Arizona

Oct 8      Albuquerque - Flagstaff     281 miles     5 hours

We're making our way to Camp Verde but made a stop in Flagstaff to spend the night. After 5 hours of driving we stopped at Twin Arrows Casino right outside of Flagstaff. Very nice, free parking lot to camp in. They have the semis parked in one area away from the RV's. This is big because those semis run their generators all night.

We did some gambling but ended up losing some money. So free camping but not so free.

Oct 9     Flagstaff - Camp Verde     75 miles     1 hour  30 minutes

We drove to Camp Verde this morning to Distant Drums RV Resort. We stayed here before and enjoyed our stay. They have a Good Sam rate so for 4 nights we paid $183.

We'll sure make use of the pool and hot tub.

Oct 10  Phoenix

Super C

We drove to La Mesa RV in Phoenix today. It was a long drive, over 1 1/2 hours. They have a Super C that we were interested in taking a look at. Well, we found it and liked it. We're thinking maybe we wait till next fall to buy.

But then we met with a salesman and we started looking at other coaches. We really like the Winnebago Forenza 36G. Price was good too. We really need to think about all these coaches that we look at.

Hopefully by next fall, we'll make a decision.




Oct 11     Watson Lake

Watson Lake is located in Prescott, about an hour from our campground. We've been here before and it's so awesome, we had to come back. This time we decided to hike around the whole lake, about 5 miles. It starts off with a level path for about 2 miles and then the trail takes us through rocks, lots of rocks. We had to climb up and down and scramble....talk about a work out! The whole hike took us over 2 1/2 hours. We got a good work out and enjoyed amazing views.

Spent the evening in the hot tub to soak our aching bodies.

Life is good!







Oct 12     Sedona

I wanted to go to Sedona today and do a hike. We got a late start so when we got to the airport loop trail the parking lot was full. I found another hike, drove there, and again the parking lot was full. I got kind of discouraged so we parked in town and did some shopping. On the way out of Sedona we made a couple more stops at trailheads and still, no parking.

We took a drive and checked out 2 other RV parks. The first one was Verde River RV Resort. Pretty nice with a big pool. Seems like a quiet park. Then we went to a brand new park in the same area. Verde Ranch RV Resort is very nice. New park so no shade yet but plenty of young trees. Pool and fitness rooms are very nice. We have options for the next time we're in the area.

Oct 13     Camp Verde - Grand Canyon     140 miles    3 hours

We drove to the Grand Canyon south rim where we have reservations for 2 nights. Kind of expensive here, full hookups for $65 per night.

After we got settled at our campsite we took a walk to the village and walked the rim trail a bit. Lots of people all over. We went to the Angels Lodge and ate the bread bowl. Joe had stew and I had chili. We had this before and was looking forward to eating this but we both agreed it wasn't that good this time.

Oct 14     Grand Canyon

Was cold this morning around 37 degrees. We hiked a lot today. We walked from our campground to the rim trail all the way to The Abyss. Took us over 3 hours to go over 6 miles. We made a lot of stops to enjoy the scenery and take pictures. Part of the trail was scary, along the edge of the rim. One wrong step and its all over.

We ended up with a lot of steps today, over 18,000. This was a good day, we were both exhausted.

Oct 15     Grand Canyon - Kingman     171 miles     3 hours

As we were getting ready to leave Grand Canyon this morning, a mama elk came into the campground and turned on one of the water spigots at a campsite. She prodded the faucet with her foot and her nose until the water started gushing out. She drank for a very long time. There was another elk with her and they kept drinking. Several minutes later 2 more elk came running over to drink. The funniest thing was when they were done, they turned the water off!

We're making our way back to Las Vegas but decided to make a stop in Kingman, Arizona. We always drive through Kingman but never stop. We're staying one night at Fort Beale RV Park, price is $42 and they don't give any discounts. Nothing fancy to this place. We had lunch at an italian restaurant called Garibaldi's. Was pretty good but the service could've been better. We drove around the historic part of town which is part of route 66.

Our trip is winding down....next stop Vegas.

