Travel from Ruidoso Downs to Carlsbad, New Mexico

We drove our coach 125 miles, about three hours of driving, from Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico to Carlsbad, New Mexico.

The map route, heading east then south:

Map route

An interactive version from my trip planning, with potential stops marked; we only stopped at the first one, “Atlas Missile Silos Official Scenic Historic Marker”:

The first part of the drive along US-70 was quite pretty:

US-70

Fox Cave:

Fox Cave

Buildings:

Buildings

Buildings

Decorations

US-70

There are several places named Picacho, though I always think of Pikachu from Pokémon:

Picacho

Nice hills and trees:

Hills and trees

Building ruins

Pond

US-70 becomes fairly flat and barren:

Fairly flat and boring

We stopped for lunch at a “roadside table” area; like a rest stop, but no bathroom facilities (which is fine for us):

Roadside table

Roadside table

Between the two tables and their fascinating shelters is a sign for the Atlas Missile Silos Official Scenic Historic Marker:

Roadside table

On the opposite side, a motorhome with an interesting trailer configuration, carrying a side-by-side and towing a car like a dolly:

Motorhome with trailer

We killed half an hour while having lunch, to avoid arriving before check-in time. When we got underway again, Paladin remained on the back of the couch, looking out the window:

Paladin

Apparently towing vehicles like this is quite common in New Mexico:

Towing

After Roswell, the highway is super flat and boring, so I didn’t bother taking many pictures:

Flat

An oil refinery in Artesia:

Oil refinery

Oil pump jacks:

Oil pump jacks Artesia

Oil pump jacks

A nice entrance to our destination, Carlsbad KOA Holiday:

Carlsbad KOA entrance

The office:

Office

Heading to our site:

Heading to our site

Heading to our site

Firefly Vegatouch Mira

About the same time I purchased the Coach Proxy device to remotely control our coach, I also purchased a Firefly Vegatouch Mira device, that does much the same thing.

They each have pros and cons; the Mira device interfaces with an actual iOS app, with a more attractive UI, whereas the Coach Proxy has a local web interface. The Mira device communicates via Bluetooth, so is local to the coach, whereas Coach Proxy uses Wi-Fi, so can be accessed remotely — but the Wi-Fi connection can be less reliable.

The features are a bit different, too, e.g. the Mira app can rearrange the home screen a little, but Coach Proxy has presets to quickly restore a state.

And Mira was from a commercial company, vs a hobbyist project for Coach Proxy.

So, having both seemed like the best of both worlds.

However, the experience with Mira wasn’t as seamless as I’d like.

But first, installation of the hardware. The hardware component is a small box, about the size of a deck of cards, with a port for the Spyder multiplex network of the coach. It just needed to be plugged in anywhere on the coach. I happened to have a spare port behind the fridge, accessible via a panel outside (you can see more pics of this area in my Spyder shades issue post). So I connected it there; the orange cable leads to the device:

Panel behind fridge

A closer look:

Vegatouch device

To enable the app, one long-presses on the coach floorplan option in the main Spyder panel (which I had previously upgraded), to reveal a secret coach models screen, which includes a button to enable the mobile app, amongst other options:

Coach settings

Once that is done, a Mobile App button appears in the settings:

Mobile app button

The Mobile App settings, before connecting the device:

Mobile app settings

After installing the Vegatouch Mira app, it installed an update:

Installing update

But the app mis-identified our coach as an Allegro Open Road?! That’s not right:

Allegro Open Road?!

Of course, with it misidentifying the coach, most of the controls were wrong, and didn’t work. I tried re-installing the config, to no avail:

Installing update

I spent several months emailing the relevant person at Firefly every week, trying to get a fix. That was very frustrating, as he repeatedly said they were working on it, with no progress. I somehow managed to get the app to show a screen to choose a different floorplan, but the code I got from Firefly to choose the right one didn’t work. I eventually asked for a refund, and nothing happened on that either.

But I kept trying. After power cycling the entire coach for another reason, I managed to get that floorplan screen to appear again, and this time the code worked; I was finally able to set it to the correct model:

Bus settings

Yay!

