Carrying on - Bodcau

This blog worked so well as a journal during our road trip I've decided to continue it for our future travel and camping adventures as well. 

Last week a friend Vicki and her sigot Gene (significant other - I just made that up!) bought a camper. As they are first time RVers we decided to join them and hopefully help them bypass some of that trial and error stress. Others - Roxy and Stacey and Chris and Teresa and kids - joined in as well. 

Bodcau Bayou is a local COE campground with a well-kept park and great fishing and kayaking opportunities. We took advantage of all of the above. When not in the water, we were playing games. All agreed it was a do-over event. What a great weekend with great friends!

What did it cost?

I finally got up the nerve to look at our expenses for the 10-week trip.  I had budgeted around $6,000 for camping, fuel and food.

Fuel - $3,550
Food - $1,750
Campsites - $400
Misc Fees, supplies, etc - $1200

I expect that food costs is similar to what we would have spent at home eating out and going to the grocery store so I'm deducting that.

Ten weeks of fuel at home would be about $1,000 so I'll back out that.

Campsite costs at home might be $200 because you know that we would've went somewhere during that time so I'll back out that.

Miscellaneous trips to the liquor store and Home Depot would probably have been half so I'll back out $600.

We had taken $2,000 in cash and brought back $800 so I'll need to add $1,200 to our expense list.

Total calculated trip costs....

$4,550 - mostly fuel and campsite fees.  Under budget but still a crap load of money.  But considering we went a total of  8,500 miles and had 68 days of fun, it was a grand deal indeed!

#26 - Home

After leaving Amarillo, we drive to my dad's house in Boyd, TX - conveniently halfway between Amarillo and home - and spent the afternoon with him, his wife Barbara and grand kids Orion and Adrianna.

After several hours of chat and a fine roast dinner, we proceeded east towards I-20 with a goal of getting past Dallas during a non-rush hour period. Once we got through town unimpeded, David had his road head on and we set our sights on Benton.  We arrived home at 2:00am.

In summary, the time we were gone - two days short of ten weeks - was the right amount of time for our journey.  We joked at the onset that we'd probably annoy each other being in one another's hip pocket for that long, but we truly enjoy and appreciate each others company.  All disagreements were either intentional ribbing or insignificant.  We didn't see everything that we wanted and definitely made notes as to where we need to go next time and those places that were do-overs.  There were many!

We so enjoyed the friends, family and strangers that we encountered along the way.  We are so blessed and fortunate to have had this opportunity.  And as expected, we're already planning the next journey!

Photos taken - over 1600
Miles on truck - 6331
Miles on Harley - 1800
Miles on Honda ATV - 250

Memories - Priceless.

#25 - Amarillo

We stopped over in Amarillo to visit with Chris and Shawn to borrow their front curb for a night. Had a nice dinner and chat. So excited about their upcoming nuptials in Destin. They are a great couple!  

We now continue east getting closer and closer to home. Still seems unreal that almost ten weeks have passed already. 

#24 - Whittington Center - Raton

Upon leaving Bonanza we decided to go off itinerary and take a side trip to Taos. Taos is a town we'd never been to but have been all around. We parked the camper outside of Raton, NM at the NRA Whittington Center which has 44,000 acres of shooting ranges, wildlife and a full service campground. We have stayed here before and always enjoyed the sunsets. This time didn't disappoint either.

View to the east

View to the west

The next day we hopped on the scooter and headed to Taos. On the way we drove through Cimarron Canyon. 

Then past Eagle's Nest Lake and Angel Fire. In Taos, we ate on Bent Street and bought a watercolor from a street artist that depicted a "healing journey."  It was appropriate and beautiful. Can't wait to get it home and framed. 

We rode the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway through Red River and then back to Eagle's Nest to rest our bums at a historic saloon. 

By the time our 200-mile ride ended our bums were in need if lots of rest. On our ride we saw prong horn, mule deer, bison and elk. Thankfully all stayed on the side of the road where they belonged. Last time we were at Whittington we saw a bear. We looked but none were to be found this time. 

 The little white spots are Elk butts...lol.

Always lots of deer at Whittington

Now we head east toward home. Can't believe we'll be there in just a couple of days. 

#23 - Rancho de Edrington - Bonanza, CO

Bonanza was quickly made our favorite boondocking site when we first visited in 2011. It still is a beautiful place to drive into.

What makes this place special is the beautiful scenery, abundant wildlife, hundreds of miles of OHV trails and the fact that the boondocking property which we enjoy is owned by our old and dear friends John and Carol. 

Photos best describe this area, because the words beautiful, awesome and breathtaking can only be used so much.

Mosquito lake where David caught two rainbow trout

Our little piece of borrowed land - definitely dog friendly

A common roadblock


Looks like this should be on a Christmas card

Mother Nature showing off

We already plan to return in September when John and Carol will hopefully be in residence at their little slice of paradise. 

We now begin the trek home although there may very well be a unplanned detour.  A check of the weather shows sunny days in northeastern New Mexico. I see a scooter riding day in our immediate future!