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Home and thoughts on first trip of the season.

The RV is back to bed. We had to rewinterize because of freezing temps expected this week. In fact we had snow today.

While I enjoyed parts of this trip there were challenges also. The biggest being high winds. We had several days where we just hunkered down in the RV and let it shake and roll. Sleeping was very hard when there was so much movement and noise from the wind. In addition we got bounced off the road onto the shoulder by a passing semi. They passed too close and then got hit by a high wind gust that then caused their air displacement to bounce us off the road. Very scary. Most semis went by hugging the opposite side of the lane so this did not happen.

We also almost got run off by an oncoming pick up truck with trailer that was over the center line on a narrow two lane road.

We had to reroute the end of the trip through Albuquerque due to winds. A fair number of days were driving in the wind which was uncomfortable and stressful.

We narrowly avoided freezing temps a number of times. We had rv antifreeze on board to put in the tanks whenever things looked too close for comfort. Our RV furnace kept the inside toasty but I noticed the volume of air was down, it didn't blow as strongly as it has in the past so that is something we have to trouble shoot. Could be low voltage from the batteries or damaged ductwork. The ductwork is getting very old and brittle.

We also discovered our rear motoraid heater. This was fabulous for heating up the rear of the motorhome before stopping. Because we had never traveled in the cold before we had never used it. For normal driving the dash heat was just fine but that motoraid heater was great to turn on a half hour before stopping and get everything toasty warm.

As usual we loved the motoraid hot water. It is always nice to have hot water when going down the road to wash your hands and to use when you first get to a stop without having to turn on the hot water heater.

The RV had been rewinterized and put back to bed at the storage lot. I don't think I would do a trip at this time of year again. Too much wind!

On a side note we had so many campgrounds with hookups this trip that I got quite spoiled with taking long showers. When you can dump every day or every other day you can shower as long as you want, no conserving water. :-)

Back to Lake Pueblo

 We liked Lake Pueblo and were happy to stay there again but there were a couple new places we wanted to try on the way home. However the deciding factor was Lake Pueblo was the only one of them that wasn't expecting freezing temp. that night.

Isleta Resort and Casino RV Park

Our destination was the Isleta Resort and Casino RV Park. We LOVED this park. Plenty of nice walking paths around the lakes for the dog. Nice sites. Free shuttle to the hotel for gluten free meals. Train to Albuquerque and Sante Fe. We will be staying here again when in the area.

Gluten free breakfast! The first meal out of the trip.

 Any rail and bus schedule for downtown right from the RV park.

 Our very nice spot. You do hear the train noise and horns during the day but they didn't run at night. You also can hear I-25 traffic outside during the day but not in the RV. At night we heard a little at first because we sent to bed very early but overnight it was quiet and then started up in the morning.

Valley of Fires Recreation Area

Our overnight was planned for Valley of Fires Recreation Area, where we got a fabulous campsite. It was at the top of the hill and widely spaced from the neighbors. It had no hookups but they had quite a few with hook ups. Those were occupied. The hook up ones had slightly tighter spacing.

There looked to be some nice trails/displays but we got hit with a big regional windstorm. It appeared the only way out was bright and early the next morning with a destination of Albuquerque. So that is what we did, left early, and didn't really get to see the park.

Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge

We stopped at Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Refuge but it was the wrong time of year so a bust. Looks like it would be spectacular in winter when the birds are there.

Lake Roberts

This was also one of my favorite campgrounds of the trip. Pretty little lake. Nicely spaced sites.

Those of you from areas with water likely would be underwhelmed. But being from dry CO we love any pretty water we see because it is so uncommon. There were two campgrounds around Lake Roberts. The lower one had no hook ups so we chose the upper one with hook ups.

This is where I recommend staying if you are going to Gila. It is a pretty easy drive (if you aren't in an RV) over the to monument and back and can easily be done in a day. That being said we did see an RV larger than ours that had made the trip. It was a longer class C. I don't think any of the big As should go. It really helped to be shorter and a narrow body RV like ours.

Mimbres Cultural Center

I almost forgot. We stopped at Mimbres Cultural Center. Not a bad stop but not very interesting either. They guy who runs it was very interesting so if you go try to talk to him. It was so windy out we didn't see the outside displays. I didn't take any pictures.

