Weather Extremes and Unique Natural Wonders in Roswell, NM

The change in weather has been so drastic since arriving in Roswell it feels like we arrived in Winter and now it's Summer - what happened to Spring?

At least the skies look like Spring :-)

From lows in the 20's to highs in the 90's, it's a crazy 10 days!

We complete several projects at Mom's house, including upgrading the front ramp to make it safer for her. No longer having a S&B of our own, it is enjoyable to do the improvements, to see our efforts make things nicer for her.

One morning we take a break to see Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, just a few miles east of Roswell.

Like the rest of southeastern New Mexico, winter is not an attractive time of year for this refuge. Still, this is an amazing place in the midst of the dry desert. 

In the middle of dry and desolate 

ponds and inlets cover the area

Bitter Lake is a strange eco-system where the Chihuahuan Desert meets short grass prairie, the Pecos River, and the Roswell artesian basin. It is rare for wetland-dependent species to be interacting with desert creatures - but that's what happens here.

We drive the eight mile gravel road around the water, with short trails to coves, bird blinds, and small man-made dikes along the way. Not much to see this time of year, but we do encounter several Northern Shovelers - beautiful ducks, a small Egret, and a large gaggle of Snow Geese in the distance.

Lots of room for the few ducks to spread out

Northern Shoveler - beautiful colors

The Snow Geese prefer to crowd together

We stop and watch, and listen to, the geese in the water when suddenly they all take flight! They make a short loop and settle back down where they started. 

So graceful in flight

A single high-stepping Egret

Bill sees a small turtle on a branch but before we can back up to see it close up, it slides into the water. Further around the water we see a small deer running along a line of tall brush. Later at the visitors' center woman at the desk says she has yet to see either a turtle or a deer - so we feel pretty lucky!

Visitor Center photo 

The Visitor Center is small, but one of the most complete and appealing I've seen. I learn that the refuge is home to one of the largest variety of dragonflies and damsel flies, and over 20 species of duck.

What I find odd is the seasonal hunting here. Deer, hog, duck, even sandhill crane! It is strictly regulated, but still seems counter to the purpose of a refuge.

Bill's family has a long history in Roswell, including his Great Aunt Martha who lived in a home that is now on the Historic Registry. We do a drive-by one afternoon.

The house where Aunt Martha lived

We've done little cooking while here, and have found a favorite restaurant where we enjoyed a tasty and fun Valentine's Day dinner. Our server, Courtney, is such a delight that we've been back twice to see her and partake of the tasty menu items. Peppers Grill and Bar is also Mom's favorite so we take her for dinner, along with her sister, our Aunt Nancy, on Thursday evening. 

She is recognized by people when we walk in, and the young family seated behind us want to know "Is that Ms G?"  The owner stops by to tell her hello. Courtney takes good care of all of us, and we all have a great time.

Just as wonderful is Aunt Nancy's homemade New Mexico enchiladas - with fresh mango-black bean salsa - that we enjoy at her home. So fun to have two of the three family matriarchs (Aunt Kathy is in Fresno, CA), all to ourselves!

Friday is slightly cooler than the 90+ degrees of the day before, and the clouds roll in around 10 AM. It doesn't change our plans to visit Bottomless Lakes State Park.

The clouds change all day

Lea Lake

Once again, although I've heard of the park, I'm completely unprepared for this unique place. The nine lakes are sink holes surrounded by steep, red cliffs. Only the two largest, Lea Lake and Lazy Lagoon, are visible from the road. They are fed by underground water percolating through the rocks. The water level is low now, but the shade of the surrounding walls make them look very deep. Both of the large lakes are 90 feet deep! 

The nine lakes are actually sink holes

A couple are very small

All of them are beautiful

Bill reads that in Figure Eight Lake, which is really two lakes, one side cannot sustain fish, and the other can. Apparently the walls of the "non-fish" side have a very high saline content. We love learning stuff like that!!

Red rock surrounds each lake

Away from the lakes, the color disappears

We weren't this hot in August!

It is sad to see trash floating in a couple of the small, beautiful pools. Swimming is not allowed, and access is very limited and dangerous so cleaning them is not an option. The campground and day use areas are all very clean.

Large and empty day use area

All sites at the camp ground have electric and water, and are mostly level with good spacing. It is less than 1/3 full. Only one of the $10 dry camping sites near the smaller lakes is occupied.

Our original plan was to stay here, but at 17 miles from town, we're glad we opted for our current park. 

A few days left in Roswell, we plan to take in more sights, hang out with Mom, and maybe we'll get to enjoy some Spring before we leave.

