Good-bye, New Mexico.

[pamela]

As you may know from previous posts, my husband and I are fulltime RVers who live and travel in a motorhome. We've been in New Mexico since April and have had a wonderful time. Yesterday was our last day in New Mexico and I was unbelievably sad to leave this morning. We're headed east, back to Maryland, to visit family and clean out a storage unit.

When we left Maryland last November we were in a campervan towing a jeep so we didn't have room for much for our stuff. It's funny...we haven't missed any of it. Well, maybe our fishing poles and telescope but that's about it. I think when we get back to Maryland we're going to get rid of most of it. This lifestyle is so great and it's even better when you keep it simple. A few clothes, some books and art supplies and a few cooking utensils is really all we need.

Last night in Tucumcari we watched a movie that was set in New Mexico, "Off The Map" with Joan Allen and Sam Elliott. I highly recommend it. I wish we had watched it our first night here instead of our last. I think it captures the beauty and power of this great state and is part of the reason I felt so sad to leave today. sigh

Anyway...thanks so much for all the tips on places to see and places to stay. We were mostly in the northeastern section this trip but we plan to come back this Fall and spend more time in the rest of the state. (A special thanks to Voice For Peace for just being so awesome. Meeting you was a highlight of the trip for both Larry and me. Thank you so much for everything.)

I have a blog that has some photos of places we visited if anyone is interested. http://postcardsfrompamandlarry.blogspot.com/. The New Mexico posts start back in April. I'll probably do one more New Mexico post soon with my Tucumcari pics.

Thanks again! Bye for now.

[snappyturtle]

1. This is the nicest post I've read all day. I'm going to enjoy your blog. Safe travels.

edit: Left comment on your delightful blog. I can see why you want to return to explore more of New Mexico.

[pamela]

3. Thanks, snappyturtle.

I hope you enjoy the blog. I mostly write it to keep in touch with my parents so there isn't a lot of heavy, personal stuff. I think we saw some really cool things here so I thought some people might like to see it. We do some touristy stuff but found some "off the beaten path" sites too like the raspberry ranch in Mora and the balloon festival in Roswell. We're at Palo Duro Canyon on Texas tonight.

[pamela]

5. I responded to your comment on the blog. Thanks!

You should check out my March posts on the blog. We were in the Texas Hill country then but we didn't make it to Kerrville. We'll probably be back there some day. It's beautiful in the hill country. We chose Texas as our residency state when we went fulltime so we're technically Texans now. We bought our motorhome in Houston and spent most of the winter exploring Texas before heading to New Mexico.

[BeyondGeography]

2. I feel your pain

Just spent a week there with my family and we are already looking forward to going back. The sky is to die for and the evenings are so beautiful, no matter how hot it gets during the day. I'll check out Tinkertown next time (great NM blog, btw).

[pamela]

4. Tinkertown is awesome!

We were there once before but it was the day after the ABQ Balloon Fiesta and we were exhausted and in a hurry. It's not a place to visit in a hurry. The detail is amazing! If we ever come off the road I'd like to live around there and maybe even work there. I have a great deal of respect for people like Ross Ward who set out to create something like that for the sheer joy of creation.

[BlueToTheBone]

6. If you didn't find it on this trip

be sure and eat at the Mexican cafe at the exit closest to Texas...it had some of the BEST chili rellanos I've ever eaten!

[pamela]

7. Thanks!

That's a great tip for me because I love chile rellanos. That's all I ever order at Mexican restaurants. Had some from La Cita in Tucumcari the other night that were very good.

[TexasTowelie]

8. I'm glad that you enjoyed your stay.

I hope your journey back home is safe and I'll have to check out your blog later.

[pamela]

9. Thanks, TexasTowelie!

We're actually back in Texas now, near Palo Duro Canyon. There are blog posts about Texas from around April on back to December. We enjoyed Texas, too.

[SammyWinstonJack]

10. I am researching rv parks in New Mexico and thought I would check out this forum for tips. So glad

I did. My husband and I are fulltime RVers since last Jan.

We sold our house and bought a motor home to live in.

Traveled first to Coos Bay, Oregon. Then down to Red Bluff, Ca. Ended up back in Texas but I can not take another summer here, so we are looking at either New Mexico or Az., up in the Mountains.

I'm off to check out your travel blog.

Thanks and happy RVing!

[pamela]

11. Hi!

It's so cool to meet another fulltimer on DU. We sold our condo in Maryland last October and drove our Class B RV (campervan) to Houston to buy a motorhome. We hung out in Texas and New Mexico this Winter/Spring but now we're heading back to Maryland for a visit and to clean out the storage unit.

We plan to spend a lot of time in New Mexico. We bought a NM state park pass for $225 so we can stay in any New Mexico state park for a year and only have to pay $4 a night for a site with water and electricity or free for the non-electric sites. We really like the NM state parks so we figured that would be a good way to save money for the months when we're traveling more.

Have you ever read the blog "Travels With Andy?" He spends most of his time in the New Mexico state parks. He doesn't blog much anymore but his early posts have a lot of good info about New Mexico.

Are you in Texas now? We're at Caprock Canyon, just left Palo Duro today. It IS hot. We're only planning to stay a few days on our way back east.

Good luck in your travels! Keep in touch.