Into New Mexico

But first we took a side trip to Hot Well Dunes BLM Recreation Area.  It's really quite an extraordinary location with both sand dunes for the dune buggy enthusiasts and hot tubs for the soakers.  The day use fee also covers camping and is a whopping $3 ($1.50 with the golden age pass.)

Now we don't have a dune buggy and I'm not a big fan of hot tubs, but this system is pretty special.  Pumps, powered by solar, bring in water from the hot springs and constantly (during daylight hours) recirculate the water in the tubs.  The water in the two tubs is crystal clear.

So aesthetically, I couldn't have been more impressed.  However, the water was 106 degrees!  That's cooking!  Ron got in barely long enough for me to take a picture and I only made it in as far as my feet.

(BTW, this was a day trip in the car - we didn't stay there.  It's far from any major road and the sand would be treacherous for a large RV.  Four wheel drive would be a plus.)

Our first stop in New Mexico was at the Escapees RV park in Deming.  You can't beat boondocking for $5 and walking a few steps to do laundry at $1 a load.

It wasn't all work while we were there.  We drove about 11 miles south to Rockhound State Park.  This place is unique among parks in that they allow you to take rock souvenirs up to 15 pounds per person.

Gosh, there are so many to choose from.

I picked one fairly large rock for my garden in Mesa.  I liked it because of the colored veining on the outside and the fact that somebody had knocked a chunk off to expose the red inside (iron, I guess.)

The two smaller rocks will go in my birdbath and are sparkly.  Sparkle is always good.

So within a few minutes, I was done.  Ron however really gets into this rockhounding stuff.  I found a spot in the shade (not easy) and settled down for a wait while he wandered up the wash, hitting poor, unsuspecting rocks with his rock hammer.  (Yes, he actually has one.)   He's the tiny speck about 1/4 of the way from the bottom and right sides of this picture.

It was a beautiful day and only one thing could have made it better.  Nearby Spring Canyon Park is home to Ibex Sheep imported from Iran.  Unfortunately it's day use only and was already closing when we arrived at 3:30.  Next time.