Tuesday, March 19, 2013

City of Rocks State Park, NM

I was lucky.  After overnighting in the parking lot at Cabela's in Glendale, AZ, we drove into D & R Family RV at 8:00 am (without an appointment) to see if Ron could check our solar regulator, which had stopped working.  It was Monday morning and things were busy.  Ron had some things to do, but got to me a hour later and took the panel off the wall.  He checked all the connections, and one of the wires had worked loose.  He tightened it up, then checked my batteries to see if they had any loose connections and checked the fuse in that compartment.  All was well, and by 9:30 Katie and I were on the road again.

It was an all day drive, with a few stops along the way for potty breaks, gas/propane fill ups, lunch, etc.  It was a little windy on and off during the day and I took it easy and stopped a lot; after my last long, windy drive, I wasn't taking any chances with my wrists and thumbs, which still aren't completely healed.  We arrived at City of Rocks State Park in Faywood, NM after 5 pm.   (Actually, because of the time change, it was after 6 pm. Between being in California in the normal time, then changing to Daylight Savings Time, then going to Arizona who seems to have it's own time zone, and now on to New Mexico, which is Mountain Daylight Savings Time, I wasn't at all sure what time it was, but I thought it was 5.)


Below is a long distance view of the rock formations seen from the road coming down to the park:


 This is the Visitor's Center, where my friend Hazel, is Volunteering.


I drove around the Visitor's Center to the sites with electrical hook-ups, where the volunteers with full hook-ups are also parked.  I had called Hazel from Silver Springs and told her I'd be there in a half hour, so she was walking toward us when we parked the rig.

It was getting pretty close to day's end, and Hazel offered to drive us around the park to show us the sites available.  I've never seen anything like this.  She assured me The Palms would easily fit into the places along the roads and between the rocks to get to some of the more hidden campsites.

There were quite a few I would have liked, some were taken, some were empty.  There are some fabulous sites that are almost enclosed with rocks, but my solar panels wouldn't get enough sun in that type of site, so after Hazel dropped us off back at The Palms, I asked her if she would lead me to the one I liked best for now, right behind the Botanical Garden.  I didn't think I'd be able to find it again, and also thought she might help me back into the site and get level.  All these huge rocks were a little intimidating to me.  She was happy to help - thanks, Hazel!

This is the site I chose:
  
Our campsite at City of Rocks.

Of the sites I liked, it's the closest to the Visitor's Center.  It has the "rock room" out the kitchen window and a view of the road in front of me with huge rocks out the dinette and cab windows, and a wide view of the plains and mountains and sunset out the couch window.
 
The back of our site, with a little rock room.

Across the street - if you click on this photo you can see the campsite to the left.

At lunch time today Katie and I took a walk down to the Visitor's Center and I took some pictures of that area.  Hazel was working the center today, but was in her car driving away for lunch when we talked to her and the center was closed while she was gone.  Next time we walk down, I'll get some information on the rocks and how they were formed.  Hazel told me yesterday, but I don't remember it all.  Lava rocks is all I remember.

I thought these rocks looked like some kind of animal.

I love the photo below - hard solid rocks under a soft fluid sky.


I'll have more information about his unique area and some more photos next time.

This was our first sunset, isn't it beautiful?


WELCOME to our newest follower, AC S!  I don't see anything about a blog or profile, so I can't tell you anything other than she has a very pretty photo.  AC S, if you are an RVer with a blog, let me know and I'll give you a shout out!  Thank you for following along with me and Katie, and Welcome Aboard!

From Me and My Dog, have a great Monday, everyone!  :)

18 comments:

  1. What a great spot! I'm gonna bookmark that one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Isn't it nice when you're kind of expecting the worse and it turns out to be some silly little inexpensive thing.
    Great shots, love those rocks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad you got the loose wire fixed and got to your beautiful campsite. I can't wait to see more pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thought that rock looked like a camel sitting down. Interesting place!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This looks like a really great spot! I sort of remember something like this at a campground we visited when I was a kid...but I don't know it was here for sure. Can't wait to see more of it via you!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks like a great park. I like how the rocks surround the campsites. The rock looks like "Snuffleuppagus" from Sesame Street (back in the 80's).

    ReplyDelete
  7. Cant wait for more! How neat the rocks make "rooms" and its so private. Isnt it just great how we can travel around and meet friends all over the place? What a life!

    Glad it was nothing major or time consuming for the solar fix.

    The sunset was very pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Really nice photos - again. Love the rocks and the private rooms some offer. My kind of setting.

    ReplyDelete
  9. That looks like a great park. I have always been fascinated by huge rocks like that. You have some really nice photos.

    ReplyDelete

  10. Gosh, this is really something..... The rock rooms are a new experience..... Great that they are part of the site....It will be so interesting hearing more about your adventure...in the photo Katie looks like she is checking out the formation... She must think this is a real change of events!!! Glad you are having a good time.....

    ReplyDelete
  11. I attempted to leave a comment before but did not yet have the right Google ID I guess. I apologize if this is a duplicate. I wanted to say I have enjoyed several of your posts and pictures. I lived in New Mexico for several years and LOVE City of Rocks. I never got to camp there, but I will someday! Planning on joining full-timer vandwellers within the year.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Katie is looking at that rock like, "what are you supposed to be?" So cute! Very interesting and different campsites. This is why I love reading blogs, I get to see so many different parts of the country from my comfy chair.

    ReplyDelete
  13. City of Rocks is truly spectacular! We totally fell in love with it. It's like looking at a microscopic view of snowflakes. Yes, they are all "rocks", but each one, and each arrangement of a group, is so different. You can look at the same configuration from different angles and see different "pictures" in your mind.

    At sunset time, look west. It can be unbelievably beautiful.

    http://dorrieanne.wordpress.com/2012/07/08/city-of-rocks-new-mexico/

    ReplyDelete
  14. Agreed, it is a great spot. We came along to this place in 2011, after coming visiting the Gila Cliff Dwellings. We stayed at the Upper End Campground of the Gila National Forest at that time.

    http://american-traveler.blogspot.com/2011/03/march-25-2011-city-of-rocks-state-park.html

    ReplyDelete
  15. We just visited City of Rocks for the day, last week. What a cool place. Makes us want to put some solar panels on our RV. That opens up a whole new world of possibilities. We stayed about 30 miles from City of Rocks in Deming, NM at Hidden Valley Ranch RV Park. Nice campground.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love the photos. What a beautiful place !

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comments - we LOVE them!