PART 2 of “You Do NOT Need an RV to Travel” (a witty recap of our cross country month long road trip in a Prius with 2 big dogs)

This is PART 2 of “You Do NOT Need an RV to Travel” (a witty recap of our cross country month long road trip in a Prius with 2 big dogs) - a multi-part blog about our 2021 cross country trip (yes, I’m slow here… life has been busy so I’m finally getting this posted)! If you haven’t yet, please check out and read PART ONE here to learn about some backstory to our trip, preparations we made, and details about our first 5 days traveling and living out of a prius with 2 big dogs. Here’s the next part, starting with day 6!

Day 6

📍Roswell, NM:

We awoke in the morning to a gorgeous view at Bottomless Lakes State Park! Our camping spot was right next to the lake which had a nice sandy beach area and was very clean and perfect for swimming. Each camping space had a covered area with a picnic table on concrete. There are only 3 campsites at this campground available for tents, the rest are designated for RVs. If you’d like to go here and need a pad for a tent, DEFINITELY make reservations in advance since the spots are so limited. This facility can be booked for camping by reservation only.. not by showing up the day of. The sites were super cheap but online reservations are still required. Later on I’ll be sharing a little drama that stewed which made us extremely grateful that we booked our spot far in advance!

We woke up early and ate some oatmeal at the campsite. The RV sites have outlets so we borrowed one that was vacant to heat up some hot water in our kettle and enjoyed some oats and mushroom coffee to start the day. We were a little nervous about wind at the campsite… there wasn’t much of a buffer and it felt a little breezy so we anchored the tent down pretty well and put a lot of heavy stuff in there like dog crates that we had in the car. We hoped for the best and headed into the town of Roswell for a full alien-packed day. On our way we stopped and explored a few look-out points and actually saw our tiny tent at our campsite from the top of an overlook. Then we headed to our first destination.. the International UFO Museum and Research Center.

This place is basically a museum that revolves solely around aliens and documented alien encounters with humans. Several sections are solely historical, discussing the “Roswell Incident” in 1947 as that is what started the whole alien theme all over the small New Mexico town. There are signs with a LOT of reading, several videos filled with interviews, artifacts, props and more to educate about countless reports of UFO sightings and alien abduction stories. I throughly enjoyed the experience and felt it was a lot of reading (so if that isn’t your thing you might not enjoy the museum as much), but it was informative and interesting. The museum is also dog-friendly and they’ll even give your dog an admission sticker at the front desk! If your dog isn’t great with other dogs just be forewarned that this is a popular tourist destination and there often are other dogs visiting the museum too, although it wasn’t super crowded or packed while we were there we did encounter at least a handful of other dogs inside the building - dogs love aliens too! The museum isn’t very big so if you plan to check it out I’d recommend allocating about 1-2 hours for your visit if you plan on seeing and reading everything. They also have a gift shop to explore after your visit at the museum.

After we finished at the museum, we headed into town (which is the neighboring streets nearby - you don’t even need to move your car) which is a few blocks filled with touristy gift shops.. mostly themed around aliens with some hidden gems of other unique finds. Just about every store is very dog-friendly so you can bring your fur-kids with you everywhere.

 

There is also a place called “Alien Zone” that’s a cheesy gift shop with a $5 admission fee to explore several alien photo ops to take your own Instagram-worthy alien selfies. We had a lot of fun here with the dogs and they enjoyed meeting some aliens up close. Kimmie even volunteered to be abducted!

Exploring the museum and entire town basically takes only half a day if you get started early enough like we did… so we headed back to our campsite early and ate homemade tacos with corn shells filled with canned vegan chili and salsa, and hung out by the beautiful lake. I even did a little painting and made some alien themed artwork (that surprisingly sold quickly at my fall art shows a month later!) There are no vegan restaurants around so packing your own options if you’re vegan is a good idea.

During our first night, we were in the tent spot on the end near the lake… with one couple camping in a tent in the space next to us, and another couple camping in a tent two spaces over. In the early evening, another couple arrived and pulled into the parking spot next to ours. We wondered where they were going to camp since all three tent spaces were filled, but the new couple popped open a tent right on top of their vehicle which was pretty neat, and they didn’t need to use the designed area for pitching a tent. They used and enjoyed the pavilion and picnic table next to ours, and we watched as they moved the belongings of the couple that had previously been there out of the picnic area and over near the tent.. which now looking at it seemed to have been damaged from the day’s wind. We assumed the previous couple’s reservation was over and they just didn’t come back yet to pick up their stuff or realize any wind had caused damage.. we didn’t think much of it though.

