New Mexico

Brought to You by the letter ‘d’

by Ingrid

It’s a new day and a new journey.  The large rear window in the RV offers an unobstructed view of the mountain and meadow to the east.  As I sit in my chair drinking a steaming cup of hot black coffee, I watch the sky toward the east start to glow.

camping in New Mexico
Sunrise at City of Rocks State Park, New Mexico

It’s a cold, brisk morning in southern New Mexico.  The tall meadow grasses are touched with frost.  After a great nights sleep, Al and I sit in a toasty warm RV watching the sunrise. While we eat a breakfast of left over cherry pie, we wonder why anyone wouldn’t want to do this……I’m referring to the RVing thing but on second thought, why wouldn’t anyone want to eat cherry pie for breakfast while watching the sunrise?  Pie and coffee with a beautiful view…..aahhh!

RV windows
our campsite at City of Rocks State Park. I love that large rear window in the RV

This was the perfect overnight stop.  This is our church. It’s what renews us. We savor the morning; savor the view, the coffee, the pie. Life is good. No hurry this morning.

winter camping
A cold morning. Trail sign coated in frost.

We’re tempted to spend another night, but it’s cold and expected to get even colder.  Even Al is torn.  Do we go?  Do we stay?  With a little warmer weather, I assure you we would stay another night, but with the cold temps we move on.

winter camping
The RV loop offers electric and water. Dry camping available in and around the rocks geared towards tent camping.
camping in New Mexico
City of Rocks State Park – great place for tent camping

We reluctantly leave City of Rocks State Park near Deming, New Mexico with the promise to return for a longer stay in the not too distant future. (FYI for my international visitors or those geographically challenged – New Mexico is a U.S. State located between Texas and Arizona and not to be confused with the country of Mexico)

While traveling along the interstate through the sprawling city of El Paso, Texas, we glance to the south across the U.S. – Mexico border .  The Rio Grande River acts as a divider between the two countries.  We can easily see the city of Juarez, Mexico.  It’s not a pretty sight and with a reputation of being the deadliest city in Mexico, we won’t be crossing the border here anytime soon, but being this close to the border we did encounter a random check point stop; not uncommon traveling the roads in the southwest.

border patrol
A border patrol stop even though we don’t cross the border!

All traffic is stopped.  The border patrol officer looks through the window and asks, “Is everyone on board a U.S. citizen?”  We respond respectfully, “Yes”.  He says, “Have a good day” and waves us on.  Al no sooner has his window rolled up when he comments, “Si, Señor”.  I’m very grateful his sense of humor was not released sooner or we would’ve been pulled over.  Even then, when pulling a RV it’s not unusual to be asked to pull over and an officer will board the RV checking for the harboring of any illegal aliens….no E.T. onboard in our rig.  I don’t know why these stops always make me nervous, but they do.  Geez, I’m not even crossing the United States border.

By noon, we are east of El Paso, Texas and are changing the clocks to the Central Time Zone.  Looks like we just lost an hour.  We have a 370 mile (587 km) day of travel planned today; from Deming, New Mexico to Fort Stockton, Texas.  The drive should take us about 5 1/2 to 6 hours depending on fuel stops.

Since it’ll be a cold night, we opt to spend $25 for the night for full hook-ups and stay at the Hilltop RV Park in Fort Stockton, Texas.  Tomorrow will be another 5 hour drive.  Texas sure is a BIG state!

rock sculptures
Do I see a bunny rabbit?

The drive allows us plenty of time to reflect on our journey the past couple of days.  We love meeting fellow RVer’s and discovering hidden gems like City of Rocks State Park.  So many of the rocks created unique shapes….. many of which I have chosen not to post since my blog is rated ‘G’.  Although I can’t promise after a couple of margarita’s that I won’t do a post on phalluses.  For now, I’ll stay with a Sesame Street theme and share the letter ‘d’.

