need camp info for trip
 

Hello friends
We have been making reservations and plans for our trip this spring(2014). We have Nevada and Utah worked out but I have no knowledge of NM and TX sites to see and where to camp.
We will be entering NM in the NW corner at Mesa Verde. Will be traveling down to San Antonio and have some days to fill in with the better sites.
My friend from TX, and life long resident(except for Kuwait and Iraq) doesn't know much about the sites to see and things to do for the TX part of the trip.
I know several of our members are W TX residents and would like others also to chime in with their recommendations for where to visit.
We have 3-6 days for this part of the trip and am wishing to fill in the gaps.
Any and all will be considered.
This is all part of our 2-3 month, 12-13 state, cruise.
The hi-lo was not allowed to register in a local Dallas RV park due to its 1985 age. So, we will spend our money where we are welcome!

The hi-lo is all prep'd and we begin our journey on April 1. My old T-100(220k miles) is asking when it is time to go. Dogs and wife are primed.
Lets do this up right.

steve

Steve, you sorry dog you!
 

You aren't looking for anywhere to visit, you just wanted to rub this trip in our noses, not to mention that it is in only 6 weeks! Is your unit big enough for three? (Mama doesn't get out of school until the end of May so I could go with you myself!) I'll cook and drive.....
On a more serious note, we have been in that part of the country many times, but not much comes to mind about things "not to miss." After crossing into Texas at El Paso we took 90 south to Del Rio and spent a couple days there. A very nice city and had a good time, but again it is just a small border city and other than the lake nothing spectacular to see.
I know the locals are going to give me hell for this, but everyone we have ever traveled to Texas with has raved about "Taco Cabana." This is a fast food Mexican restaurant, with a beer license. 24 hours a day the huevos rancheros is available, fajitas all the time, and a cold beer at 8:00 in the morning if you're in the mood. If you are into beef, and who isn't, visit Miller's BBQ for EVERYTHING on the menu. Remember, you will be in hill country and they are famous for beef brisket. If you have the time drive out to "The Smoke Shack." One of the top ten in hill country. I went a little long, but we all hope you have a great time! And give the Dallas camp area the finger for all of us.

If you are traveling close to I-10 in NM, Silver City and City of Rocks are a couple of places that are not too far off the beaten path. There are several campgrounds in Silver City, including a KOA. I like this one: Official web site and home page for Rose Valley RV Ranch, the newest and best RV facility in Grant County. If you are coming down I-25, Albuquerque is nice. Great zoo and aquarium. You can ride the Rail Runner train to Santa Fe for about $7 R/T. Farther down South is Elephant Butte, Truth or Consequences and Hatch, home of the world famous green chilies (Pepper Pot and Sparky's BBQ is a must to eat at.) There are some hot springs in T or C and around City of Rocks. Then Las Cruces. You have to hit Old Mesilla there and eat at La Poste, which was an old stagecoach stop. Then you hit El Paso, home of Rosa's Cantina, which is on the Westside of town. This is the first RV park you'll hit coming in on I-10: Mission RV Park at El Paso, Texas, United States - Passport America Discount Camping Club . There are a few more around town as you hit the Eastside. Next is Van Horn, where I-10 to San Antone and I-20 to Dallas split. Highway 90 splits off there as well and will take you to Valentine, home of the Prada Store artwork, Valentine, TX - Prada Store then Marfa, home of the Marfa Lights, and Alpine, home of Sul Ross State University and Railroad Blues, a nice hole in the wall where you'll catch some top notched bands playing, Ft. Davis has a nice campground https://www.nps.gov/foda/index.htm, and one of my favorite reasons to go that way, McDonald Observatory https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/. 90 continues on to Presidio and Del Rio (Lake Amistad) Amistad National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service). But if you continue down I-10, there isn't much until you hit San Antone. https://chowhound.chow.com/topics/92564 Hope that helped out a bit. travel safe!

In truth, I like BLM dispersed camping the best. However we will be staying in many st. campgrounds, and national parks on this trip.
I don't do city camping unless visiting friends. I found a very nice dept of interior lake with camping spots available, and very reasonable. Accepts National parks senior pass for 25% off. Water & elec for $20/night. Near Denton Tx and only 15 miles from my son's home.

Will do with the one finger salute!

Sounds like you enjoy eating, as do I. Will definitely do the BBQ and Mex food.
Plus I am pretty good cook!

We just dwnld the allstays app for rv and camping. It had the best reviews of any of the camping apps available, and many tutorials.
Wife is playing with it as I type. She is my navigator, I can only hope.

We have never done a long trip together. Plus 2 mini Dachshunds. Wish us luck.

This trip has a lot of time to turn any different direction. It is all good. I am spending my son's inheritance;)
This trip will be the first time since 1975 that I won't be taking a hang glider on top of my truck. It just seems wrong!

Not trying to rub any ones nose in it. but ,,,,,,neener neener. We are newly retired and it's time to move it or lose it!

a little forgiveness
 

Steve, in spite of the "rub your nose in it" if you get anywhere near Memphis do give us a shout and spend the night. We also are newly retired and would love to just sit and have a cold one and shoot the bull. We'll be in Alaska from May20th until July 10th, but not many plans other than that.

