2012-4 City of Rocks State Park, New Mexico

2013-4

New Mexico
City of Rocks State Park

Arizona to New Mexico map

Campground:  City of Rocks.  Cost, paid $225 to camp for a full year in New Mexico state parks.  With an additional cost of $4 per night for electric sites.   Primitive sites and water/electric sites.  I plan on staying about 40 days at the state parks, making the daily camping fee round out to about $5.65 a night.

Bowie AZ

I’m back on the road with a smile so wide it reaches from the drivers side to the passenger side of the truck.  I had planned to stay at a small campground in Bowie AZ just before crossing into New Mexico.  Limiting my driving the first day out on the road to less than a couple of hours.  I was ready to fill up truck and pulled off the exit ramp, drove past the campground I’d picked out (cheap) but continued on through town.  Well, it wasn’t much of town, actually there was no town remaining in this sparsely populated corner of Arizona.  I stopped to take a picture, check out the gas station, diesel was $5 a gallon so I decided, what the heck, continue on into New Mexico.

not to worry, it'll be fixed before you know it.

Traffic along interstate 10 was moderate with lots and lots of semi-trucks but with everyone pretty much going just a tad over 65 even with posted signs of 75 mph, it was smooth sailing.  The occasional vehicle doing 75 or better.  At Deming I headed north to my stop at the City of Rocks State Park.  Upon entering the park, they had the right lane closed to force one onto a dirt loop for a pay station.  I pulled off, but realized just ahead the rangers office/visitor center was open and why use the pay station.  Crunch, scrape, opps.  Well that protruding fence didn’t have a chance.   Soooo, after 9 years on the road, this is the first time I’ve done something like this.  Minor damage to the slide out trim work and skirting.  I’ve got a call into a shop in Alb. To have it fixed.  Not upset particularly, after all, life is not perfect and it can be fixed easily.  I could even bend back the trim and patch it a bit, but will instead have it repaired professionally.

Here at City of Rocks, I’ve signed up for the yearly camping sticker ($225 out of state res.)  Since I’ll be spending at least 2 months in the state, I should save quite a bit on camping fees and have the opportunity to visit many of New Mexico’s great state parks.  $4 extra each night for elect sites.

My campsite

Somehow I lucked out getting the only electric site remaining.  I’m at the end of the row and have an expansive view of the New Mexico desert landscape.  Low mesas and a ridge of mountain ranges off in the distance provide a sweeping arid scene.  Imagine, views from all three sides and not another camper in sight.

City of Rocks, New Mexico 

one of the awesome dry camping sites

view from my picture window... wow

The setting is typical of many state parks.  A Couple miles off of the lonely county road, meaning it’s quiet, serene country living.  City of Rocks is a natural occurring rock formation that was created oh about 30-35 million years ago with the dramatic event of  volcanic eruptions that they say were 1,000 times more powerful than when Mt St Helen erupted in 1980. The various layers of lava eventually cooling and forming harder pillars and stone.  Over those 30+ million years later with erosion from wind sand and rain what remains is this city of rocks.  Many are concentrated in one area creating avenues between the large boulders much like a city.  From my campsite, I look out on the expansive desert landscape and see individual boulders the size of a house resting in solitude as if waiting for a giant to come along and roll them like marbles across the landscape.

Indian grinding holes 

Not a bad way to start out my adventures for the season ahead.

What am I reading on my Kindle Fire?  Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die, by Willie Nelson.  Willie is one of my favorite country singers and it was quite a rambling story he tells of his 3 families, actually 4 if you count a daughter he recently found out about.  I think the thing that I got most out of the book is what an awesome family man and father he is.  Having been married three times, he’s been able to blend all the families together and remain close to all of his children.  He’s a great song writer, singer and has written a number of books along the way.  He still performs live concerts all over the country and world and hasn’t slowed down hardly at all.  Did I mention he’s in his 70’s.

Silver City Museum 

Spring is blooming

Silver City NM 

I did take a day trip to Silver City, about a 40 minute drive from City of Rocks.  It’s still a mining town but is also a university town as well.  Though I didn’t see much of that evidence while driving around the downtown.  I won’t say there were homeless around town, as I think they were just a lot of scruffy looking dudes with scraggly beards and old clothes.  Maybe they were wanabee hippies but I think they missed the mark.  The town is considered a great place to retire too due to cheap living and mild winter temps.

I visited the main museum in a Victorian house that was also at one time a boarding house, health resort, City Hall and Fire Station.   The attendant let us know that none of the rooms had any original wall paper, flooring, or furnishings and yet there were no photos permitted anywhere.  Not sure what they were trying to protect.  Maybe some of the exhibits or poster displays.

There are many great places in the area to visit including the Gila Cliff dwellings, but since I’d seen many of the regional attractions, I just walked and drove around town to get a better feel of the area.

I’ll spend another day here at City of Rocks and then head on up to Truth or Consequences and Elephant Butte State Park.  Feels great to be back out on the road exploring the country once again.

Full picture albums on PICASA.

2013-3 Leaving Tucson Arizona

2013-3

Exiting Arizona
New Mexico Here I Come

Barn Owl

Weeks before heading on out, the full timer begins to secure things down that have been taken out during the long winter months stay.  For me that involves repacking all the glassware and ceramic dishes.  Putting cozies that my sister Ann has made for me  to wrap all the stemware and bottles so they don’t break as I head on down the road.  Locating the bungee cords used to strap down the bedroom tv to the wall and securing all the overhead cabinet doors throughout the camper.  Finally organizing the outside storage bins and making room for all the patio chairs in storage bays and adding air to all the tires if needed.

