What To Do Around Deming, NM? Plenty!

Travel Day to Deming, New Mexico It is scary to think about the signs along the freeway (and highways, it turns out) about the blowing dust in this area. There are several signs in order and they tell you to not stop in the driving lane, turn off lights, feet off the brake, stay buckled up with seat belt. The dust storms must be horrible. Checked in at Dream Catcher Campground. We were very surprised there were just a few RVs here. We thought it would be packed because of the time of season and people leaving. Nope. Plus the lady in the office said people only stay here one night. That is a shame – there is so much to do around here! We got set up and headed out to eat.

We decided to check out Adobe Deli Restaurant, recommended highly by our friend, Wendi, when she traveled through here. It is out in the boonies. Then we come upon three large, rectangle buildings. Each building has a lot of vehicles in front. We didn’t see a sign labeling the buildings and wondered where to go. We head over to them and then Kevin sees a sign for Adobe Deli and a flashing neon-type sign pointing to the building we thought wasn’t it. We walked through a narrow slit through a chain linked fence. In the yard is all sorts of stuff and lots of funny signs around. The door handle is a rifle! We walked in and the foyer floor is covered in coins and laminated. We stand there to wait for a hostess and no one shows up. We look to the left and there is a huge room with people eating at tables. We stepped in and a guy waiter greeted us and set us to a table. Now this room: it is dark with no windows. There is a patio heater going. There is the biggest TV screen, like a canvas sheet showing Rodeo TV. All around it is like a museum! Taxidermy animals, antiques, windmill, etc. The place was really clean. I had French dip and let me tell you – it wasn’t the slice “fake” meat from a deli, it was real steak! Kevin had a burger and thought it was fabulous. Rated: We Would Have Never Stopped At This Place If We Didn’t Have A Recommendation By Someone We Trust And Now We Want To Come Back Tomorrow! Now, let me tell you…the history really got our curiosity up! So on the way home, (footnote 1) I googled and found out some neat things. This building used to be a school for 12 kids.  More history AND, still more history of Adobe Deli

In my research to find things to do here, I came upon City of Rocks State Park. Now, there is a City of Rocks National Preserve in Idaho that we have been to. There the rocks are much taller and are world renown with rock climbers. City of Rocks SP is about 40 minutes north of us. It is 1230 acres. As you drive there, you can see the flat land with sagebrush and then suddenly there are these tall rocks. At the visitor center we saw a sign that said these rocks were from a volcano. The eruption was 1000 times bigger than Mt St Helens eruption in 1980. We went outside and walked around. The rocks are hard; you can see where they have splintered off. Large metal picnic tables allow people to enjoy a picnic.

Paths are marked with rocks. And then we saw campsite right in along and next to the rocks! Can you see the campers in the picture above? Would’t that be cool?! The sites we saw have these nice picnic tables and trash cans. We then drove the loop and saw the small campground that has electric and water. The picnic tables are on concrete and are covered with nice metal shade. We would stay here next time. I looked it up later: $30 a night with the hook ups and $15 dry. We would have to be careful to pick a site for 36 ft HOWE (footnote 2) amongst the rocks but we definitely fit in the campground. We wanted to keep driving so let’s go north and then back around. Great decision!

Kevin mentioned how flat the land is with mountain ranges along the edges. We like seeing the sage brush, too. And then, the landscape changed. What we first noticed was what looked like a large earthen dam with cranes around. But that didn’t seem right. As we passed one gate we say the sign of tailings. OH, must be a mine around here. I had looked and saw Silver City is just up the road; it has a silver mine museum (closed today). Then we saw a huge mountain that had been scraped up. Soon we were in Bayard and learned from Autio (footnote 3) that this was and is a mining area. We got on Hwy 152 and saw a pull off and took it. There we could look into the open copper mine. And guess what? They were working! We knew how big the trucks are from our visits to Bingham Kennecott Copper Mine in Utah. This is the Santa Rita Copper Mine and is one of the oldest in the country. It produces copper and molybdenum, whatever that is! HA Sometimes, gold, too. Families lived in the community of Santa Rita. At first they didn’t realize it was built right on top of ore that was very valuable. So in the 1950s the whole town had to be relocated so that the Santa Rita Mine could keep getting bigger. Right now, the open pit mine is more than a mile across and deeper than 1600 ft. We continued on Hwy 152; this road went through Gila National Forest, along Black Range.