Are you going into Mesa Verde? We were there in late March early April and the road to Cliff Palace was closed. We hiked into the viewpoint and it was beautiful but I had made an offhand remark that angered the ancient spirits and we got hit with a sudden hard snow storm. Gorgeous magical but 9000 ft I think so cold in the spring.

Later in the Utah part we are going to do some camping in Valley of the gods on BLM land. Then on to MV, then south
Wasn't aware that Mesa Verde was that high.
Will be just passing thru to points farther south.

I have spent many nights in a snowed on tent so this can't be that bad. If it gets bad, I'll just wait it out.

OK.
We are within days of leaving on our trip.
Trlr has been gone over and ready.
TV has its maintenance done and ready.

Reservations have been made up to June 15th and in the Yellowstone area.

Thanks to all for the travel info. We decided on using ALLSTAYS to accompany us through the camping search. And it has been an asset.

I will try to occasionally post during our travels, with some pics. I am doing a personal travel journal showing where and what was encountered.

I am anticipating that some fun will happen, and an amazing adventure will unfold before our every step.

Wish us luck....

steve and vicki, and 2 mini dachshunds(gigi and daizy)

Steve, the only thing I know is we seem to be missing pictures of the two dachshunds. Send 'em on when you update us along the way. And don't let anything stand in your way of having the trip of a lifetime!

Rolff - the Mesa Verde campground is 5900'. I don't think anyplace on the Mesa is above 7000. BUT, if you visit that part of Colorado that early in the spring, a snowstorm is not unexpected.

I slipped and slid into Colorado Springs during a snowstorm in late May one year (back in the late 60s). Colorado has late (and early) snowfalls some times.

- Jack

Jack
Cliff Palace road is at the top at 7000 ft. I was relying on memory - I should have looked it up. When I said we were caught in a snowstorm when the road was closed I should have clarified - We asked if we could go to the viewpoint without a car and they said sure. So we walked around the gate and walked to the view point. It started snowing when we were 2 miles in.

Ah, good old memory! (What was it we were talking about here?) :o

I hope you didn't think I was being too "know it all". Mesa Verde just happens to be a favorite destination of mine - I think I've been there six times and I knew it wasn't too high there. But, I don't think I've ever been there that early in the year.

- Jack

I couldn't hurt for you to look into driving a little of the San Juan Skyway. Fabulous scenery and many little places to stop, shop and drop.....actually eat rather than drop.

Texas (possible) places I would suggest
 

Ft. Davis, TX (McDonald Observatory and the old Calvary fort)

Garner State Park in Concan, TX right there on the Frio River. See Lost Maples State Park nearby

Groene Hall in Groene, TX. Go to Shlitterbahn while here

Luckenbach, TX-go to Alamo Springs restaurant/see the bat tunnel (awesome flight), visit Fredericksburg and be sure and have some peaches while there

San Antonio-visit ALL the missions on the mission trail and finish with the Alamo and the Riverwalk.

These are just a FEW of the places I would recommend. I also know all the good places to eat near any of these. Let me know if I can help.

Well, we are 3 weeks into the trip.
Snow storms chased us out of Utah after 12 days.
have made it to San Angelo Tx. The lake is empty, but they still charge for facility use at twice the price of the NM parks.
to SA tomorrow.
Trlr and TV doing well and no issues.
so Utah has some 14% grades that were fun But doable for my old 6 cyl.
2+ months to go and many sites left unseen.
have used the heater nearly every night. but we have moved on to lower elevations and now look forward to AC use!

hope all are well

Now go out and do some camping!!

to SA tomorrow.

Would that be Southern Alabama? If so, the locals refer to that as LA.

Jack have you been to Hovenweep too? It was great but I don't know itf there is camping nearby.
It is a very spiritual place. You can feel the spirits of the people who lived there.
Not too high is relative. To our friends not from the west. I wanted to make sure they knew the huge temp difference if they stayed in Cortez and make the same mistake we did. We had a great steak dinner in a old fashioned steak place in Cortez.

I have not been to Hovenweep, or to Chaco Canyon. Both are places I'd like to visit sometime. We WERE going to go to Chaco with an archeologist "tour guide" once, but that fell though when the trip time changed to one that conflicted with another trip we were on.

Another cliff dwelling place I like a lot is the Gila Cliff Dwellings (a National Monument) in New Mexico. It's up in the Gila Wilderness and two forks of the Gila river flow there year around. There are some hot springs in the river too, that are interesting. It's a fairly small ruin, but it is in good shape. Some great hiking there too. It's about 60 miles North of Silver City - a pretty, and slow, drive through the mountains.

I know what you mean about elevation being "relative". I lived in the Eastern US for several years at various times of my life. I kind of chuckle at what they call "mountains".

- Jack

Rolff, was that the Shiloh Steak House in Cortez, by any chance? We ate there while visiting the nearby national park.....great food!

Jack,
I would love to go to Chaco Canyon. A guide would be excellent. Hovenweep was a dirt road detour on the way from Blanding Ut to Cortez Co and well worth the diversion. The dwellings are in a a gorge in the middle of a relatively flat plain. We spent about 4 hours there on our way to MV.
NoTanLines,
That sounds like the name. It was something like $10 for a T-bone, baked potato and salad. Years ago. I hope it's still there, so much better than those chain restaurants.

Hovenweep.
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