Oh, and FYI….due to poor internet connection, I’m behind on posting.  This travel day occurred Dec.29th.  For the past 6 days we have been hunkered down in Rockport, Texas.  The polar vortex has reached south Texas as well with freezing temps and rain/sleet.  Warmer weather forth coming.  To all my followers to the north, “Ya’ll stay safe and bundled up.”

city of rocks
This post brought to you by the letter ‘d’ courtesy of City of Rocks State Park

65 thoughts on “Brought to You by the letter ‘d’”

  1. Darn Ingrid, you continue to reel me in with these awesome travel destinations. I do love to see those rocks. I am one of those geographically challenge. Even after you mentioned where is Arizona exactly, I still googled it. Ahihihi 😀 It says 13 hours from California. I think I can handle that. And I still need to see about Colorado. You really are making my feet itch! Love Al’s zinger. 😆

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  2. I totally agree, Bliss…. Except my bliss would be a gin and tonic with Dave and the dogs watching a perfect sunset. I’m not very good with sunrises. Although with a piece of pie in my hand I might try getting up to see one! Thanks for sharing. Sue

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  5. Thanks for the laughs! Just what I needed on this chilly gray rainy evening in north Florida. BTW, if you want to add to your rock photo collection, all of our photos of Joshua Tree NP look like gigantic butts…

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    1. Thanks. Joshua Tree NP is on our list. Sometimes its tough to figure out which way to point the RV; east or west? Its a nice dilemma to have 🙂 Here’s to sunny skies in our near future 🙂

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  6. Glad to hear you’re in warmer weather – we are too! City of Rocks sure looks pretty in the morning. Hector and I discovered a really good all natural margarita mix recently – Freshies – it’s sold in liquor stores and some groceries, but not always available. But it’s the best mix we’ve tasted yet.
    Brenda

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    1. Thanks. I’ll be looking for it. However, since my blender fell out of a cupboard and shattered (I need to talk to my driver) we’ve been drinking the premixed Jose Cuervo.
      City of Rocks is definitely worth spending the night to be able to capture it at various times of the day. Loving the ocean but missing the rocks 😉

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  7. The western rock formations never cease to amaze me. I have a western trip semi-planned which includes stops in Deming and Ft. Stockton – sounds like your on the same route I’m considering and I’ll be able to learn from your travels.

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  8. Funny post Ingrid! Needed the chuckle today. We also will spend one night at Hilltop on our way to Tucson.

    Here’s to some warmer weather!

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    1. Thanks Gay. Most of the time we’ll do a Wal-Mart or Casino parking lot but with the cold weather it was nice to have electric and not worry about freezing temps. It’s starting to warm and I’m loving it 🙂

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  9. We spent a week in Rockport two years ago. What a wonderful area. I am sure you have plenty on your “to see, to do” list but we really enjoyed just hanging out at Blue Wave Beach. Aransas National Wildlife Refuge was wonderful. We saw the biggest alligators there.

    Enjoy your stay and happy New Year!

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    1. I think I saw that very alligator. Definitely well fed. All the birds are so much fun to see and hear. I’ll Google Blue Wave Beach and hit your blog archives to make sure I don’t miss anything. Thanks 🙂

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    1. I like that first shot too, but for me it conjures up the memories that morning. It was just one of those mornings where it felt great to be alive….the kind of morning one thanks God. It was so peaceful…..

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    1. Blue northers?…..time to Google. From the desert to the ocean….forth coming photos will be much different than my previous ones.

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  12. We stayed at Hilltop too, nice overnight after our horrendous day on the road that day. Mustang Island is just as bad as Rockport, but they say tomorrow it all changes for the better can’t wait.

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    1. If memory serves me, that was the horrible day around El Paso? Yeah, we have the same weather. We’re only about 45 minutes away from you. I can’t wait for the nicer weather. I’m loving all the unique birds around here. I’ve been snapping away 🙂

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  13. We had some of our coldest weather and worst RV problems when in New Mexico. On another subject, I say have a couple of margaritas and tell us what you really think Ingrid! 🙂

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    1. RV problems and nasty weather do not make for a fun or memorable time. Although it’s raining today, it is starting to warm. The fog made for some interesting photos this morning. I’m back to my IA setting 😉 Saw some folks out this morning with super big lenses. I decided that would be too much hassle for me….. keeping it fun. I’m fixing those margaritas once the sun shines 🙂

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  15. Too funny! I wouldn’t mind a little “R” rating for some funny photos. Isn’t it amazing how many phallus’ there out there! Arches NP was covered them!

