Today has been a “travel day.” Early this morning we pulled out of Oliver Lee State Park and started making our way back into Arizona. The next stop on our trip list? Chiricahua National Monument. Unfortunately we discovered too late that Bonita Canyon Campground right at the monument is full.
Ah well, this stuff happens. It is Friday the 13th after all, and it’s also President’s Day Weekend. Poor planning on my part, but it is part of traveling with the Airstream. The important part is to be flexible.
So we found a private park that’s about 45 minutes from the monument. Good enough for me. On travel days I often find that I need a good unwind after driving for hours anyhow. So tomorrow we’ll set out to the monument and take it from there. With luck, some spaces might open up on Sunday.
We shouldn’t see another travel day for a little bit. The plan is to spend a fair amount of time exploring everything Chiricahua has to offer. From all of my research, I’m pretty sure we’re going to have plenty to do and not enough time.
White Sands was fantastic by the way. I’ve been wanting to return there since February of 2007 (wow, 8 years). My first visit the area was freezing cold, and I wasn’t at my best when visiting the monument. This time around I really got to dig into the sand dunes (no shovels were involved). Just a beautiful location, and plenty of adventure walking through the dunes to find untouched spots to photograph.
While it was a little disappointing to not find camping right at the monument, it was really nice to find Oliver Lee State Park. It’s a gem, and worth a visit. Combining the park with the monument, you really do have a few days of exploration to take it all in.
Well, this travel day is done, and I feel like I need a nap!