Road Trip #5 – TN, AR, OK, TX, NM, AZ, LA, MS, AL

Posted 3 years ago by Kram

Thirty nights in the cougar. This was a great road trip and Nerak’s first trip out west. We started from NC and our first stop was Pigeon Forge, TN. It didn’t take long to figure out that Pigeon Forge had no workforce. We tried to spend money at several restaurants and were unsuccessful. Empty restaurants with no workers. We ran into the same thing at Dollywood. We felt great that we were able to buy a bottle of water at the theme park. Pigeon Forge was a bust, but on the bright side, Camp Rivers Landing was a very nice RV park. We had a great spot. 

After a couple of days in Pigeon Forge, we continued west down I-40. Our next stop was Natchez Trace State Park, which is very conveniently located off exit 116. This is a great state park with large sites. We stayed for two nights. This was a very relaxing leg of the trip. 

We hooked up the Cougar and setoff for Hot Springs, Arkansas for a visit to the National Park. We stayed at the KOA in Hot Springs, which was very convenient and a short drive to the National Park, which was located in downtown Hot Springs. Hot Springs National Park is a very unique National Park, in both the story and its location in the middle of a town. Our favorite stop was the Superior Bathhouse.

Four nights in Hot Springs was a little much. Probably could have done two nights. But we are retired, so what’s the rush.  

We left Hot Springs and took the Cougar on a back roads jaunt through the Oauchita National Forest heading to Oklahoma. It was quite a scenic drive. Sure beat I-40. Our next stop was Robbers Cave State Park, near Wilburton, OK. This was another fantastic state park with interesting history regarding Jesse James and Belle Starr. We had a nice hike up to the cave with great views of the Oklahoma countryside.

After two nights at Robbers Cave, we headed off for Red Rock Canyon Adventure Park on the western side of Oklahoma City. We stayed one night and continued heading west into the north Texas panhandle. We stayed one night at the Oasis RV Resort in Amarillo, TX, which is probably one of the nicer RV Resorts in the country. It is located within spitting distance of the Cadillac Ranch on old Route 66. There was a lot to see in Amarillo. Logistical error on my part for scheduling just one night.

Our next destination as we continued west was Santa Fe, NM. We stayed at the KOA in Santa Fe for three nights. We had a nice visit to downtown and soaked up all the history. But the highlight of this leg of the trip was a visit to the Bandelier National Monument, which is a short drive north of Santa Fe. New Mexico has some beautiful countryside.

We headed out of Santa Fe and down to Albuquerque where we jumped on I-40 and headed towards Arizona. We will be visiting southern NM when we start heading back east in a couple of weeks. Our next stop was the Holbrook AZ KOA for one night. While in Holbrook, we made a trip to the Petrified Forest National Park and the Painted Desert Visitor Center.

As we continued across Arizona, we made a stop at the corner of Winslow, Arizona. What a fine sight to see. We also stopped at the Meteor Crater National Landmark. That would have been an easy one to drive by, but I am really glad that we stopped (thanks Ken for the recommendation). It is worth the admission. 50,000 years ago, a meteor, estimated to have been 150 feet across, slammed in to the desert and created a hole 550 feet deep and 4000 feet across. I recommend you stop and take a look.

Ding, ding, ding, ding. Nerak’s keen navigational skills have gotten us to Williams Arizona. We spent three nights at the Williams/Circle Pines KOA. This was our jumping off point for exploring the Grand Canyon National Park. The Grand Canyon is about an hour north of Williams. It is something you just have to see.

After a very nice visit to the Grand Canyon, we said good bye to Williams and headed back to Flagstaff, jumped on I-17 and had a downhill trip through Phoenix to Tucson. We stayed two nights at the Tucson Lazydays KOA, and visited the western Saguaro National Park. It was nice and warm in Tucson. We also had our first In-N-Out burger.

We are now starting the trip back east. Our next stop is Alamogordo NM. We stayed at the Alamogordo KOA for 2 nights and visited the White Sands National Park. I believe that is my favorite National Park so far encountered in our travels.

We left Alamogordo and Nerak skillfully guided us across route 82 over to Artesia and down to Carlsbad, NM. Yep, you guessed it two nights at the Carlsbad KOA and a very nice visit to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Having visited Mammoth Caves earlier in the year, it was nice to be able to compare the two. Carlsbad Caverns wins ! It is an amazing lay out for a self-guided walking tour.

That is pretty much it for this road trip. We spent one night at the Abilene, TX KOA, then one night at the Shreveport, LA KOA. We then headed to Mississippi and made a stop in Vicksburg and visited the National Military Park, before stopping for a night at the Meridian, MS KOA. We started heading north through Alabama and stayed for one night at the DeSoto State Park. A really nice park. From there we headed for home to North Carolina.

 

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