Let’s go to Lake Caballo for a few days!
I clean out the front area of the PTV (Perfect Tow Vehicle) before packing up my new mat, the camp chair, side table, and the crew. I hitch up and make a stop at Walmart for supplies before heading south to Lake Caballo State Park. It’s good to be on the move again. It’s a short trip to Caballo. There’s a campground at the lake and another alongside the Rio Grande.
I choose the riverside campground below the dam.
The Caballo Dam on the Rio Grande
It’s a lot different than Elephant Butte State Park. (This is where my ignorance of Southwestern trees and plants annoys me. It limits my ability to describe what it’s like here.) The biggest difference is the number of trees. They grow along the river bank and are scattered across the campground.
Our bovine campground greeter
As I circle the campground looking for an electric site, I notice a small herd of cattle . . . in the campground!
One cow is near the road and stands staring at us as we drive by.
Spike goes crazy, hopping up and down on the bench seat, barking his fool head off. He probably thinks it’s a very large dog as he has no experience with cattle.
I find a lightly shaded site with a picnic table under a shelter.
We have a pretty campsite. The shelter, table, and pen are to the left side of photo.
It’s a gravel pull-through which turns out to be close to level. I see there’s a Casita just like mine in the next campsite!
Casita neighbors!
The breeze is pleasantly cool as I set up camp. The crew waits impatiently in their pen. I hurry because I know they will erupt into howls and barks if I don’t walk them soon.
Not long into our walk, we are greeted by two friendly horses!
Two very friendly campers!
I want to see the river. There are shelters all along it, as well as plenty of trees, some with massive trunks.
Bridget, just before she stages a sit-in.
Bridget refuses to go down to the river because I have a camera in my hand. She sits under the shelter and will not budge!
She’s played this act before. No one is around this end of the park so Spike and I leave her there. What a pill.
The river is low, of course. I wonder if the fishing is good because the fish are concentrated in less area. Some big ones jump. Spike performs his usual ritual and lies down in the water for a bit of relaxation.
Spikey soaking in the Rio Grande
Back at our campsite, I put the crew in their pen with a water bowl.
I sit in my camp chair with a glass of water to relax alongside them. In a few moments along comes a gentleman with a big hello. Joe and his wife, Nancy, are camping in the Casita next door. He’s a retired physicist and his wife is a retired nurse. They reared their children in Pennsylvania and have lived the past ten years or so in Albuquerque.
They picked up their Casita at the Rice factory one month before I did.
They also chose the same model, a Liberty Deluxe. After chatting for about twenty minutes, Joe runs over to his Casita. He comes back and invites me to their campsite for a stir-fry supper! I move half of the crew’s pen over to their campsite. Spike and Bridget are quiet throughout dinner. I forget all about them as the dinner conversation engages me.
As darkness falls over the campground, Nancy leads me into their Casita to show some of her storage solutions, giving me some great ideas. I thank them for dinner, we say goodnight, and as I gather up the crew and their pen, Joe advises me he saw two skunks walking past his trailer last night, “So be careful!”
What a great day!
A foothill of the Caballo Mountains
I like this camp! I’m looking forward to tomorrow morning when the crew and I will explore the campground further. 
rvsue
Wow! One hundred followers!
Thank you for subscribing to rvsue and her canine crew.
rvsue and her canine crew 