If you know us at all, then you know we are planners…HUGE planners. Not weekly meal plan or synched iPhone calendar type planners. I am talking spreadsheet loving, whiteboard obsessed master planners. Our plans even have sub plans and each new plan has a name (sometimes even theme music). For us, this is a perfect example of something that is a good trait, but became almost an obsession. It was something we knew we wanted to tone down as we embarked on our journey. Little did we know we were going to get a quick nudge from the universe to learn how to do this…
We (Gary) had it all mapped out. Months were spent zooming in and out on Google maps trying to tailor the perfect route to stay out of bad weather and stop at all of the destinations that we have always wanted to check out as well as the places where we may want to settle down. Since we had two years, of course we would split the country in two and knock out the west first (since we lived there), then head to Florida for the winter before making the east our second year route. A perfectly logical and efficient plan.
We were on track at Joshua Tree to head to southern Utah and then came a detour…a family matter had us on a beeline for the east coast. So, the master planners had to wing it! After an overnighter in a Walmart parking lot (not our finest night of sleep, but it worked) we ended up in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Best thing we did?
Sledding down the dunes at White Sands National Monument! This experience is one of the stand out things we have done on our travels so far. So simple and childlike, but so much fun! We promise you will not be able to watch our video without laughing along with us.
Video link: Sledding White Sands National Monument your typical sand you would find at the beach. They are made up of gypsum crystals and it feels velvety soft and cool your feet.
Park Pro Tip: (Yes, the “pro” designation is being used a bit early in our journey). We checked with our campground and borrowed sleds so we didn’t have to buy them at the park store. Plus we got into the park for free with our America the Beautiful pass. Fun and free…SCORE!
Best thing we ate?
When we first got to Las Cruces we were perusing the local magazines with restaurants and things to do. We happened to see an article on the best places to get elote in town. If you haven’t ever had elote it is basically grilled corn on the cob, maybe cut and served in a bowl with chili powder, salt, butter, and cheese as toppings (YUM, right!). Seeing the pictures in this magazine with the title “The Best Elote in New Mexico” spurred the hunt for us. We thought we would do our own tasting to see who was the best. Well it was a bust to say the least! We trekked from one location to another to find each one was either closed or had changed to different restaurants altogether (including one very sketch taco place). We had gotten ourselves so geared up for this that we decided to change our mission to making a great southwestern dinner with an elote or an elote-ish dish at home in the airstream.
Mission accomplished!
What we learned?
We started out way too early in the year for anywhere other than SoCal or Florida. If you are from one of those places it is easy to forget everywhere else is cold! Most of the fun things haven’t started yet because:
- It is still cold
- Tourist season hasn’t started
- Everyone else is working, silly
Even though this area has 360 days of sunshine (awesome) the cold is a bit off putting. So, next year we will make a plan to stay south with our flip flops on a bit longer!
Next Stop: The Lone Star State
