Trip Planning

This is the first blog that I have attempeted to put together. When I was thinking about how it would look, I was thinking that the articles would be presented from first to last so you could read top to bottom in order. Now I see that the latest comes first. Oh well, I'll get used to it

I mentioned in the first post that I had a couple of books to help me plan this trip. When you only have a limited amount of time to be there, you want to get all you can out of it while not making it too exhausting at the same time. It IS a vacation, remember?

Here is our proposed route from Monroe to New Mexico and back.

The first book I looked for was one called "Scenic Drives of New Mexico". Previously on a trip to Arizona, I had come across this series of books, and it was a great help in seeing the things of interest in AZ. These little books show a number of day trips that range in length from 10 miles to over 100 miles in length. And the author describes the things of interest and places to stop, eat and in some cases places to stay and campgrounds.

Another helpful book is the Moon Handbooks - New Mexico. These books detail places of interest and things to do.. not so much the standard list of hotels, resturants, etc.

So here is a map of the state of New Mexico with the route we intend to take shown as the yellow marks on the map

Now I know that some of you reading this may be wondering whats the big deal here... it's only a 3 week trip to NM! Well, I am not retired and am not a fulltimer. For us this is a big deal.

I have been to the Southwest US a few times before.. both in RV and not in RVs. The Southwest is really a special place, expecially for a couple from the SouthEAST US. There everything is always green and humid. Going to the SW is a real change for us, and I want to make the most of it.

Besides that, I enjoy the planning aspect of putting together a trip like this. Reading, studying maps, finding out of the way places to visit, interesting places to eat interesting food is all a part of the fun of the trip.

There are several internet Forums that are quite helpful too. I have included them in the links section on the right side of this page. The RV Forum and RV Net are very helpful. Questions are usually answered quickly. And you know RVers.. they always have an opinion and don't mind sharing.