Nuevo Mexico

We bailed out. Skedaddled. Vamoosed.
Through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Oklahoma. The heat and humidity were bad, but even worse were the ticks.
A relatively mild winter combined with a wet spring brings out the friggin’ bloodsuckers en masse. I was pulling off a half dozen ticks from Freddy and myself every day on our dash across the midwest. Yuck.
Now don’t get me wrong. Flyover country does have some positives, one being that they are at the forefront in the technology race.
True.
At one campground I discovered they offered a nifty way to make a phone call from inside your own vehicle. Crazy, huh? Check it out.

You simply park next to the phone, stretch out your arm, grab the handset and make a call. Hopefully you don’t drop any quarters…
Anyway, we decided to take a break in New Mexico and let the dry air heal our tick bites.
New Mexico offers an annual state park camping pass for $225 for non residents, about the cost of a week at a California state park.
Just over the Oklahoma border is Clayton Lake.

Freddy approved.

The park offers both standard and electric sites. We liked site 6 in Cove Loop for the former and site 7 in North Point for the latter.

We only stayed one night, but that was plenty of time to whip up a batch of tasty burritos using locally produced salsa and tortillas. The beef might have been local as well for all I know.

Having them ready to just heat up greatly reduces cleanup time after each meal.

From there we bounded northwest to Sugarite Canyon near Raton and the Colorado border.

There are two campgrounds here, Lake Alice and Soda Pocket.

Lake Alice offers electrical hookups but is near the road. Site 3 is a typical example.

Soda Pocket is up a two mile well graded dirt road.

We stayed in site 1, my favorite.

Plenty of room to toss a tennis ball for Freddy.
Currently there is no water here but it is available at Lake Alice. Several hiking trails leave the campground towards Lake Maloya which stradles the NM/CO border.

100 miles southwest near the town of Las Vegas is Storrie Lake.

That is Las Vegas New Mexico for the geographically challenged.
There are plenty of sites like number 12 that offer a shade shelter, some with electricity.

But if you get lucky, like we did, you can nab one of four spots in the Gallinas River loop.

They offer three sided stone shelters and a full bathroom with showers along with electricity. We are still here, charging up batteries before heading out tomorrow.

New Mexico charges very reasonable daily rates for it’s campgrounds.

$10 for a standard site, $14 for power, $18 for power and sewer. Subtract $10 if you have an annual pass.

Then there are primitive sites for $8. Usually an open area and a short walk to the poopers.

Freddy pointed out how popular these were over Father’s Day weekend.

You can literally put your wheels in the water.

The folks on the far left did just that.
So far we are enjoying our stay in New Mexico before heading back to California. But Freddy also pointed out that there is some discrimination.

He found this sign at Sugarite Canyon. I took a closer look.

“What about it,” I asked.
“Well, remember when I was a wild burro earlier this year?”
“Yes.”
“And remember the bear and long legged cats we saw yesterday?”
They were deer but he knows that. Just likes to think they are cats when he chases them. Practicing for when he meets my sister’s pair.
“Yes.”
“Well how come they are all allowed past this point? Why pick on the horses and mules?. That is just not right.”
I had no answer for him. Sometimes you just can’t argue with puppy logic.

Regards,
Greg (and me, Freddy!)

Disgruntled Deer and Brazen Bovine

The dog and I have started heading west. Freddy insists on being called a dog now that he has had his first birthday. I said I am fine with that and offered the remainder of his puppy biscuits to a young coon hound camped next to us. Freddy quickly mentioned that he will always be a puppy at heart and if I know what is good for me I best not give away his scooby snacks. So I didn’t and my toes are safe…for now.
We stopped at a regional campground near the western border of Virginia called Natural Chimneys.

Yes, those are jousting poles. The park is close to several annual renaissance fairs and you can practice your jousting skills on the track next to the campground.
The campsites themselves were a big letdown.

Just a pair of big fields with no privacy.

The river offered up small trout to a couple of boys fishing.

And then there were the namesake chimneys.

If you look closely at the sketch below, drawn in 1871, you can see two ladies, one in the hole.

Figuring that meant it was ok, Freddy and I went inside to check it out. Then a ranger stopped by.
“You can’t be in there”.
“There isn’t any sign”, I said
“See that fence? That is as close as you can go”.
“I thought that fence was to keep the jousting horses out. And those other people went inside”, I replied.
“What other people?”
“The ones in that sketch over there”, I said.
He mumbled something about that being 145 years ago and made us get out.
So we walked around a bit more.

And then Freddy dragged me back in.

And then we left.
West Virginia comprises a big chunk of the Appalachian Mountains. We crossed over several of those on the way to our next campground. Nestled in the valleys between the hills (I say hills because the highest pass we crested was 3500 feet) are several locations that were scenes of fighting during the civil war.
Like German Valley.

We stayed at a wonderful campground in the north-central part of the state.

The 67 sites include a handful with electric hookups and about a dozen right on the Middle Fork River, such as numbers 4, 6, 19, 22, and 29. Costs range from $20 to $26.

Freddy liked site 29 because it had a high water beach.

We were there in the first week of May with the river flow still high from all the rains. Come summer, the river calms down and is extremely popular for swimming and tubing.

We stayed in site 21, an electric spot next to the bathroom and store.

They offer laundry facilities in the bathhouse so I put a load in. Apparently I was the first to do so since the campground opened in mid-april because my clothes came out, umm, muddy. Yeah.
Near the day use area, below the bridge, is a swimming spot.

Sandy in the summer. Freddy showed off his ballerina pose.

There are several trails to explore.

A wonderful campground, but it does have some animal issues. Turns out the local deer were having parties and then heading into the nearby town of Buckhannon to whoop it up with cows of questionable morals. Residents even called the police.

Park Rangers addressed the issue by banning the deer parties.

I was told that things have quieted down, but they are bringing in additional rangers for the summer to make sure campers are not bothered by the wildlife’s wild life.
Regards,
Greg (and me, Freddy!)