Though it still isn’t perfect. Several of the pages aren’t quite right, e.g. on the home screen it shows LPG, which our coach doesn’t have, and the shade master and entry door lock controls don’t work:

 

Home page

The Lights page seems to work:

Lights page

But nothing on the Climate page works — our coach doesn’t have Spyder-controlled climate, so that isn’t surprising, though the Aqua-Hot controls should work, but don’t:

Climate page

On the Cockpit Shades page, nothing works:

Shades page

And on the Coach Shades page, the master and driver side don’t work, and the passenger side is reversed (goes down when pressing up):

Shades page

The Power pages are also mostly non-functional:

Power page

Power page

Power page

Power page

So after all that time, the app is still a little useless, though slightly better than it was before. The features that do work, like the tank levels and lights, are enough to justify keeping the app and device, though I wish more of the features worked correctly. I will likely continue using Coach Proxy most of the time, but for occasions when that is offline (due to Wi-Fi issues), having Mira as an alternative could be useful.

I would not recommend Mira for other owners of 2017-era coaches; Coach Proxy works much better. On more recent coaches, it might be more satisfactory. But I hold out hope that Firefly will improve the app, and maybe eventually fix those issues.

Slow Play RV Park

We stayed at Slow Play RV Park in Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A rather un-level site, and a little more wintery than we prefer.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2022-10-24
  • Check out: 2022-10-30
  • 6 nights

Weather:

  • Mostly sunny, though some light snow on a few days
  • High temps ranging between 44-60°F, lows around 29-36°F
  • Some wind

Noise:

  • Some road noise, no train noise

Site:

  • #150, pull-through, gravel
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, except to try to get the coach more level; parked in front coach
  • Very un-level; sloping down from the back; couldn’t get the front high enough to be completely level
  • Narrow site: about 85 feet long by about 18 feet wide
  • Full hookups:
    • 50 amp power, very inconveniently located
    • 45 PSI water, very inconveniently located
    • Good sewer connection, very inconveniently located (3 10-foot pipes needed)
    • Filled the water tank and disconnected the water, since the temperatures were below freezing on several nights
  • Picnic table on grass; no fire pit
  • 6,320 feet elevation

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 86 Mbps down, 12-16 Mbps up, 58 ms ping
  • AT&T: 41-52 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 105 ms ping
  • Verizon: 13-31 Mbps down, 16 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used
  • Starlink: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpster
  • No pool

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Friendly, helpful staff

There’s a mix of long-term residents and short stays in this campground, but it was pretty nicely laid out overall. We had a pull-through site in one of the “buddy” rows, but since it was late in the season, it wasn’t super busy. If I did it again, I’d book one of the non-buddy pull-through sites on the outer edge. The staff were very helpful, even going so far as to call and warn us they were expecting some bad weather (up to 100mph gusty winds) the day we were supposed to arrive. We decided not to risk the weather, and they were very accommodating in letting us come a day later and gave us a refund for the lost day. We were escorted to our site and given some good instructions on navigating some of the harder turns, which made it easy to pull in. The one major downside was that there was not a level square inch to be found on the site. We tried different positions on the site and different configurations of leveling blocks to no avail and decided to live with an end-to-end tilt. In retrospect, I would have asked if we could move to a different site, but was too tired and cranky to deal with it at the time. We camped at Slow Play RV Park in a Motorhome.

The RV park map:

Map

When we arrived, it was lightly snowing, including some graupel:

Graupel

Jenn and Paladin looking out the driver window while working on leveling the coach:

Jenn and Paladin

We couldn’t get it completely level, due to the slope of the site; we ended up with two jack pads plus a plastic pad to try to get the front high enough:

Jack pads

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

The utilities were not conveniently placed:

Utilities

One morning we woke up to a light dusting of snow:

Snow

Snow

I filled the water tank and disconnected the water hose overnight, since the temperatures were below freezing most nights. However I foolishly left the hose outside (after ensuring it was empty), which broke the pressure regulator and gauge; they really don’t like being frozen, so now don’t give accurate readings, and will have to be replaced:

Pressure regulator and gauge

On the upside, our Christmas cactus is looking really happy, with lots of buds and flowers coming on:

Christmas cactus

Christmas cactus

And Paladin is happy to snuggle with his girlfriend, the heated tile floors:

Paladin

Let’s tour the RV park; here’s the entrance:

RV park entrance

RV park entrance

The office:

Office

Carved bears:

Carved bears

Amusing signs:

Signs

Swing seat:

Swing seat

Gazebo:

Gazebo

Street signs:

Street signs

Bathrooms:

Bathroom

Pet sign:

Sign

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

So cute:

Other sites

Much of the park is long term residents:

Long term residents

Long term residents

Long term residents

Food bonus: we had dinner at a classic Denny’s diner in town:

Denny's

Denny's

Denny's

Denny's

They were rather understaffed, with one cook and one server. But the food was tasty.

