It was hard to leave albuquerque, I keep saying,“ just one more day”…. It was like leaving home all over again.  I am glad I had a 5-hour drive to my next stop; it allowed me to cry a bit without having to interact with anyone right away.  Don’t want to show your soft side, especially not to any strangers…..

I ended up going south again, it seems to be the theme of this trip, probably because it is so frickin’ cold everywhere else.  At first I thought I’d stop off in Roswell, but after stopping to get gas and taking a look around, I was certain I would not be staying there.   You can see urban sprawl anywhere. I found a nice state park just outside of  Carlsbad. Brantley Lake State Park, it is located in the Chihuahua Desert region, near  Lincoln National Forest and Sitting Bull Falls.  It was warm, quite, and far from any type of riff-raff.….. This was the spot for me…

first night at campsite 35.....