Colorado At Last (Well Almost)

Yesterday we arrived at Raton Pass Camp, formerly Cedar Rail Campground.  It is located at the top of Raton Pass, about 7 miles north of Raton, NM and about a 1/4 mile from the Colorado border.  We could walk to Colorado from here.

This is a smaller RV Park, but very nice.  Full hookups with 50 amp electric for a base price of $32 per night.  After a couple of discounts (Good Sam and cash/check) we paid $27.32.  The sites are on a nicely graveled upper level with views to die for.  The laundry is clean and only $1.25 for a wash and $1.25 for a dry.  They also have a huge book and DVD movie exchange.

It is so nice to see pine trees again.  There are also some patches of grass.  Sammy and Annie are going crazy eating long blades of grass and finding trees to pee on.  I don’t think they liked the desert any more than we did.

This is the view from our rear window over the kitchen sink.
 

After having to be stingy with the water for a month, it was a luxury to take a shower and let the water run through the whole process.  At our last place we filled up our waste tanks every 10 days and had to hook up and go to the dump station.  It only takes an hour or so, but it seems like such a hassle.  Camp site sewer connections are the best.
 

We have been in the desert southwest since January 10th.  We like not being frozen and not having to trudge through snow up to our kiesters, but we are getting very tired of looking at sand and cacti.  The interior of the camper is covered with a layer of fine sand from all the wind storms we have been through.  We are finally in an area where there is soil and pine trees; not a cactus in sight.  This is good.
 

We ended up here because all the State Parks in New Mexico and Colorado were booked up for Memorial Day weekend.  In the short time we have been here we have met 3 wonderful couples.  Bill and Marlene are from Riverside, California.  They spend a lot of time traveling in their 1995 Hitchhiker II.  Bill is close to eighty and still going.  I learned he has had A-Fib since he was 65 and has adjusted his life very well to the medication regimen.  Dan and Denise are from Littleton, CO and are very familiar with our next destination, Chatfield State Park.  They have two great dogs that travel with them in their motorhome.  Mike and Laurie are from Laguna Beach, California and have been full timing since December and having a great time.  It was fun listening to their adventures past and planned.  They may be in the area when we are camp hosting in Oregon and will come by to say hi if they are.  You can meet the most wonderful people in a little RV Park in New Mexico.
 

Tuesday we will travel to Chatfield State Park in Littleton, CO, a suburb of Denver.  We are really excited about visiting with old neighbors and friends.