If you remember from our Facebook posts in March we
sat through a horrible dust storm before finally being able to leave Deming, NM.
But we did make it out on time, April 1st we started on our way and here is the link for April's journey http://www.rvparky.com/trip/5803817986162688. Our main goal this month is to finally adopt our new traveling
companion, Kona the kitty aka Mr Kit-T-Kat.
It was a short lived flurry and soon we were passing
by the place where John Tunstall was killed. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/murder-ignites-lincoln-county-war His murder led to the Lincoln County Wars and this is where
the Regulators and Billy the Kid truly came to life. It seems no matter where we go
we are constantly surrounded by history. Unfortunately this part of history
seems to be rapidly falling to the way side with our younger generation, such a
shame.
As we rolled over the pass and off the mountain
range we were headed toward one of the greatest government cover ups in history.
Uh, I mean a simple confusion by a few townspeople. Yep - Roswell, NM. Even
though it was April 1st there wasn’t any fooling in this part of the
country - we were surrounded by Alien stories, alien artifacts, local believers and travelers who either
believed or wanted to.
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| Bottomless Lakes State Park |
We had reservations to stay at a great little state
park that was just a few miles out of Roswell - the Bottomless Lakes State Park.
We had read mixed reviews but are
pleased to say it has our seal of approval – especially at $18 per night. Saying
this place was interesting would be selling is short, but it was interesting
and totally out of place in this flatland, who woulda thought.
It didn’t take long to get settled in and we were
back living quietly. The lakes had a couple of nice trails to hike and Susan
and I took full advantage. Aww but the lure of aliens continued to tug at Susan
so we found ourselves standing in front of the International UFO Museum and
Research Center http://www.roswellufomuseum.com/ where we found aliens. Of course Susan had to
get pictures standing in front of the little Silver men…..yep, SILVER not
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| She is loving this - glad she talked me into coming |
We had planned a second destination in Roswell, the
Roswell Museum and Art Center http://roswell-nm.gov/308/Roswell-Museum-Art-Center
. However, upon arrival to this massive building we were disappointed to find
it was closed on Monday’s….ugggh. So we left Roswell without seeing the art museum,
but still scratching our heads about those aliens and headed back to the
Bottomless Lake.
For fact clarity, the lakes really are not
bottomless, but are very deep…lol We were due to leave this water hole in the
flat land on April 4th. We awoke early to make the final leg to see
Kona, ahhh but it is never that easy. We were once again met with howling winds
in excess of 40 MPH and after a few short minutes checking the weather to find
it was only going to get worse, which it did with gusts to over 60 MPH, we
decided to stay another day. Our sight was booked for the evening but the park
found us a different spot where we relocated to and hunkered down to ride out
yet another wind storm.
It always seems though that when plans delay good
things come and this was no different. The evening before, Susan and I met a
very nice young lady and her daughter, Shannon and Tallulah. The layover
allowed them to come over and visit. We really enjoyed spending the evening
with both of them and look forward to crossing paths again.
The next day we were rolling toward Texas and the
Palo Duro Canyon http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/palo-duro-canyon
which is about half an hour south of Amarillo. While there were still residual winds, the
trip across the plains were not bad and we arrived without incident. Once we
had checked in with the park ranger we unhooked the truck and began our journey
into the canyon. We had read differing stories about the road in and found them
to be correct. It was a 10% grade of over a mile and hairpin blind turns made it a bit
interesting as the coach easily took every inch of the highway navigating the
way down!
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| Looking into Palo Duro Canyon from the road at the top |
Wow, what a view does not describe this place! It is dubbed the “second Grand Canyon” and
while nowhere near as big as the real Grand Canyon, it is still very impressive.
What we found was a State park that was laid out for people to enjoy. We have
rarely seen a park of any kind laid out so well. From roads to trails, ample
pull outs, four RV campgrounds, several tent camp areas, an Amphitheater…etc
was something to behold. I could go on and on about this place, but we were
there with a single mission, to meet Kona the “Travel Kitty” for the first
time. He was being delivered from Oklahoma and we were ready. 
