Las Cruces KOA Journey

We stayed at Las Cruces KOA Journey in Las Cruces, New Mexico. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our second visit in just a few months to this RV park.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-02-25
Check out: 2023-03-04
7 nights
We arrived one day early to avoid traveling during 60 MPH gusts

Weather:

Partly cloudy
High temps ranging between 52-69°F, lows around 27-37°F
60 MPH wind gusts on the first day, and 30-40 MPH most other days

Noise:

Negligible road noise (distant freeway noise, only audible outside); no train noise

Sites:

#28, pull-in, gravel; unusual to have a front-in site
Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach
Fairly level
Large site: about 55 feet long by about 45 feet wide
Full hookups (on both sides, for front-in motorhomes and back-in trailers):

50 amp power, not very conveniently located
45 PSI water, fairly conveniently located
Good sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Picnic table on concrete pad; no fire pit
City and mountain view

We were only in that site for the first night, as that was the extra day for arriving early (as a separate reservation). Then we needed to move to a different (similar) site:

#16, pull-in, gravel
Needed to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
Fairly level
Medium site: about 60 feet long by about 20 feet wide
Full hookups (on one side, for front-in motorhomes):

50 amp power, very conveniently located
50 PSI water, very conveniently located
Good sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Picnic table on gravel; no fire pit
City and mountain view

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 12-16 Mbps down, 34 Mbps up, 58 ms ping
AT&T: 9 Mbps down, 9 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
Verizon: 1-11 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up, 65-588 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpster
Closed pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

The best views

This was our second time staying here and it was just as nice as the last time. We came in a day earlier than originally planned to avoid some wind storms in the area and were able to get a reservation that morning for a view site. Because it was technically a second reservation, they had to do some rearranging and we wound up moving from site 28 to 16 at the start of our original reservation. No biggie, other than the disconcerting feeling of bringing in the stabilizing jacks and feeling the wind buffet the rig violently from side to side. Some of the most white-knuckle driving ever just to go from one end of the campground to the other. The staff were so helpful and understanding in accommodating our early arrival and relocation as we weren’t the only ones with the idea to avoid the weather. You just have to get a view site at this place or you’re really missing out. I’m sure you could get a peep of it from further back or enjoy the view from one of the communal areas, but it’s just so awesome to view it out the front window of the motorhome. We’ll definitely be back when we come this way again. We camped at Las Cruces KOA Journey in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Bosque Brewing across from NMSU has good beer and food.

An interactive map of the park:

RV park map:

Map

Our first site before parking:

Our first site

Our first site with our coach and truck; this may look familiar to long-time readers, as it’s the same site we had last time we were here:

Our first site

The view from inside our coach:

Our first site

The utilities of our first site (I didn’t bother hooking up the sewer pipe, since we were only there one night):

Our first site utilities

After that first night, we needed to move to another site. Here’s our second site before parking:

Our second site

Our second site with our coach and truck:

Our second site

Notice the sky; it was very windy and dusty, so we only put out the driver-side slides (being leeward), and left the passenger-side ones in:

Our second site

We received an emergency alert for the dust storm:

Emergency alert

A screenshot of my weather app, showing the wind gusts:

Wind gusts

The coach is a bit weird with one side in, but still quite usable:

One slide in

Nicer weather:

Our second site

The view from inside:

View

Our second site utilities:

Our second site utilities

Cleaning the windshield:

Cleaning windshield

Nice view:

View

Mountains

A tiny Casita trailer next to our 40-foot coach; kinda looks like we laid an egg:

Tiny trailer

Since the wind was ongoing, if not quite so strong, and we wanted to put the slides out, I added ropes to brace slide toppers:

Ropes to brace slide toppers

One day, it even snowed!

Snow

A video of the snow:

A video from the dash cam, showing the snow clearing:

(Did you spot the cat?)

Snowy mountains:

Snowy mountains

You can see more of this RV park in my post for our previous stay, but here are a few pics, starting with the office:

Office

Dog park:

Dog park

Tent and camp kitchen areas:

Tent and camp kitchen areas

Other RVs:

Other RVs

Sunrise view from our coach:

Sunrise view

Sunset views:

Sunset view

This is a nice RV park; the sites aren’t the best, especially being buddy sites, but the view more than makes up for that. This was our second visit, and we’ll probably stay here again if we’re back this way in the future.

Video

Video: Abilene, Texas to Las Cruces, New Mexico motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 504 miles from Abilene, Texas to Las Cruces, New Mexico. Our longest drive to date! (And yes, I’ve been using country & folk music for the Texas travel, but switch to other genres on leaving Texas.)

Travel from Abilene, Texas to Las Cruces, New Mexico

We drove our coach 504 miles, an epic eight hours of driving, from Abilene, Texas to Las Cruces, New Mexico.

We normally prefer two hour drives, and will go up to four hours when on an interstate (as they are easier and usually have regular rest areas). We had planned two four hour days, stopping in Pecos, but the weather forecast called for 60 MPH gusts along the route on the second leg. So we decided to push on through, doing it in one day.

