#22: New Mexico: Part 2

Although I had visited Santa Fe in the past, I didn’t remember it well. I wanted to check it out again while I was in the area.

The tricky part with Santa Fe was finding a viable place to camp. For some reason, this was challenging. I’ve been on the road long enough to know what types of places I prefer and what types of places I like to avoid. I prefer national parks, state parks, and national forests (and of course BLM/government land), which are typically tucked away in natural surroundings. These places also attract people who want to camp, as opposed to live. RV parks (for the most part), on the other hand, are often a different vibe. Although parks and national forests AND private RV parks can be hit or miss, many times private RV parks are filled with families, less active people and people residing for months at a time.

The type of campsite that I haven’t mentioned is the “alternative” campsite. What I mean by this is essentially a parking lot somewhere, usually of Walmart, Cracker Barrel, or other types of establishments. In my case, in Santa Fe, this meant a casino parking lot. Yes, that’s right. There were limited “natural” options in Santa Fe, and this casino allowed RV’rs to stay overnight (for free). The parking lot was HUGE, and it worked out perfectly.

I stayed at the Tesuque Casino for two nights, giving me a full day to explore Santa Fe. I drove my car, Airstream in tow, to a few of the areas of the city (I didn’t want to leave the Airstream in the casino parking lot unattended. I parked it on the street, took up two parking spots and simply paid the meter for both spots.). Art is a significant focus of the attractions in Santa Fe (including the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and Meow Wolf). Unfortunately, my interest in select types of art is minimal, but I enjoyed the architecture and history. I walked around the plaza and saw the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. I had Addie with me, so I didn’t visit any galleries, but I was able to pop into a few shops (and enjoy an outside margarita at The Shed).

I left early the next morning to make my way to a town called Truth or Consequences. On the route, was the Petroglyph National Monument, so I broke up the drive by making a trip there to hike and see the petroglyphs.

Truth or Consequences is an interesting place. At the very least, the town has an interesting name. I had reserved a campsite at Elephant Butte Lake State Park, which is probably a lot more bustling in the summer months. I arrived later in the day and made a plan to hike Turtleback Mountain the next day. After a quick coffee at Black Cat Books & Coffee, Addie and I set out to the trailhead.

Since the trailhead was unmarked, it was challenging to locate (I used AllTrails to find this hike). We met a friendly fellow hiker named Michael, who helped us find it, and we ended up hiking the entire trail with him (and his dog, Bella). This trail was only about 4.5 miles roundtrip, but an elevation gain of about 2,000 feet. It took us nearly 5 hours to complete. Michael and I chatted about many things as we hiked - work, relationships, life decisions, meditation - it was nice to have company and listen to engaging life stories from a stranger. Afterward, Addie and I were utterly exhausted and crashed back at the Airstream. Her poor little paw pads got blisters on them. Sadly, I think I may need to subject her to doggie boots....

The following morning I enjoyed coffee with a couple from Vermont who Michael and I had the pleasure of meeting while on our hike. They were also staying at Elephant Butte State Park. They have an interesting story: They live and work in Vermont for the spring and summer and travel in the southwest (mostly New Mexico) during the colder months. There is always an alternative way of living your life!

I hit the road after coffee and headed south to Silver City, NM. I wasn’t planning to, but my GPS took me through the Gila National Forest. That drive, although beautiful, was very annoying. I twisted and turned through switchbacks and curves, in the rain, towing the Airstream. If it were clear skies and I was in a sports car it would have been a different story…

Silver City is an old silver mining town currently noted for outdoor recreation, a mild climate (low humidity, four gentle seasons and 300+ days of sunshine a year), and historic downtown area. From there, I thought about visiting the Gila Cliff Dwellings, but that was a two-hour drive BACK through the Gila National Forest. I did not feel like getting back in the car the next morning (plus, no dogs allowed). Of course, I hemmed and hawed and ultimately decided not to go. Instead, with poor weather, I took a day to relax and briefly tour the historic downtown.

It was in Silver City when I noticed an existing leak in my Airstream had gotten much worse. I had water dripping in the trailer overnight and had no choice but to catch the dripping water in a bucket on the galley countertop.

A pot wasn’t large enough to sustain the dripping overnight…

ADDITIONALLY, my heat thermostat/panel was not activating. I had to get the trailer into the dealership and get these things fixed as soon as possible. I couldn’t keep traveling with these issues. All of this leads to post #16, when I took the Airstream to the dealership in Albuquerque for service.