The end.....

A Life Full of Places and People

Being on the road for only nine months we've barely scratched the surface of this life style. While it would be nice if every thing worked all the time, we couldn't be happier with our decision to be full-time RVers.

I often see the question about leaving behind friends and family discussed on forums. How can we possibly just "be gone"? Aren't your children upset that you're "abandoning" them? Won't you miss your social life?

Answers to these and similar questions are different for each person. The common thread that runs through most of them is "We're living our lives." 

This is true for us as well, and includes living our best, most full, lives. Our six sons all have their lives as well, and while we miss the opportunity to see them more often, the reality is that when we're in the old home town we don't see most of them much anyway. None of the rest of our family live in that town, so we didn't leave any of them behind.

Instead, we feel like they're all now in front of us - all in places where we can go see them and spend as much time as we want. Like our time with Mom and Aunt Nancy in Roswell this month.

We don't miss a social life that we didn't have. Not unlike our initial life on the road, we spent 90% of our time with just each other. 

The first five months we traveled for places. Just the two of us seeing beautiful, amazing locations. There were a few days with son Jeff in Seattle and time in Spokane with Bill's best friend, but until the end of September, the two of us mostly played all day and retired to our home for the evening.

Every day was filled with the wow of vistas we could only imagine before. We have had so much fun with places!

The beauty of Fort Bragg, CA

Things started to change when we got to Carson City. A couple happy hours, a day trip, and a couple dinners out, our social life expanded when we met up with Sue and Dave and Pam and John. Then we visited with good friends from high school, including seeing Kevin in the hospital and being prepared to extend our stay if we were needed.

We still see amazing places, spend our days playing in fantastic spots, but looking back, that was a big turning point in the focus of our travels. As I started planning our winter route, the destinations included a lot more people as well as new, fun places.

A month back home for Nick and Jillian's wedding, special time with our new grandbaby Ezra, Thanksgiving with 85% of our immediate family, lunch with my buddy Laura, and dinner with daughter Megan and her hubby Chris. Wow - November was a big people month!

Our winter travels have confirmed that this life (for us) is much more social than our stationary one. All destinations but one (Organ Pipe National Monument) have included seeing old and/or new friends.

BBQs, desert runs, camp fires, a friend's granddaughter's birthday party, pot lucks, happy hours, meeting fellow bloggers, family joining us at our location, and mooch-docking at friends' homes - we have had so much fun with people!

The joy of friends in the desert!

Our best life is a balance of time together, exploring new places, and sharing great times with family and old and new friends. 

A very full life!

We Land in Roswell, New Mexico

In addition to the slide and exhaust bracket fixes in Deming, NM, we asked Jimmy to take a look at one other item. 

We have never been able to add fuel on our driver's side. It would just blow back out (makes the inside of your home smell so good when your clothes and shoes have diesel splashed all over them). Camping World couldn't find anything that would cause it, but several weeks ago Bill got underneath and thought the "pipe" looked kinked. So he told Jimmy about it.

And when we left the shop, we went and filled up at 5R Truck Stop - on the driver's side without a problem! Pretty ridiculous that we've had the rig over a year and can finally fill up on both sides.

We stay at Boot Hill RV Park in Alamagordo Tuesday night. Having now been to the real one, I can accurately report that the park looks nothing like it. But it's very clean, with nice people, everything works, including slow internet, and the easy access off and on the highway is why I picked it.

Not even a hill

The Jeep stays hooked up and we walk to McGinn's Pistachio Tree Ranch. Because one must see the largest pistachio (statue) in the country - and try a few samples as well.

Unsalted

Some of our favorite stuff

Bill chooses the green chili pecans which he never has to worry about sharing - they are hot! I opt for plain pistachios because to me they can't be improved upon. 

Wednesday's drive over Apache Summit is much different than our trip in March. No wind, and my experience driving through mountains since then, make it a very lovely drive. Before we know it we're in Roswell and setting up at Town and Country RV Park. 

Another park chosen only for proximity to our destination, I'm surprised to see they expanded their sites last Spring, and we have a nice level and clean spot. Services are very good, and it's fairly quiet. There are a ridiculous number of lights overhead all night, which so far haven't bothered us. The space is tight, but we aren't going to be home very much while we're here. Best of all, it's a mile from Bill's mom's house which is the reason we're here.

The weather is perfect in Roswell and we love getting to see Mom for more than just a quick one day visit. We plan to get some things done for her, and see the sites we've not had time to enjoy on past visits.