Sneaking in a trip to Tubac AZ with Tom and Christine, where I found a great SW ring I'd been wanting

the owner of the shop that I bought my SW ring from

this old truck is still being used to haul all that Mexican pottery

Tom and Christine 

with my facial hair before I shave it off for the summer

the latest Mexican folk art, large metal flowers

The fun part begins when I start planning the first couple legs of my summer journey.  I had a couple different paths I could take this year.  One leading back through Arizona and then east to Albuquerque or taking a more southerly route through New Mexico before heading north to Alb and Santa Fe.  I’ll be taking the latter, even though I’ll miss visiting some friends in Arizona along the way.

I use my Microsoft Streets and Trips software on my computer to map the route and determine where I’ll stop each night.  It’s the best way to determine mileage.  Then I go to my blog and use a couple of the web links like Passport America, Rv Reviews, and All-Stays to find some good campgrounds along the way.  This year I plan on staying at many of New Mexico’s many State Parks along the way.  They have very reasonable camping rates and I’ll purchase their yearly out of stater pass for $225.  Which will let me into the state parks and camping for that one price plus an additional $4 per night if I get a site with electric.

Final parties to say goodbye

My last week at Desert Trails RV Park has been hectic.  Final goodbyes with the Writers Club and Travel Club.  Teaching a one day course in Creating a Blog.  Which was not an easy task as it can be a bit complicated going through all of the initial setup steps in creating ones Blog layout and design.  It ended up being a three hour session.  A few parties to attend as we all gather around to say sad goodbyes and wish each other well on our travels and journeys back home.  The Photography Club had it’s end of year Photo Art Show which turned out great and was very well attended.  A few of us had matted and framed photo’s for sale and I was honored to have a few of mine sell during the show. Including two new ones that I’d just recently had matted and framed.  Finally I had to run around doing errands like getting oil changes for the truck, picking up prescriptions and even got my 5 year pneumonia shot.  Since I don’t have a spleen, I need to get the shot every couple of years.

Six boards like this one were one display

about 150 people came to our photo show

display with some of my framed and matted photos for sale

Then it’s time to complete the last of the packing.  Loading up the patio chairs, storing the outdoor carpets, taking down the patio lights, closing up the camper, hitching up and finally the day comes to move on out.  I’m back on the road and the next report will be from the open road.

The next adventure has started and I’m glad your once again on the journey with me.

2013-2 Preparing to Head on Out

2013-2

Tucson Arizona, Desert Trails RV Park

Preparing to Head on Out.  ETD:  19 March 2013

It’s getting closer to the date to start my spring and summer adventures back out on the open road.  The winter months in Tucson this year were pretty chilly and we didn’t have enough warm evenings for those wonderful happy hours around the campfire.  A wave of flue, the crud and colds and sniffles filled the air for months as well.  I was under the weather for a full month, a real bummer for sure.

Snow dusted the cactus recently in Tucson

The snow lasted all of two hours

quite a site in sunny Arizona

But the time is getting closer with each day to head on out and the travel bug has once again caught me in it’s grip.  My first destinations will be in New Mexico where I plan to spend up to two  months exploring that great state from top to bottom.  I plan on signing up for their yearly park pass at $250 for out of stators which gets me into all the state parks and camping for that yearly price.  Elect is an additional $4 a night.  What a great deal for camping and exploring all those great State Parks in NM.

I was hoping to meet up with fellow campers here at Desert Trails along the way, but they have obligations to head on back to Washington State and won’t be able to explore other states along their route back home.

Photo Clubs trip to De Grazia Museum

I’ve been leading the RV Travel Club this winter at Desert Trails and we’ve had a wonderful time sharing stories about states we’ve visited, places to stay and things to see and do in each one.  Had an open forum style this past week which was just a blast to share and learn from others.

De Grazia chapel

The dynamics of wintering in one location is quite different than being on the open road.  I get a chance to meet new people, gain friendships that often last for years to come.  The only part that’s a downer is that I have to move on down the road eventually and it’s not easy leaving all those friends behind.  Thank goodness for e-mails, blogs and face-book to keep us all in touch with each other.

A Trip to the Gem and Mineral Show, Tucson AZ

Here is a list of a few places I’m planning on heading to in New Mexico in the coming months:

City of Rocks State Park, near Silver City

Elephant Butte Lake State Park, near Truth or Consequences

Ruidoso

Albuquerque

Cochiti Lake Reservoir, near Santa Fe

Chaco Cultural NHP

This a just a partial list of all the many places I hope to get to in the coming months.  From there, I’ll most likely begin to head north and east with possible visits to my sisters in northern and southern Michigan and possible stops to visit relatives in Minnesota.

Possible other locations for this summers travels include Wisconsin, stays in Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and North Carolina.

Who knows how long it will take to travel to all these destinations as I plan this year on staying in each area for longer periods of time, exploring and discovering all those hidden places along the way.

I’m looking forward to sharing those stories with you.  So all you arm chair travelers, get your arm chairs fluffed up and ready for the next adventure.  Oh and let me know what great adventures you have planned for this coming season.  Happy Travels!