Turquoise Trail | Madrid | New Mexico

The road to Madrid is two lane, for the most part, and an easy drive with little traffic and lots of scenery. 

 

Turquoise was mined in a small town nearby called Cerrillos.  Indians mined there way back before the Spanish arrived, and then the mining boomed again in 1879.

Now, the little town of Madrid is a thriving little town with lots of little shops and their fair share of saloons and restaurants.  I'm not a buyer, but I love wandering around these little towns.

 

Every town seems to have a building that didn't quite survive, for one reason or another.  This one has a sign on the front, stating you could sit on the porch, but the house was occupied.

 

 

This side of the house looks a bit better.

 

I had a snack here, nice place and friendly people - and great sweet potato fries!

 

Somehow, this old railroad car got to be part of this restaurant.

On the way out of town is a little cottage complete with a zebra.

 

 

Mailboxes in town are very colorful, obviously lots of artistic people living here.

 

 

And further out of town - I bet this ranch was great in it's day.

 

On the ride home,  I saw this little church up on a hill, so I went up to take a look, old time Spanish style.

 

This is what happens when you don't get the roof fixed. 

It just happened that I noticed this store because of the truck!  They didn't have my favorite flavor, but at least it was ice cream!

Cuchillo | Living Ghost Town | Elephant Butte | New Mexico

Not a bad view where I stayed at Elephant Butte State Park for about a week.  I found out there was a ghost town nearby, so I set out to explore it.

 

  

They call this a living ghost town because there are still people living there, but there aren't any stores or businesses - except for this antique shop that was closed.

 

 

The owner came out to talk to me and told me that this wheel is over 300 years old.

 

 

He didn't have any information about this wagon, but said it would not be moved again because it was too fragile.

 



There was a 1999 license plate on this little trailer.

 

 

Multiple buildings are still standing.

 

 

If anyone is looking for a new house, this one actually looks newer than any of the neighbors.

 

At one time, this was probably a store and bar.

I'm sure this was a house, but I love the fence in front!

 

A couple of cute cottages, but I couldn't tell if they were being used or not.

At one time, this was a café.

I love the little four-paned window that is set on an angle in this house.

 

This looks like it might have been a nice car at one time.......

 

 

Some places are boarded up, but others are still intact without boards.

 

Back at the campground, this is what a holiday weekend looks like here in Elephant Butte.  This was taken at my site.

 

Caballo Lake State Park | New Mexico



This is a great scene not too far from where I was camped.



During the weekend, this area is packed with tents, trailers and lots of people. 

I love the water and there are so many places to get close to it.

Cactus flowers are still blooming.

A Yucca plant has this type of bloom.

Desert Willow trees are all over this area. beautiful this time of year.

 

I love these boat ramp signs!

They have a very nice, spacious boat ramp, well used on the weekends.

 

This state park has another RV area, called Riverside, which is full of large trees, as compared with the desert in the main area.

 

 

A small dam regulates the water in the area, and when I was there, it was really low.

The Rv sites where I was are all pull-thru, and quite spacious, with tables and shelters.  There is also a large area for boondocking.

 

 

Unfortunately, after I left someone texted me to let me know that ALL sites in this state park will be by reservation only.  There will be no "first come, first served".