Albuquerque to Cortez Colorado

Scenic Vistas!  We loved the drive from Albuquerque to Cortez, Colorado and Mesa Verde.

We left Kirtland AFB, on to Bernalillo NM, Cuba, Farmington, Shiprock and into Cortez.  It was a bright and sunny spectacular  day.

It was one great view after another.

One of those, "I can't take it all in" driving days.

To top it off, we landed at an excellent campground.  We loved our time at the Cortez/Mesa Verde KOA.  We read up on the reviews at rvparkreviews.com and then it is a roll of the dice sometimes.

This time it was a great choice.  Even though it was pricey at $44/night, it was worth every penny.

Our campsite has one of those beautiful views across the canyon.  The sites are well thought out and each have a picnic table and a campfire ring.  The sites are level and the whole campground is covered in gravel that works well.  There are no potholes or ruts.

 The campground itself is updated as if it is brand new.  It is one of the most well maintained facilities we have ever seen.  These folks do it right!  People at the front desk are friendly and the camp store is well stocked with reasonable prices.  The laundry room is full of washers and dryers that are almost new.

The flowers and grass lawns around the campground are well groomed.  The facility also has a couple of large teepees for rent with single beds inside.  There are cabins to rent like any KOA and the pool is clean I took advantage of it each day.  This place is one that I highly recommend.  It doesn't get much better than this.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Friends Along the Way

We left JEB Little Creek MWR Campground about about 9:25 AM.  It was like starting out as 'Newbies'.  Sort of.

"Let's see, when I hook up the car, I need three cables or is it four?"

After we got rolling, it all came back to me and I felt pretty comfortable in about 15 minutes.  Once we got onto I-264, it was like old times.  Man, I love driving this thing!  Such a smooth ride, big front window, etc etc.

About 90 minutes into our trip, we got a text from longtime friends Winnie and Bub who now live in the Raleigh area.  They asked if we could meet them somewhere along I-85.  We estimated we'd be at Exit 150 about 1:00 PM.

Pam found a Flying J using our copy of the EXIT book

Then we settled in for the trip and enjoyed the drive.  The Roadrunner was just breezing along.  After a couple of hours Pam wanted to drive so we stopped and made a quick change of drivers.

I served up a snack which was cheese and Ritz crackers.  About noon, we rolled into a Rest Stop and I took over again.  We contacted our friends and pulled into the Travel J about 1:05 PM.

They made about a 45 minute drive over to see us for a few minutes which was very nice of them.

We got a bite to eat and I got to use my new selfie  stick which was fun..

Then it was back on the road to a commercial campground about 8 miles off the Interstate.  High Rock Marina and Campground.

After we got our site and set up, we hooked up the cable and it took a while to change things to get the cable TV.  The owners manual was helpful.  It was not intuitive as we thought it should be.  After that I got some firewood and got that going while Pam watched a little MLB.

Pam fixed dinner and we ate outside near the campfire.  Later we waited for the NCAA Championship Tournament Finals to come on.  Pam lasted until halftime and I stayed up to watch the whole thing.  Excited game and I wish both could have won.

That was our day back on the road.  Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Friends, Beach, Golf, Grilling, Campfires = Great Time in Myrtle Beach

The four days we spent with Kirk and Susan and Paul and Bobbi in Myrtle Beach were great ones.  It was a very good location, the weather was nice and we all had fun.  Kirk and Susan stayed with us in the Roadrunner and Paul and Bobbi were in a camp site across the street.  It couldn't have worked out better.

Kirk is a walker and we've spent some time together over the years getting in some good walks.  We had some more early morning jaunts, this time along the beach.  We were hoping for a red-ball of fire type of sunrise this was the best shot I got. 

We were hoping for some coffee down on the fishing pier but couldn't find any so after about 45 minutes we headed back to the campground and made some and got some breakfast.  Pam and Susan were up by then and we got ready and took off for the golf course.

Myrtle Beach has 40+ golf courses and we picked Wicked Sticks (a John Daly Signature course).  

It turned out to be a good choice.  The course was well maintained a run and we didn't have anyone breathing down our neck.  Our starter was very thorough on procedures on the course, location of yardages and we started off well.

The ladies tee boxes were 50-60 yards in front of the men's which made it a lot more fun for everyone.

We all hit some good shots, made a few putts and had a very good time.

After golf, Pam went to the store to pick up a few items while I took our friends from Oklahoma out to the beach.  It was warm enough for Kirk to eventually jump in.

The low 80 degree weather was just right for some time soaking up some sun.

We had Paul and Bobbi over for dinner and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

We topped off the evening with a very pleasant evening around the campfire.

Like I said, it was a very good time and couldn't have gone any better.  Great memories together.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

San Luis Obispo - Our Campground

We found another one that is a little off the beaten path.  But it is still close enough we don't feel like we are out in the hinterlands.

We are at Camp San Luis Obispo which is between the town by that name and Morro Bay.  We have never been here and relied on the reviews on U.S.MilitaryCampgrounds.us.

The base in one of the old National Guard bases in California.  Our first impression as we drove on base was -- there are a lot of old, really old, like WWII buildings on this post.

Post NCO Club

But it seemed clean and well maintained and we saw no evidence of broken down, empty buildings or trash or debris.

Our arrival and registration went without a hitch so-to-speak.  The lady at the office was friendly and helpful and we drove over to the campground and found our site.  No problem, no issues.

After a while, we noticed just how well the post IS cared for…it is really really cleaned up and maintained.  It is a mix of old and new buildings and all are tidy.  There is only a few places on post that have grass but it is still a nice place.

One of those places is the campground.  We are very impressed with the campground.  All the sites are level.  All are pull through sites and all have a concrete patio.  And all have individual grass on the campsites, and a fire ring!  The picnic tables at each site are a little old but we can see a couple new ones so it looks as if they are getting those replaced little by little.  And we have plenty of space between sites.

To top it off, in the middle of the week, we had the place almost to ourselves.  Since this is a Guard Base, I imagine it would be more full if the government had not shut down.  After that happened, 900 soldiers who were due to be here now, had their orders cancelled.  That was according to the manager in the PX.

The internet and cell phone service works fine.  And I got to engage in one of my favorite evening events:  a campfire!

So far, on two occasions, I have enjoyed the cool evening beside the campfire.

Pam would be out there too, but the MLB playoffs are on, so that was a no-brainer. I had some company with a glass of Merlot and continued reading Grapes of Wrath.  Every so often, she opened the window and called out the scores.  Ahh--the best of both worlds!

For $23/night it is a real find!  We expect our time in California to be more costly for campgrounds and will be glad if we can average $35.  We will see.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...

Wednesday on the Lake

It was a little cloudy when we started but when Tiffany picked us up at the boat dock, the clouds began to leave.  It turned out to be a great day at Sandy Beach on Talon Lake.

Before long it was time for lunch.  Jeff brought some firewood for a hot dog roast.

Some of us brought tuna and crackers and yogurt.

For some reason I didn't get any pictures of the knee boarding and jet ski action...

Later Jeff took some kids out to the middle of the lake so they could dive off the pontoon boat.  After 3 or 4 hours at the beach, we went back to the Roadrunner while everyone else went back to the cabins.  We got a lift over to their docks for dinner and a great evening on the edge of the water.

We talked for a couple of hours and watched the sun go down.

It was another beautiful day on the lake!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  And thanks for your many comments!  We love them!