A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, just 72 miles from Truth or Consequences, New Mexico to Las Cruces, New Mexico. With a trailer having a tire blowout in front of us as a fun way to start the trip.
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Travel from Truth or Consequences to Las Cruces, New Mexico
We drove our coach just 72 miles, about an hour of driving, from Truth or Consequences, New Mexico to Las Cruces, New Mexico.
The map route, heading south:
Or an interactive version from my trip planning, as seen in yesterday’s post, with a potential stop marked; we didn’t actually stop, since it was a short drive:
Before we headed out, I replaced the wiper blades; pretty easy:
Our coach and truck, getting ready to toad up:
Joining I-25:
A border patrol checkpoint on the northbound side (that we passed through a couple of times):
Interesting mountains:
A nice Las Cruces sign on an overpass:
Rio (not so) Grande:
Roadrunner artwork:
Las Cruces and mountains:
Our destination, Las Cruces KOA Journey:
Palomino Campground at Caballo Lake State Park
We stayed at Palomino Campground in Caballo Lake State Park in Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico. (Campground Reviews listing.)
We do enjoy state parks, and lake views. Our specific site only had a glimpse of the lake, but still nice.
Dates:
- Check in: 2022-10-09
- Check out: 2022-10-15
- 6 nights
Weather:
- Mostly sunny
- High temps ranging between 67-77°F, lows around 49-53°F
- No significant wind
Noise:
- No road or train noise
Site:
- #2, pull through, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach
- Fairly level
- Smallish site: about 45 feet long by about 40 feet wide
- Full hookups:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 50 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connections, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
- Picnic table on concrete with shelter; no fire pit
- Partial lake view
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 12-25 Mbps down, 18-26 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
- AT&T: 90 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 72 ms ping
- Verizon: no service
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpster
- No pool
Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:
Picturesque and pleasant park
We stayed at Palomino, Site 2, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We were met by the camp hosts who helped get us centered on the site and chatted for a bit. The site was level and pretty big, with plenty of room outside of the picnic shelter to get settled in. The only downside to the setup in Palomino is that all the sites are backward, so you can’t enjoy the view of the lake if you have a motorhome. If you have a fiver with a rear window or a toy hauler with a “back deck” you’d get much more enjoyment of the view. The picnic shelters are also backward on the site, so you have to walk around the wall to get to the table. Weird, but not dealbreaker stuff by any means. We camped at Caballo Lake State Park in a Motorhome.
The park map online is not great, but does highlight our site:
Here’s an interactive map — tip, site 4 would be the best view of the lake (site 3, not shown above, is the camp host):
Our site:
A glimpse of the lake:
There were a number of birds in the area, and some liked to nibble dead bugs off our mirrors, which Paladin found super fascinating:
Utilities:
A lake view from the edge of the campground:
Other sites:
The camp host site, briefly vacant during changing of the host:
Bathrooms:
Dump station:
Cacti:
We got out our bikes to take a ride down to the lake and around the campsites:
Me on my bike:
Boat ramp:
Another campground; this one has power and water, but not sewer:
A video of the bike ride route:
Some sunsets:
Video: Albuquerque, New Mexico to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 176 miles from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
Travel from Albuquerque to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
We drove our coach 176 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.
The map route, heading south:
The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta finished on a Sunday morning, and we were scheduled to leave the following day, but I noticed that our next site was available on Sunday, so we decided to grab that and leave a day early:
A view of the mountains by Albuquerque:
Freeways:
Downtown Albuquerque:
Heading south on I-25:
Wide load of the side of the road:
It wasn’t a particularly long drive, but we had an early start to the day for the fiesta, so we stopped at both of the rest areas on the route; here’s the first:
Interesting collection of elevated picnic shelters:
Onward:
The second rest area:
Paladin asleep:
I-25:
Truth or Consequences:
Paladin climbed on the back of Jenn’s chair while she was driving:
Back in a more normal place:
Interesting clouds:
A glimpse of Caballo Lake:
Our destination, Caballo Lake State Park:
Palomino Campground, one of a few in the state park, but the only one with full hookups, which we really needed after dry camping at the fiesta:
Our site:
Our coach approaching our site:
Video: Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta timelapse
A timelapse from our coach at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, showing hot air balloons flying over our coach, traffic, and weather.