Travel from Las Cruces to Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico

We drove our coach 122 miles, about three hours of driving, from Las Cruces, New Mexico to Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico.

The map route, heading northeast:

Map route

Or an interactive version from my trip planning, with potential stops marked; we only stopped at the TA and the overlook:

Heading east on I-10:

East on I-10

Recycled roadrunner artwork:

Recycled roadrunner artwork

Heading down towards Las Cruces, with socked in mountains:

Las Cruces

The Rio (not so) Grande:

Rio Grande

A fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Fuel stop

Third of a tank of diesel:

Third of a tank of diesel

Giant chile:

Giant chili

High horse:

High horse

Always nice to see Dutch Bros coffee:

Dutch Bros coffee

Space Murals:

Space Murals

Peak:

Peak

A motorhome passing us:

Motorhome

We stopped at a nice viewpoint, the San Augustin Pass Overlook, for lunch:

Viewpoint

Rather cloudy, but still a nice view:

View

But partway through lunch, the wind suddenly picked up, rocking the coach, with sleet or graupel blowing:

Wind and sleet

So we decided to get moving, to get down off the mountain.

In passing, the US Army rocket exhibit:

US Army rocket

Rain:

Rain

Mountains:

Mountains

Passing by White Sands National Park:

White Sands National Park

An immigration checkpoint:

Immigration checkpoint

Immigration checkpoint

White Sands National Park visitor center:

White Sands National Park

A water tower:

Water tower

The world’s largest pistachio:

World's largest pistachio

World's largest pistachio

A tumbleweed on the road:

Tumbleweed

Tularosa:

Tularosa

Mountains:

Mountains

Mountains

Church

Elk crossing and view:

Elk crossing and view

Church

Snow on the ground:

Snow on the ground

Dogs on the road:

Dogs on the road

Actively snowing:

Snow

Snow

Our destination:

Our destination

The office:

Office

Amusing signs to pull forward:

Pull forward

Sometimes a golf cart guides us to our site; here, a car did that:

Car guiding us to our site

Texas and New Mexico wine tasting

On our last day in Las Cruces, we went out with a friend to do some wine tasting.

Our first stop was Zin Valle Vineyards.

A notable thing about this vineyard is that it is tucked into a weird little fold in the New Mexico / Texas border:

Outside:

Zin Valle Vineyards

Helpful server for our tasting (three tastings, free; we did buy a bottle, too):

Zin Valle Vineyards

A nice painted table:

Nice table

We listened to some live music while munching on a charcuterie platter:

Live music

Our next stop was up the road, back in New Mexico; La Viña Winery. They were wrapping up an event, but let us have a tasting outside:

La Viña Winery

Again three tastings each, and again we bought a bottle:

La Viña Winery

Finally, we went to D.H. Lescombes Winery & Bistro in Las Cruces for lunch (and another three tastings each):

D.H. Lescombes Winery & Bistro

Mesilla, Las Cruces

While in Las Cruces we met up with friends for dinner in the historic Mesilla district:

Mesilla, Las Cruces

Mesilla, Las Cruces

Mesilla, Las Cruces

Mesilla, Las Cruces

Mesilla, Las Cruces

Plaza:

Plaza

Plaza

Plaza

Plaza

Plaza

Plaza

We had dinner at the historic Double Eagle Restaurant:

Double Eagle Restaurant

Double Eagle Restaurant

Double Eagle Restaurant

Double Eagle Restaurant

The Imperial Bar:

Double Eagle Restaurant

The Peppers casual dining restaurant:

Double Eagle Restaurant

Double Eagle Restaurant

Double Eagle Restaurant

The Double Eagle fine dining restaurant:

Double Eagle Restaurant

Double Eagle Restaurant

Tableside caesar salad preparation:

Tableside caesar salad

Tableside caesar salad

My steak and baked potato:

Steak and baked potato

Jenn’s steak and scalloped potatoes:

Steak

My cheesecake dessert:

Cheesecake

Heading back to our car, the church at night:

Church

Las Cruces mountains and weather

While staying in Las Cruces, we experienced some interesting scenery and weather.

Some nice mountain peaks on the way back from White Sands National Park:

Mountain

Mountains

Going out that evening, we saw a partial double rainbow (what does it mean?!):

Double rainbow

Sun rays through clouds:

Sun rays through clouds

In the desert, it doesn’t rain like we’re used to; when it rains, it pours:

Rain

A wash across a road:

Wash

Wash

Wash

More nice mountains:

Mountains