Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument was the place Beth chose to spend Mother's Day.  The weather didn't look good on the way, but we were lucky and the rain stayed west of us. We arrived about lunchtime and ate in the van before heading out onto the Slot Canyon trail.

Hoodoos, pillars up to ninety feet tall, many with capstones, are the features that make this place unique. The scene was alien to me and could easily be a set for a Star Wars movie. The 3.2 mile trail ascended 650 feet, some of it through a slot canyon. Beth was happy to have hiking shoes and did a great job with the heights. The scenery reminded me of towers you could make at a beach by dribbling wet sand through your hands.

 For perspective, the rectangular rock on the trail was 2 ft x 4ft x 10 ft.

Sometimes it appeared like the rocks were looking at us.

By 2:30 we were heading South to pick-up I-40 and resume our trip to the Grand Canyon. Just West of Albuquerque, the van beeped, the cruise control stopped working, and three idiot lights on the dashboard illuminated. These looked familiar from our trip to St Louis last year. Calling Mercedes-Benz road service at the next exit, they confirmed that it was probably a wheel sensor and advised taking it to the nearest service facility, just North of Albuquerque. We turned around and headed back, finding the dealer with no problem. Being Sunday, they were closed, with locked gates across the lot and didn't really have a good place to stay in the van overnight. We drove around looking for an RV park and found the Albuquerque Balloon Museum. During the Balloon festival they have RV camping, but they were closed for the day and there were no signs of anyone camping in the area. Pulling up the Allstays app on the iPhone, we found a nearby Walmart listed as allowing overnight stays with permission. Hadn't done that before, but decided to give it a try. Driving around, the idiot lights went out and the cruise resumed working. Hoping that it was only a dirty sensor that had cleaned itself, we headed back to I-40. At almost the same spot, the now notorious beep sounded and the error recurred.  We got another chance to spend the night at Walmart.  We did a little shopping, and asked the customer service representative if it was okay to park overnight. She didn't know of anyone ever doing that, but went to ask her manager. Returning a few minutes later she confirmed the info in Allstays and said it was okay to camp overnight.  The plan is to catch some sleep tonight and be first in line at the Mercedes-Benz dealership in the morning.