Day 30: Cochiti Lake, New Mexico to McLean, Texas

 Day 30: Cochiti Lake, New Mexico to McLean, Texas

• Miles: ~370 miles
• Left: 9:15 AM, Arrived: 4:45PM Central Time
• Weather: Sunny, High 99F, Low mid 60's

Again we were up shortly after 6AM. I took a shower while Steve got a short Saturday morning run in to keep the streak alive.  The women’s bath house was OK.  It was clean & well stocked.  The showers were OK. The water was a push button with no pressure or temperature controls.  It was warm water.  The shower head was a spray that was hot at the nozzle but cooled off quickly.  Decent enough shower but would have been a pain to shampoo hair.  Curly girl problems, LOL

We had instant oats in giant bowls for breakfast. Last stock up I inadvertently bought the largest paper bowls they sold - so it made the instant oats look ridiculous in the huge bowls. We were all packed, hooked up & on the road by 9:15AM.  We only used 8 gallons from the fresh water tank over the two days so we decided not to fill up & dump since we could make it another night.  

We were about to start the multi day & state drive home. We planned to stay at a Harvest Host in McLean, TX which meant for a longer driving day (~6 hours) but a shorter drive the next day.  Most of the drive was on I-40. The road is mostly bumpy with some smooth bits. Still so many semi’s.

We made a picnic lunch stop in Tucumcari, NM at the Route 66 sign.  We drove a few miles of Route 66 & there were so many abandoned buildings. Sammie was having another rough poop day and was not riding well in the truck.  Belle is still doing great though!  After lunch our next stop was briefly at Cadillac Ranch.  A row of buried cars that people graffiti. Didn’t realize folks are still actively graffiti’ing them.  We pulled up but didn’t walk to the cars.  Steve took several shots with his long lens & that was enough. We were very unimpressed. It was so hot, 99F in Amarillo.  Good day to spend driving.  

The Mother Road is 100 this year

Tucumcari, New Mexico

Cadillac Ranch iPhone picture - not worth the stop. 

Grafitti Everywhere - They sell spray paint at the entrance

We arrived at the Cactus Inn around 5PM. It is a Harvest Host location & originally we were just going to plug into the truck generator but since they had electric available for $25 we got it. Good thing because the air ran most of the night & it would have been annoying to listen to the truck starting all night.  We didn’t unhitch since we didn’t plan to drive anywhere.  Red River Steakhouse was a restaurant within walking distance that we went to for dinner.  Steve got a burger & I got the salmon & rice with a side of broccoli & corn on the cob. The meals came with cobbler for dessert - peach or plum.  Overall the meal was good, not the best but far from the worst we had on this trip.  We had enough for leftovers.  There was a women playing guitar & singing cover songs while we were there who was pretty good.

We spent the rest of the night in the camper. There were 3 or 4 other RV’s there. The Cactus Inn offered 5 or 6 pull through full hook up sites in addition to the Harvest Host site under the sign.  Nothing glamorous but good enough for a quick overnight.

Dinner!

Cactus Inn Harvest Host

Cactus Inn Harvest Host

Cactus Inn Harvest Host

• Lodging: Cactus Inn - Harvest Host
• Rating 4/5
• Grass site next to sign.  Had picnic table 
• Campsite: NA
• $0 / night with HH membership, paid $25 for electric 
• Full hookups for $25
• I-40 hum all night long
• Sunny, hot! 99F high, lows in mid 60’s
• Road conditions: Bumpy
• No facilities

Next Stop: Oklahoma

15th Blogiversary?!

Now that I am trying to blog more again I was reading through some older posts & noticed today is actually the 15th Anniversary of my first blog post!  If I was paying attention, I may have waited a day before officially changing the URL name, LOL.

Good grief, how time flies! Although, it is the reason why I wanted to keep the same blog so all the history would be on one site together. I don't care if anyone reads the posts but I really enjoy going back & reading through them.  I have kept lots of travel journals over the years but love having the blog posts all in one spot. 

Where it all started: Let the Aquaphor Season Begin!