It was so fun – reminded us a lot of Utah! Steep drops off the road, twisty turns, elevation 8200 ft. It took about 2 hours to drive and it was a highlight. We even saw pine trees and Ponderosa Pines; you can still see pass them and through them to the mountains and views around. At Emory Pass there is a great pull out with information signs. Looking down off the mountains was great to behold. We marveled at all the landscapes we had just been through and then back to flat land with sage brush ringed around with mountains.

We come into the “village” of Hatch. Now, this is where Hatch chilies are grown and I buy them canned…mild flavor. We saw the empty fields for them and a lot of producing places and farms. We stopped at Hatch Chili Market. Outside we saw lots of dried chili peppers hung on strings.

Kevin asked the guy where to eat and he said Sparkys. It was across the street. We pulled up the building, saw a sign that said Sparkys Parking and parked there. But when we went to open the door, it was locked and looked like remodeling was being done. Oh well. Let’s go down the road and find something else. As we drove the next block, on the other side of the street we see a sign Sparkys Parking. And then, there it was. An string of old buildings that is now the restaurant. So what did we do? We drove around the block and parked in the exact same spot we had just be in. HAHA We walked to the place and inside was overwhelming displays of all sorts of old signs and old things like Burger Boy, for example. We quickly saw we turn to the right and order at the counter. I had chili queso smothered over grilled chicken and fries. Kevin had a double green chili burger and fries. While waiting, we looked around. It was like being at Adobe Deli, in the fact that you keep looking and see more things to see! The food, oh why gosh, was so spicy to us! But we ate it; it was good. At first I said this was a “one and done” restaurant but Kevin said he really liked it and would go back. Later I thought I would like to go back, too. LOL Rated: Next Time Ask If They Can Cover The Burger With Just 1/2 The Amount Of Green Chilies! What a fun experience.

Deming Luna Mimbres Museum. This place has 25,000 sq ft of history. The ladies working there were very passionate about the place and said they were very proud of all the Native American pottery they have. As well as they should be! There was a lot to see.

There is a doll there that survived the bombing at Hiroshima! Warren Kolloch found it while going through ruble. He put the doll in his coat and took it on his ship. After visiting this museum in 1994, they donated the doll. They were/are from Wisconsin.

Holy Cross Sanatorium was open in 1923 for tuberculosis patients. This site was formerly a World War 1 Army Post called Camp Cody. This hospital was one of the largest hospitals in the world for tubercular patients. It had 400 beds, 28 modern buildings covering 320 acres, a small farm, dairy, poultry, ice plant, vegetable gardens, and a Post Office. The place closed in 1938 when a cure became available.

Deming Army Air Field was a bombardier school, one of six, in the early days of WW2. It was built over the Deming Municipal Airport in March 1942. About 8000 cadets here taught here and they learned about high altitude bombing using the Norden Bombsight.

Railroad is what started this town. March 9, 1881 the 2nd transcontinental railroad was connected here. It connected Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad with Southern Pacific. Since the golden spike was use in Utah for the first one, they used a silver spike here.

The people here in Deming are so friendly! Not kidding. They are so nice and happy and it really stood out to us! At the museum the 4 or 5 ladies were so passionate about the place and so happy. At the post office, the lady was kind and happy. The next day we went back to the post office to mail more packages. Got the same lady and still so happy. At the visitor center I mentioned how everyone seems so happy and nice and she was, as well. She said, “That’s my job!” HAHA

Kevin, City Of Rocks SP, Faywood, NM 03/25

1. “Home” is where we park it. Home is our 2022 Alliance Avenue, 36 ft, 5th wheel.

2. “HOWE” is what we named our Alliance Avenue 36-ft 5th wheel. See: Home On WhEels and we pronounce it Howie. We live and travel in it full-time around the country.

3. Autio is an iPhone app that tells all sorts of history and stories about places all over the country. It is narrated and with my iPhone on accessibility, it shows captions of the words being said. So thankful!