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The End of the Spring Trip 2016

3 05 2016

Lathrup State Park site #32

We’re parked at site #32 at Lathrup State Park, one of our favorite back-in sites on the A loop. The view of the snow covered Spanish Peaks is extraordinary. The series of winter storms that have tracked their way across Colorado the last 10 days or so have left beautiful snowy peaks that nearly surround us, and a fair amount of snow in shady places all around the park. Roads up from Conchas were dry, including the nearly 8000 foot Raton Pass.

Raton Pass

We’ll spend 2 nights here, hoping to let the remaining snow melt at home, before the final leg of our Spring Trip. We will have spent 68 nights in the new Rockwood 5th wheel, covered about 4500 route miles along with another 600 or so sightseeing miles. We’ve explored areas just across the state line in California all the way to the southern tip of Texas – with beautiful places in Arizona and New Mexico in between. We slowed the trip down this year, enjoying extended time in Yuma, Kerrville, Roswell (unexpectedly) and South Padre Island. Some of our favorite places included Lost Dutchman State Park outside of Phoenix and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southern Arizona. We enjoyed the company of great friends and family all along the way.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument

But, the summer is just beginning and we’ll be back on the road in less than 2 weeks to Pueblo State Park, and then our “summer kick-off” trip when we’ll return to Lake Conchas over Memorial Day weekend. More as summer starts…

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Tags: colorado, lathrup state park, walsenburg
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

A Weekend at Lake Conchas

2 05 2016

Lake Conchas, “Out the Rear Window” site #19

With winter storms still complicating our return to Colorado, on Saturday we opted to move a bit further north to Lake Conchas near Tucumcari, NM. We spent time at Lake Conchas last year waiting out storms along the front range, and decided it would be a good spot for that again this year. Arriving on Saturday afternoon, sunny skies and warm temperature slowly gave way to a cold, windy drizzle that lasted through Sunday evening. But, temps weren’t all that much warmer in Roswell, so at least we’re another 200 miles closer to home.

We’re parked in site #19, a cliff-side site that enjoys a beautiful view of the lake and northern skies. There’s virtually no over-the-air TV at Conchas, so one of our first tasks on arrival was to set-up the DirecTV satellite. Utilizing a free 30 day demo of HBO we enjoyed a very relaxing rainy weekend of movies.

After 2 nights at Conchas, Monday morning dawns as a beautiful sunny, wind-free day. Just the right kind of day to continue our trek north. From here we’re bound for Lathrup State Park right outside of Walsenburg.. More from there…

Lake Conchas, “Out the Rear Window” site #19

Conchas Lake, site #18

Conchas Lake, site #18 lake view

Conchas Lake, site #19

Conchas Lake, site #20

Conchas Lake, site #21

Conchas Lake, site #22

Conchas Lake, Roadrunner

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Tags: lake conchas, new mexico, state park, tucumcari
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Excitement at Bottomless Lakes

29 04 2016

Bottomless Lakes State Park “Overflow Fire”

We’re now on our 5th day at Bottomless Lakes State Park. After arriving on Sunday, we’ve watched several winter storm systems move across our northward path and through the Denver area. With temperatures here in the upper 70 and low 80’s, we’re not anxious to proceed north into snow and cold.

Late yesterday afternoon a brush fire erupted very near the State Park. Fanned by winds gusting to 25MPH, it was a bit too reminiscent of some of the smokey Spring times we’ve had in the foothills of Colorado. After burning over 100 acres and belching smoke into the sky for most of the afternoon, NM state and BLM personal had the blaze under control by dusk.

Campers at northern campgrounds were asked to evacuate, but here at Lea Lake the rangers explained there was not an imminent threat due to wind direction and an expansive wetland area between us and the fire. They also assured us that if it became necessary, we’d have plenty of time to pack up. Fortunately the winds died down just before sunset and we enjoyed a pleasant, calm, evacuation-free evening.

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Tags: bottomless lakes state park, new mexico, roswell
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Bottomless Lakes State Park, Roswell, NM

25 04 2016

Bottomless Lakes SP Site #11

In a long driving day, we’ve departed Texas and re-entered the Mountain Time Zone. The original plan called for an overnight in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. But, as appears common, winds were expected to be gusting to about 50 MPH through that region, so we opted to detour to the east, away from the mountains. Unfortunately that means a transit of US 285 from Pecos to Carlsbad. After having traveled south along this route last year, we knew this to be one of the roughest sections of road we’ve driven. With heavy truck traffic rumbling through, even on a Sunday, the road is heaving and crumbling everywhere. It’s 85 miles of truck bouncing, cupboard jarring, teeth gritting travel. And, combined with about a 20 MPH side wind, the day wasn’t a pleasant journey – making it all that much nicer when we arrived at Bottomless Lakes State Park outside of Roswell, NM.

