WHITE SANDS
By the time we hit New Mexico I was ready to get out and do some walking so we drove to White Sands with the hope that we would find some quiet BLM land to stay on the way. More on that in a few.... If you have never been to White Sands National Park you should think about it. Especially if you have kids. It was cloudy, freezing and windy but there were hundreds of people there, most of them families sliding (yes sliding!) down the dunes.
The dunes cover around 275 miles and are made up of gypsum which originates from a lake with a very high mineral content. As the water evaporates off the lake, deposits are left which are then carried by the wind to make these huge dunes. They are constantly moving, shifting and changing. And yet life still grows there. It was a beauty I was not expecting.
LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO LAND
I had two places I had researched and hoped to be able to find a spot to stay for a while. There was a beautiful spot called Sierra Vista Trail (free) with great reviews and Aguirre Spring campgrounds (small fee but in the mountains) that also had great reviews but said it could be a hell of a drive in. We tried Aguirre first and let me tell you THAT was one C R A Z Y drive! Deep dips, steep hills, and hairpin turns, some of which all seemed to happen at the same time... but we navigated them all and the views were spectacular. It seemed like we went 50 miles into the canyon and up the mountain (it was much shorter that that but I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!) only to discover that my rig was just not going to work there. Trust me... I tried!
There were a couple of places that the rig would fit but it would not have been safe to try to level and I did not want to sleep with the blood rushing to my head or feeling like I was going to slide out of bed (yes, THAT steep) so we headed back over and through the deep dips, steep hills, and hairpin turns and headed towards Sierra Vista. As I drove by the location however, I could see RV's dotted all along the gravel road heading back (I totally forgot this was MLK weekend!) and so we kept driving hoping to chance on something I missed while researching. No luck and so ended up back at Las Cruces and to what turned out to be the busiest, most un-level Walmart parking lot (not Aguirre steep but bad enough) I've ever seen and found a place to park with a couple hours of daylight left. Facing down hill with people, cars, trucks, RV's, etc. constantly moving about, I was not looking forward to another night in a parking lot so I started researching again and looked closer at the Sierra Vista campground and realized that it went further back off the road than I could see when I passed.... so, with only a couple hours of daylight left, I took a chance and headed back to Sierra Vista.
SIERRA VISTA CAMPGROUND (BLM)
When we turned onto the road and headed down it was RV after RV parked in every available spot. I drove all the way down to where the road widened out (a turnaround which should have been a clue...) where there were several RV's and a tent and then the road went down a pretty steep hill and became one lane. However, it looked like I could make it and it looked like there may more spots so I headed down the hill, made a sharp turn.... and that's when I saw a car coming towards me. I had no where to go. One thing I have not mentioned is that with Thelma being towed behind me I CANNOT BACK UP. Soooooo, I am now stuck at a turn, the sun is going down, a car is coming towards me and I can't back up until I disconnect the jeep. OMFG -ROFL It was truly comical.
Fortunately, the car was small and the people were super nice (and let me know that I was not going to be able to go further down the road in anything but the jeep!). I was able to move over enough to let them squeeze past and I proceeded to disconnect Thelma. Of course, I am losing daylight quickly now and thinking I'm going to have do disconnect, get turned around and get back up that hill, re-connect Thelma and then drive back to that awful parking lot. Sigh...
The disconnect went smooth but I couldn't get the jeep to go back in gear from the neutral position for towing.... and that's when the ranger showed up. LOL He's just looking at me like I'm an idiot... which I totally am... but I took advantage of him being there and asked him if he would mind using his muscles to get the jeep back in gear for me. Which he did! That done I turned Thelma around and got her back up the hill, parked and started back to the RV when a guy who was watching my comedy routine asked me if I thought I could turn the RV around in that spot and would she make it back up the hill. I told him she had been up and down bigger hills than this one today and so I knew we could make this one too. He kindly walked down the hill to be my eyes as I made a 3 point turn (that was damn fine driving by the way) and I was able to get back up the hill. Huge sigh of relief, exhaustion and disappointment as I put it in park and got out to hook up the jeep. It is totally dark now.
And that's when that same gentleman said he thought I could squeeze into the spot between him and the van in front of him and he would be happy to help me get it in as close as possible. Another OMG moment! I asked if he was sure, he was, so I started the RV and that's when the guy in the van jumped out and said he could move up some to make more room. Faith in human kind restored, relief that I wouldn't be in that parking lot, I wouldn't have to hook up the jeep in the dark, and I think that is the moment I knew that I was exactly where I was supposed to be doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing. This is how we move on and learn to believe in the good again.
We ended up staying there for 4 days/nights with amazing sunrises, sunsets and mountains.
The days were warm and sunny and Dragon was able to finally get out and spread his wings! He absolutely loved sunning on the rocks once he discovered he could get out of his crate. I try to get him out every time its warm enough and he is loving it! We did have to trim the wings though. He hated them because when he turned his head they poked him. I don't know if you have ever seen a "Fuck you" look from a dragon or not but it's not something you take lightly.
The nights however were in the 30's and we quickly ran low on propane so I decided to leave there early and find an RV park with full hook up and so some research on putting additional solar on the RV. While it did come with solar I soon learned that it was by no means enough to live off grid for any amount of time.
However, before leaving I had to take Thelma down the trail and see what was on the other side.... it was amazing! These are a few photos but hopefully I have more when I get my new phone back. (yes, I broke it when I wiped out my bike on a trail... but I was smart enough to get insurance so it's being replaced at a relatively low cost)
And that brings to us to our current location. Solar upgrade is happening, we're just waiting for all the parts to be ordered, and I've added a propane heater called a Wave6 which uses no electricity and conserves the propane! More on all of that in the next update. Sorry this one was so long. I hope you made it to the end and enjoyed the photos.
Until next time, we're still Movin' On.