DAY 12, March 14: Santa Rosa, New Mexico

  
We will not be exploring any area in New Mexico. We already did this in a past trip. Santa Rosa will just be an overnight stay on our way to Texas.

We had a horrible drive into New Mexico. When we woke up this morning there was a light dusting of snow on the Ford and the picnic tables in the RV Park. This was a bad sign to what the weather was going to be like for the day. From Holbrook, AZ we continued on Highway 40 (Historic Route 66). We found driving this highway and pulling a trailer in bad weather can be very dangerous. All of the truckers with their big rigs drive this highway and they drive fast and reckless, in all kinds of weather. We have been ‘blown’ to the shoulder of the highway many times while driving Highway 40; by the truckers and the wind. It often brings back memories of that time during our first cross country trip when our trailer tipped over. So I am often holding my breath.

The weather just got worse as we drove on. First it was raining and then light snow, then a blizzard with the snow blowing sideways. Now the snow was sticking to the asphalt and turning into slush. Traffic was stopped several times. You could see a line of traffic, (all big rigs) stopped on both sides of the highway due to the weather and a few wrecks. We started looking for RV parks along the highway. We were going to stop overnight and wait out this storm.

  

Finally we came over this crest and found two small trucks had slid sideways and as we tried to move into the other lane, a big rig came zipping by blocking our way (he didn’t even slow down!!). We managed to slow down and stay in control and avoided a disaster (we already had our disaster for this trip). As we continued over this crest we came out from under that storm cloud and it stopped snowing and raining. In fact everything was dry and there was no snow anywhere. WEIRD?! After 9 hours of driving and 352 miles later, we safely arrived at in Santa Rosa, New Mexico.

  
SANTA ROSA CAMPGOUND: This campground is rough looking and barren with a few short trees and no grass. The interior roads and sites are dirt and gravel. It has the look of a former KOA. There are 70 sites, mostly pull- ins. There is an area for tents. The office has a store and gift shop with a Bar-b-que restaurant in back. The campground is nicely laid out with level sites. One side looks out into the desert. There are some walking trails in this desert area. There is a nice pet area. The staff is very friendly and accommodating. We got full hook-ups with cable TV (with 30 channels), and free WiFi (with easy log on and a strong signal). The campground is next to the highway so there is some traffic noise and but not enough to disturb sleeping. We could hear train horns, so there is a railway nearby. The bathrooms are old, but clean and the shower stalls are private with lots of hot water, but so so pressure. We rated this RV park a 3 (out of 5)

Our next destination is Amarillo, Texas!