One place we had to try is Big D's Downtown Dive which did not disappoint - excellent sandwiches and salads!

One of the many advantages of this life style is the ability to spend time with family for as long as needed. Still living in our own home, sleeping in our own bed, we can be here for Mom with little effort. 

We'll spend the long weekend puttering around her place, and enjoying just hanging out. Next week we'll go out and play :-))))

Since We're Here.......

.....we might as well go check out some of the "stuff to see" in the area! 

It's bright and sunny Friday morning, but the expected high is only 47 degrees. The drive to Rockhound State Park is not a long one, and the closer we get to the Florida Mountains the prettier the views become.

We put $5 in the day use envelope and head into the little park. With the exception of hiking trails that lead into the Little Florida Mountains, this part of the park is just the campground and a small (tiny) visitors' center. The real draw here is that you can collect up to 15 pounds of rock, including geodes, jasper, quartz crystals and more, making it a rock hound paradise! Too chilly for these hounds though, so with the VC closed for lunch we check out the nice campground and the amazing views of the valley.

Unobstructed view from Site 13 with electric and water

A massive boulder on the hillside

I think I'll use the other restroom....

Abundant Cane Cholla, Ocotillo and Prickly Pear throughout the park

The Spring Canyon section of the park is in the Florida Mountains. We could spend hours here on a warmer day. Snow remains in the shadows and the breeze blows down the canyon even on an otherwise calm day. Still, we walk the completely empty campsites (tent or small camper, dry only), and watch a hawk riding the sky above. The road here includes a 16% grade, taking us much higher into the mountain. 

The quiet is as mesmerizing as the views.

The VC is very dark inside but has good information on the history, geology, climate and geography of the area. 

When we arrive at the VC we discover that we don't have Tessa's service dog vest. Since we always keep it in the car, and we had it in Hatch, it had to have fallen out at one of two stops yesterday afternoon.

Did I mention before just how good that green chili cheeseburger was? The return to Hatch is worth that second burger, but unfortunately we don't find the vest.

Amazon is delivering the new one to our Roswell address.

Saturday is a screw driver and sponge day. Tightening and cleaning everything that needs it keeps us busy for much of the day.  

I want our steering wheel to do this for the Christmas tree! (nobody was home when I took the pic - I promise)

Tessa and I run a couple errands and take a walk through the park by the old courthouse.

We spend our Sunday the same as most of the country. Happy with the outcome of the game, disappointed in the commercials, and unimpressed by the half-time show, it's another season in the books. Now I'll definitely never know what day it is!

Monday is the big day! We patiently wait until 10:40 when surely FedEx has already delivered our parts.....Jimmy says they haven't come yet. One of us remains optimistic they'll arrive shortly.

Said optimism is rewarded when a little after 11:00 Jimmy calls to confirm they're in!! We break down the rig in record time and drop it off at the shop.

Let's go see another state park!

30 miles south of Deming, on the Mexican border, is the historic village of Columbus, New Mexico. Nearly as large is Pancho Villa State Park.

The campground is on the site of Camp Furlong that was attacked by Pancho Villa in 1916. Interspersed among the campsites (which are laid out in a very bizarre way) are historic sites and ruins. A botanical garden encircles a small hill near the visitors' center.

The history

One of four ruins on site

Probably more recently painted

Botanical garden spirals to the monument on top

The museum is closed, but the grounds are open. We wander through the old equipment and small memorials.

A short drive through the little downtown takes us back to the highway. 

No word yet from the shop so we decide to try the Adobe Deli which we've heard so much about. Expecting good food and a fun environment we are still unprepared for this quirky eatery!

We're not even sure we've found the place except for a faded sign near what might be an open gate. Two large dogs rush us in the parking lot but back off when Bill blocks them from chasing Tessa into the building.

It gets a whole lot better after that. The food is as good as the place is funky. Our waitress suggests we come back on a Saturday night when "the real cowboys all come in, and the cowgirls, and all the drama from town...". Maybe next time :-)))))

Front door greeter

Critters surround the whole room

Waiting for his squadron to call

We have to come back just to see everything - maybe on a Saturday night!

The lot dogs are elsewhere, and we make it back to the car unscathed. It's time to find out what's happening with the slide and exhaust bracket repairs.

And it's ready!! Everything works as it should, completed as promised by Jimmy and his hard-working team.

Without hesitation I recommend Jimmy's RV Service in Deming, NM.  If you're within a couple hundred miles and can drive safely - bring your RV here. Not only competent, but Jimmy really cares that the work is done right. What a pleasure.

Tuesday morning we continue our journey east.