Lake Cochiti Corp Campground, New Mexico – March 2018

Lake Cochiti Corp Campground, New Mexico – March 2018

Campgrounds, Traveling
We are just finishing our 14 day stay at Lake Cochiti COE campground in Cochiti, New Mexico.  This park would be listed as one of our top ten parks we have stayed in during our first seven years of full-timing.  We will definitely be back. During our stay we have hiked in Tent Rock, hiked the 5 mile long dam, hiked along the cliffs of the Rio Grande which runs through the park, and hiked many miles on trails in the park. In all we put on 61 miles in those two weeks.  Loved all the hikes we were able to take. The park is between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, 30 miles north to Santa Fe and about 40 miles south to Albuquerque so when we needed supplies or getting…
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Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rock National Monument – Cochiti, New Mexico – March 2018

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rock National Monument – Cochiti, New Mexico – March 2018

Traveling
I haven't posted in awhile but just had to write about Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rock National Monument which is relatively new, opening in January of 2001.  This Park is about six miles from the campground we stayed at, Cochiti Lake Corp of Engineer CG for fourteen days.  We did a little research on Tent Rock and picked a day that we felt the weather was perfect for a good hike.  Very glad we did because even at 65 degrees it got hot as we climbed the trail.  Tent Rock gets its name from the cone-shaped tent rock formations. [gallery columns="4" link="file" ids="5840,5826,5825,5824,5823,5822,5821,5820,5819,5818,5816,5815,5814,5813,5812,5811,5810,5809,5808,5807,5806,5805,5804,5803,5802,5801,5800,5799,5798,5797,5796,5795,5792,5793,5791,5790,5789,5788"] Tent Rock is a relatively small park with only three marked trails which we decided to do two of them.  Our first hike was on Slot Canyon Trail,  a…
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Michigan – 2017

Michigan – 2017

Traveling
After Nashville we were going to meet up with Cassie and her family in WI for the 4th of July and decided to go to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for the two weeks before the 4th.   On our way to the UP we decided to drive along Lake Michigan and stop to visit one of Joe’s fellow Toro friends who retired a few years after Joe and recently bought a summer cabin outside of Traverse City in the beautiful woods of Michigan.  Paul spent a day showing us the sites in this area of Michigan which we had not been to.  We eat lunch at Joe’s Tavern in Empire which was quaint.  We took a walk in Sleeping Bear sand dunes, checked out a lighthouse, and just enjoyed a drive through…
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Nashville, TN – 2017

Nashville, TN – 2017

Traveling
After leaving Ohio in June we drove to Nashville, TN for a four day visit with Joe’s brother Art and his wife Nancy and Joe’s sister Betsy and her husband Tom who drove to Nashville from WI so we could all spend a little time together on the lake.  Art had just bought a new pontoon boat which we all enjoyed taking rides on.  We spent a wonderful afternoon walking through the Grand Old Opry Gaylord Hotel.  If you ever get the opportunity to visit this place it is so much worth the time.  It is a huge facility with shops, a river that runs through it that you can take a boat ride on, restaurants, waterfalls, and beautiful gardens.  It was gorgeous!  We had a wonderful time in Nashville…
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Minnesota and Ohio – Summer 2017

Minnesota and Ohio – Summer 2017

Traveling
Seems like we just got back to Minnesota and we are already making plans for leaving in October.  Time flies when you are having so much fun!  We are so blessed with four beautiful grandkids and have been able to spend time with each of them this summer.  With Cate and Alex because they are getting older we went to movies (I love animated movies), Chuck E Cheese (only grandpa and grandma can take them there – lucky us) and parks and more parks. We enjoyed a day at the Minnesota Zoo with Alex, Amanda and Adalyn.  Cate and her Girl Scout troop hosted a Mother’s Day brunch which grandma was invited to. It made me realize just how grown up Cate is getting.  We had sleepovers with Cate and…
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South Dakota – 2017

South Dakota – 2017

On Our Minds, Traveling
We went to South Dakota to get our driver’s license expecting that both of us would be able to renew them at the same time.  Joe needed his by the end of March and mine was due at the end of September.  The rule of being a resident of South Dakota and getting a SD license is that you must stay overnight at least one night and you must prove you receive your mail in the state.  We decided to stay three nights at the campground of our mail service (worse campground we have ever stayed at). We gather all the paperwork we needed from our mail service and off to the DMV we went on the 28th.  Joe successfully renewed his license but not so fast for me.  I…
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Colorado -2017

Colorado -2017

State Parks
Before we headed to Colorado, we stopped in Amarillo, TX for a few days to catch-up on wash and do a little shopping.  My brother, Wayne and his wife, Lois, stopped for a night on their way back from Arizona to Minnesota.  We had a great visit and probably one of the best burgers we have ever had at a burger joint called Blue Sky in Amarillo.  It is on our list of “would like to return to” places to eat.   It was great seeing my brother and Lois.  We don’t get to see them often. We stopped in Logan, New Mexico at Ute Lake State Park for a seven day stay.  Not much of a park but it was quiet because it was almost empty and we had a…
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Two Questions

Two Questions

On Our Minds
Joe and I are starting our 6th year of full-timing.  It is so hard to believe!  It seems like yesterday we sold our house and moved into our home on wheels.  As we have travelled the country and tell people we meet that we are full-timers we get asked the same questions: how do you like it? how long have we been full-timing? how many states we have visited?  what is our favorite state? how do we get our mail? are we afraid to stay in certain places?   These are asked over and over again but while we were at one of the state parks in Georgia we were asked two questions from two different individuals that we have never been asked and both questions were surprising.  One gave me…
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Texas – 2017

Texas – 2017

State Parks
After coming back from our fabulous trip to MN we headed a little south to Denton, TX to another very nice Corp Park.  This park is about 30 miles north of Dallas and although the park was really nice and we had a nice lake site anytime you left the park we had to deal with horrible road construction.  We were both happy to leave this area after a 10 day stay and get away from the traffic and construction. We stopped at Lake Arrowhead State Park in Wichita Falls, TX for three nights.  Nice quiet park where we enjoyed watching the Prairie Dogs run around.  Caprock Canyon State Park was our next stop for 7 nights.  We picked this park for two reasons; buffalo roam freely through the park…
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Oklahoma City, OK /Minnesota– 2017

Oklahoma City, OK /Minnesota– 2017

Campgrounds
We planned to leave for MN on Jan 14th from Oklahoma City where we had reserved a site for a month at Twin Fountains RV Resort, the same place we left the 5th wheel last year.   Travelling from AL to OKC we made a stop for two nights at a nice Corp Park in Enid, MS, Persimmons Hills, a three night stop in Little Rock, AR at Maumelle COE Park where our site overlooked the Arkansas River (beautiful) and three nights at our favorite state park in OK, Eufaula State Park.  We have stayed in this park three times every time on the same site.  At this time of the year the park is almost completely empty and the site overlooks the lake on two sides.  Love it! Baby Adalyn…
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