Billy the Kid Museum, Fort Sumner, NM

We are headed back to Texas to take care of some dental stuff and since we were coming out of Albuquerque, decided to take a somewhat direct route east. We are not in a big hurry but this route is one of the shorter ones so it cuts down on mileage. As usual, we will boondock for 3-4 nights to get to Lincoln Park (north of Dallas).

We planned to stay the first night out in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. This was about a 150-mile drive and Fort Sumner is the home of the Billy the Kid Museum—my kind of place. I called a friend who had recently visited here and he told me that the Museum apparently owned a tiny RV park located a few blocks from the Museum. This park had no on-site management but you picked your spot, put your money in one of their envelopes with your information, and tucked it in one of those "Iron Rangers." It was $20.00/night for full (3-way) hookups (50 amp, water, and sewer). The sites were flat, gravel, large, easy in and out, and no problem at all.

Okay, one problem, lots of trains not too far away. We have come to believe that an RV park is not authentic unless you can hear a train.

The Billy the Kid Museum is a pleasant surprise. First, it is large with lots of stuff to see. It is at least four times larger than I had guessed. It took us nearly four hours to meander through it.

It is not all "Billy the Kid" stuff. The portion focusing on him was well done and displays ranged from the newspaper accounts to his actual Winchester rifle. There was plenty of reading as well as items to look at.

The other portion was western artifacts ranging from mining to household goods to handguns to bear traps to buggies to a dozen or so antique cars. All well done, displayed well, and explained.

Thinking About RVing…
Here was a small town (or Museum) that operated a tiny (about 6 sites) RV park where you could stay pretty cheap and have all the utilities. That's a good thing. There are a few places that do this but they seem to be pretty hard to locate (look up). After all, what do you search for to find these?

Here's another good one… Brownfield, Texas (next to the New Mexico border on US 380) operates a town-owned RV park with about 8 sites. It's called Coleman Park and has 30 amp and water (and a dump station) but it was free! Free is pretty good these days. You just pull in, find your spot (first come, first served), and hook up. There is no registration. You can stay for four days. Thank them at the Chamber of Commerce (806-637-2564) before you leave.

If you know of free or really low-cost places, drop me an e-mail at ron@aboutrving.com and I will pass them along. They will be appreciated. No, I'm not trying to compile some nationwide list here. Sorry.

Enjoy.

Ron