Caballo Lake State Park

I noticed that a Thanksgiving Airstream Rally was being held at Caballo (CAH-BY-OH) Lake State Park while perusing the latest Blue Beret (Airstream club) magazine. We decided that a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving plus meeting some people from New Mexico would be fun and a good way to learn more about the area. I emailed one of the co-hosts and they replied that they would love to have us.

Furthermore, because it was an Airstream “Buddy” Rally (all makes of RV’s are welcome) we were able to invite our new friends Michael Fullerton and Denise Wilder.

In the end, we were very happy we decided to join the rally!

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Everybody welcomed us warmly. The kindness and hospitality we were shown was overwhelming. We learned where to go in New Mexico and Arizona, what roads to travel, and which roads to avoid. We received invitations to park Shiny at people’s houses.

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Regrettably, I missed pictures of a few people. Co-hosts John & Silvia Blan, Carolyn & Howard Efner, and Neill Freeman’s wife, Nita.

The rally was held at the RV group area of Riverside Campground, one of the several campgrounds that make up Caballo Lake State Park. There was a shelter with 18 picnic tables. All twelve RVs in our group parked around or near the shelter.

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And the turkey dinner on Thanksgiving, my oh my. More than 50 lbs of turkey were cooked. Two turkeys were roasted and one was smoked. There was a cornucopia of side dishes and deserts. Everybody contributed a little something.

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Friday and Saturday night we had leftovers, there were morning pancakes and home baked sweet treats.  We ate well, very well.

Susan and I drove over to another part of the park and walked along the Rio Grande for a mile or so ending up in a pecan orchard. The tress were loaded with pecans and they were falling to the ground. It was just about harvest time I think.

The river was not so grand as this part of the country is experiencing drought conditions. I find it hard to believe that any water is left to flow down along the Texas/Mexican border. Susan did take some nice pictures on our walk though.

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Caballo Lake State Park is about 15 miles south of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico and encompasses a large area above and below Caballo Dam. The dam was built in the late 1930’s and works together with Elephant Butte Dam 25 miles upstream on the Rio Grande River. Together they regulate the release of water in the lower Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico.

There are several campgrounds with developed sites and an almost unlimited number of primitive and undeveloped areas to set up camp, some of them with beautiful views of the lake and mountains.

By the way, did you know that Truth Or Consequences was named after the 1950’s TV show? Read all about it here.

We took a day trip to Lake Valley Ghost Town with it’s abandoned Bridal Chamber Silver Mine and to Hatch, NM which is said to be the Chile Pepper Capital of the World. Those deserve blog posts all to themselves!

Lake Valley Ghost Town

Hatch, New Mexico

Click on the picture below for more pictures of Caballo, NM.