Shortly after we arrived my mom and aunt showed up
in mom’s RV with that special delivery. I suspect it was a good trip as my mom
has a kitty (Calvin) from last year’s litter (half brother to Kona) AND a kitty
(Diesel Hobbs) from this years litter (full brother and litter mate to Kona).
If that isn’t enough they also had Patches (Poodle) and Pickles (a
Poodle/something mix)…lol all of this was in a 26’ RV. My aunt also has a litter mate to Calvin but
they decided 3 kittens and two dogs in one small camper with two humans was
enough so Lex did not make the trip to the canyon. 
We were thrilled to see everyone once again and to
meet Kona for the first time. All we can say about him, he is a handful, afraid
of nothing, loves everyone, requires to be near you and supplies endless laughs
and periodic frustations….lol He will be a great addition to the road show. Kona is a Ragdoll kitten, so he should grow to
be a pretty big boy.
We had a great visit with mom and Roberta and all
the animals, AND took a trip to Amarillo for lunch at the Big Texan Steakhouse http://bigtexan.com/
…. but after only a short four days they were on the road again headed to other
destinations. We will see them again in September if our paths do not cross
again before that.
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| We all shared Big Texan onion rings |
Once the family was gone Susan and I decided we must
adventure a little. I didn’t know whether I would be able to walk enough to
enjoy some of the trails or not but I was bound and determined to give it a
try. We started out on a couple short trails, ½ mile or so, then stepped that
up to about 1.5 miles. I wasn’t doing too badly so we decided to kick it up a
notch.
The next day we set out on a 6.5 mile round trip journey
to the Lighthouse Rock. Man oh man was that a neat hike. The trail was pretty
good for the most part. It was wide, relatively flat and not too hard of a
terrain until we reached the final ½ mile of the first leg of the hike. At that
point it was nearly straight up, rugged, rocky, loose silt, you name it. It was a tough climb! During a brief stop to
regain footing I looked back to Susan who was maybe 100’ behind me and asked if
she was ok. She said she was but didn’t know if she was going to continue. I
completely understood and encouraged her to remain within her comfort zone. I
climbed a bit further, looked back and not surprisingly she was climbing again.
That is one thing I love about this woman, she has determination and grit.
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| Susan was still considering this ledge... |
When we finally reached the top, we stopped again to
just look in awe. The last few feet was climbing up on a ledge that was only
about a foot wide, hugging the side of the mountain and inching to the much
bigger rock formation to walk on. Oh and there was nothing but straight down
from the 1’ ledge. I told Susan I was going to try and I climbed up. Now 30
years ago I would have done a back flip up on the ledge, not now. Not being as
nimble as I once was I was fighting an inner fear but I made it. Susan wasn’t
too sure! But again after just a couple minutes she took a deep breath and that
inner drive took over. In just a few minutes she was on top of the world with
me. I honestly couldn’t do anything but give her a hug and a big kiss and tell
her we did it.
I was so proud of her, actually of both of us, but
for two different reason. For me because I have had so many days over the
recent months that I couldn’t walk across the room let alone hike 3.5 miles,
climb a mountain and hug a ledge to reach the top. For Susan because I knew her
fear of heights had not won out over her determination to succeed. I guess you
would have just had to be there.  |
| We made it to the Lighthouse Rock |
One of the great things about this life is – we meet people all over and often unexpectedly. One day while we were at the top of the canyon checking emails we saw what looked like a familiar rig pulling in through the park gates. We had met David and Sondra Kahanamoku in Willis, TX back in the winter for the first time and had had no other contact with them until now. Then poof they pull into the same State Park we are in…lol It was good to visit with them and get to know them better.
