Tuesday, September 6
As the crew and I leave Kinney Flats on our way to the next camp, we come upon six black steers standing shoulder-to-shoulder across the road in front of us.
“Hey, look, crew! A going-away party!”
I grab my camera only to find that the memory card is in the laptop inside the Best Little Trailer. (I don’t use the camera memory for photos.) The steers turn and plod into the woods.
Goodbye, Kinney Flats! You’ve been a great camp!
We’re on our way to Navajo Lake State Park.
To get there, we take Route 84 south.
We motor out of Colorado and into New Mexico. At the junction with Route 64 we turn west which takes us to Dulce in the Jicarilla Apache Nation. I gas up the Perfect Tow Vehicle at a station up the road from Wild Horse Casino.
Route 64 turns southward again, passing dried-up Dulce Lake. Then it goes west across the sage and rabbit brush, past cliffs of tan rock dotted with cedar trees.
The landscape shows little evidence of human presence, other than the workers repairing the road. A few, broken-down mobile homes, uninhabited, remind me that this is hardscrabble country.
We leave Apache Nation, cross Carson National Forest, and turn northwestward on Route 527. A sign says it’s 17 miles to Sims Mesa Campground where the road dead-ends at Navajo Lake.
After a morning of driving through desert, a glimpse of water boosts my anticipation. Bridget and Reggie perk up, somehow knowing we’ve reached our destination.
They’re eager to see their new home!
First stop is the self-pay station and information board.
A flyer posted next to the list of fees catches my attention.
With a pay envelope in hand, I board the PTV and we drive around the campground loops. I soon discover that the $8 “primitive & lake shore” sites are for tents only.
The $10 developed sites (no hook-ups) have fair separation between sites and are nice enough.
I let out the excited crew and we walk a few sites. The loop is almost half full. I can’t find a site away from a neighbor, which means generator noise is inevitable.
By this time, the sun is glaring and it is hot.
Gee, for $4 extra we could have air conditioning . . . .
I like the campsites in the developed (electric) campground. I find one that gives us a view with no other RVs in it, is reasonably level, and is a short walk from the shower house.
Yes, the shower house! Oh, my!
For $14 a night we get a nice site with shelter, a shower house, trash bins, and drinking water spigot nearby, and air conditioning. The map at the information board showed a dump station which I haven’t located yet. I’ll dump tanks when we leave here.
Oh, and also, no generator noise! This is a good deal!
I back us in. The campsite post says it’s a reservation site, open for one night only.
It being the Tuesday after Labor Day, I’m hopeful we can stay two nights without someone reserving the site out from under us.
After Bridget and Reggie have a chance to snoop around the site, we have lunch. The Best Little Trailer is pleasantly cool inside. I go online, check the blog, and then I join the crew for a nap.
Later, when the sun is low and it’s cooler outside . . . .
“Bridgie? Come here, honey. I have a surprise for you.”
Bridget follows me to the side door of the PTV. I pull out her car.
“Remember this, sweetie?” Obviously she does. Her tail is wagging and her eyes are sparkling and bright!
“In you go!”
The fee envelope is in my pocket. We take a shortcut across a campsite to the self-pay station.
“Aw, sweetheart. You’re welcome. I know you appreciate your car.”
Our check for $14 goes into the iron ranger and we’re off on a stroll-and-ride around the campground.
Reggie zigzags all around (and out of photos), while Bridget enjoys her elevated position.
“Wasn’t that fun?”
Once the crew is comfortable inside the BLT and I’ve replied to a few comments on the blog, I pack up my shower bag.
“I’ll be back in a little while. Be good puppies.”
The shower is wonderfully hot and I hear no crying upon my return to the BLT!
A colorful sunset makes a perfect ending to another day of living my dream . . . .
rvsue
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Boat ramp and marina, Sims Mesa, Navajo Lake, northwestern New Mexico
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