Campgrounds | FabGrandma

USA RV Park in Gallup, New Mexico

April 26, 2011 By Fab Grandma 1 Comment

: The driveway to USA RV Park in Gallup, New Mexico

Just to show you that I am not whining and complaining all the time, I have to tell you about USA RV Park iin Gallup, New Mexico. We stayed there the next night after the nightmare that was Santa Rosa, and I have to tell you, it is one of the best RV parks we have stayed in in the more than 11 years of living full time in an RV. We noticed when we entered the park that it was lovely, clean, well kept. The driveway was attractive and made the whole place appealing as soon as you enter the property.

: The office and store were immaculate!

When we walked inside the office/store, we were greeted by the people behind the counter. The owner registered us, and gave us a discount for Fabgrandpa being a veteran. That was another first, because in all the years we have RV’ed, not one park has given us a discount for military service! After we paid, and were shown where our site was on the map, the owner handed us his business card with his home phone number on it. He told us if we had any problems during the night to call him personally. We both felt that was his way of telling us that we wouldn’t have any problems, and we didn’t. Everything worked like it was supposed to, all night.

: Our site was flat and level

The whole park was clean and looked so nice. It was hard to believe the price was only $31 and change after the veteran’s discount was applied. The roads were paved, and sites were graveled, so even though the wind was still blowing, there was no dust, and that made it very nice for us. The site was long enough for our truck and trailer without unhooking. We were very very satisfied with our stay at USA RV Park. I didn’t personally visit their bathrooms, but FabGrandpa did, and he said they were sparkling clean.

: Parked by the propane tanks

The next morning before we left, we had to fill up with propane. The service was quick, and even at the price of $3.25 per gallon made filling up a pleasure. I would say if you are on your way along I-40 in Gallup, and need an RV site for the night, USA RV Park is your place.

Filed Under: Campgrounds, General, NewMexico Tagged With: campground review, Life on the road, rv travel

Scenic Sunday

November 28, 2009 By Fab Grandma 8 Comments

This “road less traveled” is in the east side campground at Payne Lake Campground in Greensboro, Alabama.

For more Scenic Sunday photos:

Filed Under: Campgrounds, Scenic Sunday

Wichita Falls RV Park in Wichita Falls, Texas

October 28, 2009 By Fab Grandma 7 Comments

At least we waited til after the sun came up to leave Tucumcari. We saw lots of windmills and wind turbines in New Mexico. The old fashioned windmills pump water for the many cows and other agricultural uses:

And the modern wind turbines produce electricity. If you click the photo below to enlarge it you may be able to see the turbines on the ridge across this field. I counted at least 60 of them over there. They are HUGE! A sign we saw says that each one produces 1.5 megawatts of electricity. I don’t know exactly how much that is but it must be a lot.

Ok, so I looked it up for us all to know. From this website: Oregon Power Solutions:

“…How many homes can one megawatt of wind energy supply?
An average U.S. household uses about 10,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity each year. A one-megawatt wind turbine can generate between 2.4 million and 4 million kWh annually, depending on the average wind speed at the site. Therefore, a single one-megawatt wind turbine generates enough electricity to power 240 to 400 households….”

So, if there were 60 of those things, they could produce enough electricity for up to 24,000 homes. Wow!

The turbines were out in the fields, so a farmer could still use the land to ranch or grow cotton or peanuts, and also receive lease payments for a power company to put those wind turbines on their property. That is a good use of resources in my opinion.

Another thing that was amazing to me is that there was so many ranches and farms, and you could see at a glance what these people do to make a living. They grow cotton, peanuts, sorghum, and corn. We saw a peanut processing plant, cotton gins, feed lots, feed and seed silos, farm implement sales lots. I guess I lived in cities for so long I either never knew or forgot about all the agricultural occupations that existed. See how beautiful that cotton field is?

We saw flocks of geese flying south for the winter. That is also amazing to me how those birds know when the cold weather is coming, and take flight before the first snow.

We DIDN’T see any rattlesnakes, but this sign had me looking for them. This was at a rest area east of Amarillo on Hwy 287.

We stopped for the night at Wichita Falls RV Park in Wichita Falls, Texas. The guy who works in the office there can not give directions. We called him twice, and he failed to give correct directions both times. If you are going south on Hwy 287, take exit 1-A, get all the way over to the right, turn right at the first light, and stay on that road until you see the sign for the RV park. That guy had us running all over Wichita Falls pulling that trailer. It is hard to turn around when you have a 34′ trailer behind you, ya know? They weren’t making any dinner for us, either, so I made some potato salad.

And this was a little interesting: a collection of fire hydrants, each one painted a different color, at the RV park. Hmmmm……

We made about 410 miles today–not bad. Tomorrow, we head for Shreveport.

Filed Under: Campgrounds, Life on the road, NewMexico, Texas

Black Bart’s Steak House, Saloon, and RV Park

August 16, 2009 By Fab Grandma 9 Comments

We escaped the North Rim today and headed down to Flagstaff for a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday. We decided to make it a mini vacation, and treat ourselves to a dinner out. We asked at the front desk of the motel for the name of a good steak house, and they referred us to Black Bart’s. We haven’t been eating much beef in the last few years, but occasionally we do like a good steak. And boy, I have to tell you, if you want a good steak in Flagstaff, Black Bart’s is the place to go!

