Joshua Tree

Leaving the California coast we headed inland toward Palm Springs to a city called Indio.  This town was picked based on campground and it's proximity to Joshua Tree National Park.

Cave, Lake, and Crepes

So the plan was to avoid extreme seasons.......snow and intense heat.  We should have researched a little more thoroughly because the intense heat won't let up.  We have done all kinds of research and reading about why it's colder at higher altitude when it seems it would be warmer cause you're closer to the sun and why is the sun so intense and ready to burn your skin at such high altitude.  This weather has inspired all kinds of learning opportunities :)

So from the beautiful luxury of Mountain Valley Resort we headed north through Utah and even dipped into Wyoming briefly and back into Utah up to Bear Lake.  It's amazing how much of this country is land as far as the eye can see with the occasional house, farm or trailer.  We have seen so many signs similar to "Welcome to _______.  Population 121"  And so many times we have said "who is living here?"  I want to knock on their door and hear their story.  Not just because it's a microscopic town without a grocery store, but because some of the towns look abandoned.  Like a scene out of The Walking Dead.

So as we arrived to the Bear Lake area, things started looking more lively.  There was a cute little town called Garden City on the southwest side of the lake and several boat rental places as we drove up the west side of the lake.

Garden City down in the distance and Bear Lake from top of a nearby mountain.

The water was beautiful.  Almost reminded me of the Gulf of Mexico on a clear, calm day.  I had just seen what the Great Salt Lake had in store, so when the lady at the campground told me the most fun thing to do in town was swim in the lake, I was skeptical.

Week of Nationals

This was a week of National Parks and Monuments.  We hit three parks.................Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Arches and Canyonlands and two Monuments...........Colorado and Dinosaur.  Did I mention that we were in the high desert heat at about 100 degrees each day.  HELLO! We did not realize that we would be leaving the mountains so soon and entering those kind of temps.  We were not happy campers part of that week.  The humidity is low, so you're not sticky, but it was so hot!!  

We had left Glenwood Springs and had a short drive down the Interstate.  It was amazing how much the climate changed in that 1 hour or so drive. 

We stayed at James M Robb State Park (Island Acres Section) and were sandwiched between two mountains.  The mountains were beautiful however the interstate was sandwiched between those same two mountains, so that was a little weird.  It just became white noise and didn't bother us at all, but might have if we had been at a site closer to the road.  The campground itself was nice, but had a strange crowd of people.

The Turquoise Trail

We just left Cochiti Lake which is about 45 minutes SW of Santa Fe.  The campground where we stayed was an Army Corps of Engineers campground and was very nice.

Sunset at Cochiti Lake Campground

Sand Dunes and Sunsets

Monday, April 6, 2015

We arrived to Alamogordo, NM yesterday evening and are staying at Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, south of the city.  The sunset that was going on during set up was beautiful.  

Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains (National Parks)

Monday, March 30, 2015

We left Marathon, TX and headed northwest to an area between Carlsbad and Artesia, NM.  I'm not even sure what the town is because we are staying on a ranch that has an RV park for members of a club called ESCAPEES.  We happen to be members because when we left NJ we joined two groups.....Passport American and ESCAPEES.  This particular place came up on our app when we were looking for places in the area and we decided to give it a try.  It is very cute here.  I forgot to mention that all members of ESCAPEES are fulltimers, so that puts the majority of them in a age bracket.  So this "ranch" is actually located on a real ranch and is a little community for people who full time travel.  Many of these people live here most of the time, but take off when they can or want I suppose.  We are on someones "plot" who is away on a trip. Everyone is very sweet and we were greeted with the ringing of a bell and a big hug :)  I went to the exercise class this morning.  Happy hour is everyday at 4pm in the main house, as well as bingo and other activities throughout the week. Cute little community in the middle of nowhere.

Today the girls and I went to the Living Zoo State park located in Carlsbad, NM.

Marathon, Texas and More Big Bend

We just left Marathon, TX and while I already posted a little bit about the park I didn't mention Marathon much. This was a very, very small (population 420) town and had it's own little charm.  Ironically, there is a hotel, The Gage Hotel, in the middle of the 2-4 block downtown area that is quite fancy and has a long history in this town.  The hotel has a restaurant with a pricey menu and apparently enough of a clientele to keep it going.  Across the railroad tracks are the Gage Gardens, which are maintained by the hotel and are quite lush and beautiful especially when everything is so parch in the desert.