Category: Travel, Camping

This was another stop we had planned pre-pandemic. We booked three nights at Homolovi State Park about two miles outside Winslow, Arizona.

The park was home to at least eight ancient Hopi communities who occupied the area from AD. 1250-1400 along the Little Colorado River. At their peak the area supported up to 2500 people. The area is part of the Sonoran Desert grassland. The people made their living through agriculture with cotton being an important crop.

The park has the ruins of two Pueblos that visitors can explore.

The park is located on Hopi land and was established in 1986 in a effort to stop the vandalism that was destroying the ruins. Amateur and professional pot hunters seriously comprised these sites.

In addition to exploring the ruins the park has trails that allow you to wander the desert.

The temperatures where mild and not an issue while hiking. However, the Ranger advised us to stay alert as rattlesnakes were on the move.

Twelve miles north of Homolovi is the Little Painted Desert county park.

Winslow is a short drive from the park. On our last day we drove in to see what it had to offer.

We’ll be moving around Arizona for the remainder of the year. In the morning we’re off to explore Cottonwood, Jerome and Sedona.

Santa Fe, New Mexico is one of our favorite places to visit in the Southwest. We stay in a private RV park south of the city. (Santa Fe Skies RV Park )It takes only 15 minutes to get to the plaza.

Santa Fe was established as a Spanish colony in 1610 and is the oldest state capital in USA. We keep coming back for the walk ability of the central plaza with its restaurants and art galleries. We’re also big fans of the Pueblo inspired architecture .

Santa Fe is a great restaurant town. With an indoor mask mandate in affect we visited two of our favorites.

Pat’s sister Carolyn and her husband Ed were visiting friends in Albuquerque. We drove down to meet them to tour the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens.

Part of the appeal of staying at Santa Fe Skies is its proximity to routes that get you north or south of the city with ease. NM 14, known as the Turquoise Trail, takes you south to Cerrillos Hills State Park and Madrid. Interstate 25 takes you to Tent Rocks National Monument and Albuquerque. Route 599 bypasses the city to take you north to Los Alamos, Nambe Falls and Taos.

We drove north of the city along the Rio Grande River to Taos. The County Line River Access gets you on the river. There are picnic tables, toilet facilities and a boat launch.

Also north of Santa Fe is Nambe Falls and Reservoir. We hiked the Falls Overlook Trail and then walked the creek to the bottom of the falls.

Santa Fe Skies RV has a .75 mile path around the park. The owner collects vintage construction equipment which he displays along one section. He also creates metal sculptures which are installed along the way.

The path is a great place to watch the sun set.

Our week in Santa Fe ended far to quickly, I guess we’ll have to come back. While we’re sad to leave we’re looking forward to see what Arizona has in store for us.

We’ve had to cancel two previous trips to Hot Springs Arkansas. This was the year to make it happen.

The healing waters of Hot Springs Arkansas have been drawing people to the area for centuries. The US Congress in 1832 created a 4 mile square reservation to protect the springs for public use. We arrived during Indigenous Day Weekend and the public was out in force.

Bath house row is located along Central Avenue and it was an unmasked mob scene when we arrived. We took refuge behind the bath houses along the Grand Promenade.

Soaking in the baths was not the only reason people came here. The extensive system of hiking trails was seen as a healthful addition to soaking in the hot spring water. Many of the trails are accessible from the Promenade.

After a hot and sweaty hike we made it to the top.

The observation deck offers 360 degree views of the Hot Springs Reserve.

The hot springs here have no volcanic component to them. So how do they attain their average temperature of 143 degrees? The spring water begins as snow or rain that trickles into cracks in the brittle mountain rocks (novaculite and chert). As it travels through the earth’s crust it heats up through conduction. The trip takes about 4000 years. That’s not a typo.

The Park Service provides spigots in several locations around town for filling containers with spring water.

Our friends Tom and Margret told us about a Hot Springs barbecue institution, McClard’s.

We enjoyed a late lunch in the embrace of southern hospitality. A lovely experience. Thanks for suggesting we go there Tom and Margaret!!

We spent most of our time in the area exploring the hiking trails. Our hike to Goat Rock offered a nice view of the mountains around Hot Springs.

Our last hike in the area was to Balanced Rock, a short steep 2 mile hike.

We left Hot Springs and continued our journey West into Oklahoma. We spent two nights at Lake Eufaula State Park. The lake is the largest within the borders of the state.

The park has over 15 miles of mountain bike trails but the rain kept the bikes in the truck.

The rain got us into the truck to do a bit of sightseeing. We found ourselves in Honey Springs and the childhood home of Oklahoma blues legend DC Minner.

No one was around but we enjoyed peeking in windows and reading the signage.

Finally we packed up the trailer and headed to Oklahoma City. We’ve driven through twice but had never stopped.

We came to see the memorial for the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building which was bombed April 19,1995.

This was a somber end to our Oklahoma visit. It was an affecting memorial that had us thinking about the lives lost, particularly the children.

We returned to Buffalo in April of 2020 to take stock of the pandemic and consider our travel options. Vaccines and cautious planning convinced us that our life on the road might be possible again.

In May of 2021 we ventured to Portland OR for a long planned remodel of the kitchen area of the trailer. The idea was to get more storage and living space. We added a storable table, new counters and sinks, upgraded stove, cell booster and stereo. We love our upgrades, particularly the stowaway table.

The Southwest has always had a special appeal for us. On October 1st we left Buffalo to make our way south and west. After a weekend visit with our son’s family we headed down the Mississippi River to Hannibal, MO; Mark Twain’s childhood home.

We camped at a private RV park that was home to the cave made famous in Tom Sawyer.

From Hannibal we traveled south and west to Jefferson City, the capital of Missouri.

The interior was even grander.

Our visit was prompted by a desire to ride a section of the Katy Trail. This trail is one of the longest rails to trails in the country.

We stayed in Binder City Park just west of Jefferson City. It’s a small campground near Binder Lake. There are 16 sites and is very quiet. There are several mountain bike trails in the park but we didn’t have time to try them.

After we leave Missouri we’ll be traveling to Arkansas for visit to Hot Springs. We’ve been trying to get there for the last two years. Stay tuned to see if we make it this time!