Wander the West: First trip west - Wander the West

Dear buzzman--

The question that occurs to me is, "How does Sherri feel about future adventures?" I am thinking, too, about a separate sub-forum devoted to the women who are devoted to their men... What can we do to bring our beloveds more enjoyment while they are wandering with us?

Thanks for the report.

Mark

Thanks for the trip report. I usually sleep just fine when its raining. Unless the dog needs to go out. What are you gonna do? Dogs gotta go. Wet dogs not fun /sigh.

More pics. I'm sure thats all you have.

buzz,

Really enjoying your report and pics, looking forward to the rest of it, thanks for sharing it with us.

The next day we had beautiful sunny skies and a little warmer temps. We visited the Guadalupe Mts. NP located a little south of Carlsbad Caverns on the southern end of the Guadalupe Mt. range. The core of this mountain range is a erosional remnant of an ancient coral reef.

El Capitan peak viewed from the visitor center. 8085 ft of old coral reef. Yes, there's more than one El Capitan in this country.



We walked the short nature trail to the Butterfield Overland Mail stage coach station.



What's left of Pinery Station



After leaving the park we stopped at this great over look along hwy 180 going south to look back at El Capitan. Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in TX, is out of site in the background behind El Capitan.


A nice day on the road.


Here's a view south from the same overlook. You can see our road ahead, hwy 180, way out in the distance.

Keep 'em coming...Enjoying the tale.

I love your truck. Thanks for the pics.

Mark,

You are right. We need to be concerned about our traveling partners' enjoyment of this type of wandering. Sherri did get to visit her Brother in Santa Barbara, CA and her son in Gardnerville, NV. And I tried to encourage her speak up, forcefully if necessary, if there was a place she really wanted to visit. Most of Sherri's lady friends would not even consider spending 29 days in a truck camper, not having access to a full size shower every night, or having to climb up into a cabover bed each night, or using a small porta potti at night, etc, etc. Sherri seems to enjoy the travel. She likes taking pictures and seeing the sights, in fact, many of the pictures I have posted here were taken by her. But saying that, there were times when the cold weather was bothering her. She didn't mind the rain, but the cold was not fun for her. And there were a couple days when we really got on each others' nerves. But mostly we had a lot of fun. The further we went on, the more we got into the spirit of it all and the more we felt comfortable traveling like this. As the trip progressed, the more we got into the relaxation and enjoyment mode. As stated on this forum, "drive slow, it's the journey". We started following that rule more and more the longer we were away from home.

She and I have talked about this kind of travel a lot, and she definitely wants to do it again. So I feel lucky.:)

Sherri taking charge in the camper

We followed hwy 62/180 from Guadalupe Mts NP toward El Paso TX. It was nice day and the scenery was awesome. It's probablyno big deal to those of you who live in the west, but I am always amazed at the wide open space in the western states. We definitely saw some open space on this section of our trip.

Some scenery along TX hwy 62/180. Looking north



Salt flats along the way


More west TX scenery



There was even cell phone coverage out there.
Look Ma, no hands!



We camped at the Siesta RV park in Mesilla NM, near Las Cruces. This was our first "city camping" on this trip. Turned out to be a good choice because we visited historic Mesilla the next morning.


Historic Mesilla NM. Sherri liked this old place.



More historic Mesilla


Some Mesilla streets


Sherri enjoying.

We planned this next segment toward Silver City, NM. We didn't know what we would do when we got there. There are mines and museums to tour, and cliff dwellings to visit, but we stopped at the USFS visitor center in Silver City and they told us about the "Catwalk". We decided to go there since it was kind of out in the wilderness. This was a another one of those unexpected gems we found on this trip.

The Catwalk


More Catwalk



Catwalk walls of volcanic rock



Part of the Catwalk 1 mile trail



It was getting late in the day when we visited the Catwalk so we had to hurry up and get to our camp site. At the FS Ranger station we found out about and isolated camping area, Pueblo Park, located up a 6 mile dirt/gravel FS road in the Apache NF. This photo doesn't do justice to all the switchbacks and ruts. Six miles took 30 mintutes, but it was still okay for 2wd.



Our camp site in Apache NF. There was only one other camper in the area, a couple with an Outfitter pop-up. We got a tour of the camper...nice rig, but unfortunately I didn't take any pictures. It's fun to meet other truck camper folks and talk shop.
A cold morning in the forest!


The next morning we continued north/west on hwy 180. A very scenic drive!


More Apache NF


A stop along Hwy 180


In AZ now on hwy 180 going to the Petrified Forest NP.


More AZ hwy 180 going north to Petrified Forest NP. The wide open spaces are truly amazing.

Buzzman, The West is big. I have been camping through the West since 1968. I have been through most of this country and never seen half the stuff you saw. Your pictures are wonderful and I am looking for more.

Next time we go west, I'm going to pick you up along the way and take you with us because you are handy to have along. Replacing that heater core in someones driveway was outstanding.

My GF will not stay in a motel. She does not like the kinky hairs on the sheets and the bedbugs. She insists we carry a tent so she can make me sleep outside if I talk back. She keeps the revolver inside and I am bait out in the tent. John D