Turning east at Roswell it’s tough to imagine anything with trees and water across the seemingly endless plains stretching to the east. But, just 5 miles off the main road is Bottomless Lakes State Park – a natural oasis around a handful of small lakes in the Pecos River valley. Not truly bottomless, the lakes were formed similarly to Carlsbad Caverns when limestone eroded to create massive underground caves. But, here – the cave ceilings eventually collapsed, filled with water and created the nine lakes that vary in depth from 18 to 90 feet.

Bottom Lakes SP, Lea Lake

We’re parked at Lea Lake Campground, 32 campsites at the southern end of the park, near the beach, volleyball and group pavilion. The sites here are spacious, level and most offer water and electric. 6 of the sites also have sewer ports. 12 sites are available for online reservations at reserveamerica and the remaining 17 RV sites (and 3 tent sites) are walk-up only for $14/night. We’re in site #11, a walk-up site at the far end of one of the loops offering nice privacy and even some shade from a few small trees to each side of the RV. There’s a concrete covered patio with a picnic table and clean, graveled pad. For some of the lowest per night costs, New Mexico does a great job with the maintenance of their state parks. We have good T-Mobile access here, and even a fairly good free park WiFi available. And, there are 10 or 12 over-the-air TV channels from Albuquerque.

Bottomless Lakes SP Site #11

Bottomless Lakes State Park

Bottom Lakes SP, Lea Lake

Bottomless Lakes State Park

Bottomless Lakes, Site #26

Bottomless Lakes, Site #4

Bottomless Lakes, Site #25

Bottomless Lakes, Site #24

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Tags: bottomless lakes, new mexico, roswell
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Mile High Chili Cookoff, Davis Mountains State Park

23 04 2016

MacMillen RV Park, Ft. Davis, TX

What, a mile high event that’s not in Denver? We were surprised to read about this event when attempting to reserve a site at Davis Mountains State Park near Ft. Davis, TX. Boasting an elevation of between 5000 and 6000 feet, Davis Mountains SP indeed can host “mile high” competitions. With 27 chili cooks, this CASI suctioned event judges chili, beans and salsa. And, with complimentary park admission and a $4 donation to friends-of-the park, it’s a great afternoon out for everyone. We enjoyed talking with the cooks, learned a bit about how a good cook could eventually be invited to the Terlingua International Chili Championship and of course tasting many of the chilis.

Mile High Chili Cookoff, Davis Mountains SP

With all sites in Davis reserved for chili cooks, we opted to try MacMillen RV Park south of Ft. Davis. We’re in site #25, about the center of this 30 site park. The sites are long, spacious and level – providing 50A power, water and sewer plus about 12 analog channels of cable TV. Many of the central sites have a picnic table and a small tree in between you and your neighbor. Facilities have long deferred maintenance, the laundry room is down to a single washer and dryer – the shower rooms each have rattling fans and flaking paint. A former patio area is now deep in weeds. It’s unfortunate that these types of properties are let go – but maybe there’s enough profit at $30/night to keep visitors around long enough to break even. Or, maybe there’s a complete lack of use of these type of facilities with fully contained RV’s, so it’s just not worth the investment. Whatever the reason, this park is on par with the others in Ft. Davis and enjoys a quiet, peaceful setting on the outskirts of town. We’re planning to attend a Star Party at McDonald Observatory tonight, then continue north toward Carlsbad, NM tomorrow. More from there…

MacMillen RV Park, Ft. Davis, TX

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Tags: casi, Davis Mountains State Park, ft. Davis, mile high chili cookoff, texas
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Hidden Valley RV Park, Del Rio, TX

