Stephen had never been to the Grand Canyon and Joyce and I had not been for...well, let's just say it had been a while. On the way out, we passed through Taos and Santa Fe after struggling across the Texas panhandle. Actually, we did stay at an interesting state park in Texas. We stayed at Caprock Canyon. Unfortunately, it was rainy so we didn't see much and then as we were leaving with the trailer in tow, we couldn't tour the prettier sites because the trailer wasn't permitted.
We spent a night up in the mountains just east of Taos and planned to tour Taos the following day. As we headed toward Taos, the truck's "check engine" light came on. It had happened before shortly after Stephen had bought his trailer. The Ford dealer couldn't really find anything and blamed it on a sensor for the turbos. They changed something and reset the codes - no more problems until now. We looked for a dealer in Taos, but the only Ford dealer had closed recently. We'd have to get it looked at in Santa Fe. In the meantime, we'd tour Taos.
Well, let me tell you, Taos is worse than the Branson strip in July. Stephen did good dragging the trailer around town, but it was not easy and there was no place to park it so we could walk around a bit and there was that pesky "check engine" light. So, after he got his fill of traffic (vehicles and pedestrians), we decided to head on down to Santa Fe. On the way, Stephen made an appointment with the Ford dealer for early the next morning...early as in 7:30 am. I had found a state park on the edge of the city that looked good. It was up on a mountain, waay up on a mountain. As Stephen headed up and we got out of town, he realized he was nearly out of gas. Then the "low fuel" light came on. But, here's the park...wait, we missed the turn. Oh well, he can turn around up the road a ways. But, it was a windy mountain road heading on up to a ski resort 10-15 miles on up...and no place to turn around while dragging a 20 foot plus trailer. Now it's getting serious! But, we found a place, turned around and got back to the campground. It was a nice little spot, but with no vacancies! Back down the mountain we go. But, at least, if we run out of gas, it was downhill and maybe we could coast to a gas station. We made it.
Since the state park was full, we had to find another campground and wound up with a private campground near the Ford dealer. Although it was expensive, it was nice and convenient. The next morning, Stephen drove to the dealer. He left the truck there and they drove him back to the campground. Checkout time was 11:00 am, so I went ahead and booked the next day since it was very unlikely the truck would be ready by 11. Surprisingly, it was ready by 11 or close enough that we could have checked out. Again, they didn't really find anything, just reset the codes. But, we wanted to tour Santa Fe anyway, so the additional day worked out okay.
We still had time that day, so we drove into town. Disappointment again. Santa Fe was not a whole lot better than Taos, lots of traffic and all the historic sites were heavily commercialized. We took a few photos, but never got out of the truck.
We opted to check out nearby Bandelier National Monument up by Los Alamos. It was a good choice - sorta.
Bandelier National Monument is a location where ancient cliff dwellers lived in holes in the rock faces of cliffs. We parked at the visitors center and left Joyce and the dogs in the truck. Stephen and I started the hike up to the dwellings. At over 6,000 feet elevation, I didn't get very far. I turned back and Stephen went on. I did get a few photos, though.
This is where I turned back and Stephen trudges on.
Holes in the wall...The rock here is called "tuff" which, it is not, tough, that is. It was formed from volcanic ash and is relatively soft. Water and wind has carved caves in the tuff. Early residents hollowed out the caves further to make their dwellings. Stephen had a good tour and Joyce and I and the pups had a good rest.
We headed on down to Albuquerque. On the way, the "check engine" light came on again. But, we kept on charging, on to El Morro National Monument south east of Gallup. El Morro is a group of big high rocks where many early travelers left their names and messages scratched in the rock. Water running out of the rock forms a pool that attracted the travelers. Again, Joyce and the pups stayed in the truck and Stephen and I took the walking tour. This time I made it.
My son is learning how use a camera. Keep trying, Stephen, you'll get it yet.
We made it on to Gallup where we stopped at the Ford dealer there and they reset the codes. Stephen said the heck with it and bought an ODBII code reader so he could reset the codes himself instead of having chase down a dealer. At Gallup, we camped at Red Rock Park. It used to be a state park, but the city of Gallup has taken it over. The city wasn't doing a particularly good job, but it was a place sleep. It was a little entertaining, however. The entire campground was one big prairie dog town. The pups were intrigued.
Next stop was the Grand Canyon. We found a new campground at Cameron, Az. that wasn't on my campground list. It worked out well because it was located near the east entrance to the Grand Canyon National Park. We got there early enough to check in, drop the trailer and head into the park. Traffic was minimal so we were able to tour the entire length of the south rim then turn around and head back to the campground just as it was getting dark.
Well, Stephen made it to the Grand Canyon. I think he was duly impressed. So, we did a Clark Griswold then headed back to camp.
Next stop, Four Corners Monument. The monument is a little different than the last time I was there. Well, the four states (Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado) still all join there, but the monument is part of the Navajo Reservation and run by them now. Actually, the huge plaque is great with very good access both physically and photographically. There was a fair sized crowd waiting in line to be able to stand on the spot for a photograph, so Stephen and I (guess who stayed in the truck) opted not to wait it out. Surrounding the plaque was a large circular plaza about 100 feet across. In all four quadrants around the perimeter were vendor booths where the Native Americans peddled their crafts.
From here we headed on up to Mesa Verde National Park. Stephen made one of the tours while Joyce and I snoozed in the truck. We're getting in a lot of snoozing on this trip, it seems.
We stopped at Chimney Rock National Monument in Colorado (not the better known Chimney Rock of Nebraska). We couldn't drive up to see the ruins there with the trailer so all we did was eat lunch and continue on. We passed through the beautiful little town of Pagosa Springs then dropped back down to Santa Fe. We stayed at a large but not so pretty campground there, the Road Runner.
From there we caught I-25 up to Springer, NM where we caught Hwy 56 east through the entire panhandle of Oklahoma. This not a part of our trip I can recommend, but we were NOT going across Texas again. The following photo is one I took of Stephen's GPS as we traveled along the panhandle.
One last camp and then we were back home. It was a fun trip. The company was great and the weather couldn't have been more perfect...except for rain in Texas.
