- Itinerary
Start - Cortez KOA
Stop - Albuquerque Central KOA
Distance - 264 miles
Time - 5 hours
Route - Cortez to Durango, Durango south on Hwy 550 to Benalillo, Benalillo south on I-25 to Albuquerque
Stop - Albuquerque Central KOA
Distance - 264 miles
Time - 5 hours
Route - Cortez to Durango, Durango south on Hwy 550 to Benalillo, Benalillo south on I-25 to Albuquerque
- Summary of the Day
We had been in Cortez on our first RV trip when we visited Mesa Verde. The KOA campground was right on the edge of town with easy access and almost deserted. The view from the KOA was fantastic.
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We started the day with shopping at Wal-Mart for resupply. Also I got my haircut as I was tired of waking up with 'camping hair' that was a bit reminiscent of Doc from Back to the Future.
After being told by two different people (one at the KOA and another at the haircut place inside the Wal-Mart) that we should head east to Durango then south to Albuquerque, we followed their directions. Durango has a ton of outdoor activities from river rafting to a cool zipline that takes you across the forest. Seems like a great town to visit. But we wanted to get into Albuquerque before dark so we drove right on through. But if you find yourself in SW Colorado it seems like a great town to add to your itinerary.
Coming out of the mountains of SW Colorado you eventually drop down into flat, desert New Mexico.
For a long long long while Land of Enchantment means "Sleep Spell". Almost no towns except a couple of tiny one house towns along the way. The first sign of modern civilization is the outskirts of a suburb named Benalillo, which has every necessity you might need after hundreds of miles of desert. And that was almost in Albuquerque itself.
We had hoped to get to see one of Albuquerque's top attractions, the Sandia Peak Tramway, the world's longest aerial tram ride to the top of over 10,000 feet! But we arrived during its annual two-week maintenance closure, our bad luck. Argh! The mountain dominates the Albuquerque area. This is what we had been looking forward to but didn't get to see:
Missing that - we decided to stop for dinner and a movie, just before the I-25 and I-40 meet (a good central crossroads of the city). Dinner at nice restaurant next to massive 24 screen movie theater, the Cinemark Century Rio 24 Plex and XD. The restaraunt was a nice brewpub called Chama River Brewing Company. I had a delicious Kobe meatloaf and a good sample of their local brewpub beers (knowing I was going to be in a movie after dinner). The kids has the usual chicken fingers and fries and chocolate milk of course.
After dinner, PezMiner and I went to see a movie - The Croods, while Momma went to see The Host, a movie based on a book. Our movie was great - a 4.5 out 5. Momma was disappointed in the adaptation.
We then loaded up and made it to the nearby KOA - Albuquerque Central KOA. The campground was quite large for a semi-urban location - and despite its close location to the Interstate we slept well and without noticing the traffic at all.
.jpg)
.jpg)
We started the day with shopping at Wal-Mart for resupply. Also I got my haircut as I was tired of waking up with 'camping hair' that was a bit reminiscent of Doc from Back to the Future.
After being told by two different people (one at the KOA and another at the haircut place inside the Wal-Mart) that we should head east to Durango then south to Albuquerque, we followed their directions. Durango has a ton of outdoor activities from river rafting to a cool zipline that takes you across the forest. Seems like a great town to visit. But we wanted to get into Albuquerque before dark so we drove right on through. But if you find yourself in SW Colorado it seems like a great town to add to your itinerary.
Coming out of the mountains of SW Colorado you eventually drop down into flat, desert New Mexico.
For a long long long while Land of Enchantment means "Sleep Spell". Almost no towns except a couple of tiny one house towns along the way. The first sign of modern civilization is the outskirts of a suburb named Benalillo, which has every necessity you might need after hundreds of miles of desert. And that was almost in Albuquerque itself.
We had hoped to get to see one of Albuquerque's top attractions, the Sandia Peak Tramway, the world's longest aerial tram ride to the top of over 10,000 feet! But we arrived during its annual two-week maintenance closure, our bad luck. Argh! The mountain dominates the Albuquerque area. This is what we had been looking forward to but didn't get to see:
Missing that - we decided to stop for dinner and a movie, just before the I-25 and I-40 meet (a good central crossroads of the city). Dinner at nice restaurant next to massive 24 screen movie theater, the Cinemark Century Rio 24 Plex and XD. The restaraunt was a nice brewpub called Chama River Brewing Company. I had a delicious Kobe meatloaf and a good sample of their local brewpub beers (knowing I was going to be in a movie after dinner). The kids has the usual chicken fingers and fries and chocolate milk of course.
After dinner, PezMiner and I went to see a movie - The Croods, while Momma went to see The Host, a movie based on a book. Our movie was great - a 4.5 out 5. Momma was disappointed in the adaptation.
We then loaded up and made it to the nearby KOA - Albuquerque Central KOA. The campground was quite large for a semi-urban location - and despite its close location to the Interstate we slept well and without noticing the traffic at all.
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