Day 1

Day 1. Thursday.

It would seem we have come to an entirely separate world, than that of our dear home state. By separate would, I mean it is so vastly different, and so extremely far away, that I may even go to the extent of saying that, though it is absurd, our motor home has driven into some odd force that has shuttled us off to a distant planet.

Now, of course I am exaggerating for, thought it is a different shape and texture and have little nasty thistles hanging off the tips; the grass is still green here as it is in Illinois. And, though it is a shocking red hue, the dirt is still dirty. And though it has spread, engulfed, and in every way you look at it, has taken over 90% of the view here, the sky is still blue. Maybe the sky is not the same shade of blue, or the clouds do not take on any familiar cloud shapes, for, it does seem reasonable to speculate that the mammoth monstrosity that is the looming New Mexico sky is unusual.  May I add that the wind here is completely the same as it is in Illinois? However, it is here that I have discovered that at the moment of a large gust, if you hold up your open soda bottle it will whistle and howl as if in mourning. The crying sound almost caused me to pity the poor bit of plastic to the point of relinquishing the beverage all together.

How we came to this barren, treeless, dry, windy, prickly, lovely place was neither exciting nor worth mentioning aside from the simple statement that we drove many, many hours.

Now, I have described the place and our means of arriving, but I feel the need to enlighten you on the things we have done here at Ute Lake State Park, New Mexico. We rode bikes, being extra careful to remain only on the designated pathways due to the eminent danger of an attack from the aforementioned burrs that so decorate the grass. We swam in the lake which was not cold, but rather a funny lukewarm temperature. And, in our exhaustion from the enormous day and night of driving, we relaxed.

So, there is day one. We will leave the campground in the morning the same way we came, by driving, and we will look ahead for a new day, more interesting views, and a great deal less sky.