After a relaxing ( and free!) couple of days at Cosmic Campground, we decided it was time to move on and continue exploring New Mexico. We headed toward the small town of Glenwood and decided to stop and explore the Catwalk Recreation Area. It was pretty cold so I was hesitant to do much walking around. A woman we ran into in the parking lot encouraged us to do the 45 minute round trip hike. She made it sound so good, I decided to brave the cold and do it. It was actually very chilly but worth it. The views were beautiful and luckily the hike back to the car was in the sun so it was much more comfortable. We got lots of great pictures and ended up being glad we took the hike.

After enjoying our visit to the Catwalk, we headed toward Silver City. Quite a few people had recommended it to us as a nice place to visit and/or settle. We wanted to check it out and find a spot to get a good cup of coffee. After checking reviews on Google, we ended up at Tranquil Buzz Coffee Shop. The coffee was great and the service was super friendly. When we stopped in, there was a decent crowd there listening to some live music. We opted to take our coffee out to the back patio which was full of greenery and had a little fountain. We were warmly welcomed by other patrons who told us a lot about the city. As promised, it was a cool looking city with a strong art vibe. After the second cup of coffee, we decided it was time to find a home for the night.

We decided to make the 45-minute drive to City of Rocks State Park in Faywood. We had stayed there for several days during our 2016 trip and had really enjoyed it so we were looking forward to going back.  It was pretty much as we remembered it except the rocks seemed much smaller after visiting the Alabama Hills in California. It is funny how much experience colors your perspective on things.

We took our time driving around the campground reminiscing about our previous stay and looking for the best available site. I had kind of hoped to get the same site as our 2016 trip, but it was already taken. As often happens, that turned out to be for the best. The site we found was huge, had great sun for our solar panels, and a cozy shaded spot tucked into the rocks for our chairs. We got camp set up in plenty of time to take a walk around the campground and meet the fantastic camp hosts and some of our camp neighbors.

The gorgeous sunset was the perfect end to another wonderful day exploring New Mexico.

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