#20: White Sands National Park

I was really excited to visit this park. This is one of those places you see the photos of and you can’t imagine what it’s like in actuality. I mean, white sand dunes in the south of New Mexico? So strange. But so incredible.

This portion of my trip was my first boondocking experience. This term is used in the RV community and it means to camp out on public land with no water or electric hookups. No reservations are needed because it’s public land, not necessarily “managed” as a campground would be. You basically just park and stay. There are numerous apps and websites such as Campendium, Recreation.gov, and iOverlander (to name a few) that enable travelers to find these free places to camp. Usually, they’re public lands, parks, or government properties - sometimes even business parking lots that allow RV’rs to spend the night.

I found a place to camp outside Las Cruces, NM. White Sands National Park was about an hour’s drive from there. Since I wasn’t too familiar with boondocking and didn’t feel comfortable leaving my Airstream unattended, I towed it along with me to the park. I’d just find another place to boondock that night. NOTE: at this point, I am MUCH more comfortable “winging it” and not necessarily knowing where I’d be spending the night on any given day. In my first few months of traveling, this was NOT the case! See, I’m getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. 😀

Sunset from my boondocking spot near Las Cruces, NM.

The park’s visitor center was at the start of the white gypsum sand dunes. You sort-of drive into the dunes. The cool thing about this park is that there are minimal actual trails. You can just park your car on the park road wherever you want and start exploring anywhere. Addie and I randomly parked in a few different places where it didn’t look like many other people were. I took off my shoes and we were off into the dunes.

A few cool things about the sand here:

• It’s super fine.

• It’s not little rocks like beach sand; it’s gypsum.

• It’s not hot. The day we went was super sunny, but the sand was cool (not like at the beach when the sand can get so hot you have to leave your sandals on).

Although Addie wasn’t supposed to be off-leash, I let her off for a bit. She is so much easier off the leash and with all the open space, I wanted her to be able to run. Of course, she decided to go to the bathroom immediately, so I was walking around with a poop bag the whole time (worth it).

There was an option to sled on the dunes. Park visitors could rent or buy sleds at the visitor center. I did not do this and avoided people who were. I just felt that this landscape is better enjoyed walking and taking it all in, rather than sledding on it.

We stayed for a few hours. We might have stayed longer and relaxed a bit if it weren’t so windy. This park was one of the coolest I’ve been to yet. Not only was it beautiful, but it was so unusual. You never expect to see gorgeous white sand while NOT on a beach. Come to think of it, the sand was very similar to the sand on the Gulf Shore of Florida. Can you tell the difference?

After a fun-filled visit to White Sands National Park, Addie and I departed late afternoon and headed back to Las Cruces to find a place to stay for the night. More to come in my next post about the rest of New Mexico!

#19: Guadalupe Mountains & Carlsbad Caverns National Parks

Upon leaving Marfa, I headed north to two smaller national parks: Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas and Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. Although these parks are in two different states, they are only about a 45-minute drive from each other. Both being smaller national parks, I hadn’t planned on spending more than three days in the two parks combined.

About a two-hour drive from Marfa, I arrived at Guadalupe Mountains NP mid-day. This park is in the northern part of the Chihuahuan Desert, whereas Big Bend NP is in the southern part of the Chihuahuan Desert. I reserved a campsite for two nights. The camp”site” was basically a parking lot, which was a little disappointing. However, my fellow campers were super nice and helpful.

That afternoon, I decided to do a hike called Devil’s Hall, which would take at least a few hours. The weather was moderate and not hot at all, so Addie was completely fine relaxing in the trailer while I hiked (again, no dogs were allowed on the trails).

The next day I’d head out to Guadalupe Peak - the highest peak in Texas. This hike was going to be longer and more rigorous, but I figured while I’m there I should do it. Plus, I was told the views were incredible from the peak (~8,700 ft).

The hike to Devil’s Hall was respectable - the landscape was diverse and it was a lot of rock scramble (which I like). I was hiking solo, but I did run into a few other hikers along the way so I didn’t feel unsafe. After walking up a set of naturally-formed rock steps, I was almost at the destination. When I got there I understood why they call it Devil’s “Hall.”

On the hike back, I met a fellow traveler and new friend, Gerard. He and I hiked back together (getting a little lost on the way) and chatted the entire time. This is what I love about this trip: I meet so many interesting people by happenstance. Gerard and I enjoyed a drink and some soup back at my Airstream that night.