Here’s the map route, heading west:

Map route

An interactive map, with our stops marked:

Leaving the Abilene KOA:

Leaving KOA

There were pretty much non-stop pump jacks along the route:

Pump jacks

We stopped at several rest areas; this was the first:

Rest area

An interesting water tower:

Water tower

Wide load:

Wide load

“It would behoof you to slow down”:

It would behoof you to slow down

Road Ranger fuel stop:

Road Ranger fuel stop

Road Ranger

We went in, and had Church’s Chicken for lunch (our least-preferred fast food chicken chain):

Church's Chicken for lunch

Back to our coach:

Our coach

Sleepy Paladin:

Sleepy Paladin

A wind turbine blade:

Wind turbine blade

More pump jacks:

Pump jacks

As mentioned, we were originally going to stop at Pecos, Texas:

Pecos, Texas

Texas

Paladin probably would have preferred that we stopped, but this was just halfway:

Paladin

A nice rest area:

Rest area

We were so happy to see mountains again, after spending months in flat Texas:

Mountains

Lots of trucks:

Lots of trucks

Allegedly scenic viewpoint:

Scenic viewpoint

Entering Mountain Time Zone:

Entering Mountain Time Zone

A busy rest area; we parked on the side of the road:

Busy rest area

El Paso overpasses:

El Paso overpasses

El Paso artwork:

El Paso artwork

An interesting RV paint job:

Interesting RV paintjob

Goodbye Texas; entering New Mexico:

New Mexico

Mountains by Las Cruces:

Mountains

Our destination, another KOA:

KOA

That was quite the drive!

Water softener regeneration and backflush hoses and adapters

The water softener was a great addition to our coach. But it requires periodic maintenance, to regenerate it every couple of weeks, and backflush it quarterly.

Backflushing it requires reversing the connections, to have water go in the outlet, and dump out the inlet. When I first backflushed it, I used the plastic double-female connector that came with it, with a couple of my quick-connectors:

Backflush adapter

Thusly:

Backflushing

On the output side, I didn’t have a double male adapter, so I just held the hose to my sewer connector, which was a bit messy:

Backflushing

I thought I could do better, so I bought some brass double adapters, which together with my quick-connectors, works much better:

Backflush adapters

When a test strip indicates the water coming out of the softener is getting hard, it is time to regenerate it (typically every couple of weeks, depending on where we are). This is done by pouring two containers of table salt into the top of the softener (after turning off the water, of course), then I connect a special hose to a sewer rinse cap, that adapts the water hose to the sewer hose, ensuring I can flush out the salty water without making a mess:

Regenerating

Here’s a closer look at the sewer adapter:

Regenerating

Another couple of pics of regenerating:

Regenerating

I also replaced the hose between the filter and softener with a more flexible one, and added a clear sewer hose adapter so I could see the water flow rate:

Regenerating

(You can also see the cap off the water softener in that pic.)

I do enjoy my plumbing bits. It may seem overly complex, but all those quick connectors and adapters make this required maintenance much easier.

Frontier Texas!

While staying in Abilene, Texas we visited their Frontier Texas! museum, focused on the old west, especially around buffalo hunting.

Outside

Buffalo

Sign

The experience starts with an intro video, narrated by Buck Taylor of the Gunsmoke TV show and western movies; we had the theater and exhibits to ourselves:

Intro video

Exhibits:

Start of exhibits

Exhibits

Each section has a “hologram” guide that can narrate stories:

Hologram guide

Exhibits

The last area is the Frontier Experience Theater, with swivelable stools and screens all around, where they tell more about the times:

Frontier Experience Theater

Gift shop:

Gift shop

Exit

Abilene KOA Journey

We stayed at Abilene KOA Journey in Abilene, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A very basic KOA, with loud freeway traffic.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-02-23
Check out: 2023-02-25
2 nights

Weather:

Cloudy
High temps ranging between 48-57°F, lows around 35-41°F
Negligible wind

Noise:

Loud road noise from the freeway; distant train noise
No neighbor noise

Site:

#58, pull-through, gravel
All the pull-throughs are buddy sites, except this one and the one next to it, where they converted the next-door site to a patio
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
Level site
Medium site: about 60 feet long by about 30 feet wide
Concrete patio
Patio table & chairs
Fire pit
Propane & charcoal grills
A few trees

Utilities:

50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
60 PSI water, conveniently located
Good sewer connection, somewhat conveniently located (2 10-foot pipes needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

T-Mobile: 46-62 Mbps down, 8 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
AT&T: 5 Mbps down, 9 Mbps up, 78 ms ping
Verizon: 1 Mbps down, 0.5 Mbps up, 200 ms ping
Starlink: not used
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage pickup from site

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Buddy sites and road noise

We stayed here for two nights which was about one night more than necessary. The pull-throughs were pretty much all buddy sites (which I hate), but we splurged on the patio site which meant that we had a little buffer between us and our neighbor on the living side (nevermind that our neighbor the first night seemed to think it was a communal area, but I digress). The real downside of this park is the constant noise from I-20 with trucks using their jake brakes at all hours. We camped at Abilene KOA Journey in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: Frontier Texas! (the exclamation point is part of the name) was pretty cool and worth a stop.

