When we began looking at travel trailers back in 2014, some friends of ours (the Hagalas from Tacoma, Washington) said that if we bought a trailer, they would meet us half-way at Mount Rushmore for a joint summer vacation. To make a long story short, we bought our travel trailer and spent a week with them exploring the Black Hills of South Dakota. We had so much fun, we decided to make that a biennial tradition.
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| At Mount Rushmore (2 years ago) with the Hagalas |
Two years have passed since our epic journey to South Dakota and the Colorado Rockies. As the time approached for our next joint summer vacation, we decided to meet "half-way" at the Grand Canyon. However, plans changed earlier this year when the Hagala's daughter announced her engagement and upcoming wedding. Understandably, they needed to save money for the wedding and wouldn't be able to make the trip. Although our vacation wouldn't be the same without the Hagalas, we decided to go ahead with our plans and head west.
I have always wanted to see the Grand Canyon, but have never gotten the opportunity. My family actually took a vacation to the Grand Canyon when I was in High School - but the summer they went was the same summer I was accepted into the
South Carolina Governor's School of the Arts, so they went without me. Finally, I was going to see and experience one of the
seven natural wonders of the world!
Hauling a travel trailer across the country can be quite exhausting. So, for long trips, I like to break the driving up into shorter hauls no longer than 6-7 hours. For our journey out to Arizona, I decided to break the trip into 4 days with 3 stops: Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.
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| Our Wild West Adventure travel plan |
In this blog post, I will document our journey west. Haley recorded a daily vlog of our adventures. I'll add links to her vlogs for those of you who are interested.
Day 1
On Saturday morning June 18th, after packing the last few things into the trailer and saying a prayer over our trip, we headed off on our two week adventure. Our first destination was the
Little Rock North / Jct. I-40 KOA, just outside of Little Rock, Arkansas.
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| After several uneventful hours of driving and fuel stops, we finally arrived at the Little Rock KOA, set up camp, and got ready for dinner. |
The North Little Rock KOA is an older campground (established in 1978), but the facilities are nice and well kept. The pool is clean and the Kamp store has an ice cream parlor. The campground boasts free cable and wi-fi (which worked fine), but the free wi-fi is limited to 2 devices. Any additional device connections are $1 per day.
Day 2
After a bit of a late start, we filled up the truck with gas and continued west. Within a couple of hours, we crossed the Oklahoma border and entered the Cherokee Nation. For the rest of the day, we passed through numerous reservations and saw signs for Indian Casinos and trading posts. On the other side of Oklahoma City, we met up with historic Route 66 - finally arriving at the
Elk City / Clinton KOA around 7:00 PM.
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| After getting the trailer set up and situated, we headed to the campground's "dining room" for dinner. After dinner, we decided to walk around and explore a little. |
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| At the back of the campground, there is a short trail that takes you to Clinton Lake. We took the trail to the lake and actually watched the sun set. It was beautiful and memorable. |
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| The campground office is literally right on historic Route 66. |
In talking with the owner, I found out that the campground was established back in the 1960s, so this KOA was probably an actual Route 66 campground. It is under new ownership and the new owners have done a lot of maintenance and upgrades in the year since they purchased the campground. While this isn't a "destination" KOA with a lot of features, it is really nice for what it has. The campsites are all paved, with free cable TV and unlimited wi-fi connections. The campground also has a nice pool, store, and restaurant.
Day 3
With a longer drive ahead of us, we got an early start and soon left Oklahoma behind us. Just inside the Texas panhandle, we made a quick stop in Shamrock, Texas. The reason for our quick detour: in the past, the Shamrock McDonald's sold Shamrock Shakes year-round. We wanted to see if Shamrock Shakes were still available.
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| As we pulled into the McDonald's parking area, I noticed a famous Route 66 landmark just down the road. So we temporarily suspended our search for Shamrock Shakes and headed down to the historic Conoco Tower service station and U-Drop-Inn Cafe. This building was the inspiration for Ramone's House of Body Art in the Disney/Pixar town of Radiator Springs. |
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| The service station and cafe are now a Route 66 museum and gift shop. |
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| Vintage gas pump |
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| We dropped in to the U-Drop-Inn Cafe |
After perusing the museum and buying a few souvenirs, we headed back to the McDonald's. To our disappointment, they no longer sell year-round Shamrock Shakes. In fact, the cashier didn't even know what a Shamrock Shake was. Not to be deterred from treats, we went ahead and got shakes (in flavors that were available) and hit the road again.
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| We made a quick stop in Tucumcari, New Mexico for lunch. Tucumcari Mountain (pictured above) is supposedly the inspiration for the mountain in Disney/Pixar's Radiator Springs. Radiator Springs had an "RS" where Tucumcari has a "T." |
Within a few hours, we crossed the Sandia Mountains, descended into the Rio Grande valley, and arrived at our next destination: the
Albuquerque KOA.
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| The Albuquerque KOA is located in a residential area right at the base of the Sandia Mountains. It is a Journey KOA, so the sites are a bit cramped, but it has all the necessities. There really isn't any grass in the campground (which our dog didn't like) and shade trees are few and far between. This particular KOA limits its free wi-fi to 3 connections per reservation. |
After dinner, we unhitched the truck and headed into Albuquerque to grab some Starbucks and go shopping for some needed supplies.
Day 4
The next morning, we hitched up the trailer and headed off on the last day of our journey west. Since Lea's paternal family is from the area, we have been to Albuquerque several times over the years - but this point forward would be unchartered territory for me - and I was excited! We crossed the Rio Grande, climbed the mesa on the far side of Albuquerque, and headed into the great American desert Southwest.
Within a few hours, we crossed Western New Mexico and entered Arizona.
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| The Northern section of Petrified National Park offers scenic views of the Painted Desert. |
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| Also located in the Northern section of the park is the nearly 100 year old Painted Desert Inn. Originally built in 1920, the inn provided a stopping place for tourists on the Santa Fe Railroad and travelers along Route 66. |
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| Adobe-style Painted Desert Inn outbuildings |
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| Overlooking the Painted Desert with Pilot Rock in the background |
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| The Southern section of the park (south of I-40) is where most of the petrified wood can be found. Most of the area is vibrantly colored badlands. These conical-shaped formations are called the Tepees. |
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| This is Agate Bridge. It is a 110-foot long petrified log "bridge" across a small crevice. In the past, visitors used to stand on the log. Now it is undergirded with concrete and walking across the bridge is not allowed. |
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| Petrified logs in the Jasper Forest |
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| Geologists believe, based on the fossils and petrified trees, that this area used to be a lush green prehistoric rainforest. |
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| On our way back to the interstate, we drove through Holbrook, AZ and right past the Wigwam Motel - the inspiration for the Cozy Cone Motel in Radiator Springs. Since I was driving, I didn't snap a picture - so the picture above is "borrowed." |
After Holbrook, came Winslow - and after Winslow was Flagstaff - towns that I have heard about in songs my whole life. As we got closer to Flagstaff and began climbing elevation, the terrain quickly shifted from desert plains to the beautiful
Kaibab National Forest thick with ponderosa pines.
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| Finally, after a long day of driving and sight-seeing, we finally arrived at our ultimate destination: The Circle Pines KOA, just outside of Williams, Arizona. Four days of driving and over 1,500 miles of asphalt - we were here!! |
Haley's vlog - Day 4
I hope you enjoyed our journey west. There is much more to this Wild-west adventure. Stay tuned for more. Next post:
Arizona!
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