DOG is our Co-pilot

Hidden Valley RV Park, Deming, NM

Feb. 27 - Mar. 12, 2013

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PETS: And Scott didn't want me to save this little guy. He can be a softie. Renny could not move any further onto Scott. Renny was tethered, so his movement was limited.

We took Renny for his first heartworm treatment. Another $90. added to the almost $300. vet bill already.

We had quite the scare on Thursday. I was taking the trio on their morning walk. Devin is living up to the Irish Setter crazy, wild, hyper reputation! There are too many smells here in NM. There are pack rats, that burrow in the dirt and drag all kinds of things in their cubby hole with them. We haven't seen them yet, but we see their handy work. There are quail running around and teasing Devin in the trees. There are small rabbits and huge jack rabbits that Devin cannot resist trying to get to.

Once Devin sees a rabbit, he starts screeching, howling, pulling and jumping. He's very difficult to control and keep quiet. This has gotten little Renny upset, which makes Renny start barking and jumping on Devin. Utter chaos! This is the only time we've heard Renny bark. Luckily, so far, he is not a "little yappy dog".
Well, crazy Devin was pulling and pulling and ..........FREEDOM! His prong collar unhooked! GONE~! No more barking, just running and out of sight. He has been loose before, but not strayed far.  But this time he disappeared! You'd think in the desert I'd be able to keep track of him. Nope. Vanished. I FREAKED!!!! There is a single wire electric fence surrounding the park. Since I did not hear Devin, I had visions of him taking off and being decapitated by the wire and that's why there was no barking.  So, a decision, do  I continue looking dragging Lyla and little Renny with me, or do I go back to the RV and get Scott to help? HELP!!!! Scott & I go out to search with just Lyla. We split up. Woo hoo! I saw a flash of auburn. Yep, that's Devin! He's alive and in the campground! I call out "Deviiiiiiiin, coooooooookie". He comes over to me, but has no interest in the cookie. He flops down spreads out on the cool dirt panting. I guess his 10 minutes of freedom wore him out.  All is well. I will not be using the prong collar anymore. Back to his harness.
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RV LIFE: 

We left San Antonio, TX on Tuesday.  Made it to Fort Stockton RV park, still in TX. Damn! Texas is a big state! Scott did not sleep well at our overnight. No reason, just something Scott has to deal with sometimes. So in the morning, we knew we had to get to at least El Paso, TX to refuel. If Scott was too tired, we'd stop in El Paso for another overnight. I don't like doing consecutive overnights. It is just an unsettled feeling. Why bother setting things up just to pack up in the morning. Our hopes were to make it to Deming, NM.
We arrived in El Paso around 1:30pm. Scott felt fine. I felt fine. The dogs were doing great. Onward! I can do more knitting! Time flies while Scott drives and I get to listen to a book on tape and knit.
El Paso is so congested! Very built up and more shopping plazas still being built. Highways criss-crossing over each other. Oiy~! Too much activity for me.
We were stopped by Border Control just past El Paso on I-10. No big deal. They asked if we were US Citizens, we said Yes. They let us go. That's it. We arrived in Deming, NM about 3:30pm. Of course the hour back time change helped.
And WHY did we choose Deming, NM? To follow the food of course. Ray S. from our Cedar Creek RV owners' club said there is a great deli in Deming. So we'll be trying that out and of course a review once we stop there.
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RV PARK REVIEW:
Fort Stockton RV Park, Fort Stockton, TX 79735
Our rating 3 out of 5
I'm not reporting a full review since we were just there overnight.
FHU
Pets allowed: The dog run in the brochure has been taken down. I don't know why, since they have the space.
This used to be  KOA. I don't think the new owners are really doing the upkeep that should be done at the park. There are quite a few permanent residents. Some have nice lots, others are questionable.
No landscaping at all. A very ugly park.
The highlight of this park is the restaurant on site. What a pleasant surprise!
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RESTAURANT REVIEW:
Roadrunner Cafe, Fort Stockton, TX 79735
Our rating 4 out of 5
A very casual and very limited menu. 4 breakfast selections available & 5 dinner selections available. Beer & wine available.
Restaurant is located attached to the park office of Fort Stockton RV Park.
Breakfast is served 7:30 - 9:30am   Dinner is served 5:30 - 7:30pm
There are about 10 tables in this little cafe. One waitress and one cook. Prompt & pleasant service.
For Breakfast:
BISCUIT & GRAVY, SAUSAGE, SCRAMBLED EGGS: $5.95 Very good. Decent light biscuit with typical white pepper gravy. Served with 2 sausages patties which were very good.  I crumbled one patty and mixed with my gravy since I prefer sausage gravy. Scrambled egg was served more like a plain omelet. They were delicious, with the taste of butter it was cooked in still clinging to the eggs.
COFFEE: Coffee was decent. I was expecting it to be terrible.
DOUBLE DOUBLE: This consisted of 2 eggs, 2 sausages, 2 bacon strips and 2 pancakes. $7.95. All was good. I especially LOVED the pancakes. Light, fluffy and crispy sweetness around the edges.
For Dinner:
All meals come with mashed potato or french fries, Italian green beans, roll and desert.
MESQUITE COUNTRY-STYLE PORK RIBS: $7.95 This was very good. Seemed to be cooked "crock pot" style.
BREADED CATFISH FILET: This was ok. I was expecting deep fried catfish. This may have been baked.
FRENCH FRIES: Very average. Better to get the mashed potatoes.
MASHED POTATOES: Yum! This were REAL mashed potatoes, not fro a box. They were delicous and came with brown or white gravy.
ITALIAN GREEN BEANS: Seemed canned or overdone, but still better than limp canned green beans that I've had served at "home style" restaurants.
DESERT: Just a tiny scoop of vanilla ice cream with chocolate or strawberry sauce. Nice sweet finish to a decent meal.
We almost stayed another day, just eat there again.