Camping outside of Madrid, NM

Saturday was our last day in Chama and we needed to do laundry so off to town we went. Most of the town businesses were closed because there was a High School graduation party and I think we were the only ones not invited.

We were lucky enough to find the laundry and it was open for business.

The boring part of the trip, Laundry!

Waiting for the Dryer to finish the clothes.

Before leaving Chama, I found a shop that Sold Fudge.

Leaving Chama, we traveled route 14 so we would pass through the town of Madrid , NM. We had stopped here on one of our trips about five years ago. The town gave us the feeling of being in the twilight zone, so we just had to go there again. If you happened to see the movie "Wild Hogs", then you will know that the movie was shot in Madrid.

When we got to the town, it was so congested that we were unable to find a place to park the motorhome, or even a car. We really wanted to stop so we searched for the closest campground and that is where we are now. We will return to Madrid tomorrow to spend the day looking for the unusual.

Passing through Madrid

Prairie Dogs are on both sides of the road coming into the campground.
Joyce saw these Buddhist Monks go by us and she went looking for her prayer flags but realized that she left them at home.

Now in Chama, NM.

We drove all day yesterday and we are now in Chama New Mexico at a state park just out side of town. We drove through some really depressed areas on the Navajo reservation, it seemed like every yard had at least four junk cars, and various other items of scrap.
We also stopped at Four Corners monument which is run by the Navajos. They collect a $3.00 per person fee as you enter. The place is really nothing more than a big flee market for the indians but Joyce was looking for some hand made trinkets so this was the ideal place to go.
Below, joyce has spread herself between four states.

Well, Joyce just made a big breakfast, our first of the trip so we will blow off lunch today. We have no plans for the day other than doing laundry and planning the next leg of our trip.

Goosenecks State Park

I heard about this Park on the internet and figured that since we were in the area, we'd stop for a night. We are parked on the edge of the canyon with no fence or rail so we have to watch out that Mac doesn't fall in.
We have a beautiful view of the river below and off in the distance we can see Monument Valley.
This is the view from our window as we were eating dinner.

The rain passed us in the background and we didn't get any but it did make for a nice picture.

Our campsite for $0.00

The road that we took to get here (Rt 161) turned to dirt and warned of a 10% down grade plus tight switchbacks. We stopped at the top and took a couple of pic's plus thought about trying this while having lunch.

Hairpin curve

Here, we just completed the trip down and this was the sign that is posted at both ends of this road.

More off-roading in Moab

This is our last day in Moab so we just had to do another trail that will take us to two arches called Gemini Bridges.. You must be getting tired of seeing mountains and desert but we love it. There are so many wild flowers in bloom in the desert and some have a very strong sweet smell.
As for the off-roading in Moab, that must be the national pastime here because all you see are Jeeps, home made buggies, ATV's and motorcycles.
There are trails to suit everyone's level of off-roading, from the family car trails to the extreme 4-wheel challenges like Lions Back.

A shot of some of the flowers along the trail.

Just coming around the corner.

Looking down on our way to the top.

Joyce and I on top of Gemini Bridges

Looking down from where we were standing.
Another shot of the arch

Along the road heading back.
We stopped and had lunch.
A section of the road.