A few photos from that racing season:

IronGirl Atlanta, GA

French Broad Challenge - Asheville, NC

Lake Logan Olympic - Canton, NC

Bethel Time Trial - Bluegrass Tri Club, Lexington, KY

Time Trialing 

Atlanta IronGirl Race Report

French Broad Challenge Race Report

Lake Logan Race Report

Days 28 & 29: Cochiti Lake, New Mexico

Day 28: Holbrook, Arizona to Cochiti Lake, New Mexico

• Miles: ~280 miles
• Left: 8:40 AM, Arrived: 2:15PM Mountain Time
• Weather: Sunny, Highs in the upper 80's, Lows 40's

We both were up around 6AM for showers then we called Steve’s mom for her birthday since they were 3 hours ahead of us.  We decided to eat breakfast at a restaurant within walking distance of the KOA. It was decent but not great for the price. The coffee was terrible at almost $5 a cup.  We both decided to enjoy our coffee at the camper in the future & not spend the extra money for restaurant coffee.  It’s rarely as good as what we make.  

We were hitched up & on the road by 8:40AM. We made one stop for gas, $3.69 /gallon in New Mexico. Gas was cheaper in NM than Arizona. It was mostly an easy drive on I40 that alternated between smooth & bumpy.  So many semi trucks though! 

We lost an hour when we crossed into New Mexico so we arrived at Cochiti Lake Campground at 2:15PM. There was no one at the gates so we went straight to our campsite, #49 in the Elk Run loop.  It was a great site overlooking the lake, level with covered patio / picnic table & pea gravel for tent area.

We got setup pretty quick & ate a late lunch. It was warm & windy but hot in the sun. The site was non-electric so we had all the windows open & fans on high. The temperature swings in the desert are pretty amazing.  It can be in the upper 80’s in the afternoon & in the 40's & 50's overnight which makes for great sleeping weather.  

Late afternoon we biked to the nearby convenience store for tea & to see what else they had.  We noticed they had cheap gas so we planned to fill up before we left for Texas.  We bought a few teas than biked around the campground. There are a few loops that had electric but ours didn't have any hook ups.  There were two loops that were completely empty so maybe they don’t book those in the winter. The other two loops were completely booked the weekend we were there.  

We ate leftover barley chili for dinner & Steve setup his color scope for night imaging since we were in another dark sky area.  Very quiet campground overnight.  

Site 49 Elk Run Loop

View from Site 49

Belle actually enjoying the dog pen

Sammie enjoying the fan

View from site 49

Lots of clear skies at this campground

Day 29: We had a low key day spent mostly at camp.  We took the dogs for a walk early and then did a Trader Joe's run to stock up for the rest of the drive home.  We went early since it was supposed to be almost 90 later in the day.  The sun is so hot but it felt good in the shade. Besides TJ's & filling up with $3.36 / gallon gas we spent the day hanging out at the campground.  The normal highs for mid March are in the 50's.  It was the start of that excessive heat dome that was moving across the country.  Once the sun starts to go down it gets chilly fast though. The low's were in the 50s with humidity less than 10%. 

It was Friday so later in the afternoon there were lots of folks coming in for the weekend, some folks had massive rigs, like 40+ foot. They made our Casita look even tinier if that is possible.  We spent the evening getting things packed up as we were starting our multi day journey home the next morning.  Steve did get one more night of imaging though. 

Night sky setup

Lodging: Cochiti Lake Campground - Army Corps Of Engineers 

• Rating 5/5
• Paved, level sites. Had covered picnic table & concrete side walk to picnic area. Pea gravel for tent area
• Campsite: 49 Elk Run Loop
• $11.25 / night with discount - had to pay for 3 nights since the weekend is a 2 day minimum stay even though we were only staying Thursday & Friday. Otherwise it would have been $7.50
• No hookups
• Quiet overnight
• Sunny upper 80’s highs, lows in 50’s
• Road conditions: Good
• Clean bathrooms & showers  - Hot water, OK water pressure

Next Stop: Texas

Day 27: Petrified Forest National Park - Holbrook, Arizona

Day 27: Homolovi State Park, Winslow Arizona through Petrified Forest National Park then on to Holbrook, Arizona

• Miles: ~56 miles
• Left: 9:30 AM, Arrived Petrified Forest NP: 10:30AM, Holbrook KOA: 4:30PM
• Weather: Sunny, Highs in the mid 80's, Lows 30's

We woke up before 6AM for showers & to get all packed up.  Steve had 3 nights of clear skies for his astrophotography.  We were on the road to Petrified Forest National Park by 9:30AM & arrived at 10:30AM.  We entered at the Northern entrance & stopped at the visitor center for our stamps & stickers.  We decided to tow our camper through the park since there were plenty of RV parking at all but 2 of the stops. This was a terrible idea since the roads through the park were so bad & it was pretty aggravating for Steve. It was both a great & terrible experience.  The park was amazing, towing the camper was terrible. The park road from the North to the South entrance was 28 miles plus a ~4 mile loop off to the side.  There were several official stops plus lots of turnouts along the side of the road.  

