Murphypalooza Day 15: God bless the USA RV Park

After camping for about a week now, we've quickly learned a thing or two about finding a campground. One of the lessons is that it's all about marketing. In general, campground = nature and RV park = parking lot. We much prefer nature.

So we were happy when we found a campground in Santa Fe that offered shade and hiking trails, yet still provided hookups and showers. In reality, the shade was from some very old, very short scrubby, thin trees and the hiking trails (and everything else for that matter) was dirt. It was so hot and so dry, the place seemed like one giant dust storm. There was a thin layer of dirt on everything we owned while we were there. And there was simply no place for the boys to play except in the dirt. They loved it, but it got in their eyes, toenails, diaper, water bottles. It was hard to make clean food there and after two days, we were done. So we cut our Northern New Mexico time a little short and packed up this morning.

While we were packing, the boys caught beetles and made a house for them out of rocks. Xavier only squished one or two bugs in the process. And all the boys got another wipe down before we got in the car.

Then Mo won the husband of the year award when he insisted that I visit the Georgia O'Keefe museum. I love her abstract watercolors and really was thrilled to see her work up close (It makes such a difference to see the brush strokes and water marks up close, no?). An hour of peace in a cool, clean museum also wasn't too terrible. A stroll through the shops of Santa Fe (I just love the palette here as well as the earthy, imperfect, colorful crafts) and drive thru burrito later, and we were off again.

The road west passed through some beautiful, untouched wilderness. The hills are huge and jagged and the colors vary from red to white to black and tan. Just like the Grand Canyon, photos of these landscapes just don't do it justice.

We stopped at the Continental Divide, a concept that fascinated one six-year-old.

They sold push-up pops there, which fascinated one four-year-old.

Then we arrived at our intended camping destination, Red Rock Park in Navaho Territory. Despite the best research, sometimes you just need to try before you buy.

The red rocks surrounding the campground were stunning, huge cliffs. The campground, however, was little more than another dirt pile in sad, strange reservation land. And it was empty, closed to visitors for unexplained reasons.

We did a U turn and hit the trail again when I remembered the first place we saw online but quickly dismissed for it's parking lot-esque feel: USA RV Park. With the trail running dry and no place left to camp, we psyched ourselves up for the experience.

First surprise, active duty camps for free. Second surprise, our campsite is gravel NOT dirt with a real tree next to it. Third surprise, they host a nightly BBQ so we didn't have to cook in 100+ heat or go out to another restaurant. Fourth surprise, the shaded picnic tables are next to a huge pool and playscape, surrounded by fake grass NOT dirt.

The boys made a friend at the pool who they played big chess with for about an hour while Mo and I sat in the shade, eating BBQ. A storm rolled through bringing little rain but lots of clouds and a cooler breeze. We were comfortable, hanging out together and clean.

God bless the USA RV Park.