I went went to the bathroom to shower and brush my teeth while Josh was getting ready for bed and hanging out in our tent with the dogs. When I got back there was some commotion going on.. that couple that left their tent had since returned and now all three couples were there working to repair and re-set up the tent of the couple that had been set up in the spot next to ours. Being an introvert, I felt weird approaching them or saying anything since 6 people already working on one broken tent didn’t seem to be doing much good. I decided to mind my own business and crawled into our tent and we attempted to go to sleep.

It was hard to fall asleep with all the commotion going on, none of them were being quiet about it. Eventually I think I fell half asleep to soon be woken up again by the guy and girl in the (previously broken) tent arguing. We heard him tell her she reminded him of his mom - who he made a point to share that he hated.. along with a lot of cursing and really awful language. The fight was very one sided and it was clear from listening to it that he was a major problem and I felt really bad for the girl. Their domestic dispute got louder and louder and I was sure if we were woken up easily that they likely were disturbing everyone in the entire campsite.

It didn’t take long for the girl who was camping on top of her vehicle to say something to them and the fight then escalated between her, and the obnoxious guy in the tent. They both were loudly screaming and cursing and the girl started flipping out saying he didn’t even have a reservation and that he shouldn’t be there anymore. Her partner left and found the camp host during this time to explain what was going on, who called the park ranger. I watched everything like a wallflower from a small unzipped portion of our tent window. I figured if I’m going to be disturbed and not able to sleep I may as well get a front row seat of the drama without being involved 😂. I finally had enough of the shouting though and before I knew the ranger was on his way I got out of the tent because I had to pee. I walked by the two arguing and gave the dude a very angry disturbed look to make it clear that he was disrupting other campers. After going on and on about how she should mind her own business and just leave him alone and let them just stay camping there (without a reservation) he shouted at the girl “this is enough already” and I got real close and said to him, “yeah it fucking IS enough already” and continued on my way to the bathroom. When I got back the ranger was already pulling up and the guy’s girlfriend was nowhere to be found. The ranger told him the sites are reservation only and he and his girlfriend needed to leave. When the ranger asked for his name and ID he said he didn’t have any and claimed the girlfriend drove, but he didn’t know where she went. Once she returned, he explained to her that they had to leave and I heard him say “I bet that bitch in the corner (referring to me) is the one who called” and then took his damn time to get packed up, get in the car and leave. He sped off very loudly to make a scene and we felt a lot of relief once he was gone.. I was grateful he didn’t come over and start anything with us, especially since I didn’t actually make the call.

After a few hours of the drama we felt relieved to finally get some sleep but then heard more cars pull up on the gravel. I peered out and saw a van parked and they asked the ranger, who had since returned to make sure the asshole was gone, if there was any camping available. He said no.. that it was reservation only. They drove around and waited for the ranger to leave, and then set up camp in the spot where the previous drama took place and the other asshole had just left. Josh and I couldn’t believe it and braced ourselves for an episode 2 of this saga. Some time went by and all of a sudden I heard someone right outside and saw a shadow quickly approaching our tent. A woman unzipped the tent and tried climbing inside…. I was caught off guard and just loudly said EXCUSE ME and WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU… before she realized it wasn’t her tent and apologized… saying she thought this was her friend’s tent. We felt so panicked and violated of our space but were able to calm down and almost fell asleep.. finally…. But were awoken by slamming metal of the garbage cans which were right between our campsite and our parked car. The sound continued. Josh nervously got out of the tent and approached the garbage cans with a flashlight… to find… a bunch of raccoons feasting on a meal in there. The cans had no locking lids or protection and housed all the garbage from every campsite in the area, but of course were just a few yards away from our very tent. At this point, we were very lucky if we got any sleep at all before waking up the next day - we felt very ready to leave at this point.