    I am so glad to see sunrises. Good of you to get up and take these photos for those of us unwilling to crawl out that early. Beautiful! Cherry pie for breakfast…my idea of good.

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    1. I’m sure you have your own private collection of phallus photos that you too will need to share. Yeah, we’re early risers, but it helps when the sun doesn’t rise till after 7:00. Gotta have my coffee first 🙂

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  16. Love the City of Rocks – Great Captures:) Have to put this on my travel bucket list. I want some cherry pie – YUM:) I have a friend that asks me why I do not attend church and I say I get outside in the Great Outdoors for my solace and thinking and pondering. My parents are FT RVers and have had their RV tossed inside and outside one time by the border patrol – tag your it kinda thing. My dad said after leaving not at the time what do they think we are drug mules – ha! Happy Hump Day:)

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    1. I did not realize your folks are FT RVers. Do they stay in the west? It is a scary thought to have your home turned upside down by border patrol. I’ve heard some horror stories.
      Hope you’re staying warm and dry in your neck of the country. 🙂

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      1. My parents spend 3 months in the Summer in the Midwest and the rest of the year in the South. It has been in the 50’s here and dry – I am not sure if the weather here knows it is Winter – ha!

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  17. City of Rocks is one of our favorites. Next time keep going and spend some time in SIlver City. Nice town, surrounded by national forests, and you can make a day trip to the Gila Cliff Dwellings. We stayed at a small, clean, friendly RV park, Manzanos. Would definitely recommend it.

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    1. That’s exactly what I wanted to do but the weather was just a little too cold for my liking. Plus we were trying to time driving through El Paso on a Sunday morning. I’m hoping to catch it all on our return to Phoenix….weather permitting 🙂

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  18. OK…I thought that RV park sounded familiar..We stayed at Hilltop RV Park in March of 2010 on our way back from Pancho Villa State Park, Columbus NM..A good trip to Mexico is in order for us…a Margarita for me, and Tecate for Den (or 2), a nice bowl of nachos at Progresso, all due tomorrow. Weather is going to be in the 70’s the next week..finally~! I get nervous at Border Patrol Check Points too..could be because I got yelled at for taking photos at the Roma crossing on our way INTO the US…Trouble just seems to find me! Safe Travels in Texas…!

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    1. I look forward to your Mexico post. I took photos as we approached the border patrol check point but was super quick about it because I know they don’t like that. Try and stay out of trouble tomorrow. I don’t think they have internet service in a Mexican jail….LOL.

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    1. No point in stopping in El Paso. We try and go through as fast as possible and did it on a Sunday morning to avoid traffic. Worked well. Hope we time it just as well on our way back to Phoenix 🙂

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  20. Next time you travel through far West Texas, try to stop at Davis Mountains State Park to camp! It is a gorgeous place year-round, lots to see in the area, water, sewer, electric and 50 channels of cable TV, for just $25 a night. Need an advance reservation most of the year. There is also a restaurant at the Indian Lodge in the park, too. We just returned from there, and I love it more than ever. Sounds like it may be a few more days before a warm-up heads our way, unfortunately. Stay warm!

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    1. Sounds like a great park, but then again I believe Texas is loaded with some pretty awesome State Parks. Thanks for the heads up on it. It’s already warming today and once the rain stops it should be pretty nice. Looking forward to nicer weather for sure!

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  21. Reading the comments it does look as though the margarita post is wished for… love that you try to educate us about your geography, but at school I learnt more of your geography than I did of our own country, heaven knows why, but it was the syllabus for our British exams that we wrote… I suppose Britain being such a small island they decided that it was better to learn about America… how I hated America in my school days… hope that the weather is now improving seems as though the polar vortex caught you in a place you would rather have not been…
    Looking forward to Margaritaville post…

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    1. I hope I didn’t offend anyone with pointing out the difference between New Mexico and Mexico. I attended a conference a few years ago held by a government agency. At check in we were required to say what state we were from. There was a gentleman going around in circles with a young lady. He was from Albuquerque New Mexico and the gal checking in attendees kept telling him the conference was for U.S. States only….dah….just one of our intelligent government employees somewhat confused.
      .
      The weather is finally warming up and I may have to have one of those margaritas soon 🙂

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      1. I remember a screwup with the Salt Lake Olympics where the folks selling tickets thought New Mexico wasn’t part of the USA…. says a lot about our schools these days.

