NOTE: For this post, we travel back in time, before all the COVID-19 stuff began, when we just dealt with setbacks as they came along. At the time, we thought this was a major inconvenience. Now we long for those days when a couple phone calls can get you out of a jam. We were trying something new: Using an app to book a couple nights of camping on private property. It’s like renting a house through an online app.
LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO
This was a first. We hope it’s the last.
It was mid-November, and we had just spent about a week in Albuquerque visiting a friend and seeing the sites.
After a pleasant drive to Las Cruces, we got to our site, a little south of the city, just far enough west from the noise of Interstate 10.
We knew that we would have limited power, just 110 volts, and we would have to fill up our fresh water tank for a few days of low-cost camping. The price was half of what you pay at an RV park.
We were eager to try out this app which links up owners of private land with RVers. It was going to be our first such stop, almost boondocking. When you stop at RV parks you usually end up with a neighbor or two and their campers are usually 10 feet from yours.
At this spot, our only neighbors would be the folks who rented the house on the property, and they were 60 yards away. Driving about a mile down a gravel road, we passed homes that had sage and cactus in their sandy yards where you might expect grass and gardens. We stopped inside the gate so I could walk down the hill to our parking place next to a few small horse pens that hadn’t been used for a while. The sand was deep but had tracks from other vehicles so we didn’t worry about getting stuck.
After we parked and hooked up the power cord, we found the water pressure was too low to fill our fresh water tank. We began having doubts about the place, but we decided we could get water for cooking and drinking, and we still had a little water in our fresh tank.
Our issues might have been resolved if the owner of the property lived on site. But that wasn’t the case. We were asked to respect the privacy of the renters, and we hadn’t seen them yet. About dark, we saw a pickup roll past our turn and up to the house. Meanwhile I took off to find a store to fill up our water containers and some fast food. I came back and it appeared we would have an uneventful night.
About 10 p.m. we blew a breaker, probably because I was using the microwave while our little floor heater took the edge off the desert chill. Back up the hill I went to find the breaker. The one marked “corral” was tripped, so I flipped it back on.
Then I noticed the gate. Closed. And it was locked!
That brought up a couple of possibilities. The crime rate in the area might make locking the gate a good idea. Or, the folks renting the house had left, and locked the gate behind them. There were two locks, one needing a key, and the other, a combination lock. Wouldn't it be great, we thought, if someone had shared that combination with us!
It was getting late, so I went back to the camper and told Angie about the gate. We didn’t want to disturb the folks in the house, so we watched some TV and researched the local attractions. Surely, we thought, the folks who locked the gate would be back and we could get a key. We looked forward to going to see the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum and then maybe going to the Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park and the Museum of Nature and Science. The jewel would be White Sands National Monument an hour away.
The gates were still locked in the morning and it was time to disturb the residents of the house. Trailers and loaders and building materials were spread out across the property, so the house was clearly the home office of a construction business.
But this was Saturday, and no one was around. And the gate was still locked, and there was no other way out.
By now, Angie was calling the property owner and leaving messages. I studied the gate some more and saw footprints leading away from the gate. So now it’s 1:30 on a Saturday, and we’re getting a little anxious.
The owner still wasn’t responding, and we called the sheriff’s office to see if they could help. No luck. They couldn’t come out and cut off a lock because there was no crime committed. We just wanted it on record that we were planning to have the lock cut.
The afternoon ticked by, and we assumed that the folks who locked the gate could be gone for days. Our tourist plans were fading fast.
Another call to the app’s hotline. “I’ve heard of being locked out but never being locked in,” the staffer said, chuckling. He apologized because he couldn’t reach the property owner either.
So by mid-afternoon our frustration was growing, so we booked a spot at a local RV park, and hooked the camper to the pickup. We called a locksmith, drove up to the gate and waited.
The locksmith and his wife appeared mildly annoyed that we interrupted a family outing, but within minutes he had the padlock open. We were free! I went to place the padlock on top of the gate post. Or I thought I was. The steel post was hollow, and the lock clanged on the side as it tumbled through to the bottom. I left a note to show where the lock could be found.
We paid the locksmith $75, hoping to be reimbursed.
We enjoyed our stay in Las Cruces, but it was more expensive than we had hoped. The RV park was clean, and the nearby streets were not too busy, so I got some miles in on the bike. And we made it to see White Sands for an afternoon.
The property owner called and apologized for the inconvenience. He had told us the people living in his house knew we would be there all weekend. Most likely they had reflexively locked the gate, as they had so many times before.
Driving away from the site, we felt the relief of freedom and laughed about the experience. But we would not forget the feeling of helplessness. We were then and still are a long way from becoming advisors for RV living, but now we had one piece of advice.
If you drive into an off-the-grid camping site and pass a gate. Find out if it is going to be locked, and if it is, get a key. Sooner rather than later.
We continue to watch spring roll by here in beautiful southwest Kansas, and we’re trying to make the best of it. Stay healthy everyone. We’re all in this together.
After being set free, we were able to take in the sights, including White Sands National Monument. This wonder will require another trip out west.
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