trying to get our games in shape for a little golf tournament that we are playing in May, so today we played NMSU Golf Course. New Mexico has some great public golf courses and the price is usually pretty reasonable - this one was $37 to walk 18. A little more than most of the courses and no senior discount. We have played this course in the past, it is very walkable and I love the roll on the fairways! The course was busy, we had to wait on most of the holes, but it was still a fun day.

[dougrobyngoold]

Dispersed Camping - Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, NM

We are safely nestled at the base of the Organ Mountains for the next week, just east of Las Cruces. Hiking, golf, and (maybe) a winery visit are all on the agenda. Looks like the weather will be cooperating.....perhaps a bit windy, but it is springtime in New Mexico! The Organ Mountains make a specatcular backdrop - just one more picture of our spot, as the sun was setting.

[dougrobyngoold]

Re-Supply Stop - Deming, NM

Only had a short drive to Deming yesterday morning, which allowed us to have a relaxed morning before we had to pack up and get on the road. As we were just about to get on to HWY 90, we realized that our gas tank was pretty low. So Doug decided to put a couple gallons in from our gas can, just to make sure that we had enough to get to Lordsburg. While we were stopped, an older gentleman pulled in next to us (he was pulling a livestock trailer). We ended up chatting with him for about 20 minutes - he owns a cattle ranch in the area, he had a lot to say about the forest service and life. We think he had to be close to 80, possibly older. To his credit, he had done a lot of work to clean up the area around the trailhead and to prevent people from destroying the area. We finally said our "good-byes" and made our way to Lordsburg and then on to Deming. We stayed at an Escapees' Park - Dreamcatcher RV Park in Deming. After getting settled in, we found a local sports bar and watched the final round of the Masters. Today we caught up on chores and prepared for another week of boondocking. Off to Las Cruces tomorrow.

[dougrobyngoold]

A Couple of Hikes - CDT, Gila National Forest, NM

We are camped just below a trailhead for the CDT (Continental Divide Trail), so we had to do a couple 8 mile hikes along the trail during our stay. This portion of the trail is very gentle and easily followed. The weather was perfect for hiking. Clear skies and a few desert plants were blooming.

We have really enjoyed our stay here. Quiet and peaceful location. Tomorrow we head to Deming for a couple of days - need to dump, refill water tanks, do laundry, and get a few groceries. We also hope to catch the final round of the Masters, too.

[dougrobyngoold]

Scott Park Golf Course - Silver City, NM

We played this 18-hole course two times while we were in the area. It is a walkable and challenging course (of course, I think that ALL golf courses are challenging). $25 to walk, weekdays. Lots of crazy bounces on the fairways, the greens had just been aerated so putting was interesting. A few unique holes, which made it fun to figure out the best way to approach the hole. We scored better our second time around - the first time we got into a bit of trouble from not knowing the course layout. We will definitely play this course again when we are in the area.

[dougrobyngoold]

Chisom Trail Dispersed Camping - Gila National Forest, New Mexico

We left Tucson this morning. We had a nice drive along I-10, no construction due to today being Easter Sunday. We found a a lovely spot just off of HWY 90, between Lordsburg and Silver City. It is quite a bit cooler here, a nice change from our 90+ temperatures that we have been experiencing in Tucson. We hope to play some golf in Silver City and do a little hiking while we are in the area for the next week. Today I am just going to kick back and enjoy the gorgeous weather.

[dougrobyngoold]

It's A Wrap - Tucson, AZ

March flew by - with trips to California & Texas, the time to leave approached quickly. The temperatures have been extremely warm - closing in on and reaching 100 degrees at times. We have played a little golf (in spite of the heat):

Part of the Rolling Hills Thursday gang after 9 holes on a HOT day!

Me, Doug, Charlene, and Cheri - finishing up 18 holes at Rolling Hills - our gift certificate round.

We fit in a final round at Del Urich Golf Course, this turtle was making his way across the fairway - I think he tucked into his shell when he saw the guys teeing off in the distance!

Tomorrow we are headed out of Tucson - another season on the books. Looking forward to our plans for the summer, but it is always bittersweet to say good-bye to our friends here. Cheers!

[dougrobyngoold]

90 Years! - Bedford, TX

I flew to Texas on March 10th to spend a little time with my family and to celebrate my Dad's 90th birthday. It was a great week - hanging out with my sisters, BIL, nieces & nephews, and, of course, my folks. What a blessing that they are both doing so well and turning 90 this year. We had a wonderful day today celebrating my Dad. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the gathering:

It was wonderful to see everyone and I look forward to a return visit this fall. Thanks for taking such good care of me, Ronnie & Debbie!

[dougrobyngoold]

BNP Paribas Open - Indian Wells, CA

Yes, we did make it back to Tucson for a couple of days (after our trip to Oceanside) and then we headed back to California on March 4th to meet our friends (Jay & Shelly) in Indian Wells for the tennis tournament. We had a great time! We arrived on the 4th, checked into our AirBnB, caught up for a bit, and then headed over to the tennis center for a night session. We got to watch Monfils win a match on one of the side courts, before finding our seats for the night session matches. We watched Rakhimova beat Andreescu and then saw Shapovalov beat Tsitsipas (a great match). We were definitely in the nose-bleed section, but it gave us a great view of the moonrise! Surprisingly, it was pretty easy to see the action on the court from our seats, too.

On Thursday, we wandered around the grounds and caught a couple of matches on the side courts, watched a few players on the practice courts (Nadal, Sinner, Djokovic, Keys, and Tiafoe - to name just a few) before settling in to watch matches on Court 1. We watched Venus Williams lose to Parry in 3 sets and Dimitrov beat Atmane in 3 sets. Both were fun matches to watch. It was very windy and the sun got a bit intense at times. All in all, it was a great time - hopefully, we will be able to do it again next year. If we do, we are going to come a little deeper into the tournament so we can see some doubles and a few of the top players.

A view of the practice courts from the upper level of Court 1 - Nadal and Sinner were on these two courts - notice all the people watching them practice!

Fun couple of days with this group....I think we need to make it a longer trip next year!