Navajo Lake State Park New Mexico

View from our site at Navajo Lake

We left Cottonwood Arizona on Monday morning and drove to Gallup, NM. We knew we would need to break up our drive to Navajo Lake so decided to do a Walmart stop. We don’t do those very often but sometimes it just makes sense. We went in and did some grocery shopping, I got my hair cut and then there was an Applebee’s close enough to walk to. A noisy night but all in all an ok stop.

Our sites sits at the top of the hill overlooking the lake.

Tuesday morning we took off and arrived at Navajo Lake State Park to spend a week camping with friends we met last year in Tucson. The site we reserved was a pull over that is just barely big enough. Char was already there, and with her and I helping we were able to get the rig where we needed it. The spot is tight but the view makes it worth it. This park does not have the big open spaces we have experienced at the other NM state parks but it is a beautiful lake. There are lots of houseboats on this lake and you can tell it is a big fishing lake too.

Char and Bill spend a lot of time at this lake as they live close by in Farmington. They also have an Excel 5th wheel and in fact it is the same year and model as ours, a 2010-RSO. Bill is still working for a while but Char is already retired. They are on the way to becoming full timers for a while and then extended part timers. We have had a lot of fun getting to know each other better and checking out the similarities and differences in our rigs. I think we are most amazed at the differences since they are the same year and model.

We haven’t really done much except enjoy the park, workout and lots of visiting. I keep meaning to get a photo and then we get talking and I forget but I will definitely get one before we leave. Bill and Char have traveled a lot in this area and Colorado so we picked their brains on what we should do from here. After lots of discussion we decided to go up and camp in Bayfield for a 4-6 days next week and then go on to Colorado Springs and Garden of the Gods. I have a close friend there so hopefully I will get to see her too. Bill just came across this area with their rig so was able to give us a great overview of Wolf Creek Pass and the rest of our trip. I did reserve a week at Garden of the Gods when I found out that until April 30th their winter rates are still in affect and the price is much better, just $165 a week vs $245 or more starting May 1st. Our week is April 23-30, just sneaking it in.

The rest of our time here will be dictated by the weather. A system is coming in starting tonight that could bring in some rain and maybe even some snow. This park is at over 6000 ft elevation, so if it gets cold enough we could see some of the white stuff. We have a few ideas for things to do but it may be a time to just hang out in the rig; time will tell. The good thing is, it should warm up starting Monday and Tuesday so any snow shouldn’t last long. This is a more unsettled time of the year so we are trying to build in some flex time to get where we are going. Mother nature has her own agenda most of the time and we will be doing some mountain driving so we will play all our moves by ear, always watching the weather. 

Happy Trails.............................