Staying on BLM Land

We left the American Girl Mine Road which was BLM land and went to Pilot's Knob, also BLM land.  You can stay here 14 days without paying but they also have Long Term places you can stay but you have to pay.  They have a huge place for the long term area and 2 small areas for the 14 day stays.  We got here a little late in the year so it hasn't been too crowded.

These are our friends parked on both sides

distant shot, we are in the far left of the picture
our friends are gone

This is the road getting here.  It's 1 1/4 mile down a dirt road



A lot of open space out here,  we love it.

Ed and a very large tumbleweed

There are sand dunes real close to where we are staying so we went to check them out.  While there we saw a car stuck.  Trying to pull them out we got stuck.  Than a truck came along and pulled us out, than he thought he could pull out the car.  After all he was "bigger and badder" right.  Than he got stuck.  So Ed pulled him out.  Than another Jeep came along and pulled the car out. Ed says he had cupped tires that was why he was able to do it.  He also pulled it out from the front.



We had already tried and got stuck, but he thought
he could do it

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He is spinning his tires and sinking, his wife came over to me
and said it was like "dumb and dumber"

This was President's Day weekend and the place was packed.  There were 4 wheelers everywhere.

The Imperial Sand Dunes, very big dunes

This was President's Day weekend, There were
all kinds of 4 wheelers and dune buggies

All kinds of camping

some of these are fancy

a lot of toys, people come here to play

There was a café close to the dunes and it was packed

packed inside and out

Ed told this guy he would trade him for the Jeep,
but than found out his toy was broke.  We decided
to keep the Jeep.

Right next to us is "The Center of the World."  We decided to go check it out.  It's called the town of Felicity.  And this is it. They said they got the title because they were able to get it published in a child's book. 

 

The town consists of some buildings and a church



They brought all this dirt in so the church would be
higher than the town

 

Inside there is a circle that says the center of the world 

They give you a certificate saying you
had stood at the center of the world

The "Arm of God" from the painting by
Michelangelo, This is a sundial and it is
pointing to the church



Looking down from the church, they have all these
granite columns with all kinds of information

 

This guy is engraving on them

inside the church

back of the church

Part of the original stairway from the Eiffel Tower,
had to be replaced with a lighter stairway

 

We heard there was a hot springs about 40 miles from here and it is something I always wanted to experience.  It was not what I was expecting.   I thought it would be water surrounded by rocks, like a stream or lake.  There was a lagoon behind it and that part was nice. 

The palm trees surrounded it and they were massive



 

Ed took one of the thorns off and it almost
looks like a shark tooth
 

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The water here was cold even though it's right
next to the hot springs
 

This is where you rinse off before you get in,
this water is hot, they say about 105 degrees

When we first got there, Pan and I weren't sure we
wanted to get in.  It wasn't very appealing.  As you can
see, the water has a green tint.

 



Ed showing off,  I told him he should have sucked his
stomach in, he said he was.  haha

They were spraying  the dog with a garden hose
and he was drinking it, even though it was hot.
He seemed to be enjoying it

After we got in, we actually enjoyed it,
this one is deep, up to your neck and also
the hottest.  It flows over into the other one.

This one was shallow and not as hot

This one was up to you neck, they said it was
105 degrees

Even though it was hot it felt really good just
to sit in it.

These are some of the dogs we have seen lately.



He didn't like the dirt in his eyes.  The owners said as long
as he was in the atv,  he would keep the glasses on,
as soon as he was out, he wanted them off.



This is Heidi, she is blind but gets around quite well.  They
have a big black cat that follows Heidi around and
watches out for her.

This is Snoopy made out of 2 milk jugs.

I had a dental problem, that's why we have stayed so long.  I had a tooth that was capped break off.  Everyone talks about going over to Mexico and how cheap the dentist are.  So thought I would check it out.  I had to have the tooth that broke taken out and replaced with a bridge.   We went back several times waiting for the area where the tooth was removed to heal.  So when they finally were able to put the bridge in, the partial I had wouldn't set right on the bridge.  So than I had to have a new partial made.  So more money, and more time.  I had a partial made in Virginia for $1800.  The partial in Mexico was $450.  The bridge was $750.  They do crowns for $130.   So you can see why people flock to Mexico for dental work.  Even though I have dental insurance I still saved by going there.  The bridge is fitting very well but I wasn't sure about the partial, but I had it adjusted today and it's fitting pretty good.  I think we ended up making 7 trips into Mexico. 

my dentist office

one of  the stores

Ed and Lacy decided to grab a taco, Ed said it
was the best he ever had

Ed's new hat




Trying to keep the sun off my neck.  I bought
this while waiting in line to come back into the
states.  There were a few times we waited almost 2 hours.

We have really enjoyed our time here.

Sunsets are beautiful

Campfires are nice, no bugs

Even though we have enjoyed it we are ready to move on.  Heading to Roswell, NM tomorrow.  A place Ed has really wanted to go

Happy Trails

 

Ed and Lyn