Other friends we had only met on the computer but as
happens with many full time
RV’ers they became Facebook friends. Ed and
Patricia Lipson arrived in Amarillo shortly after we arrived at Palo Duro and when
schedules collide, it must be time to meet.…lol We met them in person for the
first time for lunch at the Stripped Zebra Soda Shoppe (no joking) in Canyon,
TX. We all seemed to hit it off and they followed us back to the park after
lunch. After they toured the park they stopped by our rig and we had another
good visit.
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| Lunch with Ed and Patricia |
A couple days prior to departure from the canyon
Susan and I took a trip to Amarillo for a bit of “site seeing”. We went to the
American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame and Museum https://www.aqha.com/museum,
the Amarillo Zoo https://zoo.amarillo.gov/,
and an RV Museum http://rvmuseum.net/.
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| AQHA Museum |
The zoo was small but we were pretty much the ONLY
people there. We ran into one other person when we first arrived - that was it! I have never been to a zoo and
been the only people in the whole park.
But we had the place to ourselves so we took our time, talked to all the
animals and just enjoyed. They did not have a large collection but they did have
Lions and Tigers and Bears – OH MY! We timed that excursion just right though -
as we were leaving two tour buses full of students showed up, that was
close…lol
After the zoo Susan and I headed to Ed and
Patricia’s rig for another visit and to see there rig (something I was dying to
look at because it was the first 53' Powerhouse coach I had ever seen). We had another great visit. Ed told me and showed me everything about
his rig while Susan and Patricia chatted. It was Ed and Patricia who convinced
us we needed to visit the RV museum. Susan had read information on it and we
had thought about visiting it but were not sure. The Lipsons assured us it was
a must see and they were right.
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| Museum's in back - just ask and they will show you where |
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| And we learned something... |
Then *Poof* just like that it was time to leave the
Canyon. Susan and I had even extended our stay there by two days - we tried for
four, but being Easter weekend they were booked. So on Good Friday morning we
set off west and headed to Tijeras, NM and the Hidden Valley RV Park http://hiddenvalley-rvpark.com/ .
This place was once a KOA and actually it wasn’t bad
considering we had read some bad reviews. But like most bad reviews, what you
typically find and what people really complain about are two different
things…lol. Because we had extended our stay in Palo Duro Canyon we only had
three nights in Tijeras, so we had to sight see fast. We booked this park
through our RPI membership so rates were only $13 per day ($7.50 site fee,
$2.50 electric fee and $3.00 for 50 amp service).
The highlight
of this stop was a 200 mile motorcycle ride
http://www.rvparky.com/trip/4876755813269504, part of which took us up the
Turquoise Trail (Hwy 14) and the Sandia Crest Byway (part of the Cibola
National
Forest) https://www.go-newmexico.com/Sandia-Crest-Byway/#. The
road to Sandia Crest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandia_Mountains
was only 14 miles but climbed
to an elevation of over 10,400 feet and some of the most hairpin
turn roads you have ever seen. Once on top it was breathtaking. From the top
looking east you could see over Albuquerque and the view to the northwest
was the hills leading to Santa Fe. Oh
yea, and if you looked down at your feet, there was snow. We didn’t stay at the
top long, but the ride up and back was pretty impressive.
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| Albuquerque from above |
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| Sandia Crest - SNOW! |
After leaving Tijeras we were headed to the little
town in the middle of nowhere, Pie Town, NM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_Town,_New_Mexico
and an event that had been promised for quite a while. Now Pie Town is a tiny
place (population as of 2010 was 186) on the Continental Divide noted for what
else but homemade pies…lol
We pulled into the Pie Town RV Park http://www.pietownrvpark.com/,
yep they had one. Rates are $25 per day or $135 per week. They do have a
monthly rate that is even more reasonable but we didn’t have a reason to stay
there for a month. We quickly settled in as our goal destination was planned
for the next day.
