[bvmcbid]

DW and I turned recently from a trip to some rockhounding sites in New Mexico. We are not geologists by any means, but we like to find sparkly and colorful rocks for the yard and driveway, and have gradually been stretching our search area to surrounding states.

The latest trip was for 2-1/2 weeks to New Mexico, from Cuba down to Silver City, Rodeo, Deming, Reserve and Bingham, with a stop in Albuquerque to see some balloons on the way home. Some random thoughts:

1. The TM is still a dream to tow - 3,200 miles with no trouble on this trip. We had a radio/CD problem which I posted separately.

2. Late September to early October is a perfect time to travel there. Days 85 - 90, nights in the low 60's. Elevations were mostly 4,000 feet

3. The best rocks we found were near the Mexican border. Most of the cars we saw near the border were border patrol, and we had no problem but we did feel vulnerable sometimes, especially when we read forest service signs warning of illegal activity in the area.

4. The campgrounds we liked the best: Abiquiu Dam (BLM), Clear Creek NFS near Cuba, City of Rocks SP between Silver City and Deming, and Apache NFS near Reserve. Rusty's RV near Rodeo was also great as a private full hookup cg, but we prefer boon docking.

All in all, a great trip, although 1,200 extra pounds of rocks were a little worrisome as we drove home.