The Ranch Co-op Lakewood NM

The below blog is from Oct 16, 2011 when we visited The Ranch Escapees Co-op in Lakewood NM, but we did not get it published until November

Oct 16, 2011:
We spent the last couple of days at the second Escapees’park named “The Ranch” that we are considering for our future. This park is between Carlsbad and Roswell…….or you can say it is between the Bats and the Aliens. Eh! either way, it is a nice park and people are not only friendly, they consider each other family.

The park’s closest town is Artesia. What I would consider a very well kept NM secret. We saw evidence of a lot of community pride everywhere. A small town with a big heart. The downtown area is well kept, clean, and has a lot of statues throughout.

We did not do the walking tour since we needed to do our grocery shopping and it was getting late. I did look at it on the Artesia’s website. This online Walking Tour shows quite a few of the statues around town.

We started by going to the Art in the Park after hearing one of the Escapees would have a booth there. The vendors can only sell handmade items. Nothing else was allowed and the vendor’s booth would get cancelled if their items were not handmade.

We stopped by to see Nancy’s unique handmade jewelry. Here’s her website: KrisJen Creations if you would like to see her beautiful jewelry.

We were also told that the event was moved from the park because too many people were ruining the park’s grass. The event was now held in the football field. How busy could it be that they had to move it? Oh! It was very busy! We were truly surprised at the turnout. I enjoyed checking out all the different booths but it was too busy to take photos.

I have been watching a group of Scaled Quails run around the park. They are so funny to watch as they run from one hiding place to the next. They came for a visit to our site and I got some good photos of one brave fellow. He did not seem to mind me taking his photo. I can see where they got their name.

You put your left foot in...

.....and you shake it all about

....and that's how you do the Quail's Hokey-Pokey!!

Here a few of the little houses that I liked. Many of the houses/sheds have the same building design, but each one had its owner's creative expression.

Nice and solid

His and Hers?

My favorite!

Monday, we head for Albuquerque. It'll be a long travel day for us if we go the whole way. Depends on how we feel. Yea, it's a rough life.

Hondo TX Lone Star Coral SKP Co-op

We left Fredericksburg and headed west to Hondo, TX.  We are starting to look at different Escapees' co-op parks that allow members to lease a site (and co own the park).  Hondo is our first stop.  The park is nice and well kept.  We met another Bluebird couple Jack and Liz, and their cat Oreo.  We spent some time visiting with them and learning a little more about this Escapees' park.  We also spent a little time looking around the local area.

The cats explored on their harness and leashes as well.  Dusty had no dirt to roll in.  Aww, I was really disappointed. No dirt! Darn!  Squirrel could not find anything green to munch.  Hitch had no trees to climb and wanted to snoop all the neighbor's yards.  Max was too nervous to explore and make a decision, but he made it unanimous once he heard their comments.

Granted, we can add a dirt rolling area for Dusty. Plant a tree for Hitch.  Hmm, can he wait a few years to climb it?  And have potted Wheat Grass and Catnip for all, but we don't think this will be the semi-permanent location for us.  It is a little too rural for our taste.

Above is the shed on the lot we are renting for the next couple of nights.  The owner/leasee is traveling at the moment and while they are gone, they can allow other traveling members to rent their site.  While they are gone, they don't have to worry about their site with the park employees and neighbors keeping a watchful eye on it.


 Just a Shed, ma'am!









We like the idea of the shed/house for extra storage space or just a place to get out of the motorhome.  We saw the inside of one and it wasn't bad.  The larger room had a double closet and enough room to put a couch with chairs or a desk and sewing table.  There was a smaller room that they were using as a workshop and storing tools.

Below are some photos of the shed/houses.  Each one might be small, but they are individually styled to the owners' taste.  Of course, there are rules and changes have to be pre-approved which is by the co-op board.

The lots are big enough to give us a little elbow space.

 play on words...

So, why are we considering doing this?  Well, as we get older, we are sure our travels will slow down to a couple of times a year.  You know - winter in the south, summer in the north.  This would give us a guaranteed site each winter.  Plus, Sandy has several items sitting in our daughter's garage. We are sure she would like to have that space back someday.

Most of these parks have a long waiting list from 3 years to 8 years.  That's why we are looking now.  It isn't because we are getting tired of traveling.  We are just planning for our future.

