Yesterday was just one of those "Extra Goode" days.....We left Bottomless Lakes and headed southwest on Highway 70. I was really kinda anxious about traveling through the mountains, but it turned out to be absolutely gorgeous and only a little bit terrifying! We would go through desert like conditions and high temps in the 70's and then as we would rise in elevation the temps would drop (some into the 50s) and the scenery would turn green with tall fur trees. I highly recommend Highway 70.....mostly four lanes, decent blacktop, and not to twisty or steep. I noticed on the map that we would be going by White Sands and I told Billy this time....we were stopping to have a look. We had driven by this last time we went west and I always regretted having not stopped. Well, Billy gave me that "Oh, do we have to", look and I gave him that " Yes, we have too" look right back! As we pulled into the entrance, I have to admit I was having second thoughts. It didn't look too impressive at this point. Down the long drive we drove....remember we have our "not so little" home behind us. I was starting to worry about getting stuck with no where to turn around, when we came upon the entrance fee station. I told Billy to ask the ranger if we were ok to get in and back with our rig. The ranger didn't indicate that we would have any problems and so Billy got out his senior pass.....which we didn't need....you see, it was Veteran's Day and so the park was offering free admission to everyone. We slowly traveled back into the park and the surrounding landscape began to change. Suddenly, it felt like we were entering into a Winter Wonderland as everything around us began to turn white with little to no vegetation. There were lots of areas where even our rig could have pulled off the road and parked, but we kept going wanting to see where this adventure would take us. We finally came to a sign which stated that the pavement ended HERE! What the heck does that mean! It means, we discovered, that at this point they simply just plow through all those white sand dunes.......they make a big loop at the end in the "heart of the sands". Again, there is a large parking area where we could stop and explore. I couldn't wait to get out of the truck......and let my bare feet hit all that beautiful, white, sand.
Yep! You guessed it....we arrived yesterday in the "land of aliens"....otherwise known as Roswell, New Mexico. We had actually planned to go up to Santa Fe, but I looked at the weather forecast for the upcoming week and decided NOT! They are talking low temps in the teens and snow is also on the radar. Santa Fe will have to wait til spring. Apparently, the weather folks heard that the Goode's are traveling west this year. Now, it seems all of the west is in for unseasonably cold temps. We took Highway 60 out of Amarillo, doing our best to get south of the impending cold front. Seems the cold front is determined to catch up with us....it keeps slipping further down everyday.
We are currently spending a couple of days in Bottomless Lakes State Park. We stayed here last time we headed west. It is a nice park, nice spacing between rvs, beautiful views, and some of the sites have full hookups. We awoke to 30 degrees this am. Not too bad.....at least the sun is shinning. Tomorrow we will continue our journey heading to Las Cruces. Any out there that knows of a nice rv park in the area.....appreciate you passing the info along to us. Meanwhile.....I may have to dig out my longjohns!
Yep, I finally found a Wind Break here in Amarillo, Tx. It is called the Palo Duro Canyon....
Ok, now I know you are all on the edge of your seats waiting for our new 'toy' to be revealed........drum roll please..........
It is our new induction cook top....and it is way cool! It can boil water in a heartbeat and we love the portability of it. If you want a few more details you can click on the icon to the right, we ordered ours through Amazon. It is something we have been looking at for a long time, but the price was just never right. Well, Bill found one that he felt would do the job and at a price we felt comfortable with......so far so good....we love it.
Yesterday was a do nothing day......nothing exciting anyway. I combed out the furballs, who are in need of a bath.....but this Texas wind is not going to let up anytime soon. I also got the laundry chore out of the way. I did take a few photos of our site.
As I said, no great views or anything....but nice level pad and nice spacing between sites.
We were lucky enough to get an end lot....just a short walk to the grassy area for the furballs.
I also had taken some photos of the new Amarillo Welcome Center. I love the way they did the bricks to give the look of the colorful canyons.
Here is an interior shot.....just beautiful
And of course, I had to include a photo of the cow pasture....
That is it for now.....tomorrow I'll share a photo of Billy's new toy....ok, I like the new "toy" too!
Yesterdays ride to Amarillo proved to be a lot smoother than we anticipated. Once we were in Amarillo we headed to our favorite rv park there......Oasis RV Park. Now this place doesn't have that "it factor"....no view and no hiking trails or anything like that, BUT it has everything else. Full hookups, level concrete pad and patio, grass for the furballs to tinkle upon, 50 cent washer/dryers, restaurant on site.....that delivers to your rv if you desire....well, you get the picture. The only big negative is you are close to the interstate and there is road noise. I'll post some photos in tomorrow's post. The really awesome thing is the price. Apparently they are determined to win the rv market here in Amarillo. We are paying $20 a night with the 3rd night free. We are staying here 6 nights.....$80.00......and that is a very Goode thing....LOL!
I swear going through the state of Oklahoma on I40W has just about done us in. Yesterday was probably the worse. The road is so bad, it just about beat us both to death. I'm sure the poor furballs thought they were gonna die. Finally pulled off in Weatherford at the Route 66 RV park. Nothing special to report here. The place has a few permanent trailers and is in fair condition, but cost $28 for the night. We both felt that was too high for what it is, but we were so tired of bouncing down the road that we decide to go ahead and stay. At least the night was quiet and uneventful.
Today we are back on I40W heading to Amarillo. So far the road has been much better, we hope it last.
We left Toad Suck park today and headed toward Oklahoma along highway 4o. We had done our research (I thought) and had decided to stay in a small rv park in Checotah, Oklahoma called Oneda RV park. I checked out the parks web site and for a quick overnight stay it looked acceptable, plus it is a Passport America park so the the price was right (12.50). When we exited the highway and Oneda RV park came into view......to say we were disappointed is an understatement. The park is in very poor condition with several permanent rvs....all old and with lots of trash around them. Apparently the photo on the web site had been carefully cropped so one did not see the trashy surroundings. We really considered getting back on the highway, but we had done our research and knew that rv parks were far and few between in this neck of the woods. So, reluctantly we pulled into a large pull through at the end of the row. At least we were somewhat removed from the worst of the park and no one could pull in next to us on the curb side of our fifth wheel. The park owner was friendly. BUT.....I made the mistake of asking her to recommend a good restaurant in town. She did.....we went....and all I can say is.....YUCK. The restaurant was as run down as the park and the food was awful. I couldn't even eat mine. Back at the fiver the shades were drawn, the door was shut, and we were in for the night. I can't wait to put this park in our rear view mirror......