From the outside, it doesn’t look like much. It is at the rear of an RV park, which by the way, has some nice, level sites, and can accommodate long rigs. We were wondering if we were in the right place, because it didn’t look like your every day steak house. But, we went inside anyway and took a seat in the corner of the dining room.

The cover of the menu says it is a Steakhouse, Saloon, & Musical Revue. It didn’t take long to figure out they meant what they said, as the wait staff doubles as entertainment. Our waitress, Rae, said they all attend Northern Arizona University there in Flagstaff, and have to audition for their jobs at Black Bart’s. She is pursuing a minor in music while she sings and waits tables to earn her keep.

A first look at the menu let us know it is a high dollar place, but what the heck, we were out on the town for the first time in months. FabGrandpa ordered the 24 oz Porterhouse, while I opted for the 12 oz prime rib. We started out with a tossed salad and some potato skins. When my salad came, I realized immediately that I forgot to say “no crouton, please” when I ordered, but Rae was very pleasant and brought me a new one quickly. And OMG, those potato skins were delish! They were soft, and had just the right amount of cheese and real bacon on them, along with some green stuff that was probably chilies, and mmmm, mmmmm, mmmm.

The dining room is decorated in an old west motif, and has trophy animal heads hanging on the walls. Wooden tables have no tablecloths, which is fine because I would have just made a mess of it. The place was pretty crowded for a Sunday night.

The kids did a great job of singing a variety of broadway tunes, some of which I recognized, and some I didn’t. I especially enjoyed “Be Our Guest” and “All That Jazz.”

When dinner was served, Rae brought out a pan of sourdough biscuits with cinnamon honey butter. My mouth was watering from the smell of them, but of course I was not able to eat them, because they were made with the enemy, wheat! FabGrandpa said they were heavenly, and the honey butter divine!

My prime rib was perfectly pink, just the way I asked for it, and barely needed a knife. The horseradish sauce could have had a bit more heat, the au jous was just right. Looking at the picutre makes me hungry all over again.

FabGrandpa’s porterhouse was almost as big as his plate. He said it was delicious. His came with fries, which I tasted and wished I had ordered them instead of my baked potato. He said whoever the cook was has cooked a steak or two in his day, because his was perfect.

These portions were way too big–we wound up getting a “to go” box. It is the first time since I have known my husband that he has asked for one. He said he couldn’t eat it all, and it would be a crime to leave any of it behind. The leftovers will make a good breakfast for two days!

Our bill was not too bad, considering that we ordered an appetizer, we each received huge portions, and there was fabulous entertainment all throughout the meal. Rae was very attentive, and made sure we had everything we needed and wanted.

(me and Rae at Black Bart’s)

Filed Under: Campgrounds, Life on the road

Cactus Ranch Trailer Court

April 3, 2009 By Fab Grandma 8 Comments

As soon as we got back from vacation, we hooked up the trailer and moved about 80 miles east to Morristown, Arizona. We had been looking at campgrounds in the area for a couple of months, and we liked the looks of this one. The fact that it only costs $185 per month and they only charge 11 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity made it that much more appealing. The tiny little office is cute, but no one is ever in there. The manager and his wife live in a mobile home in the back, and transact business there.

Our site is pretty flat, and has a nice concrete pad. There are no trees, but there are not many trees here at all. There is a large tree-like yucca plant in between our site and the one next door.

There are lots of native plants nicely landscaped around the park including saguaros and other cactii that I don’t know the names of. There is actually a Cactus Nursery right next door to the campground that has seven acres of different species of cactus. Some of them are quite unusual.

These small cacti are in bloom all over the park. The flowers are about three inches in diameter, and there are lots of them.

Here is a picture of the yucca–those things get pretty big out here.

And as usual, the desert sunsets are gorgeous!

Filed Under: Arizona, Campgrounds, Life on the road

Leaving Phoenix

December 29, 2008 By Fab Grandma 5 Comments

So we said goodbye to Phoenix and all her traffic, and hit the road on our way to Salome. Yeah, bye bye, traffic. Bye bye, road construction. Bye bye, airport landing pattern. Bye bye, motorcycle repair school and all those crotch rocket riding fools. We’re headed for the desert.

I have had enough of the congestion, road work, noise, and airplanes flying so low overhead I could read the letters on their landing gear.

Our little Bluebird Of Happiness rides with us everywhere we go. I don’t remember how ong we’ve had him, but he lives up there on the visor most of the time. Although sometimes he shows up on the rearview mirror, or inside the trailer. He is most happy when we are driving down the road.

There was interesting scenery today. This mountain was on one side of the road.

Highway 60 out of Wickenburg was very straight and flat.

This is what the desert looks like across the road from the RV park. I think it is quite beautiful in its own way. I’m sure not everyone thinks so, but I like it.

And at the end of the day, the sky was absolutely gorgeous. This is looking east from our campsite. Not exotic, but nice. Quiet. And they told us not to drink the water when we checked in. Oh, well, can’t have everything, I guess.