End of the Road Trip

Texas plains

The end of the road is fast approaching for our summer trip.

  

Over the last nine days we’ve made our way from Utah through Colorado; spent four nights in New Mexico and now we are back in Texas. Our 3-month RV trip to Washington State and back is nearly over.  

Northern New Mexico 

We have been on the road since July 2 staying at a total of 23 different RV parks in ten different states. We visited three national parks: Arches, Lassen Volcanic, and Mesa Verde. We did take a few breaks from sleeping in Thor: one night in Bend, Oregon; four nights in Seattle; and three in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Since Utah, it’s been so windy at times that it felt like the wind was trying to blow us home. Except, unfortunately, it wasn’t a tail wind. It was more of a cross-wind which is not much fun to drive in, or so I hear.

Sundance RV Park in Cortez, Colorado

We spent three nights here with a day trip into Durango where we visited the cool train museum.

Mesa Verde National Park was right up the road so we took advantage of that. What a treat! We got to see 800-year-old cliff dwelling remains. You can only walk through them on ranger-led tours in order to preserve them and you aren’t allowed to touch any of the structures.

Cliff Palace

We toured “Cliff Palace” and “Balcony House” which are only accessible by climbing down uneven steps and climbing up wooden ladders. The rangers had us speculate on what it would be like to live on the side of a cliff. There’s so much we don’t know for sure about their life on the cliffs in the 1200’s so it really gets your imagination going.

Climbing ladder from Balcony House

Riana COE campground, Abiquiu NM

This campground in northern New Mexico was an Army Corps of Engineers project located on a bluff overlooking the Abiquiu reservoir. Our site had such a nice view that I figured we had the best site in the park. Then I took a walk and noticed that every site had a great view.

There were signs warning of rattlesnakes but a whole area for tent camping. I think I’ll pass on sleeping on the ground with rattlesnakes around! I didn’t see any though and in fact the only snake I’ve seen on this trip was in Kent, Washington of all places.

Santa Fe, New Mexico 

We were treated to three nights here at Buffalo Thunder Casino and Resort for a celebration of top fundraisers with the MS Society. Thor stayed up the road at an RV park where he could be plugged in so the refrigerator could run. It was a great group of people to hang out with. Chris did a scenic 36-mile bike ride with the group one morning and we hiked through Bandelier National Monument the next day and saw more cool cliff dwellings.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Canyon, Texas 

We stayed two nights here in America’s second largest canyon near Amarillo in the Texas panhandle.

One evening we heard coyotes howling. The next day a roadrunner ran right over to our picnic table. This must be the home of those old cartoon characters: Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote!

We hiked to the Lighthouse rock formation which was a 2.7-mile hike one-way. Had to scramble up steep rocks at the end to make it to the top but it was worth it for the awesome view. Jack proved to be a pretty good rock-climbing dog. But as we made our way back in the midday heat for the 2.7-mile return hike, Jack was pausing in whatever patch of shade he could find. I could imagine him thinking “What are we doing back in this Texas heat? What happened to that cool lake house we were hanging out at?” Good questions Jack!

Luckily, it cools off at night here in the canyon so I could sit outside and enjoy the full moon and listen to the crickets chirping.