The Chapmans an I moved down the road a bit to a casino just north of Albuquerque. I got out of the useless RV park without paying, which was almost fair. The casino is ordinary, but that's to be expected around here. Anyway, we packed up and headed to the balloon festival for the evening meeting and potluck of the Escapees doing the balloons. It was a great chance to see people again, including my best friends of the Class of 2007 (we all...
Jim and Bobbie came by this morning, and we made a plan to meet at a casino sorta near Albuquerque tomorrow. That'll give us a chance to invade our friends at the balloon festival. And it gets me out of this pit of an rv park. No one has come by to ask for money, and if they don't get here before my leaving time, they're out of luck. They should be paying me to park here. I went into Santa Fe this afternoon, not to look at the shockingly huge...
I took the state road through the mountains until I came into Georgia O'Keeffe country, surely one of the prettiest places in the US. No one else on the road so I could meander and enjoy the views. My timing was to hit Abiquiu so I could lunch at Bode's General Store, known for their Green Chile Cheesburger. My first GCC in two years, and my trip south to Deming is planned around 6 or 7 places that contend for the best in New Mexico. The...
A good blow came through yesterday and it was in the 30's this morning. Now I'm in Bloomfield, NM for the night, and tomorrow I'll make the turn south. I'll land in Espanola, not any warmer, but close to Santa Fe which will be good for a couple of day trips. My goal was to get into Northern NM before weather turned me south, so I'm happy.
I drove too much yesterday so kicked back today to enjoy the scenery. The last time I was here the weather was overcast, turning to heavy rain, and the visitor center/hotel complex was under construction. Threat of road closures chased me out before I had any chance to enjoy the view. The new building complex is very nice, an excellent place to sit back and just watch the view. The gift shop is quite remarkable for it's quality jewelry and other...
I've seen a lot Jersey walls and orange cones blocking entrance to our lands. None was more dramatic than the road to Lees Ferry. Lees Ferry is at the very beginning of the Grand Canyon, the place where you can put in a raft to drift the river, by far the best way to experience the canyon. There was the expected barrier, but I was surprised to see what I'd call a small army (of park police and local law enforcement) guarding the road. Getting a...
The idea was to go to Page, via the Navajo Bridge. When I got to the familiar intersection, the road was closed, and the detour went off the wrong direction. On my way to Tuba City I realized that using the detour route would take me about 250 miles out of my way and I could think of no reason to visit Page at that cost. None of my maps showed 89 closed and the installation of 89T which is the detour route. But I'm using 2012 maps. I didn't see...
This is a nice park, about 30 miles away from Zion,and fairly new. A large lake, sand dunes for OHV's, full hookup, dry camping, and park on the beach. Sites are huge drive-ins, perfectly level so all you do is drive in and turn off the ignition. Economical, too. 17 for beach, 18 for dry camping, I think 22 for full hook-up. Of course, if you're in the area you'd probably choose Zion for a parking place, but that's not an option today. I...