Day Eight

We woke up early so we could see the sun come up. While the sunset made the dunes lavender, the sunrise made them pink.



It had been a quiet night in our little tent.


When we got out and walked around, though, we were surprised to see little tracks everywhere in the sand. There was definitely some bird and insect life around. I'm not sure if you can make it out in my photos.

I don't mind waking up early to greet the sun, but after about 20 minutes, I considered it greeted and went back to bed. Julia stayed up to get the full nature experience.


Before we left, we took a few more turns on the sled.


And followed the posts back to the Impala.


We spent the day driving through Southwestern New Mexico. We stopped again in Las Cruces and the tiny town of La Mesilla. We ate, or rather, I ate lunch accompanied by Julia, at La Posta, which used to be a stop on the Butterfield Stagecoach. Julia could at least have a beer, since I was driving.

Outside La Posta, I took a picture of strings of dried peppers which is something we saw *everywhere* in New Mexico. Chili peppers are big here.


They're a real feature in the cuisine, and we heard stories about how much people miss them when they move away, and beg all their New Mexican friends to send them a giant bag at chili pepper season (August, btw).
We also found a pottery shop in La Mesilla, with colorfully-painted pottery. Some in the shape of, say, pigs, or cats. I think there are fawns there, next to the pigs.



La Mesilla also had a thrift shop! It had clothing, hats,


and curiosities

We left La Mesilla with a definite soft spot in our thrift-shop-loving hearts, but we had to get back on the road. We finally made it to the campgrounds at Gila National Forest, where they have natural hot springs!! I believe the name of the campsite was the Gila River Campground, and that it was. It was a pretty ideal spot. It had a kitchen, bathroom facilities, and did I mention, hot springs?


It even had a nice log bench from which to take in the river view while enjoying a brewski and waiting out turn for a quiet soak in the hot springs (pics to come in Day Nine).