I can not believe our 6 week adventure is already coming to an end! It felt like just yesterday we were arriving at our first stop on our Arizona Adventure, Caprock Canyon State Park.
Although this adventure is almost over, you know I will never let a perfect opportunity for last minute adventures pass me by!
Our first stop, Leasburg Dam State Park just north of Las Cruces, NM.
Leasburg Dam State Park is a TINY state Park on the Rio Grande Rive and is absolutely beautiful! It may be tiny, but its definitely worth a trip back one day! Most of the Rio Grande that bordered the state park was dry allowing you to walk on the river bed and up to the dam… Watson, for one, was super excited about the sand beneath his feet!
There was a portion of the river that still had a small amount of water flowing, which gave the most beautiful reflection of its surrounds!
The trail that followed the rivers edge was the perfect way to end our long journey on this first leg of our adventure home!
The next morning, I stepped out of my comfort zone and decided to do a little sight-seeing prior to hitting the road for leg 2. Two years ago, on our way home from my travel nurse contract in Reno, NV, we initially had reservations to stay in this area and visit White Sands National Park. Due to major electrical issues on our truck (you may remember this story if you’ve been following my adventures for a while), we were forced to head straight home from Tucson, AZ… YES, the infamous 18 hr drive where we couldn’t turn off our truck or it wouldn’t turn back on! So, with one missed opportunity already, we decided to not pass up the chance this time around. Who knowns when the next chance to visit would be!
White Sands National Park… Yep, just a bunch of hills with white sand… but, it’s so much more impressive than you would think! The sand is pure white, like snow, and frozen from the frigid 30 degree temps.
The sand shimmered like diamonds as the frost reflected the morning light.
Mountains on the horizon and white sand dunes beneath your feet…
Nothing feels like it belongs here… Everything is so out of place… and yet, so perfect.
I am so glad we did not miss this chance to finally experience White Sands National Park! I only wish we could of had more time to explore!
But with our next leg of our adventure home looming, it was time to head back to Leasburg Dam State Park, hitch up, and hit the road! Next Stop, Monahan’s Sandhills State Park!
The drive from Leasburg Dam SP to Monahan’s was LONG!! I am not sure why, because it was much shorter than our first leg of this adventure, but I was ready to get off the road for a while! I ended up extending our stay by 1 day so that we could rest and recover before our growling final leg home… and I am so glad I did!
If I was gonna spend an extra day here, I wanted to make sure to make the most of it! Chris and I got up early and made sure we were able to watch the sunrise over the dunes!
And to top off our perfect morning, we found a sled abandoned off in the distance!! And like any responsible adult, we went sledding with it.
Unlike White Sands NP, Monahan’s sand is extremely soft! Every step you take, you slide back to where you started! I sped up the middle portion of the video by 2X… yes, it took me that long to get up that hill even in double time!
The extra day here and a day off from the road was exactly what we needed!! Tomorrow, we will be finishing our journey home and wrapping up our Grand Arizona Adventure! This was our first “long” stay in one location since leaving travel nursing and was a reminder of how much I enjoy living and experiencing new states and cities! This is how we like to RV and more month long trips will be in our future!
Until then, next stop home… then Christmas with the DeLoaches. Thank you for following in my RV life adventures! Which cities/states do you think worthy of my next adventure?
