We are now in New Mexico

Ok. So here is the update. We learned that staying at RV parks is not our favorite way to travel. We were not only smaller than all of the other trailers, we were so much smaller that the next largest was at least 2 or 3 times larger than we were. Many people stopped by and told us that they thought our trailer was cute, but they did not know how they could get by. Well, the reason we can get by is that we usually have a lot of our stuff on the outside of the trailer and it is not possible to do this in trailer parks. We have decided that we prefer to stay in state campgrounds. They are not only cheaper, but they are more what we like.

We visited Kartchner Caverns in Arizona. OMG. It was truly amazing. It will be one of the highlights of our trip. We learned about the geology of this area and got to see live and growing stalactictes. It was awesome. There was a very nice campground outside of the caverns and if we ever come back to this area I would prefer to camp in that campground rather than in the RV park.

In the afternoon we went to the Chiricahua National Monument. This was a recommendation from one of the women doing her laundry in the RV park. (This is a very good way to get recommendations - just start talking to people.) This was an awesome sight. The rocks from the volcanoes were huge and beautiful and I cannot recreate this in pictures, but I took many many. There was a short walk around the site, and Bob was not able to take the walk because he kept running out of breath, so I took many pictures. This was a very worthwhile trip. I now have a much better understanding of the formation of Arizona - and New Mexico.

We left the RV park and Arizona and headed for New Mexico. Our plan was to go to Columbus New Mexico and stay at the Pancho Villo state park. But the winds were very strong on the way there. There was a sandstorm so bad that they actually had shuttle vehicles to lead us through. When we got to the park we learned that the bathrooms were closed except on weekends (in order to save money). The combination of the winds and the bathrooms discouraged us from staying there - although it did look like a nice park. We left and drove into Deming - about 50 miles away. We decided that we did not want to just park the trailer. We wanted to camp and enjoy the outdoors. All of the RV parks there were narrow sites and we would have had to just stay in the trailer. We decided to keep looking. We headed toward Silver City. On the way we found a nice rest area and almost stayed there. But we decided to try the state park a few miles away called the City of Rocks. I was so gald that we did. It was gorgeous!!! It got very cold that night and we had no electricity and had to get by on our batteries, but it was worth it. In the morning we got up and took some walks. The elevation was about 5000 ft. and that made it very hard for Bob to breathe. If that had not been the case we would have stayed there for a couple of days. But we took our walks and then moved on. The rangers there were very helpful in directing us to other parks.

We drove to Silver City. This is a very artsy city with a history of mining and the home of Billy the Kid. Many mines in the area. There was a small and cute museum and many shops with "ART" noted on the sidewalk. There were local artists and some very lovely pieces, but more than we wanted to pay. On the other hand, we got a good recommendation for lunch and had the best Mexican food that I have had in a long time.

We left Silver City and drove over some very high and windy mountains and got to Truth or Consequences New Mexico. At the recommedation of the ranger at City of Rocks, we are staying at Elephant Butte state park. This is a very large park right on the Rio Grande river. (Did you know that the Rio Grande was in New Mexico? I did not.) It is a very nice park and allows us to put our stuff outside the way we like. We went into town to buy groceries and our only option was either a very small and expensive local market or WalMart. Yuck. We just could not go into Walmart.

We will stay here for a few days and then move on - looking for more good recommendations. this is great!!!!!