Fast stop in Albuquerque

Oct 6      Taos - Albuquerque        161 miles       3 hours  30 minutes

Approaching Albuquerque

When we left Taos this morning, it was very cold.....31 degrees! We wanted to time our arrival in Albuquerque because the International Balloon Fiesta is going on. This is a big event, hundreds of balloons and thousands of people come each year. It goes on for 9 days.


Today is day 2 and today is Mass Ascension, a launch of all the participating balloons has been a feature of Balloon Fiesta since its earliest days and is the most spectacular display of sound and color.


We attended the Balloon Fiesta a few years ago and the experience to be on the field when all of this is happening should be on everyone's bucket list. 

We didn't plan on being in Albuquerque during this time but

we had to adjust our plans because of the cold weather, so here we are, in the middle of everything.

We left Taos later than we wanted so when we got to Albuquerque it was kind of late and the balloons were kind of low already. But that's okay....there's always tomorrow.

We're staying at Route 66 RV Park again.




Oct 7

We got up early and decided to find a place to park and watch the balloons. I found a park online in Albuquerque that supposed to be pretty good to view the balloons. As we got closer, we changed our plans and followed where most of the balloons were. We came upon an open field and just parked on the side of the road and watched. What an awesome sight!

One of the balloons actually landed in the field right next to us.

So exciting to hear and see the balloon land. I'm so glad we found this awesome location to witness this.

Taos

Sept 30     Cochiti Lake - Orilla Verde Recreation Area     88 miles       2 hours

We drove north to Orilla Verde Recreation Area. This is located just south of Taos. There's a few campgrounds in this area but only 2 offer water/electric. All sites are first come, first serve so we were lucky to grab a site with water/electric in Pilar Campground. It's $15 per night and looks kind of dumpy but it's actually in a good location to do some hiking along the Rio Grande Gorge.

Beautiful sunsets

The campground is very dark at night and the sky is full of stars.

Oct 2   Orilla Verde Recreation Area - Taos       15 miles     30 minutes

We did a hike this morning on the Verde Vista Trail. This is an awesome hike in the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. The trail runs through a plain high above the Rio Grande River and the canyon walls tower several hundred feet above us on either side.

This is the only hike we did in this area because Joe had a gout attack that lasted a couple of days. He's finally feeling better so we could do this hike before moving on.













After the hike we packed up and moved a few miles north to Taos Valley RV Park. We'll be here for 2 nights, $50.05 per night. Nothing fancy but good location.

We took a ride to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. Amazing! There's a rest stop there so we parked and walked around.

At 650 feet above the Rio Grande, it is the fifth highest bridge in the U.S.

Can walk on the bridge but I'm such a chicken, only went about 1/3 way.

Oct 3

We had a lot of plans to take the RV and spend some time driving the Enchanted Circle. A spectacular drive 85 miles to complete. It's the most popular drive in the area. This was the highlight of our trip. We were suppose to leave tomorrow but found that there's a lot of rain coming. Then after the rain passes the temperature in that area will drop to 25 degrees. This is too cold for us. So we decided to stay here for 2 more nights to wait out the rain. Then hopefully, Saturday we can drive the Enchanted Circle with the Kia and just do a day trip. Such a bummer....I guess we need to come back.

Oct 5    Enchanted Circle

We got to drive the Enchanted Circle today. The most popular drive in the area, this National Forest Byway circles Wheeler Peak, the highest in New Mexico at 13,161 feet.

One of the best drives ever. We really enjoyed this 85 mile on the Enchanted Circle. The fall foliage with the brilliant yellow of the aspens was truly spectacular.

We drove up through Questa and continued to Cerro and entered the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument on the north side. We did the south side a few days ago. The north side is just as amazing. You drive along the gorge with breath taking views.

La Junta Overlook

We made a stop at La Junta Point Overlook.

La Junta, which means "meeting or joining" in Spanish, two rivers converge. To the left is the Red River, beginning in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains at the highest point in New Mexico, Wheeler Peak, 13,161 feet. To the right is the Rio Grande, beginning in the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado and running for 1885 miles to the Gulf of Mexico. La Junta marks the widest and deepest part of the Rio Grande Gorge, at three-quarters of a mile wide and a steep 800 feet deep.