Sammie was also having a rough day so we had to make several potty stops for her.  We took the pups on two walks with the stroller but decided to leave them in the truck for the remaining stops with the AC running.  Love that I can monitor the truck via the Ford app to make sure it is still running.  

The park geology was so interesting.  The petrified trees were ~ 200 million years old! Such an amazing place.  Arizona is such a neat state & so different from what we are used to although it is probably pretty miserable in the summer here.  

We spent several hours in the park, stopping at least briefly at each stop that had RV parking.  We had lunch at one of the side of the road turn offs. At the end of the 28 mile park road, Steve made a wrong turn out of the Southern visitor center so we had to do an extra 10+ miles in bumpy roads. That made his day....not. He was trying so hard not to have a melt down.  

Petrified Forest NP - We visited all of the Arizona National Parks

Petroglyphs

Lunch time Mesa views

Along the dried river bed are what looks to be rocks but they are petrified tree stumps!

Petrified Trees!

He got the long lens out!

~220 Million Years Ago!

Belle sleeping on Sammie trying to help her feel better

He will never get through all the photos he took on this trip!

Crystal Forest

Crystal Forest

Crystal Forest

We got to the Holbrook KOA by 4:30PM.  I reserved a wide pull through with full hooks & a dog pen. It was the most expensive site we stayed at the entire trip but worth it.  Don’t think the dogs enjoyed the dog pen as much at Kamp K9 but it was easier for me. I completely forgot to take photos of the campsite but it was big by KOA standards!

For dinner, I ate a container of hummus & toasted lavish. It was so good. I shared a bit with Steve.  I did a couple of loads of laundry - the laundry room was busy!  $2 for wash, $1 for dry.  Spent the rest of the evening cleaning up & had a quiet night at camp.  The campground was quiet overnight.  

• Lodging: Holbrook KOA
• KOA - $80/night with discount
• Rating 4/5
• Gravel sites
• Campsite: 84
• $80 / night with KOA discount
• Full hook ups, pull through with a dog pen
• Quiet overnight
• Road conditions: Good
• Clean bathrooms & showers  - Hot water, good water pressure 

Next Stop: Cochiti Lake Campground, New Mexico

Days 24 - 26: Homolovi State Park - Winslow, Arizona

 Day 24: Flagstaff, Arizona to Homolovi State Park, Winslow Arizona

• Miles: ~60 miles
• Left: 10:30 AM, Arrived: 11:45AM 
• One Pit Stope
• Weather: Sunny, High in the 60s

Day 24: We were in no rush to leave since we only had an hour drive to Homolovi State Park.  We took the dogs to Kamp K9, made instant oats for breakfast, followed by showers. We were packed, hooked up, dumped & on road by 10:45AM.

We made one stop at Twin Arrows, an old Route 66 roadside attraction that now only has one arrow & buildings are all graffiti’d. Kind of sad IMHO.

Only one of the Arrows still stands

The old service station - sad relics from the Mother Road

Steve found an empty bottle of Route 66 beer 
and was really happy about it, LOL 

We got to the state park at 11:45AM, too early to go to camp but was able to get registered than we went to Homolovi II to explore the ancient Pueblo’s from ~1300-1400. We walked the dogs up to the archaeologic site about 1/2 mile & Sammie walked all of it.  Arizona has such interesting history & so much of it is still preserved & protected.  

Homolovi II - Built around 1330 AD

One of the preserved rooms

Our Casita way in the distance

Old ceramic pottery shards from the 1300's

We got to our site by 1PM. Good level site (#51) with electric, water & a covered picnic table.  The campground has a new bath & shower house. Sites have some good separation but very out in the open. Campground ended up full even though I only booked the site a couple of weeks ago & there were plenty of sites open at the time. There were 3 other Casitas in the campground the first night we were there.  

We had lunch at camp than I spent the afternoon food prepping while Steve setup both of his scopes. Another Dark Sky location so hopefully he will have some good night imaging while here.  I made barley & NYT veggie chili for dinner - good!

Homolovi Campground

Homolovi Campground

Homolovi Campground

Homolovi Campground

The setup

Sunset

Day 25: I slept great overnight. It was the perfect temp for me but Steve got cold. Coffee & pancakes for breakfast - so good, cooked them in butter - yum!

