Category Archives: Camping

Animals, Camping, Museums/Events, My Family

Little Bit turns 5!

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We love celebrating birthdays in the RV!

After cake and a few presents we packed up the RV and went to the Albuquerque Zoo! With our local zoo pass we were able to get 50% off our admission! It was kind of funny how much they enjoyed looking at the armadillo since we have them where we live. After the zoo we tried to get to the dispersed camping spot I had found in Cibola National Forest.

The first spot was a complete fail, I have no clue how you would get to the site since it was basically rock climbing.

The second spot was not easy either. Apparently they are more for ATV’s and not really made with our set up in mind.

The spot itself was nice but the road to get to it was really bad.

We ended up damaging our black tank so even though I liked the site I wish I had not pushed for us to camp there.

Free was not so free when you factor in a new black tank…

It still ended up being a beautiful evening though!

Rving is such a fun way to celebrate birthdays!

What is your favorite way to celebrate birthdays?

Camping, Hiking, Museums/Events, National Forest

Los Alamos and Santa Fe~New Mexico

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While staying at Cochiti Lake Campground we spent one day in Santa Fe area and another around Los Alamos.

First stop was Pecos National Historic Park.

There are old Pueblos and a Mission.

I love walking through and seeing history.

This little one could not work up the nerve to go into the Kiva.

It is hardest being the smallest sometimes.

Such a great stop!

The next stop was the Santa Fe Children’s Museum!

We have a local children’s museum pass that is affiliated with some associations that helped us a lot on our trip!

We were able to get in for 50% off at the Santa Fe Children’s Museum!

I have learned to add children’s museums and other fun stops on our trips or I have a revolt.

Apparently not all of my kids think hiking and learning about history is as fun as I do.

The next day we headed to the Los Alamos area and the Bandelier National Monument!

I thought this stop would be a little closer to our campsite but the main road in was closed so we had to go back through Santa Fe to get there.

The four oldest and I had fun checking out these ancient homes.

My husband stayed in the vehicle with our youngest and the dog since dog’s are not allowed.

The main loop is pretty easy, you don’t even have to go up to the cliff dwellings so it can be as easier or harder based on what you want to see.

Next stop was the Valles Caldera!

There was not much to do there for us but it was beautiful!

And the kids loved watching the prairie dogs!

Next we drove into Los Alamos and stopped at the Los Alamos Nature Center.

The nature center was really well done and the kids really liked it.

The trails were not amazing after all the hiking we had been doing but it was a good chance to get the dog out before heading to a museum.

The Bradbury Science Museum is a free look into the Los Alamos National Laboratory and had a LOT of hands on exhibits!

It does talk about the Atomic Bomb and has World War 2 exhibits so if you have one sensitive to that, keep that in mind.

They had a really easy scavenger hunt that was a huge hit with the girls!

My second oldest did the harder one and he had to work for it!

Ha!

Camping, Hiking

Tent Rocks and Lake Cochiti ~New Mexico

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I have wanted to go to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument since watching this Less Junk More Journey video. We also took their advice and stayed at Cochiti Lake Campground (An Army Corps Campground).
We went right after setting up our site since it was so close to our campground. We decided to not do the whole hike that day but planned on coming back to go to the top.
Only the main hike was open when we went but it was a very interesting hike. This was our turnaround spot for that day. They are redoing a lot of the campground so that the showers and bathrooms are really nice in some areas but closed or rundown in others.

Our spot was beautiful but it was in the area with closed bathrooms.

Which was unfortunate since I really wanted a shower.

Ha

Also, there was a mixup so we had to move to a different spot after the first night.

We drove down to a different bathhouse so I still thankfully got a shower 😉

The sunsets from our spot were beautiful.

The boys hang out outside a lot. Our second spot was right next to the first and had an even better sunset view. We went on our second hike at Tent Rocks on a Sunday Morning right after it opened. This time we were prepared to hike to the top. The kids brought snacks for the top and water. It is a pretty steep climb but worth it for the view. So breathtaking. With our National Park Pass the campground was 50% off so it was only $10 a night for water and electric!

We were at this campground for four nights so we did a lot of other stuff in the area as well!

I will share what we did in Las Alamos and Santa Fe next!