Westward Bound Take V

Due to the amount of activities from the previous two days we decided we just needed a day of driving to allow everyone's bodies to recover. When evening was approaching, we started looking for a place to stay and it just so happened we were near a perfect place.

This park is in Raton, New Mexico. We were hoping they had a camping spot for us since it was getting pretty late in the evening. When we pulled into the campground we were greeted by these two...the camp hosts. They were so sweet and had the perfect spot for us (the last one with electricity available, imagine that!) Don't worry Roxe, you are still our favorite!

 We got all set up in our spot.

 This was our backyard.

And this? For us regular folks, it is a bear safe box. When you camp in areas that have a large population of bears, you are not suppose to leave any type/trace of food outside. So these boxes are here for people who are tent camping. You would put your food, trash, and coolers inside these boxes. For our boys, this box was a playground. It is larger than it appears in the picture. They loaded it with sleeping bags, pillows and took a phone to listen to music as they played and laughed inside. They liked it so much I am thinking about seeing how much one of these little gems would cost to install at home :) Not really, but who would have ever thought that a metal box would be so entertaining! Jackson begged to sleep in the box and was heartbroken when we would not let him...

We were surrounded by such beauty. 

The next morning, we all packed our day packs and hit the trails to see what we could discover.

 Nature is such a great teacher.

 This was our first time seeing tiny, baby bees. Those little things on the flower that you can't really tell what they are--they are little baby bees!

 And there were signs of wildlife everywhere. We actually saw lots of mule deer in the park. As a matter of fact, there was one that stayed near the back of our campsite. I just never had the camera out when she was near.

This park was the former home of an old coal mining town/ community. The ruins of many of the building/structures are still on site. The visitor's center is actually in one of the original buildings. We learned so much about coal and mining. The boys were fascinated with all the cool mining and wildlife things in the center.

We even had our own personal teacher at the visitor's center.

 On the hike back, we opted to take the road to see what change of scenery we could find.

 Of course, there was many things to discuss and wonder. For example, I wonder if I can climb that hill? I don't know-how about you go see?

Sugarite State Park was definitely a great stop. After a day of hiking and learning, we loaded up and continued Westward. If you have known us over the years, you know we have only camped with a tent and/or hammocks. We never desired to have a camper and really kind of rolled our eyes at people that thought they needed one.  However, some of our trips had to be cut short due to weather and packing all of our gear in places that wouldn't get wet had become a challenge. So, now we have our little camper. I really didn't understand at the time the benefits it would bring. For example, we are going down the road and the kids get hungry and we are many, many, miles from civilization-we just pull over, get in the camper--cook and eat. 

At this particular stop, Johnny gave the boys an extra treat and cranked the generator so they could watch a movie while they ate. For some reason, I think he may have done that so he could sit and relish in the beauty of our surroundings. He and I sat in chairs and just took it all in. The fridge and the stove work off of propane so they don't require electricity to operate. We did find out that we can cook and run the fridge for 12-13 days, non-stop on one bottle of propane (the size you use for a standard gas grill). We were impressed they lasted that long.

We decided we would keep going until we reached a Colorado destination. The views from this point on in our drive were absolutely gorgeous!

We finally arrived at our next destination by late evening. This was us as we just pulled in to camp for the night. Little did we know we would choose to stay here for several nights. I'll tell you all about it next time!

Live a Meaningful Life!