Nice trees
After a nice stay at Pancho Villa State Park I moved 100 miles north to Percha Dam State Park. I still had a few days left on my 14 day limit but I wanted to move before the Easter weekend crowds hit the parks. It turned out to be a good idea because Percha Dam filled up with many campers and day use weekenders.
Percha Dam State Park is quite pretty. The camping area is filled with trees and there are some grassy spots. The grass is mostly starved for water so brown and thin and filled with little weeds. The place I chose to park has many goat heads around my rig that constantly end up in my rugs even though I always take my shoes off when I come in.
Donna parked under the trees
This is one of the New Mexico parks located on the Rio Grande. Two lakes north of here hold back most of the water this time of year so only a trickle is coming down here. They say that on May 2nd they open the dams and let the river fill up. It would be nice to see that but we will be moving to higher and cooler ground long before then.
My friend John has been camping in the area and it was nice to see him again. We take a walk each morning along the river to exercise and look for birds. John is pretty involved with birding and takes some great pictures which he posts to his blog. Google RVJohn to see his photographs and find out what he’s up to.
Two days after I arrived at Percha Dam, Donna joined me for a caravan around the state to find and enjoy some of the New Mexico State Parks and attractions. Yesterday we journeyed south to checkout Leasburg Dam State Park and a historic site called Fort Selden. Because Leasburg is so close to Las Cruces, the camping sites are always full. The ranger told us that every site has been occupied since last October. The campground had nice private sites but the terrain was just rolling hills of desert brush.
Donna at Fort Selden
We drove another mile and paid $5 to walk through the visitors center and crumbling remains of old Fort Selden. Fort Selden only existed for a few years, mainly to protect the settlers and travelers from Apache raids. The soldiers saw little action from encounters with Apache, and in fact, more men died from fights among themselves, illness, and suicide than Indian fighting. It was interesting to learn about the desolation living conditions for the soldiers and their way of life. One interesting fact was that General Douglas MacArthur lived there with his military family when he was a very young toddler.
We will probably move up to Bluewater State Park in a few days. It may be a little chilly there in the mornings but probably better than the 90’s predicted here next week. On our way we may go through Datil Wells, Pie Town, and the VLA. Lots of things to see.
