You know you did insanely well right?! That was impressive AF! First time and you did THAT! Nice! Good job! And IMO the same goes for your van trip to Florida! You saw all those cool places and had many great experiences! Sure, it didn’t quite go as planned, but no plan ever does. Or as Remy says in ratatouille. “The only thing predictable about life is its unpredictability.”
If you plan your New Mexico national park visit around October you could do Balloon Fiesta, Solar Eclipse, Trinity Test Site, White Sands and Carlsbad caverns at the same time
Oh man that is tempting! I’m still trying to figure out how I want to make my way to the Southwest. I was actually considering going there next spring so I could catch the total solar eclipse while passing through Texas!
