December 24-27: Del Rio

From Port Isabel we meandered to the border town of Del Rio, Texas (Amistad National Recreation Area). The Rio Grande constitutes the border in much of this area. No wall! We saw blue 55 gallon food grade barrels marked "AGUA" along the roadway.

Social distancing together...

Going home and passing the original Judge Roy Bean saloon. We spent a bit of the drive reading about him. He was a real character.

On the way back to Santa Fe we stayed overnight in Roswell, New Mexico. Then we continued home on Highway 285. Of course we needed to listen to the podcast: Tower 57:

If you drive past the lights of downtown Roswell, north on Route 285 into the darkness of the New Mexico desert, you'll run across a little radio station with a single tower. This is the home of WKLEN talk-radio, broadcast through Tower #57.

Aliens taking over a radio station? Maybe. Spooky? Definitely!

December 21-23, 2020: Port Isabel, Texas and SpaceX

From Junction we drove to Port Isabel - on the southeast tip of Texas - to meet up with Adam and Tran. Bodhi, our dog, was thrilled to see Adam again. (Roz, named after Roswell NM, contains her excitement.)

We were particularly excited to see the SpaceX SN9 roll out to the launch pad. It moves from its assembly bay to the launch pad using State Highway 4, so we followed behind in a slow procession.

Those two white vans again.

Here is the nose cone of SN8 laying were it recently crash landed!

Once SN9 arrived at the launchpad, they lifted it in place. 

The SpaceX launch facility is at Boca Chica Beach. Adam's dog, Roper had to investigate:

Another one of Ron's famous crooked pictures:

Back in Port Isabel, our campsite was right on the water

We put up some Christmas lights.

December 20th: Sleeping under the lights in Junction, TX

Due to dog health issues we got a late start on our Christmas trip. Our first stop was Junction, Texas where we spent the night at Schreiner City Park on the Llano River. We slept, for free, under the Christmas lights:

It made for a magical sleeping experience...

Sadly, when we woke up there were no presents in the van.

December 10-12, 2020: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

We decided to do a quick trip to Las Cruces. Our first stop was the amazing Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. Birds Galore. Deer, coyote and a bobcat. 

After that we drove to Las Cruces to look at areas of the city as possible places to move. Then to La Posta in Mesilla to pick up green Enchiladas which we ate at our overnight spot at a Cracker Barrel (not too exciting). In the morning, we went hiking at the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument. In this picture you can see the Organ Mountains National Monument in the distance.

November 24-26, 2020: Valley of Fires

Here is a blurb from the Valley of Fires website:

Approximately 5,000 years ago, Little Black Peak erupted and flowed 44 miles into the Tularosa Basin, filling the basin with molten rock. The resulting lava flow is four to six miles wide, 160 feet thick and covers 125 square miles. The lava flow is considered to be one of the youngest lava flows in the continental United States.

So of course we decided to spend Thanksgiving camping on the Lava Flow ... 

 

November 5-8, 2020: City of Rocks

 We took a quick trip to Datil Wells (sorry, no pictures). Then off to City of Rocks State Park.

We ended up buying a annual camping pass where we can camp for free at any of the New Mexico State Parks. Then, the next week, they closed the parks due to Covid-19. 

We decided to hike to the top of the mountain you see in the distance.

Here is the view from up there:

Most of the spots we camped at had fire restrictions. The City of Rocks was the first time we had a camp fire:

October 12-13, 2020: There is room in our hearts for joy and sadness

Bodhi, our 9 year old Standard Poodle got seriously ill on the Utah Trip. The day we got back he had emergency surgery to remove his spleen. Then we transported him in our van to an overnight animal hospital in Albuquerque. Other than Bodhi, we all spent the night in the van at a Cracker Barrel. Our first night at a Cracker Barrel -- and a blackened catfish takeout!

The diagnosis was Hemangiosarcoma and Bodhi is now on chemotherapy drugs.

October 7-12, 2020: The white vans in Utah

On this trip we caravanned with Adam and Tran to a few sites in Southern Utah. All of us (except Cheryl)  needed to get work done for our jobs so part of the time was spent hanging out near good cell coverage. 

On October 7th we stayed in Aztec, New Mexico at the Aztec Ruins RV Park and camped next to the Animas River. We toured the Aztec Ruins National Monument which features Pueblo Indian structures from over 1,000 years ago.

The next day we drove to San Juan County and stayed at the Devil's Canyon Primitive Campground. Followed by a stay at an abandoned airstrip off of Utah 95 between Blanding and Natural Bridges National Monument. Bear Ears (buttes) are seen in the background.

 We, of course, visited Natural Bridges:

The next part of our trip took us to the Valley of the Gods. A few years back Ron drove his dual sport motorcycle here and had fond memories. The ride was quite a bit bumpier in the vans than on Dr. Ron's bike.

September 18th to the 20th: The white vans go to American Spring

We went back to American Spring in the Santa Fe National Forest along with Adam, his girlfriend Tran and dog Roper. Just a relaxing time.

September 3-5, 2020: Adam gets a van

Our son Adam found a possible van in Phoenix Arizona. We live closer so we went on a quick trip to have a look.  The first night we stayed at Homolovi State Park right outside of Winslow, Arizona. It was absolutely wonderful. We arrived late and don't have a very good picture. The next night we stayed at the Willard Springs Road Dispersed Camping Area near Flagstaff, Arizona. Being Labor Day, it was super busy and not the quiet wilderness we look for.  Here are the poodles relaxing before the crowds and accompanying noise arrived.

Then on to Phoenix where it was over 100 degrees. We spent hours inspecting the van, Adam ended up buying it so we caravanned back to Santa Fe with both vans - spending the night at a Walmart in Payson, Arizona. 

This was our first (and so far, only) Walmart camping experience and it was better than expected. Cheryl went into Walmart to get a Rotisserie Chicken (just kidding) -- it was Ben & Jerry's ice cream (not sure of the flavor---sorry).

August 20th to the 22nd 2020: Traveling U.S. 64

Off to drive U.S. 64, one of the highest paved roads in New Mexico from Tierra Amarilla to Tres Piedras, then to Sipapu Lodge. We stayed at Hopewell Campground (elevation 9,500 feet).

Cows at our campsite:  

Crossing the Rio Grande Gorge on the way to Sipapu: 

Then on to primitive camping at Sipapu Lodge (ski area). Elevation 8,200 feet:

 

There are a lot of pictures with Cheryl and the dogs! Here is one with neither:

Unpacking back in Santa Fe:

August 5th to the 9th 2020: Santa Fe Forest

We stayed overnight at the White Rock Visitor's Center RV area and then spent several nights at the American Spring Dispersed Camping area in the Santa Fe National Forest close to Los Alamos. 

We mostly boondock, meaning we camp without any electrical or water hookups at undeveloped sites. 

If you click on the following picture to enlarge it you can see Los Alamos in the distance.

This is really just the bathroom at the Los Alamos free RV parking area!