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      2. I don’t think you offended anyone.. I though you might like to know we actually studied the USA geographically at school via a curriculum set by the Brits…
        However when we flew back from NYC we shared a plane with 100 odd school kids from the USA coming to the RSA… I had some very interesting discussions with those students that had very little knowledge of our country… a team leader a girl of about 17 told me something I will never forget, she said “the problem in the USA, is the students are taught that the USA is the world”… we even had twins ask if they could expect elephants on the runway at Johannesburg… I could assure them there would be none… and when we flew in I over heard them say “we must be there” as we flew over a small town called Brits… when they saw Johannesburg from the air the shout went out “They have sky scrapers!” I must admit I found this a bit disconcerting that children were coming to my country without even doing a little research on the internet… no wonder so many in the world think so badly of us… just a though from me that what you added about Mexico is important, there are those that would not have known that

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        1. Thank you Gunta and Bulldog for your input. I’m not sure if it’s a lack of education or a lack of interest that produces ignorance. One would assume with all the information readily available via the internet that one would research before visiting a another country….I know I do and I’m just visiting another state 🙂

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  22. In 1987 I drove a motorhome across the border to Juarez and had both a puppy and a .38 special inside my coach. I had forgotten about my gun and luckily did not get searched as I would have ended up in a Mexican Jail.
    I hope you get some good days in Rockport, and do write a margarita fueled post soon 😉

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    1. Yikes, lucky they didn’t board the MH. It’s warming up around here and once it stops raining it should be pretty nice. May even visit the USS Lexington. That’s the carrier Al learned how to fly on and off of.
      All the ingredients are in the cupboard….just need to start mixing up those margaritas 🙂

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      1. I love a good margarita, or 3. Al would really appreciate being on the Lexington again.
        When we were in Rockport We were always in a waiting mode, for either wind, cold, or rain to subside. But there were some fabulous days in between. Take the free Port Aransas ferry. There is a great state park close to the other side with some good fishing.
        Yes, my gun story was intended to illuminate the fact that I have done some real stupid things in my time. Corresponding with you is not one of them.

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        1. Aawww, thanks to that last sentence. We drove into Corpus last Sunday and I saw how little the Lexington is (I’ve been on the USS Nimitz and have seen the USS Midway in San Diego). I can’t believe any sane person would land on that thing. Al’s response….young and dumb!
          Thanks for the info – we’ll be checking out the area 🙂

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  23. Thank you, now I know what we missed! Another good reason to swing by there again someday.
    II thought I am the only one who gets anxious when seeing a border patrol in that area even with Steve on my side 🙂
    Yes, I did see the bunny looking up.

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    1. We look forward to exploring that part of New Mexico even further. I think it’s worth a stop and going up to Silver City which is next on the list.

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  24. You get nervous at Border Patrol checkpoints? You’re not even traveling with an alien! Who forgets to keep his green card on his person. BTW I saw the bunny! I had to squint a bit. I’m not sure you should drink those margaritas and post those other pictures. On the other hand you may increase your followers! 😀

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    1. I can only imagine what you and the mister go through with your British accents when questioned by border patrol. Yes, you may be American, but you don’t sound it…lol.

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      1. There’s always a debate about what to do when approaching Border Control if himself doesn’t carry his green card. We should be used to it by now being so close to the Mexican border. Try as he might, himself cannot speak American!

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    1. His sense of humor is occasionally released at the wrong time….thank goodness it wasn’t that day. I’ve seen City of Rocks referred to as America’s version of Stonehenge before. It was pretty 🙂

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  26. For now we will go with the letter d but looking forward to the post from Margaritaville 🙂 I love the peaceful description of coffee, pie and sunrise. Bliss.

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    1. Ha Ha…between Arches National Park and City of Rocks I should have plenty of material. Now all I have to do is whip up some margaritas. Sending warm weather….well at least warm thoughts your way!

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