22 04 2016

Hidden Valley RV Park – site #65

Consulting rvparkreviews.com (one of our most used travel websites) we find there are two RV parks in Del Rio with Excellent ratings, Broke Mill RV Park where we’ve stayed several times and Hidden Valley RV Park. Hoping for a bit quieter setting than we had at Broke Mill about 30 days ago, we opt for Hidden Valley. Located on the south side of Del Rio, initial impressions from blog posters is that this place may be difficult to find. We’ve talked with the owner and have explicit directions to the park. Arriving via highway 277 to what eventually becomes Margarita Ave, we exit just before the overpass at Ogden Street. (if you miss this exit, just take the next left on Gibbs Street – then another left on Veterans Blvd to intersect E Garfield)

Hidden Valley RV Park

At the stop sign, we’re waived on by someone in a small blue car parked on the side of the road. After making the left on Ogden, the same car is pulled over in front of us – it’s Janet Casey, owner of Hidden Valley. She says she was just out running errands, but we suspect she was waiting to escort us into the park. Directions from here are easy, continue west on Ogden, bear left on Gibson, turn left on Main Street then bear right on Bolner Lane. The park is literally at the end of Bolner Lane. Once south of Main St. our 13+ foot clearance requirement took a bit of tree limb avoidance swerving – Del Rio need to do some tree trimming!

Hidden Valley RV Park

The RV sites are set in what appears more like a city park or orchard than an RV Park. We’re used to very limited vegetation and dry conditions in this part of Texas. Hidden Valley is green, lush and shady. In fact, after backing into very deep site #65, we find it almost too dark with shade – but comfortable in the 85+ degrees of muggy heat. Facilities are limited here, a small wash room and social room is the only public area available. If you are in need of bath house type facilities, you won’t find them here. Sites include 50/30/20 amp new power pedestals, new high pressure water taps, a conveniently located dump port and about 100 channels of cable TV.

Our departure this morning took one around-the block maneuver to find the way out of town – we somehow managed to miss Pecan Street (parallel to Main Street which is one-way south). Little did we know it’s actually signed as Hudson Dr. To avoid the hassle, reverse your course along Bolner, jog slightly right at Nicholson, then immediately left on Pecan/Hudson. Pecan will take you back to your right turn on Garfield. From Garfield you can continue north via 297/Veterans Blvd or east via 90 (on Gibbs)

Over-all ratings of this park is very good. Is it worth the extra city driving? Maybe not for just a single night, but definitely for a multi-day stay. From here we’re headed to Ft. Davis, TX. More from there…

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Tags: del rio, hidden valley rv park, texas
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Lake Casa Blanca State Park, Laredo, TX

21 04 2016

Lake Casa Blanca SP, Site 116

Good Morning from Laredo.

After departing Harlingen at about 11AM yesterday, we’re unhitched and set-up at this favorite State Park by about 3:30PM. This very urban park is a convenient stopping point when traveling to or from the upper Rio Grande valley. We’re parked in back-in site #116; #112 would be another good back-in site with a bit wider driveway, possibly no need to un-hitch, and a clearer view across the lake.

This was just a quick overnight – today we’ll pack up and continue along the Rio Grande to Del Rio. More from there…

Lake Casa Blanca SP, Site 112

Lake Casa Blanca SP

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Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

From South Padre Island

10 04 2016

Isla Blanca Park Beach Pavilion

We’re just into the second week of living on South Padre Island and already have a good start at visiting our favorite places as well as exploring a few new ones. We’re once again parked at Isla Blanca County Park, right on the southern tip of the island with good views over the Brownsville ship channel. As in years past we’re occupying end site C363 and right behind it, site C361. Our former end site C321 was not available due to new long-term residents from MN, Mary and Chuck.

Pirate Ship Entering Laguna Madre

On Thursday evening we had dinner at PadreRitas Grill. We hadn’t realized until we pulled into the parking lot that we’d visited Rita’s a couple of years ago. This laid back bar and grill offers a good selection of seafood, pasta and Mexican dishes. With an outside deck overlooking Padre Blvd, this eatery is OK, but not one of our favorites.

Tom & Jerry’s Beach Club Bar & Grill, South Padre Island

A new discoveries is Tom and Jerry’s Beach Club Bar & Grill at 3212 Padre Blvd. With a huge menu, this place is somewhat reminiscent of a TGI Friday’s. They offer interesting daily combos such as Taco & Tecate Tuesday’s, Burgers & Bock Wednesdays and Fish Fry Fridays. They also advertise “Happy Every Hour” with $2.75 draft beers. Our server at Tom and Jerry’s was great and made this a very enjoyable visit – we’ll be back!