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| East Sugarloaf Mountain |
Pies are good but they were not why we were there. Susan
and I had a destination 8708 feet above sea level, just south of Datil, NM. We
had a date with East Surgarloaf Mountain and Susan’s dad, Donald Hyde. Donald
used to have a place in the Homestead subdivision at the base of the
mountain. He passed away in January of
2005 and a couple of her family members had made the trek up the mountain
several years ago to scatter his ashes to the winds atop the majestic setting.
Susan was unable to go with them on that journey but I had promised her we
would go together one day.
April 18, 2017 became the promised day. We knew what lay ahead - a climb that was
filled with expectation, adrenalin, heartfelt thoughts and even a bit of dread.
This climb was essentially straight up and without any type of trail at all,
just Susan, me and the mountain. When we arrived at the base of the mountain we
took a four wheel drive fire road for a few miles around the mountain scouting
out the best possible place to climb.
Finally we decided there was no good spot so we
parked, got our backpack, trekking sticks, sunscreen and away we went. I must
say I had already been having issue with
low oxygen levels due to the elevation
as the base of the mountain was a little over 7000 feet and I was dreading this
climb. But I knew I could not let my wife down, not today and not on this
event. We struggled but we decided after a short time the best plan was to move
up maybe 50 feet or so and sit a moment to catch our breath. We took our time
and yes, being persistent pays off. It
took about 1.5 hours or so of climbing and we made it, or so we thought. We had
actually made it to within maybe 100 feet of the top. The remainder of the way
was straitgh up with no solid ground and more dangerous than the benefit, so we
decided we were there. The only thing up there besides some stray cactus,
rocks, a few flowers and a few scrub trees were tons of Rocky Mountain Sheep
tracks, they were everywhere. We laughed and claimed we were as good as the
sheep, just much slower..lol
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| That looks like the top to me!??! |
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| What a view! |
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| Straight down - almost |
We finally made it back to the base of the mountain -
we had just completed our mission. I hoped Susan felt fulfilled, I know I felt
so proud to be able give her this moment but more importantly to share this
moment with her.
Remember how I mentioned earlier that we “thought”
we were at the top? Well when we were finally at the bottom and driving away we
realized the “actual” peak was behind
the one we were at…oops! From our vantage point on the mountain we could see a
short rise but it was not the absolute top. Where we had thought we were within
100 feet or so, we were more like 200 yards from being there. I asked Susan if
we needed to re-climb to get to the actual top and I was happy to hear the
simple word…..NO.
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| We climbed that mountain - HOT DAMN |
With that undertaking out of the way we headed to
Pie Town Café http://www.pietown.com/ and had
a burger!!! We did not have pie at the
Café but a couple of days later we did have pie at the Pie-O-Neer http://www.pieoneer.com/.
Both restaurants have been featured on CBS Sunday Morning on the Food Network.
The Pio-O-Neer has a host of other accolades and awards and you can read about
those on the website. We can honestly say both places had GREAT food and if you
want more information than that you just have to go to Pie Town and try it for
yourself.
Where ever we go I always look to see if there are
any good motorcycle roads and this time was no different. Pie Town is just a
short ride from one of the top 10 motorcycle roads in the United States, AZ
Highway 191, aka The Coronado Trail, aka the Devils Highway http://www.rvparky.com/trip/5300335755657216. Susan and I were
fortunate enough to have time and be in the right location so away we went. This
was an awesome trip, the turns, the curves, the thrill of riding along the edge
of mountains with lines of sight going straight down. Even though I know Susan
had a moment here and there of uncertainty, it was two lanes of magnificence
and we rode it!!
Our next stop after leaving Pie Town was Show Low, AZ to meet with our
good
friends Randy and Debra LaBrash. If you have followed our blogs you will
know that we met Deb and Randy last year in a swimming pool at Thousand Trails
Lake Texoma and we have run into them a few more times since then. While we didn’t
get a camp ground right in Show Low we were able to get set up only 15 miles
away in Clay Springs, AZ at the Arizona High Country Campground http://www.arizonahighcountrycampground.com/.