Gila National Monument

We loved Gila National Monument. Exceptional ranger was at the site to answer questions. The hike up was exceptionally beautiful.

A quick note on the drive up there. The road was narrow and there was no shoulder. We didn't see any traffic going up but coming back we had a few trucks with campers coming at us and they were over the line, but there was no place for us to go as there was no shoulder. I do not recommend Gila National Monument for RVs.

Gila Hot Springs RV Park

I reserved for 2 nights at Gila Hot Springs RV Park. But we only stayed one. On the way there we scouted Lake Roberts and love it. Also Gila Hot Springs RV Park had an aggressive dog as a long term resident and I didn't want to risk the dog getting loose and attacking my dog. To get wifi access you had to walk to the general store. There was none in the RV park. On top of everything else the hot springs were a major hike away. You really need a car to enjoy going to see them. So we gave up our second night and headed toward Lake Roberts. Why be miserable when there were so many awesome campgrounds around? Near the Gila National Monument there were campgrounds and near the RV park there were two national forest campgrounds. Any of them are a better choice.

City of Rocks State Park

This was one of my favorite campgrounds of the trip. Exceptionally pretty and interesting info. on how it was formed.

They have both hookup and non-hook up sites. The non-hook up ones were in the rocks like you see above.

White Sands Missile Museum

This was well worth a stop but sort of confusing to get into. You have to stop at the military reception area prior to the gates but somehow we missed that and had to back up after approaching the gate. Once they checked our identity we got passes into the museum.

The most interesting displays were in the two buildings. They had local history, history of the base and military history as well as missile history.

White Sands National Monument

I must admit to being underwhelmed. It may be because we only drove on the paved area. Maybe the better sites were beyond that. At the visitor center it said the non-paved area was OK for RVs. But we didn't stop there on the way in, but rather on the way out because we wanted to see the sand while it was still cool enough for the dog. I really like Great Sand Dunes in Colorado so the White Sands had a tough act to follow.

 I did get a very cool set of nesting baskets at the visitor center.

Silver Campground Cloudcroft NM

The drive to Silver Campground was beautiful. Green pastures with a pretty stream and cows grazing. Very tall and thick pine trees. I felt like I was in Switzerland.

We were the only people at the campground. The host was at the overflow lot and the next campground over only had their host. So we totally loved it. But I think this campground had site spacing too close so I do not recommend it. The next one over (which I don't remember the name) seemed to have better spacing.

Carlsbad Caverns

The big destination for the trip was Carlsbad Caverns. It did not disappoint. But I had read in advance to bring a flashlight, but then didn't. I wished the whole time that I had.

Of course what goes down must go up.

We stayed at the White City rv park which was just a gravel lot but there was a small park near the more permanent RV residents that was good for taking the dog out.

 

From there it was an easy drive to the Caverns which had RV parking.

We spent the day there and stayed for the bat flight program. Unfortunately between the kids running up and down the stone steps and the guy with his cell phone on, even though the instructions were to be very quiet and turn off all electronics, the bats did not make an appearance. The park ranger could have more forcefully emphasized the requirements but I suspect he is tired of clueless idiots who can't tell their kids to sit down and/or turn off their electronics.

Roswell and the aliens - Spring River RV Park

We decided to do the next night in Roswell and wanted a place in town so we could easily visit the alien museum and other attractions. Spring River RV park fit the bill. It is basically a gravel lot but it backs to a good size city park which was perfect for walking the dogs. There is also a trail from it that goes downtown, although it is quite a hike to the alien museum.

The wind was ferocious the day we were there so we didn't do much, mostly sheltered in place but the UFO museum was interesting.

Santa Rosa Lake State Park

Our next stop was Santa Rosa Lake State Park. This one was a disappointment. Site was OK but the there was only one trail we could find and it wasn't very nice, rocky and not very scenic. But if you are on I-40 and want a place to overnight it probably isn't a bad option. There also may be more to the park than we saw.

Second first trip of 2018 - Pueblo Lake State Park

After changing our our speed sensor we took off again. We selected Pueblo Lake State Park because it is pretty close to home and if anything else went wrong we could easily get it fixed or head home. But nothing did. For the rest of the trip all was fine with the RV.

This park had nice trails and several other campgrounds. Not sure if those are RV campgrounds or not. The site spacing was nice.