2023 SPRING TRIP TO NEW MEXICO! 2/26 - 5/1

 

So, because there were 12 days in the 90’s in February in Florida (Which 'normally' does not see its first 90 degree day until April) , we decided to take an earlier than usual RV trip this year to try to get out to somewhere- anywhere, we could find that sweet spot of mid 60 to mid 70 degree temperatures.  Off to New Mexico for this new adventure.  Stops in some cities that we had not previously visited such as-  Pensacola, FL… Hattiesburg, MS

...................... Many miniature scenes in an alley in Hattiesburg, and an albino peacock below!.............

Jackson MS… Shreveport LA…. Dallas TX… 

                                Explored the details of JFK assassination downtown....

Big Bend National  Park TX….

We hiked through the Santa Elena Canyon....

View of our campsite in Terlingua, Big Bend....

According to this flood gauge, there are certainly some times my CRV could be in deep water here!

 Carlsbad, 

...........................................CARLSBAD CAVERNS- SPECTACULAR!!!!! ................................

Roswell,

 Las Cruces , 

White Sands national monument above.... Gila Cliff Dwellings national monument below...

This humongous ROADRUNNER is made of all recyclable items and overlooks Las Cruces.

Albuquerque, 

                         Above is the largest RATTLESNAKE museum in the world- I went face to face with a large DIAMOND BACK that was shaking its rattle with thoughts of striking me dead! (Thankfully there was glass separating us...) Below is one of the 28 huge dishes pointed to space at the VLA, or "Very Large Array" which tries to pick up any signals from space- made famous by the scenes with Jodi Foster is the movie CONTACT.

Santa Fe, 

---------------------------------------MEOW WOLF..... REALLY STRANGE PLACE---------------------

Taos, 

Cozy Mexican joint in downtown Taos area....  great food, drink and service....

Above, by a cozy fire at the foothill of the Taos Ski area.... which was enjoying an extended season.  This can be further evidenced by one of the snowfalls that shocked my poor Florida CRV!

One example of an "Earthship" made completely of recyclables...

and Santa Rosa NM, Amarillo TX, 

Saw THE actual 'GORNICKE' RV used in the movie RV with Robin Williams, driven by Jeff Daniels!

FAMOUS CADILLAC RANCH WITH 10 HALF BURIED CADILLACS

Oklahoma City , OK….   site of the 1995 bombing, now a memorial.....

The largest skeleton museum in the world is here... quite the incredible collection!!

Downtown OK City has a riverwalk, similar to San Antonio TX!!

Oklahoma city bombing memorial illuminated at night.... With one lit seat for each of the 168 victims.

Tyler TX… Lake Bistineau, LA,

Kayaking in the Cypress Swamps (yep- with alligators)

Vicksburg MS…. 

This is the CAIRO, the only one of 7 so called IRONCLAD boats the Union side had @ Vicksburg.  It had been sunk in 1863 during Civil War- and then RESURRECTED for display in the 1960's...

Mobile AL…. 

(Fort Morgan)  

Destin/Fort Walton  FL….Eastpoint/ Apalachicola FL…Lake City FL.  Ironically, as we tried to get away from the early heat of Florida, we ended up stumbling into some ridiculous COLD in New Mexico!! For the 3 ½ weeks we were there, the temps were 15 to 25 degrees BELOW normal- as in, we did not even hit 50 most days, and …. We did see our share of SNOW!!!  On our last day in NM, as we were leaving, the weatherman was ecstatic because that day temps were ‘only’ to be 8 degrees below average.  Frustratingly, it did appear that within a day of us LEAVING a location, their temperatures would rebound to about normal!!! This trip did rack up some extra costs/repairs… first day, a rear inner tandem RV tire was out of air!  What? Brand new tires less than a year ago… Called AAA… Turns out to be NEGLIGENCE on part of that tire company, as they did NOT properly tighten the valve extension stems (which they put on without having asked me…)  Cost just under $300…. Then there was the crapping out of our Aqua-Hot hot water/ furnace system.  Didn’t matter that I had had it professionally properly maintained each of the 7 years we've owned it, as the motor just didn’t care about such things and quit – to a tune of $1,100 repairs that we were actually FORTUNATE enough to be able to get done in a jiffy without an appointment.  Oh… and then towards the end of the trip one of the 2 roof AC’s died and will need replacement at a cost of nearly 2k!!  Then there was the need to replace the Kitchen faucet set… saved money DIY at only $150.  Also, there will be the need to replace the tail pipe which rusted through, & the skylight cover above the shower.  The overall tone of the highlights of this trip’s visits were actually some real dark LOW points in American History… A terrible Trifecta: (1)exact Dallas site of Kennedy assassination and memorials…. (2)Oklahoma bombing site and memorials …. (3)Vicksburg civil war site....  but, as sad as those three are, we still had an absolutely wonderful time!!