Category: Fam Camps
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Don’t Sound the Alarm
Thirty miles north of Cheyenne, a low slung building with faded yellow aluminum siding sits alone on a range of scrub land, grazed by cattle for as far as the eye can see. Its distinguishing feature is the 12 foot high security fence boxing it in. The structure is the above-the-ground portion of Quebec 01,…
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Flagstaff Farewell
The phone rang at 9 pm. It was the front desk at the campground. The night attendant explained that we were in the wrong camping spot. We would need to move immediately. We looked outside at the pitch blackness and informed him that whatever space issue we were having could wait until it was light….
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Overland: Envy or Overload?
Often the most rewarding camping experiences over the years have been unplanned and unplugged. Last week Roxie bumped her way down a dirt road at El Malpais, as far as her suspension (and Eric) would allow. If only we knew what was further down that road. Time to switch things up? The pandemic blew up…
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Finding Flow in Flagstaff
If you say you’re going to Arizona, 9 out of 10 people gush, telling you that you HAVE to go to Sedona. It’s the darling of the state with a reputation for spiritual enrichment of the body and soul. We’re skipping it this time and heading up in elevation in search of enlightenment. When we…
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Lucky Break?
Construction delay signs and Walnut Canyon National Monument signs appeared at the same time en route from Petrified Forest to Flagstaff. Since we have the National Park Pass ($80 for unlimited access to every installation in the NPS) and Google was estimating a two hour delay due to an LA-sized back-up on I-40, we took…
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It’s the Flux Capacitor, Marty
How do you make camping in Elephant Butte, watching bad TV and lamenting a stopover in the town of Truth or Consequences worse? Here’s an idea. Have parts in your roof top air conditioner explode. It will delight your senses with a loud bang similar to a gunshot and a foul smell of burning electrical…
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Party like a Thunderbird
Birthday 2022 is 55/60 for Sheri and Eric and 75 for the United States Air Force. Unlike us, they seem excited about getting older, throwing themselves a blowout on the ramp this weekend with some serious American Airpower on display. It’s hard to believe the Air Force is 75, considering Army, Navy and Marines are…
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Alamolocal
In the eight days we’ve been hanging out in Alamogordo, NM, we’ve been more active in this town than we’d been in the past 8 months in our Florida hometown. Why is that? Does the house have to be less than 200 square feet to force us out and about? We drove a freshly washed,…
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Fan Camp
The young man with the automatic weapon stated more than asked, “Do you consent to a full inspection of the vehicle and all of its compartments?” Sounded okay to us as two security personnel poked their way through our camping gear in the bed of the truck. If you spent a large portion of your…
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Blowing in the Wind
Once you set an itinerary, book reservations and start moving, it’s hard to mentally deviate from the plan. In the one week we’ve been gone we pressed 1500 miles west, pulling 10,000 pounds through half a dozen under-construction beltways, plus Final Four mania, 10 pounds of fried food and sport fishing in gale force winds….