Days 1-4 June 2026/ The Start of our Trip
June 25, 2026
Ok, here we go! We got a reasonable start on Sunday morning and left the house in Oro Valley by 10 am. What we forgot and left behind, we will just have to do without or buy on the road since we are not returning for 3 months (mid Sept). I was still in the process of cleaning the refrigerator at 8:30 PM Saturday night before our departure, because I wasn't about to get back home to a moldy fridge!
Things went well on the drive to Elephant Butte Lake SP until a large sign above I-10 announced that the border was closed at the New Mexico-Arizona state line. What!? The sign recommended taking an alternate route - what alternate route?? - this is southern Arizona - roads are few and far between. We decided to reconnoiter at a Love’s truck stop in Benson, Arizona and figure out our options. We were going to take highway 191 north but suddenly it looked as though the border might be opening. We found out that 2 semi trucks had collided and shut down the interstate for 5 hours. It was an incredible mess!! It seemed that one truck on I-10 had rear-ended another one that had pulled over and was parked on the shoulder. We found out later that there had been a fatality - not surprised since one semi cab was completely torn apart. Other than that one problem at the border we had smooth sailing to Elephant Butte Lake State Park and set up camp about 5 PM.
We had a beautiful view of the lake (really a dammed-up part of the Rio Grande river) but boy was it sizzling while we were there. You can see my review of our camping experience at: Elephant Butte Lake State Park Campground