Given the weather forecast of freezing cold temperatures and a wintery mix, I made the decision to switch up my plans a bit. I’d take the bad weather day and drive to Carlsbad Caverns NP and then the day after do the hike to Guadalupe Peak. I love hiking, but I hate being miserable due to the weather. Plus, the visibility would have been zero when I got to the peak. No fun.

Gerard and I met in the morning at Carlsbad Caverns NP. The weather was SHIT. Freezing, windy and wet, we were happy to be underground. This park had a kennel for dogs, so I was able to bring Addie with me and put her in a warm kennel while Gerard and I hiked the cave. It was really hard to leave her, but it was the best thing to do - she would be warm and safe.

To get down to the caverns, you can hike/walk or take an elevator. We opted to hike it so we could see more. We ended up hiking down the equivalent of 95 stories of a building. Our ears popped a few times going down and taking the elevator back up.

At 56 degrees Fahrenheit at all times (all seasons) the caverns were breathtaking. And huge! I was amazing by how many different rock formations could be present in the same cave. There were so many different types of textures, shapes and sizes. My favorite were the ribbon type, which I’m sure you can identify among the photos below. To date, there are 119 known limestone caves in the park (with more to be discovered in time).

Gerard and I headed out of the park for a quick bite before we went our separate ways - of course, after taking a photo and posting to Instagram. 😃

The next morning was, again, crappy weather. As I’ve said before, some things are just out of my control. Foregoing the highest peak in Texas, I headed out that day to explore the rest of New Mexico.

#17: The adventure continues...differently

In the last post I published, I was sitting in a Target parking lot waiting on my Airstream to get fixed. I wanted to provide an update since then…

The dealership called me that the afternoon to let me know the Airstream had been fixed. Relief! I picked it up, got a download on what they did to fix it, and headed back to the same RV park where I had stayed the night before. I remained local in Albuquerque for two reasons: 1) The sealant that they used on the roof to fix the leak needed to settle completely, so I was advised not to drive far, and 2) I wasn’t sure where or what my next move was going to be, given all the threat with COVID-19. Not a problem to stay in the area for another night. The challenge (problem) was that the forecast was calling for low temperatures and a rain/snow mix that night.

After settling into the campground, it started to rain. Low and behold, water began to drip into the trailer from the same spot it had been dripping previously. Although the amount of water leaking was much less, there was still a leak. Given that, I had no other choice but to head back to the dealership first thing in the morning. I had to get this Airstream fixed.

In the meantime, amid the Airstream drama, things were continuously getting worse with COVID-19. I had started stressing about what my next move was going to be. As we all experienced (and still are experiencing), there was just no telling what was going to happen next. Updates were taking place every day with park closures, restrictions, and limited availability. Cities and states were going into lockdown. I had an unsettled feeling about it all, and I didn’t necessarily feel comfortable being on the move as I was.

Logistically, I didn’t want to end up in a situation where I was stranded somewhere alone, or God forbid - sick. Morally, I didn’t feel right potentially contributing to the problem by moving around and using public facilities (gas stations, toilets, campgrounds, etc.). In addition to my gut feeling, I was seeing more and more members of the RV community feeling similar to me, with plans to head home or to friends or family’s houses for the time being (and urging others to do the same).

My friend in Orange County offered up his house to hunker down, but then California went into lockdown. My dad asked me to go back to Virginia, but that just seemed so far away (and like I would have been really backtracking). I decided to head south to desolate West Texas to a friend’s house, where I’d still be west, but also safe from exposure to crowds of people.

I made the right decision. Since I left New Mexico, things have gotten progressively worse with the virus. Am I bummed to have had to halt the travel for a while? Yes. But I’m safe and secluded and cannot complain. In the meantime, this adventure continues for me…just in a different way.

This adventure I set myself out on in November was never only about the physical places I would travel. It would also be about the internal stuff: the mental and emotional realizations, the reflections, and the perspective gained. I’m currently spending my days trying to make the most of this time - improving my mental and physical health, meditating, writing, reading, catching up with friends (via video chat, of course), and just BEING. I have outdoor space to get fresh air, and you can bet that outdoor activities are still in swing. Here are a few photos from a recent hike to the highest waterfall in Texas.

This situation is not what any of us planned. BUT, I remain loyal to my tried and true saying, “10% is what happens to us, and 90% is how we react to it.”

Stay safe, positive, and strong. Look out for my next posts on Marfa, Guadalupe Mountains and Carlsbad Caverns National Parks, and New Mexico. I will finally catch up!