THE RANCH, AN ESCAPEES CO-OP PARK, LAKEWOOD, NEW MEXICO

Our Opinion: A friendly, well maintained Escapee Co-op park in a remote area, open to members of the Escapee RV club only. We recommend it to other Escapees traveling in southeastern New Mexico.

Date of Stay: April 19th and 20th, 2008

Weather During Stay: Breezy, partly cloudy and warm when we arrived. Strong winds and high temperatures were in the forecast, and the wind arrived in the afternoon of our second day - VERY strong. Highs were in the upper 80's, lows in the 50's.

Sites: 118 extra-large, level, graveled sites, each with FHU (some 30/50, some 30 amp only). All sites are back-ins. Each lot has a storage shed for the leaseholder. Good electric. We had been forewarned that the water system was being replaced, so we didn’t use park water. Unobstructed view of the sky for satellite dish at most sites.

Rate: Current rate for daily rental is $14/night, plus electric at $0.08 per Kwh.

Phone/radio/TV: Verizon phones on Extended Network, 2-3 bars on analog it appears. Aircard on National Access Roaming, about the speed of dial-up. Park offers FREE WiFi, which we used. TV antenna picks up several channels. No NPR stations available. Edited 5/18/08 based on reader reports: NPR available - maybe 98.7?

Elevation/Landscape/Terrain: Flat, flat, flat scrubby desert terrain (Chihuahuan) at 3,320’ elevation. Sparse shade if any.

Lighting: Wonderful! Very dark at night.

Favorite Sites: We don’t have a favorite here… the available sites are remarkably similar. For this stay, we just cared about orientation - we wanted the big front window to face north - and that our site had 50 amps, as the forecast calls for temperatures in the upper 80’s. We were in site 5.

Hiking/Walking: Not much. You can loop around the park, and a few dirt double-tracks head out a short distance into the unpopulated expanse surrounding the park. Walking here is for exercise, not for interest.

Special Features: The Ranch House, the clubhouse here, has a lovely veranda with a dozen rocking chairs: a large, well-equipped kitchen; pool table; book exchange; video and DVD library; exercise room, a refrigerator stocked with ice cream and snacks on the honor system…and a daily 4 pm happy hour. Lots of wildlife (bunnies, roadrunners, coyotes, birds). The residents maintain the park very well and a justifiably proud of it. Carlsbad Caverns are within "daytrip" range.