On Sunday morning we decide on breakfast at The Palms Resort Cafe. Tucked behind the small Palms Hotel, this is a great place for gulf views, tasty meals and awesome Bloody Mary’s. With a standing room only crowd on Sunday, the service suffered a bit, but overall we really enjoy this small out of the way cafe.

Isla Blanca Beach, South Padre Island

Sunday evening once again finds us at the favorite Palm Street Pier enjoying the entertainment of Chuck and Earl (and company) in their traditional jam session. As usual, Palm Street doesn’t disappoint with good food, good service and fun times.

On a practical note, the Bluewater Laundromat takes over as the best laundry facility on South Padre. Immaculately clean, albeit a bit pricy, the Bluewater has dozens of extra capacity washers and dryers or will wash, dry and fold your laundry for you. The Kwik Wash Laundry on Amberjack St. was a good stand-by. But their much older facility that’s not all that clean makes Bluewater is a much better choice. Plus, as a bonus, the Bluewater is just down the block from the Palm Street Pier!

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Tags: palm street pier, Palms Resort Cafe, south padre island, texas, tom and jerrys
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Sites at Isla Blanca, South Padre Island

2 04 2016

During the check-in procedure at Isla Blanca we found that reservations may now be made for any week or longer period. Having occupied basically the same sites for the last 4 years, we decided it was time to look around a bit and see what else might be available. Of highest priority is some type of view of the ship channel. Ship traffic this year seem slow, but in past years the view of the massive cargo ships or tankers that look like they are nearly within arm’s reach is amazing.

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca, (L-R) 403, 404, 405, 406

The best sites for a channel view are along the fence – in the area that we normally park in, sites C406 through C399. We initially were assigned site C404. But, after backing into this rather tight site with no patio or even grass, we opted for the more open site C361. C403 has perhaps the most space of any along here, and C401 has a great patio area both on the side and the rear – making 401 & 402 or 402 & 403 great companion sites. Of course, the absolute best channel view sites are S15 through S23 in the “premium” section.

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca 361/360 (and 363/362 on left)

Between the two areas are some other interesting sites. East of the standard rows, there are what appear to be compounds that allow 2, 3 or even 4 RV’s to share a large patio area. Site C469 combined with D17 or D19 would offer great space and views as long as companion sites were not occupied. Nearby, directly backed to the fence, are good sites C131A, C131, D20 & D21. Any of the sites at the row ends (C215, C173 & C154) would also offer lots of space a views.

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #D17-C131

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #D17

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #469 – site D21 & D20 (occupied) in background

During this year’s visit, the ant and sandbur populations seem to be at their peak making cement or brick patio sites seem very worthwhile. Some good “patio sites” include C201 & C202. Unique “pull-in” sites C184 & C185 with a nice garden and C238 with taller trees for a good wind block. Another interesting corner “pull-in” site would be C242.

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #184

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #185

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca sites 201

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca, #201

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca, Sites 201/202

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #238 (back-in)

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #242

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca, Site #404

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca 361/360

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca, Sites 201/202

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #201

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #185

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #184

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #238

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #210

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #242

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #469 – site D21 & D20 (occupied) in background

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #D17

South Padre Island, Isla Blanca #D17-C131

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Tags: isla blanca, south padre island, texas
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Tropic Winds, Harlingen, TX

31 03 2016

We’ve just spent 3 nights at Tropic Winds RV Resort, a large resort on the north side of Harlingen. This is always a good resupply stop since Harlingen has nearly every big box store imaginable along 3 uniquely Texas HEB grocery stores.

The HEB chain of stores based in San Antonio offers over 350 stores scattered through Texas and Mexico making HEB one of the top privately held grocery chains in the US.

South Padre Island

Tomorrow we’ll move out to South Padre Island to begin our 2 weeks “Living on Island Time”. More from SPI…

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Tags: harlingen, heb, spi, texas, tropic winds
Categories : Texas Roadtrip 2016

Small Home – Big Yard

The End of the Spring Trip 2016

A Weekend at Lake Conchas

Excitement at Bottomless Lakes

Bottomless Lakes State Park, Roswell, NM

Mile High Chili Cookoff, Davis Mountains State Park

Hidden Valley RV Park, Del Rio, TX

Lake Casa Blanca State Park, Laredo, TX

From South Padre Island

Sites at Isla Blanca, South Padre Island

Tropic Winds, Harlingen, TX

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