Day 7

📍Roswell, NM & Lincoln National Forest:

Despite the activities from the night before we managed to enjoy our morning at the campsite before packing up to go. Josh and Manny swam in the lake while Kimmie and I did yoga on the shore. I attempted to paint but the lake was calling my name. We wanted to take advantage of the beautiful spot we had been staying in before leaving for our next destination. I was annoyed and angry at the new group of people who arrived in the middle of the night, took over the site besides us that was not theirs, and then tried getting in our tent.. but my anger quickly subsided when I realized this group seemed to be a group of super chill and cool hippies… eating watermelon and other fruits while listening to reggae music, doing yoga and swimming. They seemed like my type of people so I ended up chatting with a few of them as we were packing up to learn they were from Austin and loved fruit as much as us. We parted ways on a happy note, and before leaving the ranger came by to ask us how the rest of our night was. He asked if the new people caused us any issues and I didn’t even care at this point so I just said no, they stayed there but they were fine. We chatted more about the drama from the night before and I got one final surprise when I went into the bathroom before we left. There was a long note written in eyeliner on one of the mirrors from the girlfriend of the jerk from the night before…. Apologizing for all the ruckus he caused and explaining he had major anger issues and she was going to try to get him help. I kept this girl in my thoughts and hoped and prayed she could muster up the strength to just leave him because she really deserved better. 

We packed up and headed out to Lincoln National Forest, which held some promising options for camping the next day. We did not make reservations here because the campsites are all “First Come First Serve” style primitive camping. We found a gorgeous site at Oak Grove Campground and it was just a few dollars to stay there. Our new site was deep in the mountains surrounded by endless wildflowers, spooky clouds accompanying countless stars, and we could even hear elk in the distance calling all night long. It was absolutely perfect. I painted at the picnic table for a bit as the sun went down and then by lantern light for as long as I could. It was getting cold so we got in the tent and watched a scary movie Josh had on his phone before falling sleep to the elk calls. The peace in nature was a much welcomed change from what we experienced the night before.

   

Day 8

📍Ruidoso, Pistachioland, and White Sands National Park, NM:

We woke up for the sunrise and then drove through scenic views of Lincoln National Forest all the way to the peak at the highest point looking out into the first for elk and other wildlife through binoculars. We then drove through the cute mountain town of Ruidoso filled with wonderful local shops and restaurants, and walked around for a bit with the dogs. This was another very dog-friendly place to visit, and they were welcomed into all the shops and businesses. I absolutely adore mountain towns, I didn’t grow up anywhere near mountains but something about a cozy little mountain village with shops in the fall always feels so homey to me. The shops were filled with crystals and gems, gifts and souvenirs, clothing and mountain themed accessories.

We hit the road again and stopped along the way to see the world’s largest pistachio at Pistachio Land! I will also say that although it’s super touristy, their gift shop is pretty awesome. I impulsively bought a banana backpack that I used later on during the trip. They offer pistachio based everything in the shop, and even pistachio tours. After a brief stop we continued on our way to our main destination for the day - White Sands National Park.

I will say when we first pulled in, I wasn’t impressed at first sight. This was supposed to be a huge national park filled with white sand that looks like snow. I grew up going to the Jersey shore, so sand dunes are not anything new to me - when we first saw some sand by the park entrance I just felt like I was at the beach. However… my mind was quickly very changed as we drove farther into the park. I still believe (writing this almost a year after our visit) that this is one of the coolest places I’ve ever been to in my life! It is beautiful. 

They encourage “sledding” (you can purchase a plastic sled in the gift shop or even bring your own.. but I managed sledding down the soft sand dunes on my ass without anything at all no problem. The park has no restrictions to where you go and explore. Unlike most national parks, it’s actually pretty dog-friendly. Despite being a desert the selenite enriched sand feels cool all of the time instead of hot like regular sand, an extra perk for those traveling with paws. The selenite infused sand feels like it’s made of pure magic. Pictures don’t do this place any justice, especially with the way the lighting was behind the clouds here. The sun was hiding and it wasn’t too hot while we were there, but this place can easily heat up (it’s a desert after all!) and it’s easy to loose sight of your car and where you came from. BRING WATER WITH YOU! There are horror stories of people dehydrating and dying in deserts like this. Try to be aware and pay attention to where you came from because once you head out over the dunes you can easily become turned around and it can quickly become a dangerous place despite looking so beautiful.

We let the dogs off leash and they ran and slid and played and laid and rolled in the sand. We were conscious to not lose sight of the car. The park was so big we easily found an area to have all to ourselves without any humans in sight. We loved it so much that we stayed for the sunset and didn’t ever want to leave, despite knowing it would have been smart to scope out our next campsite before dark. We admired the colors and shadows in the sky that looked like rain, but we stayed longer because it looked so far away. We wandered farther and farther and explored a new side of the park without thought… because we felt confident we knew where we walked from the car….

