February 29th 2016 - Camp Cow Pie

I woke up to Francis tapping me on the shoulder and pointing to something outside the truck. A big brown cow was walking through our campsite. He did not pay us any attention as he slowly walked over to a bucket in the nearby trees.

When we got out of the truck, I quickly realized that he was not the first cow to come by our site. There were cow patties everywhere! The views were absolutely beautiful but I was distracted by having to watch my step so carefully. Francis was not bothered by it because he said cow poop is not really gross because it is just grass but I was not convinced.

After breakfast, we packed up and went in search of the campground we had been looking for the day before. It turned out that campground was still closed for the winter. We found a number of really nice dispersed campsites during our drive.

We decided to check out the nearby Chiricahua National Monument. It was incredibly beautiful with really unusual mountain formations. We took a quick hike near the visitors center. We saw beautiful blue birds we found out were Mexican Jays. We planned to return for a longer hike on our last day but we needed to choose a campsite for the night so we had to cut the visit short.

Francis had a fried chicken craving and we wanted to check emails and messages so we headed to the closest town which was about 45 minutes away. I stayed in the car while Francis went into Popeyes for the chicken. He came back with a very guilty look on his face which I did not understand. Turns out chicken is very expensive in Arizona or was it just this town? He spent $15 on a box of chicken. No sides, no biscuits, just chicken! There went our budget for the day. What can I say? The man had a craving.

We headed back to the forest to find a spot for the night.We ended up at the site where we had spoken to the other campers the night before. It was really spacious with lots of tree cover. We only planned to stay one night so we decided to sleep in the car. I am amazed at how used to living/sleeping in such a small space we have become but it gives us so much freedom to come and go as we please.

February 28th 2016 - Arizona here we come

It was time to leave City of Rocks after a lovely three day stay. We started our day with one final walk among the huge boulders followed by a hearty breakfast of African stew and rice. We packed up and drove to the Visitor Center to take advantage of the hot showers.

Our next destination was the Chiricahua Mountains in Arizona. We planned to stay in the National Forest.

As always, the trip took longer than we expected and this time we encountered a lot of difficulty finding a place to pick up a few groceries. We did not pass through any large towns, and strangely enough the Loves gas station did not have a loaf of bread in stock. We finally find a gas station that had bread, eggs, and propane for our camp stove.

The drive took us through some orchards with trees we had never seen before. It turns out they were nut orchards. We ended up on a private road that turned out to be a vineyard. Once again the GPS had us on a wild goose chase, taking us on a route that did not exist.


We finally got close to our destination which was Pinery Canyon Campground in the Coronado Mountains. The road was narrow and windy and a lot of the campgrounds were still closed for the winter. The GPS told us we had arrived at the destination but it was actually just a dispersed campsite that was already taken by several people in campers. They suggested we drive back down the road and find a dispersed site ourselves. Of course by this time it was dark which makes finding a good site a challenge. We had seen a few spots on our way in so we headed back.

We managed to find the site we had liked best and pulled in.

February 27th 21016 - Cooking Day

We decided to take advantage of the space, time, and picnic table to do some cooking. We had the supplies for an African stew and tacos so we opted to make both with plans to store some for future meals. While I was prepping the vegetables, Francis went for a quick walk to explore the area around our campsite. I was surprised to see him running back to camp about 15 minutes later looking like he was running away from something. Turns out he had disturbed some bees in a tree and they were chasing him!

The cooking took a good bit of the day. When it was finished and everything was cleaned up we decided to hike back to the spot where we had found signal and post a few days of our blog. 

A strong,cold wind picked up so we hurried back to our campsite. We found a protected spot in the rocks to eat a cold dinner with some tea we had made earlier. One of the major ways that camping is different from living in a house or apartment is how much a change in the weather changes your plans. We had all that food made but it was too cold and windy to heat it up so we ended up eating sardines and trail mix.

February 26th 2016 - City of Rocks Day 2

We spent the warm sunny morning enjoying our beautiful surroundings while reading and writing. After lunch we went for a hike on the trail right by our campsite. About a mile into the hike we sat on a bench to enjoy the view and realized we had phone and internet signal. We spent some time checking in with civilization then finished the hike. We were able to find some downed wood to use for a campfire so we carried it back with us.

We roasted sausages on sticks for dinner and enjoyed our first fire since leaving Lincoln National Forest. We are always amazed how entertaining it is to just sit and watch the fire.

We went for an after dark stroll through the huge rocks. It was a little scary because everything looks so different at night and the terrain is very uneven but the sky was beautiful. When we got back to camp Francis set up his GoPro camera to record the stars and we headed to bed.

February 25th 2016 - City of Rocks

Complimentary breakfast, showers, and a little more tv got the morning off to a nice start. At about 10:30 we got on the road to our next destination, City of Rocks State Park. Way back at Middleton Fish Camp in Florida, we met a couple who recommended it to us. They said it was like being in a episode of the Flintstones so we thought we should check it out.

The park was lovely, very clean and well maintained. The Visitor's Center had lots of information, pictures, hands on displays, and even a book exchange. Camping in most state parks is fairly expensive so we were pleased to see this one was only $10 per night and had hot showers. We drove around the park until we found a good site. The one we found was awesome. It was really big and private but still close to the outhouse and water pump. We decided to stay for 3 nights so we would have time to enjoy the park and get some work done.

We got the tent set up and then I laid on a big rock in the sun for awhile. I realized what a nice feeling it was to be laying in the sun at 4:00 on a Thursday afternoon in February with nowhere I had to go and nothing I had to do. Everyday life does not allow for that kind of freedom very often.

Dinner and some exploring wrapped up a wonderful day.

City of Rocks

February 24th 2016 - Panning for gold

While we were eating breakfast, a white truck pulled up. An older gentleman got out and told us they had been having trouble with people breaking into the mine nearby and stealing equipment. We of course assured him we were just camping. He got much friendlier at this point and told us about the mining operation. He also told us we could pan or use a metal detector in the area we were in as it was far enough from the claim. He left us and continued to the mine.

The prospector, whose name turned out to be Francis as well, came back a little while later with some rocks to show us. He showed Greg and Francis how to pan for gold and invited us to come to his house to see more rocks. After that he was going to show us a better place nearby to do some panning. When we arrived at his home, we met his adorable pitbull and got to see all kinds of interesting rocks and minerals he had collected. He gave us some to take with us before we headed to the new spot.

Francis panned for gold for a little while before deciding it was a little too boring for him. Greg kept at it while we took a walk and looked for pretty rocks. After a couple hours, Greg had  two flakes of gold so we headed back to Alamogordo. We said our goodbyes to our Polish friends as they continued on with their adventures. We went looking for a hotel for the night. We wanted a hot shower, laundry facilities, and a real bed.

We ended up at Super 8 again. It was the best choice in our price range. The manager was very nice and gave us some suggestions for nearby places to eat and told us to be sure to try the local specialty which is green chile. He told us that New Mexico is the only state where you can ask for green chile to be added to your burger at any McDonalds.

Three loads of laundry done, a delicious meal at the restaurant next door, and a couple of movies on cable made for a great night.

Francis and Francis

Greg the prospector