We left Bosque del Apache midafternoon after a final drive to look at the sand hill cranes who were now in the fields eating. We will definitely be back! We then drove about an hour south to Truth or Consequences, a laid-ack town known for it numerous hot springs. The original name of the town was Hot Springs, NM. Ralph Edwards, who had the well-known radio show Truth or Consequences from the 1940s said he would host the 10th anniversary show in the first town to change their name to Truth or Consequences. The town got together and voted to change their name and the anniversary show was hosted in town. Every year there is a festival to commemorate the name change.We enjoyed the GlampCamp with its own outdoor soaking tubs which could be filled any time you wanted. Downtown T or C is on top of a fault system providing access to naturally heated mineral water. There are numerous public bath houses, and privates homes can apply to be connected to the mineral water.
Wednesday November 19th, we soaked at River Bend mineral springs which is a beautiful bathhouse on the Rio Grande. We really enjoyed the views across the river and the peaceful environment. We were also lucky to get there and back to the RV between the many rain showers of the day!
By Thursday we were well warmed up and relaxed and we headed to our next location. We stopped for lunch in Hatch, NM, known as the Chile capital of the world. You can get a huge variety of dishes with red or green chilis. You can also order Christmas which means both red and green chilis. They are quite delicious, and we enjoyed a tasty meal at Pepe's Cocina.
Our last place to visit was White Sands NP. We arrived in the afternoon and found a quiet spot to park and take the cats out for a walk. We were surprised to find they hated the place! We tried picking them up and taking them to different locations, but no luck. Flash managed to slip his harness and ran back the RV as quick as his paws could take him. Zeke flatly refused to move. We finally figured out they felt vulnerable because of the wide-open area with no bushes or trees for cover. We however, had a great time sledding on the dunes! It was a spectacular sunset, and we stopped numerous times for John to take photos before finally driving to Oliver Lee State Park for the night.
The next day we had a leisurely morning, enjoying the warming sun and views from the campsite of the dramatic Sacramento mountains and the Chihuahuan desert. The cats much preferred this location and recovered from the trauma of the previous day by exploring the many paths between all the campsites. We were pleased the cats had quickly settled back into traveling. When starting the trip, Flash would still burrow under the duvet, between the towel we folded up to try and contain the ever-present cat hair. Zeke spent most of his time up front on the floor between the driver and passenger seat. Surprisingly by the end of this trip Flash took over the coveted front spot a lot and poor Zeke had to squeeze into a smaller space - They generally don't sit that close to each other, so it is quite unusual to see them that close.We spent Friday November 21st in Ruidoso and Saturday afternoon decided to head for home instead of staying the planned extra night. After a terrifying few hours of night driving on a narrow two-lane highway we stopped at the city park in Tatum, NM. Normally night driving is fairly easy, but it was a busy Friday night and no one seemed to want to dim their lights! We were home and unloaded by Sunday evening before the rain storms the following day. It was an excellent trip, and we found many areas we want to explore again. Now it's time to winterize and make some improvements so we are ready for next year's adventure!
Click here for the photos!
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