An interactive map of the park:

The map:

Map

Our site:

Our site

A nice patio, that we didn’t use, since the weather wasn’t great; but still worth it to avoid being in a buddy site:

Patio

A nice fire pit area on the patio:

Fire pit

A GIF of the freeway from our site, showing how close it was:

Freeway

Our site

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Cabins:

Cabins

Other sites:

Other sites

This RV park was a convenient stop for a couple of nights, but we wouldn’t choose to stay here other than for that purpose, what with the loud freeway noise and buddy sites.

Video

Video: Gordonville, Texas to Abilene, Texas motorhome travel timelapse

A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 244 miles from Gordonville, Texas to Abilene, Texas.

Travel from Gordonville to Abilene, Texas

We drove our coach 244 miles, about four hours of driving, from Gordonville, Texas to Abilene, Texas.

Here’s the map route, heading south then west:

Map route

Leaving the Thousand Trails campground:

Leaving campground

A rather rough road:

Rough road

Onramp to I-35, and interesting clouds:

Onramp and interesting clouds

Denton, Texas, “the home of happiness“:

Denton, the home of happiness

Exit to I-35W:

Exit to I-35W

Sleepy Paladin:

Sleepy Paladin

We never did visit a Buc-ees:

Buc-ees

A big cloud by the side of the road; we thought it was a fire at first, but it appeared to be some roadworks thing:

Roadside cloud

There were a lot of roadworks; we don’t enjoy having a barrier so close to the edge of the lane, since our coach takes pretty much the whole lane:

Roadworks

Exit to I-820, marking the start of our westward migration:

Exit to I-820

Exit to I-30:

Exit to I-30

Exit 420; we didn’t take that exit, I just thought it was “nice” (unsurprisingly, the only sign was above the road):

Exit 420

We stopped for lunch at a truck stop:

At a truck stop

Lunch at the Iron Skillet Restaurant:

Iron Skillet Restaurant

We do enjoy breakfast for lunch:

Breakfast for lunch

Back to our coach:

Back to our coach

Truck foursome:

Trucks towing trucks

A very empty rest stop:

Rest stop

Wide loads:

Wide loads

Wide load

A rolling work convoy:

Work convoy

Another wide load:

Wide load

Our destination:

Our destination

Dryer magnets

The door on the dryer in our coach (yes, we have a washer and dryer) tends to swing closed when open. So I attached a couple of strong magnets to the cupboard and dryer doors to keep it open.

Here are the magnets I used:

Magnets

I attached them to the doors with Glue Dots:

Glue Dots

I do have magnets with self-adhesive backs, but they aren’t as powerful, and I need opposite polarities for each magnet so they stick together, so using the glue dots on the magnets works better:

Glue dot on magnet

A magnet on the dryer door:

Magnet on dryer

And a magnet on the enclosing cupboard door:

Magnet on door

They meet and hold the door open:

Door and dryer

Thousand Trails Lake Texoma RV Campground

We stayed at Thousand Trails Lake Texoma RV Campground in Gordonville, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Another Thousand Trails, more of the state park feel.

Dates:

Check in: 2023-02-16
Check out: 2023-02-23
7 nights

Weather:

Some sunny days
High temps ranging between 49-80°F, lows around 28-53°F
Some wind, up to 30 MPH gusts

Noise:

No road noise or train noise
No neighbor noise

Site:

#A43, pull-through, gravel
Buddy site, but on end so nobody facing us (other than the bathroom block)
Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked in front of coach
Not very level front to back or side to side; used blocks to help front jacks
Medium site: about 80 feet long by about 25 feet wide
Picnic table
Fire pit
Grass & trees

Utilities:

50 amp power, fairly conveniently located
75 PSI water, conveniently located (disconnected during sub-freezing nights)
Non-threaded sewer connection, very conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

Starlink: 20-55 Mbps down, 1-6 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
T-Mobile: 13 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 28 ms ping
AT&T: 15 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 37 ms ping
Verizon: 10 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

Garbage dumpster
Closed pools

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Older campground, needs some love

Unusually for a Thousand Trails park, the staff knew what sites were actually available and we were able to select one at check-in. We wanted a 50 amp pull-through but unfortunately, all the 50A pull-throughs are buddy sites. I hate buddy sites. We were lucky enough to get one on the end so our living area wasn’t directly on top of someone else, but it did open up to the bathroom block. Scenic! The site was not at all level front-to-back and we had to maneuver a bit to find the most level location. The roads here are more pothole than road, so maneuvering our coach to avoid the worst of them was interesting. If we’d been planning to stay longer, I would definitely get one of the back-in sites tucked in the trees. We camped at Thousand Trails Lake Texoma in a Motorhome.

An interactive map of the park:

The map:

Map