Travel

Santa Fe, Here We Come

June 2, 2023 - By Pax

Roadside Attraction

On our way to our next campground, we stopped at a little roadside geode museum called the Basin Range Volcanics Geolapidary Museum. Thundereggs are their specialty. They also have geodes and other minerals. The front door to the shop looks like a mine entrance. It is a quirky place with an extensive collection. The Owner, Christopher Blackwell, is a very interesting guy. His knowledge of minerals is impressive. He regaled us with stories of how he traveled around the country with his partner in a 1968 VW bus. They were mining for thundereggs.

Thundereggs

Thundereggs are geodes and nodules that are formed when water percolates through volcanic rock and deposits various minerals. When the rocks are broken open, they reveal the interesting colors and patterns that geodes are known for. At 77 years old, Christopher can still tell a good story. He runs the museum / rock shop. He doesn’t do the mining anymore. He leaves that to younger associates. He is such an interesting guy that I think we will stop by to see him again on our way out of town.

Rockhound

We are spending Maria’s birthday at Rockhound State Park outside of Deming, New Mexico. The park is known for the minerals found in the area. So far, we’ve found some jasper and perlite while just walking along the park paths. Visitors are allowed to take small quantities of rocks and minerals out of the park for personal use. The park itself is about 1,100 acres. It’s at an elevation of 4,500 feet. The campground has 29 sites. Sites are pretty level. They are well spaced, so it doesn’t feel like you are on top of your neighbors. There is even a little botanical garden to wander through.

State Park

I must hand it to New Mexico. Their State Park system is some of the best we’ve seen so far. Many of the parks have hookups and dump stations. They are reasonable too. This site has water and electric. We paid $14.00 per night plus a $4.00 fee for booking online. That ends up being cheaper than Harvest Host. Such a deal!

Onward

We made it back to see Christopher. This time we dropped a few bucks and bought some polished solid geodes, called nodules. Then we finally headed up to Santa Fe.

Another Roadside Attraction

While we were passing through Las Cruces, we stopped at the rest stop that is home to the recycled roadrunner statue. It is a huge roadrunner statue, which is impressive in and of itself. When you get up closer though, you begin to make out the details of how it is constructed. The wings are made of electronic components and crutches. The feathers on the underside of the bird are made of tennis shoes. The list goes on. The whole statue is made of recycled and reclaimed materials. It is very creative.

We Made It

We made it to Meow Wolf. It was worth the trip. There’s a lot of eye candy and sensory input. There was a room that was also made entirely of recycled goods. Every inch of the room was covered in reused items. There are 70 rooms to go through. It took us 4 hours, but we did them all.