We walked the trail from the campground to visitor center with the dogs. Sammie made it all the way to the visitor center, over 1 mile but had to get into stroller on the way back to camp.  We had to go back on the road since the trail to the visitor center was sandy & I wouldn’t have been able to push Sammie in the stroller.  

Sammie did so good on this trail

Info about the park at the Visitor Center

From Arizona State Parks website: "Homolovi” is Hopi for “Place of the Little Hills” — the traditional name for Winslow, Arizona. Homolovi State Park now serves as a center of research for the late migration period of the Hopi from the 1200s to the late 1300s. While archaeologists study the sites and confer with the Hopi to unravel the history of Homolovi, Arizona State Parks provides the opportunity for visitors to visit the sites and use park facilities including a visitor center and museum, various trails and a campground. Several covered picnic tables are located throughout the park. Pullouts provide the opportunity to observe wildlife in this park of over 4,000 acres at an elevation of 4,900 feet.

Once back at camp we took showers.  The shower house was built in 2025 & they were nice with plenty of hot water.  We then went into Winslow for lunch.  Winslow is famous for the Eagles song Take it Easy and the town erected a life size mural commemorating the song.  Another cool thing that Winslow recently installed was a musical rumble strip that when you drive over it at ~ 35 mph it hums the tune Take it Easy. Of course we went over it multiple times.  It's on Route 66 across from the 9/11 memorial going into town. Very cool!

We tried the Flatbed Ford Cafe but the server & kitchen were over worked & said it would be 30 at least a minute wait.  So after using their WiFi we found another place to try around the corner - Relic Road Brewing which was a great choice. I got a Flagstaff beer - Mother Road IPA and a Ruben with a side salad. Everything was really good.  Steve got the southwest burger with chips. The chips were homemade. They were a spiralized potato & then put on a skewer. Really creative & very good.  Will have to try that when we get home.  

After lunch we walked around a bit. The Standing on the Corner was busy. It seemed like a couple of tour buses may have been in town as several folks had lanyards.  We planned to go the next day for breakfast before heading to Meteor Crater.  

Best chips! 

Great place for lunch

Back at camp, I slept off my IPA then took a bike ride around the park.  I rode to Homolovi II & then to the visitor center where I hiked to Sunset Cemetery which was a Mormon cemetery in the late 1800's.  I then biked back towards camp and was going to ride to Homolovi I but the gate was already closed since it was 5PM. Instead I went back to camp & hung out the rest of the day.

Sunset Cemetery Trail

Sunset Cemetery

Sunset, Arizona Historic Marker

Day 26: We went into Winslow early to get a few pictures of Standing on the Corner.  The Standing on the Corner building is actually a facade. After getting a few pics we tried to have breakfast but it seemed the morning spots nearby were all closed on Tuesdays. We went to Denny’s instead and probably save $20, LOL. 

Standing on the Corner Facade

Best to go later in the day when the sun is higher

The Mother Road

After breakfast we went to Meteor Crater.  If I had been planning better, we would have stopped here on our way from Flagstaff to Homolovi since it is right in the middle of the two.  We did get in for free again with our ASTC membership. We watched the 10 minute movie than took the guided walk. Pretty cool hole in the ground! Arizona has so much going on.  We also did the flight simulator which was cheesy but fun. Afterwards Steve got his camera then we went on the self guided walk to take lots of photos.  We had a cup of coffee at the Meteor Crater Mining Company. Love the creative names! Very relevant as Barringer formed a mining company to find the large meteor but never did since it dissipated on impact.  We spent about 2.5 hours here. The lot was full when we left.

Lots of Astronauts have trained here

Arizona & it's holes in the ground!

This crater is huge

Another Selfie

We made a Walmart stop on our way back to camp then had lunch.  The pups did great being left alone for 6 hours.  Sammie has been doing better for now.  

Another cool thing about this area is the Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains - they are so long, some at least a mile long.  At night, they have red flashing lights on the top of the cars.  So many trains crossing the land along I-40. Steve was able to image all 3 nights here.  Again, the weather was amazing for the middle of March. 

Belle being both naughty & cute!

• Homolovi State Park Campground - Winslow, Arizona
• Rating 5/5
• Double wide asphalt drive & pea pebble tent pad
• Campsite: 51
• $40 / night no discount
• Electric & Water. Back in
• Easy access to Winslow
• Quiet overnight, dark skies
• Sunny low to mid 80’s highs, lows in 40’s
• New bathrooms & showers  - Hot water
• Road conditions: Good

Next Stop: Petrified Forest National Park, Holbrook, Arizona