Ahhhhhh….Gila Hot Springs

After heading out of Aguirre Springs campground on Sunday, March 26th. We were only about a half hour from Las Cruces, so we stopped in, found a cool coffee shop (Milagro’s Coffee y Espresso), and stocked up on groceries at Albertson’s.

A side note: what the hell happened to Lara Bars? I used to be able to buy those suckers for $1 each. I found them at Albertson’s… for $1.69 a pop. I couldn’t bring myself to buy a single one.

Our next destination was the Gila National Forest. Michael and I have been through here before, about four years ago. We spent a couple of nights at the Gila Hot Springs Campground and really loved it. So it was worth the 90-minute drive from Silver City. Except… they were full for that night. So we made our reservation for the next day, and headed a few miles back down the road to a free campsite.

Not bad! But no hot springs. The next day we headed towards the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, although we found a different (read: longer) trail to go for a run. It’s so pretty in the Gilas and the views on this run were fabulous. Afterwards we were pretty excited to go for a dip. The Gila Hot Springs Campground is just $6 per night per person, and that includes unlimited use of the three pools.

Michael took the opportunity to hang up the hammock and follow the sign’s instructions.

We had some fun conversations with the owners to the campground, Allen and Carla. Both should be retired, by all rights, but both talked about how much they like to work and hate to sit around.

Good for them! Actually, Allen talked a bit about part-time government employees, and how in their off-season they generally file for unemployment instead of looking for another job. I honestly have no idea how we got on that subject. I’m paraphrasing here, but Allen pretty much said he felt that people who didn’t work – who accepted a handout instead – became lazy.

I kept my mouth shut. What would Allen say if he knew I hadn’t had a job in over a year? Would he think I’m lazy?

Wait, am I actually lazy?

Every time I think of going back to the 9-to-5 grind, I change the subject. I spent years doing customer service work because I was good at it. Not because I actually liked it. Our current lifestyle is FREEDOM for me, even though I know it’s not permanent, and I couldn’t be happier. Happiest would be if I never get another customer service job. Ever.

I guess saying that there are jobs I’d refuse does make me sound kinda lazy…

Geez. Time to change the subject. (Or, like my friend Sheri suggested, take a Valium and quit worrying for about six hours.)

We did meet another traveling couple at the campground, Graham and Janet. They are on a yearlong tour, like us, although they rented out their house instead of selling. So as long as they have a tenant they can stay on the road. They were a really fun couple. We talked shop for a bit, and they gave us a good bit of info: California has banned plastic bags. So stock up before you get there.

See, we take all those plastic bags from the grocery store. (For the record, when we had a house I had a huge collection of reuseable bags and never ever used plastic.) Here’s the thing. On the road those bags are the perfect size for disposing our trash at gas stations and other small trash cans.

We spent the one night at the hot springs and then moved on. Once back in civilization we checked the weather report and it looked a little sketchy for the next few days, with a rain/snow mix possible for the Gilas. We decided to hightail it to Arizona.