Camping Trip: City of Rocks State Park

Christina and I wanted to try camping for two nights in a row to see if it would be more relaxing than if we just camped overnight. Usually I come home more tired than I left, because I feel like I spend all my time loading and unloading the car. We chose City of Rocks State Park in New Mexico as our destination, because they have showers, and potable water near the campsites. This is a bit essential in the desert, where you can get dehydrated very quickly. It's also a bit of a pain to pack upwards of four gallons of water.

 Here we are sitting on the rocks near the campsite. It was overcast the first evening. We had to lay the tent flat until after sunset because of high winds. We managed to sleep a couple of hours in the tent, but the winds picked up again, and the tent looked like it was going to collapse, so we laid it flat again, and spent the remainder of the night in the car. Not very good sleep.

The visitor's center uses a windmill to pull up water from the well for the restrooms and the small garden they have. I thought it was very cool and rustic looking. 

 I wanted to make friends with some of my camera's special features... This one turns things into a watercolor.

 Some ominous looking rainclouds. One of the things that I love about the desert is the way the clouds highlight the landscape below. The shape of the ground really stands out.

 Here's another windmill shot.

 And more clouds.

 A fire ant in a thistle bush.

 And... this windmill was near the campsite. I was playing with different camera functions again. (HDR Painting mode)

 (Toy Camera Mode)

 (rich tone monochrome mode)

 (pop color mode)

 (watercolor mode)

 (Miniature mode)

 (Illustration mode)

 There was a spectacular thunderstorm in the clouds over the mountains in the distance. It was fun to watch from the safety of the tent at night.

 Here's our campsite. We stayed under a large oak tree. The birds liked it, and it was shady and cool.

 This friend was running for shelter from a rainstorm.

And this owl was probably hunting for ground squirrels.

We ended up not camping for two nights because the wind started to pick up again. I didn't want to spend another night sleeping in the car if things got ugly, and I wasn't feeling very good. (Heat rash, fever, headache.) It was a good camping trip, but not a very good test of whether two nights are more relaxing than one. Gives us a good reason to try again, though. :P