Trip Cut Short and Beeline for Home - Sunday, July 5, 2020

Well, that was rude. We had six days left on our one-month vacation, but that came to a screeching halt today. Storm clouds have been brewing on the horizon, so to speak, because of coronavirus. Here is a brief recap of what transpired. (Longer blogs will recount more of our trip.)

While it's true that a couple of campgrounds canceled our reservations (Curt Gowdy State Park in Wyoming and Cochiti Lake Corps of Engineers Park in New Mexico), we were able to make reservations at private parks and complete most of our plans. 

The Black Hills of South Dakota was wonderful. The town of Custer was open and welcoming. (We wore masks.) The trails were open and places of business were happy to have us spend our tourist dollars. Crazy Horse National Monument was open for business and we were happy to go there as well. 

Custer Skywalk Nature Trail
Observation Deck.

Devils Tower National Monument was open for hiking (Visitor Center was closed, though) and we stayed at the KOA at the park entrance. That was a delightful experience.

Devils Tower Red Beds Trail.

We continued into Montana where the state capital was open and Bob, my friend Diane, and I were able to take a self-guided tour. The next day, we went on the Gates of the Mountains Boat Tour which was beautiful and informative.

Helena, Montana capital with Diane.

Diane on Gates of the Mountains Boat Tour.

Then we traveled to Wyoming. As I said above, Curt Gowdy State Park canceled our reservations and told us Wyoming State Parks were only for Wyoming residents in the 2020 season. We made new reservations at private parks. When we got to Wyoming, reader boards on the freeway announced that Wyoming State Parks were open, but you had to have reservations. Grr! No way were we going to stay with them now!

From there, we went to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and did a self-guided tour of the newly renovated capital. We also went to Vedauwoo and did the Turtle Rock Trail. No problems.

Turtle Rock Trail at Vedauwoo. 

Bob in front of Cheyenne, WY, capital.

We spent one night in Lathrop State Park in Colorado where we hiked the three-mile loop trail around the lake. Masks were required in the Visitor Center, and we wore them. 

Lathrop State Park, Colorado.

Next stop, Santa Fe, New Mexico. We arrived on July 1. 

Here's where we encountered more caution on the part of the state. I can't say I blame them, but it got ridiculous today, July 5. We met my brother and his wife at a private RV park in Santa Fe and stayed four nights. By day, we walked all over Santa Fe (with masks on because they were required and you could be fined $100 if you did not have them on). We played pinochle every night. We did not turn on the TV or hear news during our stay.

Bob, Frank, and Gina (and me)
played pinochle after Los Alamos.

Our plans included going to Los Alamos to see the Bradbury Museum and the Los Alamos History Museum, Bandelier National Monument, Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, and a few museums in Santa Fe. All of those places were closed, except Bandelier (but the trails we wanted to hike at Bandelier were closed for refurbishment). We did take a scenic drive up to Los Alamos and did a short walking tour around the city.

This morning, Frank made a pancake, egg, and bacon breakfast for us on his outside grill. Oh my goodness, that was so good. We enjoyed spending time with Frank and Gina, but we had to say our goodbyes. They will leave Santa Fe tomorrow and plan to spend a couple of nights in Albuquerque with Jeremy (my nephew). Their plans had included Monument Valley and Moab, but they found out today that the Navajo Nation is on lockdown and they won't be able to go to Monument Valley. They, too, are cutting their trip short and will hightail it back to Washington state after they visit Jeremy and their grandkids.

Today, we left as planned for Las Cruces where we had reservations for two nights. On the way out of Santa Fe, we saw a reader board on the side of the road. It said New Mexico was enforcing a mandatory 14-day quarantine. I immediately looked up information on this quarantine. What I read online said that if you were in New Mexico, you were subject to a 14-day quarantine stay. If you stayed even one night in a motel or RV park, you had to stay 14 days. Say what?

We decided to cancel our reservations in Las Cruces and get out of New Mexico ASAP. The manager at the Las Cruces RV park said the way she understood it was we did not have to stay 14 days, but we did have to wear masks and social distance. We told her we made up our minds to just pass through and to cancel our reservations. It seems people in New Mexico are very confused about this new mandate. We certainly are!

Frank & Gina's "girls,"
Pepper and Hannah.

Pepper & Hannah asking
for "pupcakes" (pancakes).

New Mexico scenery.

New Mexico.

Rio Salado Sand Dunes
Rest Area.

Rio Salado Sand Dunes.

We are out of New Mexico!!

And into Texas. Yay!

We are now in Texas on our way home. We will arrive in San Antonio, Monday instead of Saturday. Tonight, we are in Ft. Stockton, Texas. The lightning show was awesome around 9:30 p.m., but we only had a little bit of rain.

East Texas scenery.

Fort Stockton's "Head East" sculpture.

We will be happy to be home.