Month: May 2015

The Petrified Forest

Our campsite for two nights
Our campsite for two nights

Our next stop after Elephant Butte Lake State Park in New Mexico was Petrified Forest National Park. There isn’t much in nearby camping facilities, and no camping in the park, but there are two gift shops at the southern entrance that allow you to dry camp next to the store for free. We opted for that choice. And a good choice it was. We were able to make frequent trips in and out of the park. Location is everything! Some people experience the park by driving through in two hours. We spent a day and a half and I wish we could have stayed longer.

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Down time

Day 13

After our time with the kids in Texas, we hit the road. My original thought was to stop in west Texas, half-way to our next destination, but we were making good time and Oma found a state park outside of Roswell, NM that we could reach before dark. Although it was a long travel day, it gave us time to check out Roswell for a few hours the next day before heading onward.

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Sinkholes and Reservoirs

Just after sunset at Bottomless Lakes State Park. This was the view from our campsite.
Just after sunset at Bottomless Lakes State Park. This was the view from our campsite.

After Cleburne State Park, we headed west to New Mexico. We had a reservation at Elephant Butte State Park in two days and no reservations for an open night in between. So we meandered on and found a lovely State Park right before the fascinating city of Roswell. It was a good stopping point in our travel plans. Upon entering the park, we saw a beautiful lake and learned that there were several lakes which were formed from sink holes. We found a pull through campsite open, which had water and electric and a great view of one of the lakes.  The sites were all large and clean. It would have been a great place to stay for awhile but that wasn’t in our plans. We did, however, leave a little bit of time to wander into Roswell the next morning to explore and get fuel in the truck.

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Kids, Grandkids and Dinosaurs

Days 5-7

We had a wonderful time with the kids and grandkids while camped in their driveway. Great meals, good company and two days enjoying the little ones alone. But after four days of living half in their house and half in our trailer, it was time for us to start working our way to our next destination to check out dinosaurs.

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Searching For the Elusive Dinosaur

Our 4 year old grandson wanted to camp at Dinosaur Valley State Park with us.  He wanted to see the dinosaur tracks. When I originally tried to book a site there months earlier, the reservation center showed that there were only tent sites available. So I continued searching for nearby camping and found Cleburne State Park, which was about 35 minutes from Dinosaur Valley State Park and had a beautiful lake as well. I was able to reserve a site in a loop by the water with full hook ups. Unfortunately, you are not assured of a specific site when you reserve, just a spot in the loop. It’s first come, first served, when you arrive. Continue reading “Searching For the Elusive Dinosaur”

The trip to Texas

It was quite a week of preparation. There never seems to be enough time to get ready, and a number of our preparations had to wait until the last couple of days. With this long of a trip, the refrigerator and freezers are turned off, so all food in them had to be given away, taken with us or thrown out. Similarly with the pantry – if it would not be good when we got home, it had to come with us. It all went down the wire.

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