Storms move fast in the desert so it wasn’t long before we got trapped in an insane lightning storm (literally, within minutes) which was both terrifying and exciting. Manny is terrified of storms so we panicked and hurried to the car.. but suddenly realized we had no idea where the car was anymore! Remember when I mentioned to keep sight of where you’re going because it’s easy to get lost in a desert? Well I wasn’t kidding.. and it’s no fun being lost while lightning is near, rain is starting to pour down, and you’re the tallest thing out on the dunes for miles. We may have both had an anxiety attack but we eventually found the road, and then took a long way back to where we eventually found we had parked. It was a relief finally getting into the car, especially with the storm worsening at every passing moment. It was getting dark and we still had a ways to go to arrive to our next campsite in the middle of another wilderness area so despite the storm coming down we began to drive.

Our drive to Gila National Forest was filled with rain, hail, and lightning. We got a warning come through the radio saying to seek shelter if traveling between two mile markers.. I looked at a passing mile marker to realize we were right in the middle of them. But the problem was - we were on a highway in the middle of nowhere and there was absolutely nowhere to pull over and no shelter to be seen. We held our breath and just kept rolling, as our faithful Prius brought us safely to the middle of a forest and another stunning site at Cherry Creek Campground - the next stop on our list. Best thing about National wilderness areas? Most campsites are free, and ALL of them are breathtakingly beautiful! Word of advice - bring some maps and learn how to read them because the service everywhere in the middle of nowhere can be expected to be absolutely awful. Alternatively, if you turn on your GPS and save routes ahead of time you can map out your travels easily on there, even without service (we did this a lot!)

“How long is this ‘road trip’ going to last?!”

Day 9

📍Gila Cliff Dwellings, NM:

We woke up early and packed the car. Our beautiful campsite along Cherry Creek in the Gila National Forest was stunning, but only served us as a stopping point for the night before moving closer to our next destination - the Gila Cliff dwellings! We headed to our next campsite first - Grapevine Campground, specifically to make sure we could claim a spot because we knew the campground was popular due to its proximity to the Cliff Dwellings. We got a dreamy spot right next to a rushing stream with wildflowers around and cliffs as a backdrop.

Once we pitched the tent and unloaded the car, we got in the car and headed to the Gila Cliff Dwellings. We got directions from a nice man who was staying at the campsite. Dogs are not allowed on the trail up to the cliffs but they have free kennels for the dogs and a park staff member babysits them while you head out on the hike, which is about an hour or so depending on how long you want to linger in the cliffs. It was hard for us to leave our dogs behind (they didn’t really like the idea either) but we didn’t want to miss out on this experience. The hike wasn’t too difficult but was moderate in a few areas and had a steep incline. The altitude will definitely get you out of breath. We made it to the top where you could climb into historical ancient cave dwellings that are all the way up on these cliffs built by ancient Puebloans in the late 1200’s, right along the upper Gila River.

After we explored the Gila Cliff Dwellings, we picked up the dogs and hiked by the Middle Fork Gila River on a trail to Lightfeather/Gila hot springs! This was our first time ever exploring HOT springs.. total opposite of the cold ass springs we have in Florida that stay at 72 degrees all year round. The trail along the way was lined with wild sunflowers and Manny enjoyed snagging some mouthfuls of grass along the way.. he has a habit of “grass tasting” wherever we go. I think he was a cow in a previous life. We followed the trail which wasn’t well maintained.. overgrown and hard to find but we made it through like a maze. The sunflowers lining the fields were gorgeous and well worth it, with mountains and fields filling the background. This was one of my favorite landscapes that’s still stuck in my mind long after the trip.

We finally got to the springs which weren’t very deep at all, just about ankle or knee deep in some areas. These hot springs were HOT though.. tolerable for me, as I literally enjoy burning myself with water every time I take a hot shower, but it’s too hot for dog paws in most areas so be cautious. It was fun exploring the water and feeling the temperature gradients go from hot to bathwater temp in the areas where the cool river flow mixed with the boiling water. In crevices where the water was cooler, large tadpoles hid in between rocks and fed on dead guppies that likely didn’t handle the hot temperatures too well. There were fish in some areas, which was interesting how these creatures adapted to the wide range of temperatures. We took the dogs into the cooler parts of the river.

We had the whole area to ourselves and the dogs napped in the grass while enjoying a cool breeze, and we enjoyed the springs. No other souls were in sight. We then headed “home” and spent time at our campsite. Kimmie napped in the tent and Manny played with Josh in the river.

