OK, time for me to drive back. I hit the road northbound and got near Albuquerque before finding a quiet place sequestered away from traffic to bed down for the night (pictured at left).

I lay down, and an hour later `Paul' drives up, gets out of his vehicle, and asks me if I'm ok (`I thought you were dead, man!'). I tell him I'm fine. I hear him light up a joint as he drives off.

15 minutes later, a cop rolls up with lights flashing. He tells me that, `for your own safety,' he recommends I not stay there, and find a KOA instead. I thank him for his concern and go back to bed.

5 minutes later, the same cop comes back. `Sir, was I not clear enough for you? You will not be sleeping here tonight, and if I come back and find you here again, we're going to have some words.' It wasn't clear that I'd violated any law, but to avoid him interrupting my sleep again, I regretfully packed up out of the sagebrush and headed down to the place he'd recommended: the parking lot of the `Casino Isleta' on the Isleta indian reservation, I-25 exit 252. I reclined the seat back and camped in my car in a far corner of the parking lot.