Balloon Fiesta: morning day 3
On the morning of our third day at the Balloon Fiesta, we decided to sleep in a little, as the 4 AM wake-ups were getting a bit much. We woke up to the sound of hot air balloon burners overhead.
Here’s the view out our windscreen, through the Magne Shade:
Going outside, an impressive view of dozens of balloons drifting over our coach:
Jenn taking pictures with her big camera; I’ll probably do a followup post eventually with some of her pics:
A balloon landed nearby; a little later, a car from their chase team drove up and asked if they could park behind our coach while they packed up their balloon (which I was happy to agree to; once they were done, they gave us a sticker and a couple of patches, which was much appreciated):
Another balloon joined them:
Breakfast watching balloons:
Several more balloons landed in the nearby parking lot:
Taking down the balloon:
Mounted pollice:
A magical experience. Seeing the balloons take off from the field is amazing, but seeing them over our coach is very special in a different way.
Balloon Fiesta: VIP West RV lot
We attended the 50th annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, our first attendance. We stayed in the VIP West RV lot, which was an easy walk to the launch field. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Dates:
- Check in: 2022-10-04
- Check out: 2022-10-09
- 5 nights
Weather:
- Some sun, but mostly cloudy and rainy
- High temps ranging between 63-68°F, lows around 50-54°F
- Occasional wind, some lightning
Noise:
- Some road noise, no train noise
- Generators from neighbors (dry camping)
Site:
- VIP West RV lot, pull through, asphalt parking lot
- Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach
- Level
- Small site: about 50 feet long by about 15 feet wide
- No hookups; dry camping
- Rally-style parking
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 100 Mbps down, 25 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
- Verizon: 4-7 Mbps down, 7-12 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
- AT&T: 4 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: none
Amenities:
- Dumpsters
- Balloon Fiesta!
Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:
Bucket List Trip Done Right
We were in VIP West, an easy walk to the Fiesta grounds. It’s dry camping in a parking lot, but you don’t go there for the camping amenities; you go for the Balloon Fiesta. Totally worth the extra money for the VIP parking as we didn’t have to worry about bikes or shuttles and could just walk right over every morning and evening, and our admission was included in the cost. This was definitely helpful as the weather this year was the worst in its 50-year history, and a lot of events were canceled. Still totally worth it for the events that did happen, though! We’re already planning to come again next year. We camped at Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Park in a Motorhome.
Here’s the fiesta map; the VIP West lot is the light blue area to the right to the launch field:
The RVs are parked “rally style”, i.e. fairly tightly packed on a parking lot, with no hookups. We lucked out with a site in a rear corner, with nobody behind us, and only one neighbor, giving us a bit more space than most, albeit with a longer walk to the field:
We had a thrilling view of a parking lot, and the balloon museum:
On the first night, we had a griddle dinner at our site (not a bad view, eh?):
Watching baseball outside:
Other RVs:
The balloon museum:
Bike valet:
Drainage:
VIP access bridge into the fiesta:
On a night with evening activities, a full parking lot next to our site:
View through our Magne Shade:
From in front of our coach:
Our site:
Video: Taos, New Mexico to Albuquerque, New Mexico motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 122 miles from Taos, New Mexico to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the balloon fiesta.
Travel from Taos to Albuquerque, New Mexico
We drove our coach 122 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Taos, New Mexico to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to attend the 50th annual balloon fiesta.
The map route, heading south:
It had rained, so when we brought the slide-outs in, water poured off. I generally prefer to not be standing under that when that happens:
Leaving the RV park:
An interesting round shave ice cart:
Adobe buildings:
Rio Grande gorge:
Another circular shave ice cart:
Mountains:
Rockfall fences:
Old gas pumps:
Rio Grande river:
Roadworks:
Camel Rock:
There was only one rest area on this route, but it was on the opposite side of the freeway:
So we exited after the rest area, and headed the other way to the rest area:
At the rest area; Paladin on the back of the passenger chair:
Lunch:
Roadworks:
Rain:
We went past the turnoff to the balloon fiesta to go to a T/A truck stop:
A bit over half a tank of diesel:
We also filled the DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid):
Then back towards Balloon Fiesta Park:
Balloon Fiesta VIP West sign:
Balloon Fiesta check in:
The truck following the coach, following a golf cart to our site:
