Thursday, September 08, 2022

New Mexico - Day 4: Perils of Exploring Boondocking Candidates

 I woke to a pretty good sunrise today:




I started heading back north along the I-25 Super Slab after breakfast, thinking to explore some boondocking sites I'd previously bypassed.

There were two BLM sites near the small town of San Antonio that were the nearest to my start point.  The first one: Bosque del Apache Dispersed proved to have too rough an access road, nearby the San Antonio Riverine Park looked promising but the sites were small and lots of trees with low hanging branches!

It would be one of those branches that I would discover later in the afternoon, that had snagged and ripped off the plastic cover to the vent used by the refrigerator's propane unit!

At the time, a quick look hadn't shown any damage, lots of miles later, the wind and such had caused the cover to move enough for me to notice.  Luckily, a corner of the cover's mounting point had snagged on the mesh screen and kept it anchored to the VRRV's roof!

Tried a couple more stops but one proved to be a day use visitor center and the other I couldn't find.  Oh well.

I next tried the Charette Lakes Wildlife Area, NE of Wagon Mound, NM.  Google Maps took me in via the "southern route" which was basically some dirt county road, miles and miles of it, some of it quite bouncy and in the end it proved "meh".  Definitely use the northern route when trying to use this site!

At this point I gave up and went for the tried and true Springer Lake Wildlife Area.  I didn't get there till around 5PM and then had to do repairs on the vent cover:

It's actually more secure now....

This short trip's last sunset was also kind of meh:


Had the campsite all to myself till shortly after I took the above picture.  Some guy in a car with a dog arrived and set up a tent next to his car.  

I'll be home by tomorrow afternoon.


9 comments:

SonjaM said...

Dom, I was just admiring all the state flags you've gathered over the years. Do you plan on exploring the missing pieces in Eastern US some day? Save travels home! Cheers from the other side of the pond, SonjaM

Oz said...

I like trees, but those low hanging branches can get you. Sorry you had that happen.

RichardM said...

Perils of boondocking! Nice sunrise photos.

redlegsrides said...

Frankly, SonjaM, The Eastern half of the US holds no appeal to me at this time. Too many people, not enough opportunities for boondocking.

redlegsrides said...

Oz, found some more damage later. My fault for not making sure I had the clearance.

redlegsrides said...

Indeed RichardM, and thanks.

Oz said...

Sorry you found even more damage :(

CCjon said...

Seeing the sunrise thru the RV window is a nice touch in the first photo.

Maybe a "COVID QUARANTINE" sign on stakes around your campsite would give you more breathing room when boondocking?
Also prevent anyone from knocking on your door asking for a cup of sugar. Or a couple of those "Warning Watch out for Rattlesnakes" signs that Texas state parks have.

redlegsrides said...

CCjon, some people just don't get it, and intrude upon you no matter what.


Then there are the cases where I had a guy drive his SUV into the campsite and park and just sit there. I walk up to him and ask what's going on and only then does he say his car is overheating and asks for water.

He was kind of sketchy looking, but his vehicle did turn out to need the water.