Heading West - Mar 2009

We left San Antonio on Wednesday the 4th and began the long trek to our next destination -- Zion National Park. Our first night was spent in Fort Stockton after a lunch stop in Junction, Texas at Cooper's Barbecue. Sadly, this Cooper's is not nearly as good as the original in Llano, Texas, so our last taste of Texas barbecue was a disappointment, but all the more reason to stop in Llano when we return to Texas.

After a long and grueling day of driving in very windy weather, we spent our second night at Valley of Fires Recreation Area near Carrizozo, New Mexico. The views from here are pretty spectacular and we enjoyed a pretty sunrise over the Tularosa Valley the next morning.

After checking the forecast, it appeared that the wind was going to be an issue for the next two days, so we opted to veer from our original plans of a long drive into Arizona (isn't full-timing just wonderful for instant plan changes!) and instead we headed to Elephant Butte State Park. We knew our friends Kate & Terry were there, so we stopped for a couple days to sit out the wind and enjoy visiting.

The New Mexico State Parks have changed their policy on camping and now you must make a reservation (at an extra cost of course) to stay in the now "reservation only" sites. It used to be that you could stay in these (usually premium location) sites on a day-to-day basis and you would only have to move if someone else reserved it. We think this is an absurd policy and now, sadly most of the really nice sites sit unoccupied since most folks don't care to pay the reservation fee above and beyond the camping fee. What a waste!

That said, we still have a nice site at Monticello -- lots of elbow room and views all around,so life is still very good!