# 13 Leasburg Dam State Park

We all got to Leasburg Dam State Park on June 10. It was so hot that we didn't do much outside. We had to hang out with the two-leggeds a lot. 

The park is about 15 miles from Las Cruces, New Mexico. This is major farming country here. We drove through miles of pecan groves to get to our camp. There are a lot of chili growers around here, too. New Mexico is the largest chili producer in the country. 

We had seen pictures of people walking up to the dam but it
was roaring this time of the year for irrigation. 

The two-leggeds went into Las Cruces a couple of times but it was too hot for us to go. It was really too hot for them to go but we girls were out of treats so we said go ahead and go. Usually if they don't take us with them we will want to go out at about 4:00 a.m. We don't really like to get up either but we have to communicate and we think this is a good way. This time we let it go since they were getting treats.   

Another thing we really like is FRESH water. The pic up there reminded us of that.  We don't like beard-wash-residue in our water bowl which happens every time we get a drink. We buy spring water in jugs for all of our drinking water, since sometimes the water isn't the greatest at some campgrounds. Now Abby is really good at getting us fresh water. She has figured out how to get the water jug to flip over getting immediate attention. And we don't want that water bowl just rinsed. Nope. It has to be wiped to get any little speck removed from that bowl. Then we are happy. 

 We are getting off the subject but we thought in case you ever get to meet us, you'll want to know how to get water for us. 

This was our campsite with a neighbor visiting. You can see  us
in one of our favorite spots for watching what is going on. 

There was a really nice picnic area but it was too hot for anyone
to be there.

We saw some great sunsets.

We had a cute adobe shelter. This is looking out of one of
the openings. 

Now we are at Storrie Lake State Park right outside of Las Vegas, New Mexico. It's a little cooler here so we'll let you know what we're doing real soon. XOXO Roxy and Abby

# 12 Pancho Villa

 

Well, we all got to Pancho Villa State Park on May 28. Now Pancho made a raid on this little town of Columbus, NM in 1916. The park is on the site of Camp Furlong which was established in 1916 to supply Pershing when he pursued Pancho into Mexico.  Even George Patton was here. Patton was just a lieutenant then. Anyway Pancho killed 18 people and burned down some buildings.  For 11 months 10,000 soldiers under General Pershing looked for Pancho in Mexico but never caught him.

 

So we walk around this historic place and there's a lot to sniff and check out. Other dogs have been here we just know it. But there are only three of us camping here and this is a big park. We saw some HUGE jackrabbits that are as big as we are.

We had a few dripper lines around us for the trees. The birds and
rabbits came every day to get a drink. See the rabbit? He wasn't the
one that was almost as big as us. Sometimes Ceil is so slow with
the camera. We were barking telling her the big one was here but she
didn't listen.



We were in # 17.



 

This is a really nice park with lots of cactus and some trees. They have had such a bad drought here that even the cactus are dying. Every day the rangers come out and pick up the dead cactus. We feel bad for them even if they are prickly.

This cactus has two different colored blooms. It was getting
a little water.

Here are some of the things left from Camp Furlong.

 

 

 

 

 

History says that this was the start of the U.S. Army Air Force
that Ceil's parents served with in WW II.

 

A replica of the planes (a Jenny) used in the military operation looking
for Pancho Villa. This was in the Visitor Center at Pancho Villa
State Park.

 

How many people and dogs have seen the FIRST grease rack?

 



 

 

 

 

 

We all climbed up Cootes Hill. Notice Stew has his walking stick
just in case. That water tower in the back is from Camp Furlong. It's
been there a LOOOOONG time. We girls thought that it was pretty
neat up there. Maybe Patton stood right where we were.

You can see Mexico from here and overlook the campground.


So one day THEY went to the museum in Columbus all about the raid and all kinds of other displays and exhibits. Of course we girls couldn't go but we got to see pictures.

We would have been real good but no, SHE got to go.

There SHE is. SHE always gets to go. We have perfected looking really sad and miserable
so they feel guilty about leaving us.

So Stew had been wanting to go find this ghost town about an hour away from the campground. We ALL went and we left early which is very unusual for THEM. But we girls are ALWAYS ready! None of this getting ready and getting dressed stuff for us. It was a place around Hachita which means hatchet. We think it's because the mountains look like a hatchet. Anyway, there is absolutely nothing in the little town but a few residents. The café closed up, the grocery store closed up, and anything that provided a service was closed. We don't know what happened but people have to go pretty far to get stuff. We saw a church with turquoise on the wall outside but someone had to go and vandalize it even after they put up what looked like bullet-proof glass. We thought it must have been pretty at one time.

 

 





 

 

 

 

Then we followed these directions Stew had from one of his prospecting magazines: Find the green gate, close it back up, the roads are really rough so you need a four wheel drive. Stew bounced us around really good but we like it because we got to go. He sure likes these crazy trails, you can't even call them roads!

 



 



We drove around and looked at the ghost town and took some pictures. It was really hot so we had a little picnic and headed back to the park. We only saw one other car. It only added to the desolate feeling we girls got there.

 

Part of an adobe building

 

 

 

 

Another building, they even had a school and post office

We wondered if these people had a dog so THEY let us out
to sniff and we determined that they DID have a dog.

Border Patrol Station on the way to Hachita Ghost Town

There are a LOT of Border Patrol around here. They even drive through

the park. We like them because they have dogs to help them find illegal

immigrants trying to cross the border. We went through a border patrol

checkpoint a few times and said "Hi" to the dog that was there but he

was working and couldn't talk. 

 

 



 

Now we are at another state park. It is called Leasburg Dam. We got here today, June 10. So we have to do some exploring and we'll let you know what we find. XOXO Love, Roxy and Abby. P.S. Now if you have any questions and want to know the straight answers, just ask us.