It is a nice quiet little park that took a bit of wiggling to get our big house
into and set up, but we made it. Park owners have had the campground for a few
years now and have been slowly making improvements. The daily rate was $35 and more
than what we normally allow ourselves; however, the park accepts Passport
American discount for two days so our four day stay was only $105 plus tax.
They do have a great monthly rate of $375 plus electric but we rarely sit still
that long.
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| Randy and Deb |
After all of that they still had one more trick up
their sleeve and away we went to Eagar, AZ where we stopped at the 26 Bar
Ranch. Now if you have no idea the significance in the 26 Bar Ranch, it was
once called the Milky Way Ranch and was owned by the Mars Candy family. Ohhh
but that aint enough because in 1965 it was bought by none other than “The
Duke”….Yep we were sitting in front of John Wayne’s Ranch and while we could
not go in, Randy had a great story about a previous visit when they were able
to go into the home. I could just imagine John Wayne riding his horse across
over the hill…. it was pretty cool just
to look at the place from the road. After a full day of touring and a great
lunch they finally brought us back so that we could go home and relax.
I told you we stayed at a nice campground there but there was more to the campground than meets the eye. Low and behold it backs right up to National Forrest land and hundreds of miles of back roads. While Susan and I don’t have an ATV or a UTV it did give us some really nice places to hike and walk. Did I mention a UTV may be on our list of purchases?
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| The Duke's Place |
I told you we stayed at a nice campground there but there was more to the campground than meets the eye. Low and behold it backs right up to National Forrest land and hundreds of miles of back roads. While Susan and I don’t have an ATV or a UTV it did give us some really nice places to hike and walk. Did I mention a UTV may be on our list of purchases?
Our time there was short but we did have time for
one more meeting with our friends for breakfast and they joined us at the coach
for Susan’s Taco Tuesday before we hit the road. Thanks so much for your
hospitality Randy and Deb, ya’ll made this four day stop a ton-o-fun and we
look forward to seeing you again!!!
Our next stop was Bullhead City, AZ http://www.bullheadcity.com/ at Ridgeview Resort http://www.sunriseresorts.com/resort-locations/ridgeview-rv-resort/.
We booked this campground under our RPI
membership so daily rate was only $16 per day ($10 daily campsite fee, $3 daily
resort fee and $3 daily surcharge for 50amp service). We had planned to be in
Bullhead City for two weeks but to stay at two different campgrounds – both were
RPI parks but the second park was booked during our first week. So, we had originally
booked to be at this campground for only one of the two weeks but when they
informed us they would be able to accommodate us for our entire stay – we decided
not to go anywhere.
Bullhead City is located on the Colorado River and
just across the river is Laughlin,
Nevada. Little did we know when we booked this campground that we were
going to be there for the Laughlin River Run motorcycle event. Even though I
LOVE motorcycles and Susan loves to ride, neither of us really care for big
crowds or roads full of two wheel cowboys. So instead of partaking in the
“events” we laid low, stayed out of the mess, soaked up some sun and enjoyed
the hottub. It may have been over 100 degrees some days but the nights were
still cool and unfortunately the pool was not warm enough to swim.
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| Laughlin at night from our RV - close enough :) |
While the weekend bikers were in Laughlin, we did
escape and took a short motorcycle ride to Las Vegas. We had decided to look at
the Thousand Trails Las Vegas campground and the FamCamp at Nellis AFB to see which
one we wanted to move to when we left Bullhead City. We had heard the Vegas TT
was rather cramped and after a very brief ride through it was a pretty easy to
see that what we had heard was correct. So we drove on to the FamCamp and
found one of the cleanest most spacious parks we’ve seen to date. Bet you can
guess which one we decided on but more on that next month...
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| Relaxing with a cold one - that's my girl! |
Beyond that we took life easy as daily
temps exceeded 100 deg and seemed to spend a few extra hours by the pool and relaxing in the shade or inside. Awww,
April in the Mojave Desert! We arrive when most people are leaving but that way
there are not so many people….lol
See you in May!
See you in May!
