We left City of Rocks this morning and went in to Silver city for a walking tour of their historic downtown. Well, wouldn't you know, most of the stores in their historic downtown are closed on Mondays.
After an abbreviated tour we headed east (more or less) on hwy 152 towards I25, and on up to Elephant Butte. We had driven across #152 the other direction when we were staying in Elephant Butte 10 years ago. The drive then was pretty exciting to us, and while still scenic and interesting, was not nearly as tough as some of our other recent drives.
We went to have a look at the State Park at Elephant Butte, with low expectations from memories of 10 years ago. Well, we'd hardly
recognize the place, or the whole area for that matter. It all looks much more prosperous than 10 years ago, and the state park camping is quite nice, what we've come to expect of NM state parks.
After setting up we drove into nearby Truth or Consequences (TorC) and tracked down the Hot Springs spa we had soaked at 10 years ago. The name had changed but we found it and had a great
1/2 hour soak. The spa is watered by natural flowing hot spring waters, constantly running through the deliberately sunken spa building, so the water is always being refreshed. 10 years ago it was $6 per person for a 1/2 hr soak, up to only $7 now. This was a nice surprise, as TorC has been much gentrified since we were here last.
There's even a big Walmart, again with with huge sunshade panels in the parking area. These shades are paved with solar panels, so dual purpose.
While we were eating supper back at camp, a couple passing by on their bikes stopped in for a visit. Blaine and his wife Mary-Lyn were from London Ont, and have a Pleasureway van over in the electric section of the park.
We also had a visit with a fellow on his own that set up at the cabana next to us. He and his dog are from Colorado, full-time camping in his utility-type RV-trailer towed by an older Jeep Wrangler. He moves around to avoid winter as much as possible.
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