Colorado to Arizona

Tom and I got a late start leaving our home in Woodland Park, Colorado on Tuesday because I had a mid-day appointment with my mom in Denver. When I returned home, late in the afternoon, Tom had the Jeep hooked up and ready to go. We only had a few hours of daylight left and we didn’t expect to get very far but we figured any miles we drive on day 1 are less miles we have to drive on days 2 & 3. Plus, given our history of vehicle problems during our previous two January road trips, we needed as much cushion as we could get before our friends retirement party on Friday night.

We passed through Pueblo, Colorado heading south on Interstate 25 just as the sun set behind the Rocky Mountains. We had hoped to make it across the New Mexico border but we were both exhausted from a long day of packing and running errands. We didn’t make it to New Mexico but we did put 150 miles behind us. We’re more familiar with the Colorado side of the border, having been stranded there for four days on our way to South Padre Island last January. So, we pulled into the El Morro Rest Area in Trinidad, Colorado. With snow on the ground, clear skies above and a full moon rising, we called it an early night.

Early to bed and early to rise! We woke up and hit the road just after 4am. It was still dark as we crossed the state line into New Mexico.

Wednesday was a full day of driving. We stopped for short breaks along the way and found nice spots where Tom could nap and Aly could run. Our first rest stop was at the Black Mesa Travel Center near Algodones New Mexico. It has a huge dirt lot behind with lots of space for Aly to stretch. She wasn’t thrilled with the sticker burrs but it was worth the pain to be able to run! Our second rest stop was at Elephant Butte Lake State Park near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. We found a great place to rest and stretch at the Historic District Fish Hatchery… but, not without sticker burrs.

We were tempted to stop for dinner as we passed through Hatch, New Mexico. All those green chili signs along the road were tempting us. Unfortunately we were full from the meal we ate less than an hour before during our break at Elephant Butte Lake State Park. So, we continued down the highway past several large solar farms to Deming, New Mexico.

We still had plenty of daylight but we’d already covered 480 miles from Trinidad and the Valero in Deming looked like a quiet and safe place to boondocks for the night. The big carwash next door was a bonus but the gunfire we heard in the field behind us was a little disturbing. We stayed inside and expected to hear sirens but the gunfire continued and there were no signs of distress. Maybe it was a firing range? In any case, we hit the road soon after sunrise the following morning without incident.

It was Thursday and we had only 200 miles to our first destination near Sierra Vista, Arizona. We crossed the Arizona state line by 9:30am and were boondocking in our friend’s driveway by lunchtime.

Visit the Tucson or Bust 2025 page to follow our route, read blog posts, and view our photo album.