From Heron Lake to Colorado

Last week we spent six lovely, lakeside nights at Heron Lake State Park. Well, it was almost lakeside. The lake water level is at an all time low, so our site was quite far from the actual shore. Despite the lack of water, it’s still a very pretty lake.

Still pretty even with so much missing water

It was one of those weeks when we didn’t leave the campground at all. One day we drove down to the end of the lake to check out the dam, and a few times we went over to the electric and water loop to use the showers, but other than that this narrow site tucked between the trees was where we spent the week.

Our site at Brushy Point Campground

Heron Lake is a big park with eight different campgrounds, plus some areas for dispersed camping. We planned to check out the dispersed camping, but when we arrived and discovered that it was all the way at the end of the lake, past the dam, and around the bottom on the other side, we changed our minds. It’s a good thing because when we finally did drive down there at the end of week we found a very weak cell signal. Instead we ended up at one of the campgrounds with all dry sites. After driving through the first two campgrounds, which offered electric & water hook-ups, and finding them thoroughly uninspiring, we moved on to Brushy Point where half the sites are reservation only, half are first-come, first-serve, and none have hook-ups. We ignored the sign that said “No Vehicles Over 24-feet”, and with a little advice from the most friendly camp hosts ever, found ourselves a very nice spot. I think the sign was referring more to the tight turns and narrow roads than the sites, because just in the non-reservation loop alone there were probably 5-6 sites that we could have fit into. The hosts were amazed as they watched Tim back into our site perfectly on the first try. Skinny roads and tight turns are no match for my husband’s masterful backing up skills. I’m convinced that if he had a super power it would be the ability to back a trailer into a narrow campsite with giant trees on either side, an awkwardly placed fire pit, and an audience critiquing his every move. My hero :)

Livin’ it up at Heron Lake

For most of the week it was just us and the camp hosts, which made for a very pleasant week. We had near perfect weather, with so little wind that for the first time in a practically forever we left our awning out all week. We even both got in a few hours of working outside, which means the weather really was perfect, because we almost never do that. The only sour point came near the end of the week when a fifth wheel showed up and decided to run their very loud (you know the kind they use at construction sites?) generator 3 x a day for several hours at a time. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if you need so much electricity that you must run your generator for such an excessive amount of time, please do the rest of us a favor and pick a site with an electric hook-up!  We walked past their site one day and the racket was so ridiculously loud that I commented to Tim, “I don’t know how they can even stand to hear themselves.” Well, the answer was that they were inside with all the windows closed. I don’t get it. Luckily they were several sites away from us, so the noise at our site was only a dull roar. Despite this minor annoyance, we had a wonderful week that we somehow managed to make both productive and relaxing at the same time.

Lake view, The Chama River, The Brazos Cliffs, Tumbleweed invasion, Last sunset in NM

When the weekend rolled around it was our intention to head west for a week long stay at Navajo State Park. On the way we planned to stop in Chama for a look at the famous Cumbres & Toltec Railroad. Except none of that happened because we changed our minds and ended up heading straight to Colorado for some extra time in Durango. Many things factored into this decision, but in the end what really cinched it was the lack of a grocery store between Heron and Navajo Lakes. We often joke that even in our tiny house we carry around enough dried and frozen food to make it though several months without having to re-stock, but that’s only if we want to forgo fresh veggies & fruits. By Saturday morning we were down to a half a head of lettuce, 2 peaches, and some limes. Not enough to make a whole week of meals out of. So it was goodbye New Mexico, hello Colorado for us.

Colorful Colorado!

The truth is that the choice to head into Colorado early was about way more than just food. After an amazing four months in New Mexico I think we were both ready to move on. Even in the higher elevations things had been heating up in NM, and we were excited to seek out some cooler temps, bigger mountains, and greener forests. This is part of the reason why it’s hard to imagine living in just one place ever again. Because no matter how much we love where we are, after awhile we get the itch to leave it behind. Of course, that itch is even greater when we already know how incredible our next destination will be. Last summer we spent a glorious two and half months in Colorado, and this year as soon as we crossed the state border I was reminded how much I love for this special state. If you’ve never been here than it’s a little hard to explain, but for those who have traveled around Colorado you know what I am talking about. There’s this feeling of overwhelming awe, joy and amazement that washes over me as we drive through a lush green valley with a river rushing beside us, and towering snow capped mountains all around that I have yet to discover in any other state.

Green!

After a very pleasant 2.5 hour drive, followed by an even longer stretch of running around town doing errands, we arrived at one our favorite boondocking spots about 20 minutes west of Durango. I don’t have any photos of our spot to share yet, but we plan to stay here for a full two weeks, so they’ll be plenty of time to show you around in the coming weeks.

Here is the updated New Mexico State Park Fee spreadsheet. We ended up spending a total of 54 nights in NM state parks with an average cost of $5.80/night. Without the pass our average cost would have been  $11.07/night. Still an incredible deal. For a quick refresher from when I first introduced this chart way back in March, here’s how the pass works. New Mexico offers a non-resident state park camping pass for $225/year ($125 for residents). This pass gives you $10 off the per night fee at all state parks. Most of the parks offer dry campings sites for $10/night, or primitive sites for $8/night. These sites are free with the pass. An electric and water site is $14, or $4 with the pass, and a full hook-up site is $18, or $8 with the pass. There is also a ridiculously high $12 per night online reservation fee for which you receive no discount. Thankfully, all the parks keep about half of their sites available on a first-come, first-serve basis, so unless you really, really want a particular site there’s no need to make a reservation. The pass will pay for itself after 23 nights, so if you’re planning to spend longer than that at New Mexico state parks over the course of one year it’s worth it. The pass ended up saving us $285! We have yet to come across another state that offers a deal even close to this. Thanks New Mexico! We’ll be back.