1/17/2020 – 1/26/2020

Goodbye Texas … Hello New Mexico! We continued our journey with Anne and Neil into another state to boondock at Chosa Campground near Carlsbad Caverns. Basically, it was a large square dirt parking area where everyone was lined up along the wooden fence. We pulled up next to Anne and Neil, and after we setup, Bob did his usual walking around to check out the area. While I was cleaning up inside, I got a message from Maggie (an RV friend we met 2 years ago near the Grand Tetons) asking if we were camping at Chosa. I said “YES, are you here too?” Sure enough, Maggie and Brad were three campers away! Unbelievable! We invited them over and asked how they knew we were here … Brad heard Bob talking on the phone and recognized his voice!!! Too funny! We hung out in Anne and Neil’s RV, had drinks together and shared travel/camping experiences. Great to see them again … small world!

Carlsbad Caverns

The next day we headed to Carlsbad Caverns. When we were there two years ago, the elevator was broken. This time we walked down but took the elevator back up. The experience of walking into this massive cave, slowly loosing daylight, and then seeing amazing formations all around you was truly incredible. The entire trail was about 2.5 miles and it took us 3.5 hours to go through it all because there was so much to see.  The BIG ROOM (8.2-acre section of the cave) had features such as the Giant Dome, Painted Grotto, and Rock of Ages. There’s even a lunchroom, souvenir shop and rest room in the cave!   

Las Cruces

We cut our stay at Chosa short since the nights were cold and I’m a wimp and like heat at night. (Note: when boondocking, there are no hookups and our batteries drain quickly while running the propane heat). So we said goodbye to Maggie and Brad and moved camp to Hacienda RV Resort in Las Cruces. That evening we walked to Luna Rossa for pizza, pasta and delicious gelato, then did late night laundry with crappy dryers so we hung our stuff throughout the RV to dry. Don’t you hate that!

On January 20, we went hiking at Soledad Canyon in Las Cruces with Anne and Neil. We arrive later in the day so the lighting was nice but it meant we couldn’t walk the entire trail so we went a little beyond the old rock house then turned around.

The next morning, Anne and Neil left Las Cruces to explore other areas and we stayed a couple more days. We checked out the Farmer’s Market at Old Mesilla Plaza and hiked the Pine Tree Loop at Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument. Again we started late (typical me) so the loop back was a fast pace but we stopped to enjoy the jagged rock formations, the distorted old trees, and the majestic red-tailed hawk. Sunset was glowing in the valley and the scenery was beautiful around every trail curve.

Before leaving Las Cruces, we took a drive to see the famous Roadrunner Sculpture on Route 10. This 20’ tall and 40’ long landmark was constructed by artists Olin Calk and Dan Smith using recycled materials such as old sneakers and electronics that were found at the city’s landfill. So cool!

Elephant Butte State Park

Our next stop was Elephant Butte State Park (New Mexico’s largest state park) with 3 different campgrounds, beach camping, marina, and walking trails throughout. We stayed at the Desert Cove Campground for 4 nights and it was very peaceful. Lots of bunnies around and we got to see a jackrabbit too. They are so big and have long ears and a black tail!

On January 24, my cousin Linda flew into Albuquerque to vacation with us for a week so we drove up to the city for dinner at Thai Vegan, shopping at Barnes & Noble, then some very beautiful and yummy gelato at Frost Gelato at ABQ Uptown before picking her up at the airport.

Linda’s vacation began with a short hike then a dip at Riverbend Hot Springs in Truth or Consequences which is a beautiful spot right on the Rio Grande with five outside hot spring pools. In town, we found a fun Flinestones-theme bowling alley where we enjoyed pizza, drinks, and $2 games at the Bedroxx.

The next morning, Linda convinced us to get up at 5:00 a.m. for sunrise at Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. This is where many white snow geese and sandhill cranes come during the winter season. Unfortunately we took the wrong turn into the park and missed the morning takeoff by 10 minutes but we got to see a beautiful sunrise and watch the sandhill cranes feasting in the grain fields a bit later.

We learned of a different area to see them return at sunset so we headed to nearby Socorro to kill some time.  We stopped at San Antonio Crane for Mexican food before going to the Mineral Museum at the New Mexico Tech Campus. We visited this impressive museum before and it was still amazing to see the extensive collection. In town, we went inside the San Miguel de Socorro church (1821) before heading to the historic Capitol Bar (1896).

Around dusk, we headed back to Bosque to wait for the birds to return. The snow geese arrived first and their quacking sounds grew louder and louder as the numbers increased. Soon after, the sandhill cranes started coming in and as they arrived the snow geese left and only the sandhill cranes remained. At some point, a coyote appeared and started walking along the shoreline (Note: the birds rest at night in shallow water to protect them from predators). As the coyote got closer to the cranes, we didn’t know what would happen, but we thankfully watched it walk by with no interest in the birds. There must have been something else in the nearby brush because the coyote was happily munching on it for the rest of the evening.  It was amazing watching the setting sun with the back drop of the mountains and the birds flying in. We were grateful to be in the right place, at the right time, and to experience this beautiful refuge.

Thanks for reading about our New Mexico journey and enjoy this fun “Motto to live by” that we found at the San Antonio General Store.

We also sampled their ice cream and enjoyed their window sign “You can’t buy happiness but you can buy ice cream and that’s kind of the same thing.”

Next state … Arizona