Wednesday Nov 22, 2023 - City of Rocks State Park NM to Bisbee

 

It hit 28 degrees last night but the heater did its job. I cobbled up an outdoor thermometer since it seems to be the first question we have in the morning. The sun was just coming up after our 9 hour sleep last night.

We made coffee and tea, packed up, and took a lap around the park to see what the sites looked like in the morning. I think they hired an abstract artist to design this park. The rocks are big odd shaped boulders and they tucked a “campsite” into any nook or cranny that you could fit a picnic table and fire ring into. Not many have a flat spot to park your rig so you have to get creative with the leveling blocks here. With a little calculus we parked the van so the bed was close enough to level. There are pit toilets here and there and we discovered last night that there are showers with hot water in the visitor center bathrooms which are open all night. And they are free!

Back down Rt 61 and then out to Rt 180 which goes to Silver City. On Rt 61 is Faywood Hot Springs, which according to all reports is a funky hot springs resort where you can soak clothed or unclothed and you can camp or rent a cabin. Note for the future.

We found Adobe Springs Cafe in Silver City, where they have good old diner breakfast food. We had a short wait since the restaurant across the street was closed today, but we chatted up a local women named Linda and shared a table with she and her friend Vicki. Linda was delightful and grew up around here and was a veterinarian, semi retired. So we got lots of good tips on the best New Mexico places to camp. It’s wonderful to meet strangers.

Then a stroll through the downtown where we've been before. The town looks a little more tired than the last time we were here. There is a declining population so a lot of empty storefronts.

From Silver City we headed south to Lordsburg on Rt 90 and filled up with cheaper gas there. Then west on I-10 to the Animas exit which took us south on Rt 338, where we'd never been. A surprising amount of hay or cotton being grown down here but not many people. The last census said Animas had less than 200 people. But it’s been here since the 1700’s sometime.

Then west on Rt 9 to Rodeo and west on Rt 80 which takes us right back to Bisbee. Quick stop in Douglas to get everything ready to unload at home (Bisbee has very few flat spots).

Once home we unloaded everything in the driveway including the water tank, grey water tank (sink drain) and toilet (small is beautiful!!). I parked the van and “winterized” it (takes about 5 minutes, again small is beautiful) since we don't know when we will go out again, maybe January.