Magnus Goes to the Red Rock Country, Day 6

Sunday, September 15

We drove way up in elevation--over 7000 as we passed the Cocono Mountains.

And ended up crossing the bridge over the Colorado, just above the cursed Lake Powell.  The RV Park and Marina was just a mile or so further on, on the hill overlooking the lake.

 

Our site had a little bit of a view, but there were other, back-in sites in the front row that had a better one. We should try for one of those next time. I don't remember if I chose this site or not, but I suspect it was assigned to me.

It was a little expensive, but very nice for an RV park. The sites were immaculate and well laid out so it didn't feel like an RV park. We weren't lined up in rows, but instead spaced out more like a State Park would be.  And there was a lot of vegetation--desert, of course--including Pinon Pine, Desert Willow, and other things I didn't know the name of. Loverly.

If I give it a review, note: concrete pad, full hookup. Starlink speedtest only gave us 29 mbps, but there were no obstructions so it was quite acceptable.

All in and around the campground were wide pink rock walking paths,  that weren't hot on the dogs' feet like asphalt would have been.  Very pretty and enjoyable walks.

And they've done a good job on keeping their outdoor lighting to a minimum.

I'd definitely come here again. Maybe in the summer, when we can go swimming in the lake.

 The park

The lake, very low

On our walk, Molly and I crossed from Arizona to Utah.

The poor, dammed Colorado

Monstrousity!

 

We ate dinner at Gone West Family Restaurant, a steak house with some vegetarian options. We had a family-sized salad to share, enough for four people. Ed asked for extra blue cheese dressing so they brought out two big bowls, of which we only ate one. Oops--I took the leftover salad home, but there was no point in taking all that dressing.  Ed had the rib-eye steak and I had a veggie wrap. It came with french fries, which were interestingly shaped but not all that great tasting. But I was able to take half of the wrap back for another meal.

Magnus Goes to the Red Rock Country, Day 5

 
Saturday, September 14

This was our second day at Meteor Crater RV park.  We went to the crater and took the tour--cool!  

In the afternoon we went to Homolovi Ruins State Park, where we saw some cool ruins. Also we checked out the camping area--excellent. I wished we'd camped there!  I don't remember taking any pictures of the campsites, but it was clearly my sort of place.  There were two trails, and the one by the camping area was near the Little Colorado River. There were pottery shards all over the ground--people had picked up pieces and arranged them on rocks, but still more and more to be seen.

 

 Also our little friend

Magnus Goes to the Red Rock Country, Day 4

Friday, September 13

The rest area entering Arizona:

 

At the end of the drive we were at Meteor Crater RV Park.

Here's the review of the park; tomorrow I'll post some more interesting details.
Review: Overpriced and not all that friendly 
We stayed here two nights and wished we hadn't.  The highway noise was atrocious.  The site itself was okay and they were paying the water cost to keep a few trees alive, but it was pretty barren even for the desert.  There were no amenities like games or a community firepit; the playground was just a single pre-fab piece of equipment and a bench. No shade at all.  The whole place felt unwelcoming and unloved, like a money-making enterprise run by absentee owners.

There were two huge dog parks (60'x 40' maybe) but they had no shade at all and only a broken bench in each. So for almost all of the day in spring/summer/fall, they are useless. Instead of poop bags they provided a rake and scoop bucket, which was a sensible idea, but I suspect they were just too cheap to spring for bags.

Almost everywhere around the edges of the park are signs prohibiting dogs, which is unrealistic. It's a pretty large park, and how many people would walk all the way to the dog park for every pee break?  Most parks just provide bags and trash cans and accept the occasional mess to clean up.

There were no fires allowed, not even fully enclosed ones.  I wouldn't recommend this place unless you have no pets and you stay indoors all the time while camping.

Things to do
Homolovi had a great campground and a lot of cool stuff to see.
The meteor Crater tour was kind of expensive, but for the price we got a great tour guide who told us all kind of interesting stuff. Plus we got to see the 3-D experience movie. (the dialog and plot was at a 4-year-old level, but the visuals were cool.)

Magnus Goes to the Red Rock Country, Day 3

Thursday September 12

On to New Mexico

Grant's KOA in New Mexico somewhere--I can see why this KOA has such high reviews. Glorious mountain views in the distance. Friendly people with food cooked on site, barbeque, pizza including a veggie version, cookies and free breakfast. Dog park of course and a couple of small playgrounds.

And out to the side, a lovely little trail cut through the lava field with a bunch of interpretive signs.  I could see the yellow signs out in the field but assumed they were water or utility lines. But after jogging up and down the street (in the hot sun) a couple of times, Molly and I found the trailhead and read the first sign:

 

 

And we continued on the the end. Probably only about 2/10 mile total, maybe even less. But still better than jogging up and down the street.

Gravel surface campsite; fierce winds including one that blew the sewer hose off the pipe; as expensive as usual.  But very nice.  Sadly, very crowded, too.

Down the road--Molly and I didn't go very far on account of fear of loose dogs--there was a horse farm with a small flock of quail over across the road. Most likely Scaled Quail.  And I saw a Rock Wren on the big lava rock by the camp.

Magnus Goes to the Red Rock Country, Day 2

Wednesday September 11, 2024

Written at time:
I'm so tired I can't think. About four hours of sleep last night between aforementioned issues and then Molly needing to go outside at 1:30 am to unleash a big pile of poop. So far, worst trip ever. Even worse than staying at home.

Stayed at the KOA in Tucumcari. Very nice, not too crowded. Saw a tarantula on the "dog walk area" (a lame excuse for a dog walk area, but at least they tried.)  There was also a small, cross-fenced dog play area that we didn't use much--too hot.  Also a small and shallow swimming pool, did not use.

Gravel surface, about $66, pull-through. Convenient to Interstate but that means lots of road noise.

It was awfully hot during the day, but a thunderstorm came through up to the north of us and cooled the air down. We didn't get more than a hint of a mist at the site, though. We took an afternoon drive over to Ute Lake State Park.  I wishe we'd stayed there!  The south loop had some very good sites, very empty of people. Only 30-amp but that would be okay. The lake was pretty but a little low and on the green side. A few birds; nothing special.  But of course, we were there in the mid-afternoon.

 

 

On the other hand, staying in Tucumcari meant we could eat at Las Chaparitas. Excellent!  They had 4.8 stars in reviews and now I know why. Ed had a big "lava bowl" filled with sausage, chicken, beef, onions and a spicy sauce that was to die for. Also a big ol' jalapeno pepper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had cerviche, a kind of cold soup with chopped shrimp (I wanted fish but they were out) and cucumber. It was very, very good and almost too spicy. Sadly, it wasn't quite filling enough for my appetite that night, but at other times it would have been perfect.