It was Yom Kippur and despite our travels we still fasted (even while doing strenuous hikes) and spent a lot of time on self-reflection on our own in our minds, and together in conversations.  No better opportunity than in the middle of nowhere in nature to reflect on how we can do better and be better. We broke the fast along the river’s edge at sunset and made our own tacos with canned beans, mushrooms and salsa! 

Days 10-11

📍Tucson, AZ:

Days 10 & 11 - Tucson, AZ! We stayed with our friends Kaitlyn and Chris in Tucson the past couple days and had an amazing time (and had our first break from camping!). Manny and Kimmie loved their dog Charlie and they quickly became best buds. We ate lots of vegan food, enjoyed a night time flea market called Tanqueverde Swap the first night, where we stocked up on watermelon and mangos, and browsed the many vendors with everything you could imagine from toy collectibles, to crystals, to flat out junk. The next day we visited the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum to learn more about the Sonoran desert ecosystems and really loved the cactus gardens, wildlife area and crystal exhibit.  We navigated through gorgeous saguaro cacti mountains (one of our fav landscapes so far - see the photo below… there are TONS of saguaro cacti all over the mountains). We then got to participate in a special nighttime hike illuminated by the moonlight at the wild burro trail, thanks to Chris who maintains the trails and leads guided hiking tours! We saw a lot of wildlife at the desert museum but on the night hike we got to see a black tailed rattlesnake, tarantula and a scorpion out in nature.

There are also SO many pollinators around here including hummingbirds and butterflies.. queen butterflies are everywhere (Not pictured because I mostly took videos of them!). Also not pictured here are our favorite vegan eats in Tucson - Lovin Spoonful, Tumerico and Beaut Burger.

Day 12

📍Anza Borrego Desert: 

We left Arizona and finally made it to California! We passed through our first security checkpoint which was literally in the middle of nowhere, but I guess since it was close enough to the Mexico border these random checks exist. I was sleeping in the car and Josh woke me up, panicking because he thought he may have made a wrong turn and caused us to enter Mexico (saying I woke up in a panic from this information would be putting it mildly haha). The officers asked us questions like “Where were you born?” and “Are you hiding anyone in the back of the car?” “I mean, we have some dogs back there there,” we told them (they didn’t like our sense of humor). When I answered a question for the both of us they got angry and told Josh he had to speak for himself. After we survived that ordeal we made it into and camped in the middle of Anza-Borrego Desert - this night honestly was a bit terrifying for us, way worse than our Roswell incident.

First off - besides being in the literal middle of nowhere (with no service of course), when we arrived, it was already pitch black. When we drove around to evaluate and pick out a campsite, we discovered there was only one other camper set up, that honestly gave off all the red flags of being a a serial killer (it’s also just possible I listen to way too many true crime podcasts) - so we stayed as far away from this person in our own secluded campsite where we hoped they wouldn’t be able to find us. Josh had one bar of phone service waning in and out so he barely managed to send a text to our friend Dan in San Diego letting him know if he never heard from us again, this was where to start the search. We then spent the entire night wide eyed and awake, as wild coyotes surrounded the tent and got into a barking/howling/growling match with Manny through the tent walls for literally HOURS on end. I think we were camping in their territory and they were not pleased, but Manny was determined to protect his family and sensed we were nervous (after the serial killer discovery, I told Manny to be extra protective and alert us if anyone or anything got near our campsite, so he took his job very seriously.) Below is a pic of our campsite in broad daylight - way less scary then. When the sun came up I found coyote paw prints all around our tent.

Day 13

📍Julian, CA & San Diego, CA: 

We eagerly packed up and left in the morning, and headed to the small town of Julian where we went apple picking at Volcan Valley Apple Farm and explored the historic town. Between the leaves changing, picking apples, and enjoying another cute mountain town, it really felt like fall there and we loved the vibes!

Then we went to San Diego to explore. Our very first stop was at Evolution Fast Food for AMAZING vegan fast food (and the first vegan fast food restaurant ever to exist). We took our lunch to enjoy at Balboa Park. We then walked for miles exploring the large pond, gardens and botanical building all within the park. The park is large, great for lots of walking (and very dog friendly) and there is a lot to see and do for free.

We moved the car to Old Town where we explored some fun shops and restaurants. We grabbed smoothies from a random smoothie shop we passed by for dinner, and then headed “home” to our new campsite, which was generously offered to us by our friend at SoCal Parrot Rescue! We set up camp for the night right near our feathered friends’ large aviaries, surrounded by mountains, desert, and the light of a full moon. 

To learn about the next leg of our trip, check out Part 3!