Well, onward to Del Rio TX Laughlin AFB on the Mexico border for a night, followed by Pecos TX Escapees park for a night, then to the Escapees Co-op in Lakewood NM for a few days.

Family Time

We had a great time visiting our daughter and our two granddaughters.  We had to wait until the evenings to visit since all three were off to school.  Yes, that includes our daughter, as well.

New member - Sadie - a sweet hug for a sweet dog

Misty works at the college that she is attending.  We find it amazing to see her juggling school, work, and two kids.  Our granddaughters are amazing too.  They are very well mannered and help their Mom.

lots of seashells

On Saturday, the girls joined us at the campground for lunch.  We did a little kite flying.  Well, actually, we spent more time just trying to get it off the ground.  

Well, it's up....

hold it up higher!

The wind kept coming and going that we finally gave up, but at least she was happy with trying.

deep concentration

After the kite flying, we searched the lake shore for shells.  It's a good thing it was a warm day because someone got a little wet.

After a weeks visit we said good-bye to the girls and now we are starting our winter travels.  First stop Fredericksburg, TX. 

Traveling to Oklahoma

Branson's Landing

We will be leaving on Monday 26 Sept for Lawton OK to see our daughter and granddaughters now that the weather south of us has cooled down.  We will stop at a Corps of Engineers park near Wagoner OK for one night on the way. We are hoping the wildfires in OK and TX  are finally gone or under control.  We enjoyed our stay so much in Branson MO that we stayed a lot longer than planned. The Branson waterfront on Lake Taneycomo has been a great place to go for walks, people watch, and dining out.

Branson Train

Branson is a big entertainment town of live performances. We have not been to any performances, as we are in $$ conservation mode to pay for some plumbing upgrades (new faucets, toilet repair), fixing the hydraulic leveling jacks, and catching up from all the diesel fuel we bought since Key West.  The increase in fuel and grocery prices have been hard on our budget.

a cowboy walking his dog

Remembering 9/11

Dan's been working on line 10 hours a week evaluating and rating webpages as a subcontractor.  In the meantime, Sandy has been sewing quilts and other projects for her Etsy shop.  The holiday season is just around the corner.  She had three orders during the time we have been in Branson.

Staying in this campground has been great.  It is part of Escapees, a RV club of fulltime RVers that we belong to. The rates are good, with full hook ups, 50 amp electric, cable tv, and it's quiet - so it has been a good place to hang out for a while.  We know the cats enjoyed it because they begged to outside every day and would have spent hours outside if Sandy did not get tired of untangling or following them around.

Seasonal Mug Rugs

After Lawton, we will head south into TX, possibly using some of our campground memberships along the way. We plan to slowly head to just west of San Antonio to a Escapees co-op park near Hondo TX. Escapees has a series of co-op parks with a waiting list to join, but ability to visit for a week or two. We 'might' get on a waiting list for a co-op, where we would have a partial ownership in the campground, and our own lot we can either use, or rent out while traveling. No deed, so quick and easy to resell the membership if it doesn't work out. Excellent low cost way to have a home base.

The  TX co-op has a 2 year waiting list, AZ has a 6-7 year waiting list. Through the fall and winter we plan to check out at least some of the co-ops.  Here is a list of the Co-op locations that we are interested in visiting:  Benson AZ, Casa Grande AZ, Yuma AZ, Aguana CA, Coarsegold CA, Pahrump NV, Lakewood NM, Hondo TX.

Like my feathered-do?

If we join a co-op it will  probably be Benson AZ or Hondo TX for winter locales, and closer to the kids. We would then use the co-op anywhere from 2-6 months a year and travel the rest of the time.


So basically, between now and spring we plan to travel westward across TX to AZ or further, checking out the co-ops as we go to see if we want to get on a waiting list. In the spring, we will 'probably' slowly head up the west coast as far as WA, and over to Spokane for a vist (probably sometime next summer). After Spokane - no idea yet.

QuiltinCats First Giveaway!
Don't forget to stop by Sandy's blog.  She reviewed My Memories Suite v2 Scrapbook digital software and found it to be very user friendly.  She was given two downloadable softwares.  One for herself and one to giveaway.  Anyone can enter.  All you have to do is leave a comment on her blog and you are entered.