Two for the Road: October 25 - 27, 2013

It was time to zigzag - southwest to Lordsburg and then northwest towards Arizona - some of the little roads just don't take Bessy! That reminds me...

*** It's time to VOTE for the name of the RV ***
*** Check out the lower part of "Name that RV" page! ***

So as Greg heads west...I drive through a very open, mostly empty area in New Mexico... ...rarely saw any animals, or people!

Love the shades of blue...

Headed to North Clifton RV Park...right near the San Francisco River. Found out just over a month ago they had to evacuate because of severe flooding...Clifton has these huge flood gates to hold back the water!!! They named the gates and surrounding structure "Jurassic Park"!

Pic from the news...

There were no pull-through sites at this RV park, but a guardian angel, John, appeared to help guide me in! It's very cool that when I need help, someone is miraculously there!

Above the gas station in town...SO different than home!!

Greg's drop off spot for today's ride...

Another beautiful area where the rocks rise up...as I walked around the pull-off area, all you could hear was the faint hint of the wind...

This is a pic of the next leg of our journey!!

When I went to pay for our stay at the RV park, I met Susan. She was a blast. She works there almost every day and runs things on the weekends. We talked for such a long time!

She had mentioned that someone else was supposed to be coming to use the spot I had taken the night before but she said she will give them another place, so we can stay put! We got to use our Passport America membership we had signed up for at Camping World back in Colorado - only paid 19.50 for the two nights!

Susan grew up in Clifton. Did live in Colorado Springs for a while - but it was too cold for her! She loves this area - "It's tank tops and shorts from April to November!" She has two dogs, lab mixes, and they take care of one another. If it's time to "go out", one will go looking throughout the house to let the other know! Said her daughter also has dogs and names them after Greek gods - Zeus, Artemis, etc. Susan loves mythology too - has been learning a lot about it lately.

Two of her sons are in the Army - one in Alaska and one in Irvine, California. Don't remember where she said the third, youngest son lives. She has never flown but wants to see her family. Told her son she will only visit him in Alaska when there's no snow!

I felt silly asking, but did anyway..."Do people still pan for gold?" Well, her mom and uncle used to pan for gold all the time! They found bits and pieces and she said people in the area have even found a nugget or two! And with that she told me where to go - over the bridge and park anywhere there, right next to the river! Even told me where I could get a real panning bowl!

Glimpses of Clifton...

Creepy jail...

The rock above the "jailhouse"...

The store that sells the pans was closed, so I took one of our bowls and we went over the bridge she told me about (there are quite a few in the area) to do some prospecting!

Parked the jeep. Had to go through this sandy area, then climb over some cool rocks (more about that later!), then this dried out area...we were actually walking where the floods had been last month.