Blogs from New Mexico, United States, North America - page 5

blog 04-01-19 April Fool's Day I woke up to a red glow on the eastern horizon and frost on my car. The storm blew through during the night leaving the air clear, crisp and cold. But once the sun came out it warmed up quickly. The day started slowly and never did really pick up much steam. After breakfast I headed to T or C (Truth or Consequences) for an exciting shopping trip to Walmart, a camper's heaven. As I pulled up to the parking lot I noticed that the entire lot had covered parking, how strange was that. The covers as it turned out, were solar panels to power the store, which they did completely. The state has a plan to become completely independent of fossil fuels in the next few years so they are ... read more

blog 03-30-19 Cabolla Lake to Elephant Butte Lake Yes, I like camping on or near the water. There are a series of dams on the Rio Grande and 2 of them formed lakes that have become state parks. Elephant Butte is just 25 miles north of Cabolla Lake and a very easy drive. I arrived about 2:30 found my campsite and proceeded to be crazy about leveling. Usually it's the front to back that needs to be leveled but this site was off left to right. That meant that I had to use the boards for the rear duels and it's a little tricky mixing the boards and the blocks. But after several adjustments, in and out of the cab, on and off different number of blocks, I got it. This time I was the entertainment. ... read more

We got an early start from the Wahweep Campground, it would be a long haul to Taos, if we got that far at all. The route we were taking would be all two lanes across the top of Arizona, with a brief detour up into Utah to take that famous drive through Monument Valley. I had done that before on my Porsche trip a few years ago, but I was surprised to learn that Cathy had never seen it. We made good time on open roads, and there was plenty to see. It's funny to think that geographic features that would be celebrated and famous were they situated back east are completely overlooked here, to travel here is to be visually spoiled. In due time we entered into that famous valley of red rock mesas. Maybe ... read more

blog 03-25-19 City of Rocks SP Today Pat and I had plans to travel north to the third state park in our area. It's name is City of Rocks and it is about a square mile right out of the Flintstones, it could pass for Bedrock. We went to the visitor's center and read some information about the park and saw a short film on how the park came to be. It was formed initially when a volcano erupted and left a layer of rock that ultimately was worn away from erosion. It wore away unevenly and left individual rocks standing, some in clusters. The campground is carved into the rock formations and each site is unique. We walked around for a while, in and around the rocks imagining what the different shapes represent. Our imaginations ... read more

blog 03-22-19 We Made it Back Thursday was a day to catch up on necessary household chores, laundry, grocery shopping and a little cleaning. Friday morning Pat and I left to go on our adventure. We headed south to Columbus and drove through the Poncho Villa State Park to get a feel for the park to see if staying there was an option at some future date. Columbus is the site of the first invasion of the continental United States by a foreign country. In 1916 Poncho Villa and a band of men crossed the border and attacked Camp Furlong. Several days later General Pershing led an army of men across the border to punish Poncho Villa but they were not successful. The reason for the raid was never known. Our prime destination was just down ... read more