We continued on to Columbine Canyon Campground and started a hike into the canyon. It was pretty chilly when we started the hike, about 50 degrees. This hike can go for about 9 miles one way. We did 2 miles and then turned around. This is one of best hikes we've been on. Great trail with lots of scenery. The fall colors were stunning! I didn't know where to look, everything was so pretty.

Crossing the stream

Colorful leaves

We loved hearing the creek for most of the hike. The trail crosses over the creek several times on beautifully designed foot bridges which were really cute. This hike is through a canyon so seeing the cliffs high above on both sides of us was pretty awesome.

Pretty leaves

Xmas trees all over

Next stop was at Red River. Cute little ski town. We had lunch at Yesterday's Diner. Was really, really good. After lunch we walked a little ways and stopped to have a chocolate malt at The Dairy Bar.  It was kind of chilly walking around but we had to...sooo good!


We continued our drive around the Enchanted Cirle and drove through Eagle Nest. The Eagle Nest Lake is the big attraction here. Looks like plenty of water activities.

We made a stop at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Angel Fire. Displays on the grounds and in the Visitor Center pay tribute to the Vietnam veterans. The Blue Star Garden and Medal of Honor and Veteran bricks that line the walkways are constant reminders of the service to our country.

Then we drove through Angel Fire. Another cute ski town. At this point, we were getting tired so we just drove around then headed back to Taos.

Amazing scenery 

Cochiti Lakes

Sept 26     Albuquerque - Cochiti Lakes      75 miles     2 hours

We left Albuquerque this morning and made a couple of stops. Filled propane and ended up buying a Dish receiver box from the shop. The guy actually hooked up everything for us. Joe just had to call Dish and pay. So now we can catch all kinds of channels.

We're at Cochiti Lake Recreation Area. This place gets very busy so I made reservations for this place online. $20 per night for electric and water. They also have a dump station.

Cochiti Lake is located on the Rio Grande about 50 miles upstream from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Cochiti is one of the ten largest earthfill dams in the United States. It stretches 5.5 miles and rises 251 feet to impound the waters of the Rio Grande and Santa Fe River.

Sept 27     Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument to protect its geologic, scenic, and cultural values. 

The cone-shaped tent rock formations are the products of volcanic eruptions that occurred 6 to 7 million years ago and left pumice, ash, and tuff deposits over 1,000 feet thick. Precariously perched on many of the tapering hoodoos are boulder caps that protect the softer pumice and tuff below. Some tents have lost their hard, resistant caprocks and are disintegrating. 

We got there when they opened at 8:00am. We started on the Cave Loop Trail and continued onto the Slot Canyon Trail. Absolutely stunning rock formations. The natural geologic formation are so unusual and the hike up the slot canyon was absolutely amazing. We kept going because around every corner there was something amazing to see. Parts of the slot canyon are quite narrow and part of the climb is pretty much a rock scramble. It got to be a little difficult for us so we finally turned around. We ended up hiking a little over 3 miles. 

A squirrel sunning himself

Sept 28     Jemez Scenic Byway

We drove on the Jemez Scenic Byway today. 

Traveling on Highway 4, our first stop was the Walatowa Visitor Center. Across from the visitor center is Red Rocks, stunning natural scenery everywhere.  

Inside the church

The Jemez Historic Site was our next stop. It's one of the most beautiful prehistoric and historic sites in the Southwest. It includes the ruins of a 500 year old Giusewa Village and the San Jose de los Jemez church which was constructed in 1621.

A fantastic geologic wonder, Soda Dam is a natural dam that formed from a hot mineral water flow which deposited travertine and calcium carbonate. It is believed that the process began about 7,000 years ago. 

Jemez Falls

We had lunch at the picnic area at Jemez Falls. Then we started our hike to the falls. Much of the trail is surrounded by beautiful trees and rock formations. Then we see it, a 70-foot plunge through a narrow gap in the granite rocks. Such a beautiful site with the fall leaves surrounding us. It was a short hike but felt good to stretch our legs from our long car ride.

Beautiful fall colors

This drive was very scenic and a nice way to spend the day.

We went over 100  miles in the Kia.