Bottomless Lakes State Park Roswell NM

A visit to Bottomless Lakes State Park, Roswell NM, was exactly what the doctor ordered after our harrowing drive from Abilene.

I know that I already shared with you about our brake failure. But honestly, that was not the scariest thing that we have been through on our journey to taste America one bite at a time. The scariest was driving through a wind storm in Texas!!!

It was the first time that Steve was remiss in checking the weather along our route. And I know it will be the only time. When we left Abilene TX, the day was sunny and a little breezy. But as we drove a bit further down the highway the wind became violent. There were times that our visibility was greatly diminished due to the sand and dust swirling in the air. And the howling noise inside the RV was so loud that we could not hear each other speak. Even if we shouted.

We could feel the wind shake our rig which made Steve’s job of staying in our lane, even more difficult. He was beating himself up for not checking the weather. We could have stayed one more day in Abilene. In fact, we should have.

If you have ever driven through Texas, you know that there can be miles and miles with no place to stop. When we finally found a gas station, Steve got out to see if there was any damage to Ladybug. That horrible noise that we were hearing was our living room slide topper (a little awning that rolls out when the slide goes out to keep debris off the top of the slide) tearing out of the brackets, leaving the canvas part torn and just flapping in the wind. Steve pulled off what he could and that seemed to help with the noise. But not completely.

As we continued on our drive to Roswell NM, I noticed that I could see the sky in the top corner of our windshield where the glass should be. Steve was so terribly stressed already, so I didn’t want to add any more worry. I kept my eyes on that opening and prayed that the windshield wouldn’t just blow out completely. From inside Ladybug it looked like only the corner of the windshield had come out. The entire front windows had just been replaced while we were in New Orleans just a few weeks prior. Surely they would have made sure that our windshield was secure.

When we finally arrived at the Red Barn RV Park in Roswell we were able to totally assess the damage. That’s when I finally told Steve about the windshield. And that’s when we both freaked out. The glass was out from the seal about 3/4 of the way down the side. It was truly a miracle that it didn’t blow out completely. Fortunately the windshield was under warranty and the slide topper covered by insurance.

After making all of the appropriate phone calls to arrange for our repairs, we decided we needed to just chill with some beautiful scenery. So we drove just a short distance in our Jeep to Bottomless Lakes State Park. The unique lakes at this park are actually sinkholes, ranging from 17 to 90 feet deep. The greenish- blue color created by aquatic plants give the lakes the illusion of great depth. The serenity was very calming. We could actually feel the stress leaving our bodies. And we enjoyed the beauty of nature at its best.