We were ready to get out West. We had a long drive ahead of us, then a stay at a KOA in Oklahoma City. The KOA was nice enough, but it was really just a place to park the camper and sleep for the night. Leaving Oklahoma City, we had another 8 hour drive to make it into New Mexico. As we made our way west on I-40, storm clouds began to form over the vast, flat landscape. We had fun watching for lightning and dust devils for a while.

We arrived at Pecos Campground around 5:15 pm on June 20 (don’t ask me what day of the week it was, that didn’t matter on this trip). The rain followed us, but we didn’t mind as it brought the temp down to the mid 60’s. This place was wild and beautiful and wide open, with very large sites that had electric and water hook-ups. We had dinner and walked the dogs around the campground, then went in for the night. In the camper, the dogs could finally relax and we played some games.

June 21st brought us a day of rest and much needed relaxation. It rained most of the day, but we still did some exploring. We also took the opportunity of a full day to visit a “local” grocery store. Dave’s Grocery was the nearest store at 15 miles away. It was tiny with very friendly people lots of interesting brands.

Jack and I hiked Discovery Trail – a short interpretive trail along the shore of Lake Sumner. We found many Jumping Cholla and Prickly Pear cacti and were super careful about where we stepped. The rain really forced us to take it easy for they day, and that was much needed.