Ahhhhh, Hot Springs

So as it turns out, it was a really great thing for us that Kartchner didn’t have any room for us, cause it required us to carry on into New Mexico. Since we were chasing cold temperatures, we fantasized about Hot Springs. The amazing thing about smart phones and the www is that these fantasies can be conjured at the touch of a finger.

A quick search found us some hot springs that weren’t too far out of our way. We called ahead, they had room for us and our rig with full hookups (that’s a thing by the way- it means power, water & dump). So I put it into our navigation and away we went.

If you’ve ever followed your navigation system and ended up somewhere you questioned, you’ll appreciate this. Like trying to get to our farm. We warn people not to follow it cause you’ll end up on a road that is less than pleasant or hospitable to travel.

Sooooooo, when we turned off onto the indicated road, we momentarily hesitated. It was a dirt road. I was driving. It was a nice dirt road, much nicer than Doe Mill Road. But Google wanted us to go this way, and nevertheless I persisted. Even though it said 15 miles.

After about 7 miles, some self doubt, and some really calm discussion (lol, just kidding about that last part), John called the hot springs place and asked about directions. Of course the guy said, “oh no, you totally went the wrong way and you should turn around and go back the way you came and go a whole other route.” Which we decided not to do, cause we could almost see the place, kinda.

You may or may not be able to tell from the photos, but in addition to the big washouts on either side of the dirt road, up ahead in the mountains there was a storm. There were dark clouds, which could have produced either rain or snow, or both. Also, when you’re driving down a dirt road like this one, and don’t see any signs of civilization, you start wondering if 1) the previous rains washed out some or all of the road ahead, 2) the rains ahead are going to send flash floods your way before you find a paved road, 3) the ranchers ahead have a locked gate cause you’re traveling thru private property and you start getting nervous despite the fact that the scenery is gorgeous, the skies are gorgeous, the herd of antelope is gorgeous.

So Google was only partly accurate, cause after 15 miles, we had to go 5 more miles on the dirt road before we finally reached the pavement. Whew.

It was all worth it. We arrived at Faywood Hot Springs just before dark, set up our rig, a mere 15 steps from the (clothing optional) pools, grabbed our towels and hit the water. We had the place to ourselves, it was soooooo great! We went back after dinner, then again first thing in the morning. It was THE BEST. That old dirt road was a distant memory. We saw one other person the entire time we were there.

So the moral of this story is either things happen for a reason, or if you hang out with John, you come out smelling like a rose. (Or a sulfur hot spring).