Roswell today and a surprise in Carlsbad

This morning we woke to this sunrise in a Walmart parking lot

We had planned to make it to a boondocking area I read about near Bonito Lake but when we saw the Walmart in Ruidoso Downs (on the 70 heading North on your Right. Park in the right end of the parking lot/south side) and it was getting late we decided to just stay at Walmart. It's FREE and works fine for us on stop over nights.

We found out there was a Ford in Roswell so we didn't back track to the Ford in Ruidoso Downs we passed last nigh that was closed, so we drove straight to Ford this morning to inquire about the airconditioning. As it turns out they couldn't fix it for a day or two so we called ahead to San Antonio and booked an appointment for Saturday. (hopefully we don't melt by then...it's HOT)

We then headed a crossed the road to McDonalds for an early lunch as it is an "out of this world" playcentre shaped like a UFO with service as fast as the speed of light!!!

Sierra enjoying the black hole slide

We then parked down the road a bit and took a stroll down Main St in search of Aliens and UFO's. It doesn't take long to find them...

Even the street lights are aliens

We went into the International UFO Museum. ($5.00 per person over the age of 15, 5-15 $2.00 and 4 and under are FREE)

Sierra loved the stage area and it kept her busy
performing for quite awile :)

 Aliens outside the museum...people plaster them wih their colour coded stickers for the day from their admission to the museum.

The most astonishing thing Ian saw today...

At home $6.00 will buy you almost 2!!!

Roswell is a neat little gimmicky town, but if you are looking for authentic looking Alien/space/UFO souveniers...you won't find them here, or at least we didn't. Everything we saw was cheap dollar store quality...so we left with nothing but pictures and memories...and yes we left with both our children.

The Roswell Visitor's Centre (which by the way is the BEST most friendliest service I have encountered anywhere!) told us Roswell has the only FREE zoo in New Mexico but after the museum it was time for a nap so we headed out in search of a boondocking site in Carlsbad on the Pecos River that I heard about but it was so hot we took a detour to Brantley Lake State Park in hopes of some swim time tonight before supper. The winds today were horrible and it was a hard drive for Ian as he tried to keep the RV on the road.

But we made it to Brantley Lake State Park.

we took a drive to the lake (primitive camping on the lake is only $8.00 per nigh) and it was warm but so windy Aayla honestly might have blown away so we left without even a picture of the lake. We continued on to Carlsbad towards the boondocking spot and got the biggest surprise!!! We couldn't overnight here unfortunately but that's not the surprise...this was:



Playground on the Pecos

Right on the river

It had a bat cave

lots of slides

towers to climb

Xylophones to play

All sorts of climbing apparatus

Tire swings and normal swings,
baby swings and large swings

balance beams...tricky in high heels but isn't that what all the cool kids
 wear to the playground?

A stroll over the river

and back to play some more

Giddy up Horsey...Rapido!!!

a puppet theatre...oh I LOVE puppets!

As the sun started to set it was time to go find a place to make supper and sleep for the night.

We ended up at you guessed it...Carlsbad Walmart just in time to see the sunset

See Walmart Camping can be beautiful :) And as an added bonus...it's FREE. A Great end to a fun day, celebrating our 1 month mark on the road today!

...but that means we only have 3 1/2 months left :( What other adventures are instore??? Well tomorrow it's the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park, Carlsbad Caverns and yes most likely another trip back to that playground!

White Sands National Monument

We enjoyed a very HOT afternoon at White Sands National Monument.



The entrance fee is $3.00 per person but our America the Beautiful Pass covers our admission cost. FYI If you are planning a visit here, bring your crazy carpet. We didn't and had to pay $10.00 for a used saucer and could have received $3.00 back if we returned it but we decided to keep it incase we see more dunes like we did beside Arches National Park. (New ones are $14.50 each with a $5.00 refund if you return it)

You can safely drive your RV along the park roads. They keep the road clear of blowing sands and the parking areas are very compact.

The sand was very cool to the touch, and almost cold when you dug down, and the wind was nice for the most part. (from the top of the hill it felt like it was sand blasting you...so wear sunglasses to keep your eyes safe...my girls wouldn't keep their's on and shed a few tears) It (the wind) cooled down the hot temperature. Our air conditioning in the truck died today so we are baked potatoes now and anything cool is appreciated here.

The dunes on the drive through the park

Shortly the roads get a dusting of sand

Then vegetation gets scarce and only sand can be seen for miled

 

Sierra climbing up the hill...much harder then it looks!

Going down by herself for the first time and it was much faster alone!

1,2,3 lift off

Weeeeeee

oopppsss not such a graceful landing :)

Aayla had just as much fun sitting and playing
 in the sand as she did sledding

Lift off

I love the ripples

A fun afternoon...now off to find a Ford Dealership to look at the air conditioning

REVIEW Rock Hound State Park New Mexico

We were wondering where all the heat was...well we found it here at Rock Hound State Park in Southern New Mexico.

From Demming, take the 11 South for 5 miles, then go East on 141 for about 9 miles and it will be on your left.

Value 4/5
Same price as for all New Mexico State Parks. We paid $14 for water and electric ($10 for basic/$8 primitive)

Site Quality 4.5/5
Flat and very level crushed gravel in our #24 spot. Water and electricity. Individual garbage cans at each site. Fire pit and barbeque pit (fire ban right now for both). Covered picnic table. Dump station and good internet and satellite service. Nicely landscaped and space between most sites.

Facility Fun 4/5
There is a nice desert garden trail with lots of different cactus varieties planted. We even spotted a couple bird nests in one. This trail loops around to meet up with the trail up to the "digging" area. (unlike most parks this park allows you to hunt for and keep your rocks) You can do a loop, or do both trails at separate times. There is a great central playground.

Natural Surrounding 4/5
You are surrounded by cactus, birds, lizards and rocks, rocks, and more rocks which they encourage you to go hunt for and keep up to 15 pounds for personal use only. (water here sure would have been nice...very hot!)

Bathrooms 2.5/5
Flush toilets, and timer showers but not very clean when we were here.

Staff 5/5
Camp host Charles is very friendly and stopped by to chat within minutes of our arrival to ask if we had any questions and handed us a trail map.

Location 3/5
It is sort of in the middle of nowhere. Deming is about 15 miles away which has a Walmart which DOES allow overnight RV camping. (And trucks!!! There must have been about 30 trucks parked there, RV's park on the opposite end of the lot) Spring Canyon is just up the road.

Overall 3.5/5
This is a nice little park but it's remoteness and bathrooms made it score low in our books. Our site was right beside the playground which was perfect for us and the girls. We could relax, or cook outside while they played right beside us.

View from the playground to our site #24



The trail up to look for rocks



Digging for gems and geodes...note: bring a metal shovel, pick axe or
something better then plastic shovels as the ground is HARD

View of the campground from the trail

Beautiful sunsets and if you walk on the garden trail you will not get the
powerlines in your photos :)

A nest in a cactus right beside one of the sites

View from the roadway