Our Vacation Week

To complete our stay at Roper Lake State Park we went for a 7:00am soak in the naturally heated hot tub. The 98 degree Fahrenheit water was a treat.

Our destination was City of Rocks State Park which is south of Silver City NM. This park consisting of large sculptured rock formations in the shape of pinnacles or boulders rising as high as 40 feet. Formed by volcanic eruption 1000 times greater than Mt. St. Helens 30 million years ago. These rock formations are so unique that they are only known to exist in six other places in the world.

Distant view of the incredible rock formations cover one square mile.

Morning light bathing our beautiful camp site among the rocks. Because only non serviced sites were available we stayed just one night. We explored and photographed this "rock city" which was sculpted by wind and water.

We were fortunate to have other campers point out this petroglyph close to our campsite. This artwork of a fertility god was created by the Mimbre Indians around 1200 A.D.

Then we were off to Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus, New Mexico near the Mexican border where we stayed 5 days enjoying the warm sun. We arrived only days after the 100th anniversary of the March 9, 1916 invasion by the Mexican Revolutionaries under the leadership of General Franciso Pancho Villa. It is not clear what the reason was for the raid on the small border town and military camp.
Pancho Villa State Park contains historical exhibits of this raid, the most recent invasion of the continental United States. From Camp Furlong (military camp) an eleven month pursuit lead 10,000 American soldiers 400 miles into Mexico, but ended without the capture of Pancho Villa. This invasion saw the first use of cars, trucks and aircraft by the American military. The Pancho Villa State Park is located on the former site of Camp Furlong.

The town's museum displays a clock that was stopped in time by a bullet early that day.

Columbus is another border town that attracts Americans and Canadians to the nearby Mexican town of Palomas for eye glasses and dental work.

During the last two months we have lived in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts we have learned to deal with low humidity and fluctuating temperatures. Even at 30 C. we found it unnecessary to use our air-conditioning due to the dryness (note 9% relative humidity). So needless to say that staying hydrated is crucial. Dealing with dry nose and lips is balanced by the blessing of very few bugs.