Another 300+ miles along the I40 and another time zone – mountain time. This time, I opted for a bit of nature. The guide books showed a Forest Park at Cibola with camping in an area with ski lifts, which sounded to be a perfect break from driving. The guide books unfortunately were less than clear. Firstly, the directions to the chair lifts were unhelpful and secondly, camping was now prohibited. The only part of the guide that was correct was that it was 16 miles to the summit of this particular mountain. 16 miles does not sound long until you factor in we were in an RV and that we were going up a mountain. The accustomed rattles of the van were soon accompanied by the whining of the gears as we took the U- bend single track road. Eventually with a little impatience on behalf of the younger members and a little frustration from the older ones, we reached the summit. The views would have been more stunning had there been less cloud. Someone from Georgia, who followed us at a crawl for most of the way up, shook me by the hand, taking me for a fellow Georgian – that was until he heard the British accent. That left him puzzled and scratching his head. The way down was quicker! No screaming gears just the acidic smell of brake pads being well used.
RV site choice is now being made on the basis of whether there is wifi. This one was the speedster of the broadband. There was also a pool and a hot tub plus free continental breakfast. But first the RV had to be backed into its slot – saving us $6 over a pull-through. It was not so much the Scrooge in me that came to the fore rather the challenge. 20 mins and 3 gallons of fuel later and the chocks were down. The pool and hot tub were as advertised, please take note whoever authors the AAA Tourbook of Arizona and New Mexico. There was an additional bonus, the RV park lay alongside the desert.
The youngest of the team, Abby has never been off the leash on a walk and here was a good place to give it a go. With some trepidation, we released the hound. She was like a dog in heaven and spent the first 20 minutes at the full gallop until even her energies had been depleted. She now could only function at the marginally lesser speed of canter. Saw no animals save little and large ants and a black beetle that raised its behind when threatened. I guess it must be an effective form of defense as no-one likes to be squirted with toilet matter ( an example of discrete writing).
The night was interesting for two reasons. First of all, there was a mother of thunderstorms. Rain on a tin roof is like being inside Keith Watt’s drum and the lightning is so bright against the depth of a desert sky. One noise was soon replaced by another as the neighbours decided to crank up their party at 3.45am. There were seven of them – the Magnificent Seven but they were no match for the Lone Stranger. She strode out tongue ablazing to scatter them to the four corners of the site. Bravo. Not quite finished, in the morning a report was filed with the Sheriff. This site was not big enough for the two of us – so we left.
RV site choice is now being made on the basis of whether there is wifi. This one was the speedster of the broadband. There was also a pool and a hot tub plus free continental breakfast. But first the RV had to be backed into its slot – saving us $6 over a pull-through. It was not so much the Scrooge in me that came to the fore rather the challenge. 20 mins and 3 gallons of fuel later and the chocks were down. The pool and hot tub were as advertised, please take note whoever authors the AAA Tourbook of Arizona and New Mexico. There was an additional bonus, the RV park lay alongside the desert.
The youngest of the team, Abby has never been off the leash on a walk and here was a good place to give it a go. With some trepidation, we released the hound. She was like a dog in heaven and spent the first 20 minutes at the full gallop until even her energies had been depleted. She now could only function at the marginally lesser speed of canter. Saw no animals save little and large ants and a black beetle that raised its behind when threatened. I guess it must be an effective form of defense as no-one likes to be squirted with toilet matter ( an example of discrete writing).
The night was interesting for two reasons. First of all, there was a mother of thunderstorms. Rain on a tin roof is like being inside Keith Watt’s drum and the lightning is so bright against the depth of a desert sky. One noise was soon replaced by another as the neighbours decided to crank up their party at 3.45am. There were seven of them – the Magnificent Seven but they were no match for the Lone Stranger. She strode out tongue ablazing to scatter them to the four corners of the site. Bravo. Not quite finished, in the morning a report was filed with the Sheriff. This site was not big enough for the two of us – so we left.
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