Adventure #1: Getting there!

This adventure was our Thanksgiving trip. We were meeting my brother in New Mexico, and it was going to be three days out and three days back with 4 days stationary. Turned out to be a great trip and true adventure!

Stop One: KOA Sallisaw

Our adventure began leaving Arkansas on a early Thursday afternoon. Our daughter had a spelling bee at the end of the day, and we rolled out after that. We made that decision because the total trip was about 1,200 miles one way!

We drove a few hours, and stopped near Ft Smith Arkansas at the KOA in Sallisaw, OK. It was already below freezing and projecting to be in the teens. We had topped off the propane and brought extra tanks for the trip. This was going to be cold.

We arrived right as the office closed and the woman working the desk was out at their propane station helping some campers. She waved enthusiastically at us and asked if we were the Hollands. Once we agreed we were, she let us know that our check in paperwork was in the night box and that if we had any questions, please let her know.

KOA Sallisaw; more than expected!

Now, dear reader, in our adventures, we normally avoid KOAs. They are overpriced, crowded and often not relaxing with the dogs in tow. We are marking this one as a return! Once we got our paperwork, she made sure to make contact with us again. Great customer service! Then, because it was literally only going to be 10 hours, we didn’t hook up, so a trip to the restrooms was in order.

The restrooms were immaculate. There is a large variety of things to do on site, mostly summer oriented. More than one large dog park. A catch and release fishing pond and all of this only about 20 miles from all of the historic things to see in and around Ft Smith and the great eats downtown!

We resumed the adventure the following morning in a flurry of snowflakes right before the sun rose, gave a wistful look around the beautifully kept grounds and hit the road. Flurries and inclement weather stayed with us all of the way to the next stop.

Day two; Amarillo by..evening? Adventures are not always predictable

Our next stop in the adventure placed us on the west side of Amarillo. Still crazy cold and and still weird weather. One minute; snow, next minute; freezing rain, next minute; clear blue skies. It was an ever changing cycle.

We checked into an older RV Park that has recently changed management. I understand from the owners that they are looking to improve and change the reputation. As is always the case, there is defnitely work to be done. However, Walnut RV Park treated us well and was a much needed rest.

Adventures have trials and tribulations, otherwise stay home

We arrived about an hour before sunset. Our adventure took an aggravating turn. Our refrigerator was not functioning and we started seeing some signs of spoilage. Believe me, when the sausage balloons in it’s packaging and looks like it will explode – it is past saving! Troubleshooting 101. Freezer worked. Fuses were all intact. Relays were good. Motor that runs the compressor had power.

I was flustered. We continued setting up and discovered the water lines at the RV Park to be frozen (remember the work to be done?). A quick call to the owners and we were discounted for our stay with their apologies. They were going to get them thawed the following day and thanked us for telling them.

Back to the fridge, sigh. I ‘researched’ the problem (I read the manual, then you guessed it, hit the ole google machine). Turns out there is a [panel I can remove and inspect the coils. Frozen solid and blocking cold air from getting to the fridge. We had our cooler with us for later in the adventure- wait for it, all will be revealed – so we moved all of the food to it and set it outside in the 19 degree weather. Killed power and started letting it defrost.

Get to some grub!

We were given great advice on a place to eat that was literally directly across the street. We hit them up. Fantastic mexican food. A litttle place called “Rooster’s’. We had great apps, handmade. It was jalapeno poppers, literally half of a giant jalapeno with our choice of cheddar cheese or cream cheese, wrapped in bacon and deep fried!

We each chose to indulge our desire for hearty mexican food differently, Ash got a meal of the menu that must have been designed especially for her. It was called the “California Plate” and had no meat and avocado literally everywhere! Ash said it “properly honored the avocado”. We all laughed and said that was the perfect expression for her.

Sierra has some nachos and I got a sampler plate with a LOT of food. Great place. Excellent service, I would put a link in it, but they only have a facebook page. Go out there on your own adventure and fund them. Rooster’s in Vega, TX.

Final leg to the adventure destination!

Wow, the weather did not want to let us go! We had snow and freezing rain most of the way – it made for some beautiful pictures. The trees were burdened with snow between Amarillo TX and Moriarty NM.

We tried getting some pictures, but the camera did not do it justice. The weather was unpredictable so we ate at gas stations, not wanting to stop along the way. We finally stopped in Moriarity to get our fishing licenses. BAM – adventure time!

We stopped to fuel and our credit card did not work at the gas station. The debit card did just fine. Our credit union is a little agressive about protecting its customers and we had been stationary for a while. Ash got on the phone, and sure enough, they had stopped the card. We were informed it was an enhanced security posture between Nov 15 and Christmas. It gets stopped immediately if there’s any chance of fraud.

Well, Ash spent over 30 mionutes going back and forth, proving it was us and was finally reassured that everything would be ok and clear. Phew, bullet dodged, continue down the road!

Adventure getting licenses

We approached the desk to get our licenses, and waited for someone to arrive. We rang the help button, and waited for someone to arrive. Finally an elderly lady came to the desk. She was friendly and willing to help us, but let us know that she did not know how to work the printer. Fun fact, NM requires fishing licenses and stamps to be printed and in your possession – and this adventure required a fishing license.

We got the licenses sorted, online, with much assistance from us and set up to pay for them. Our card was declined. I tried to remain calm, second card was declined. Ash spent another 45 minutes on the phone while I paid with cash to just complete the transaction. It was eventually cleared u[, for real, and we had no further problems with the cards working.

The printer, however, was destined to be a huge problem. The lady was correct when she said she had no idea how to operate it. It was a large box store (rhymes with Mal-Wart), so surely someone could help her… Four employees later, three attempts to print I received not one, not two, but three copies of the licenses.

This is about when the credit union rep said “just go try it now, I think we’re good”. Not encouraging. We went and bought sandwiches, snacks and drinks, inserted the card and held our breaths. The card went through!

Pushing on to the destination

We made a right turn at Albuquerque, both figuratively and literally. We headed north towards Colorado and crossed the Great Divide.

The picture isn’t doing it justice, again. It was extremely neat to see and do. I had been there before, on this same road, but Ash and Sierra had not. We had great weather through Albuquerque and into the mountains. Things were looking up!

This was when we found the clouds and weather again. We were a little concerned that this was going to be a problem over the course of the adventure in New Mexico. We had watched the weather and planned accordingly, but there was no mention of precipitation.

Finally arrived! Destination Adventure!

We finally arrived at our destination. We were going to go salmon snagging and see some close-ish interesting locations while camping at Navajo Lake State Park. Our campsite was absolutely beautiful and the weather cleared about 40 miles before the SP.

To be continued…

We had an amazing time during our adventure getting to Navajo Lake State Park. Adversity makes you stronger and breeds memories. We had a great time ahead of us in the park – stay tuned for what we ended up doing while there!