Aliens, Mountains and Finally Camping

After getting the truck serviced and a comfortable night in a motel, we headed southwest to check on the alien population in Roswell. That town is full of statues, signs, shops and a museum dedicated to the rumored visitors from another planet decades ago. In other words…a tourist trap. Still, it was interesting and worth the short stop we made.

The Guadalupe Mountains National Park was quite the opposite. Magnificent scenery everywhere I turned.

From there we headed north through El Paso and on up to Las Cruces where we jumped on I-10, the highway that would lead us to our destination. I was on a mission to get there now, but we still took time for a three-hour 😴 nap in a Cracker Barrel parking lot, joining 8 RVs already parked there at 11:30 p.m.

By the way, New Mexico and Arizona highway rest areas greet travelers with these, sure to grab your attention!

We finally arrived at Exit 17, pushed along by a stunning sunrise. There are many beautiful places on God’s green earth and the sunrise over the mountains surrounding Quartzsite made it obvious this is one of them. Thousands (yes, thousands) of RVers in town and in the surrounding desert areas must feel the same way.

We did a little shopping before driving the five miles out of town to the Plumosa Road camping area, one of five such areas maintained by the Bureau of Land Management near Quartzsite. After registering with the Camp Host (camping is free but all must register) we drove about three miles down the paved road past hundreds of campers, and then drove 3/4 of a mile across the hard-packed desert floor looking for a site offering some seclusion. Here’s our home away from home after a couple hours of unloading and set-up:

 

It wasn’t long after relaxing and enjoying our first amazing sunset that we hit the sack, er cot, pretty pooped after little sleep, a long drive, and setting up our comfortable camp.