Off to Vegas!! Las Vegas!! In New Mexico!! We headed over the Raton Pass which had lots of warning signs for animals but all we saw were some antelope on the other side.
We drove on to Vegas to the KOA which sits in the southern part of Vegas in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. We still have smokey skies due to all the wildfires. With the pandemic going on and the New Mexico Governor’s rules during this time we were basically just doing a drive-thru of the state. Our original 2 weeks of state parks reservations had been canceled due to the states orders so it was a brief trip which we tried to enhance a bit???
RV Park: Las Vegas KOA
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Site: 5 – Pull-thru
Cost: $50.83
Services: FHU
Comments: A fine RV park for an overnight. There were not many people when we arrived early in the afternoon but by evening it was full. Most people departed in the morning. It is right off I-25 for so it was a perfect spot for a quick overnight.
COVID Awareness: 7 out of 10. I had to go into the office to register (even though we had paid for the online reservation). KOA insists that you come in to get your map, car passes, etc. The employees were wearing masks. I didn’t see any sign regarding number of people allowed in the building (many places say only one allowed at a time) and I did not notice any social distancing “circles”. Check-in was rather slow yet they were very polite.
Las Vegas is off I-25 and just south of Raton. The city has a little over 14,000 inhabitants and used to be a stop along the Sante Fe Trail. It is known for railways, cowboy reunions, rough rider reunions, and outlaws, amongst other things. At one time during the railroad era Las Vegas was one of the largest cities in the American South West. We took a short drive around town to explore the town with its great architecture and its rich history.
And, of course, what else is Las Vegas famous for? You guessed it …. the filming of Longmire. If you don’t know Longmire was a TV series which has quite a cult following including us. The Longmire TV show is based off of Craig Johnson’s books. Longmire is set in a fake town called Durant, Wyoming which the author based off of Buffalo, Wyoming but the filming of the TV show is in and around Las Vegas (and a few other places in New Mexico). We had to go visit some of the Longmire locations while we were here! Note: S is for Season and E is for Episode as noted in the photos below.
If you are a movie buff then there are a variety of other movies filmed in the area such as Easy Rider, No Country for Old Men, Wyatt Earp, All The Pretty Horses, Astronaut Farmer (which is so so bad it was actually good), etc.
We still need to visit some of the other Longmire locations in Santa Fe and of course, Longmire’s cabin in Valles Caldera National Preserve. Maybe next time.
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