Friday – October 11, 2013
Roswell, New Mexico
We spent a very restful evening at a 24-hour Walmart in Roswell, New Mexico. We departed the Walmart at 7:40 a.m. and arrived at the Bottomless Lakes State Park, 12 miles east of Roswell on US-380. We selected campsite #16 at the Lea Lake Recreation Area. This will be our home base for three days while we explore Roswell.
Bottomless Lakes are a chain of eight lakes that are actually sinkholes that range from 17 to 90 feet deep. They were formed when circulating water dissolved salt and gypsum deposits to form subterranean caverns. Eventually, the roofs of the caverns collapsed from their own weight. Sinkholes resulted and soon filled with water and formed the existing lakes.
Lea Lake Recreation Area contains a 15 surface acre lake with 32 campsites with utility hook-ups and 27 developed sites with no hook-ups. Sites 1 through 6 have sewer, electric and water. Sites 7 through 32 have electric and water only. There is a three-mile, paved road to the entrance of the campground. The road is a bit rough throughout the three miles. There is a gravel road within the campground, with gravel pads for RV’s. Facilities include restrooms with flush toilets and hot showers. There is one dump station within the campground. Free WiFi is available at each campsite. We also have Internet access through our T-Mobil service provider.
Camping Fee: $14.00 per day. ($4.00 per day with a New Mexico annual pass.)
Total miles traveled today: 22
Once we had our campsite set up, it was time to tend to a few chores. Sharon found the location for a Laundromat in Roswell on her smartphone. Time to do the laundry! We also need to get some flypaper. We have never seen so many flies. They are not the biting kind, but they are everywhere! The Walmart was sold out of flypaper. We did find some at the Home Depot. They were almost sold out too. A sales associate there told me the flypaper sells like crazy this time of year. I guess the fly problem must be a seasonal thing. We installed the flypaper in our trailer and we are now fly-free.
Tomorrow another adventure begins.
I can't say this looks very appealing. We are in New Mexico, planning on camping in the northern, mountainous part of the state. However, the National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning for the majority of the state. Roswell is one of the only areas not affected by the warning, but it looks hot, dry, flat and not very appealing. We may end up trekking to Colorado.
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