Traveling across the country with our 5th wheel

     Traveling across the country with our home behind our truck is pretty cool! Our plan is to drive no more than 5 hours each travel day, and so far that seems to work well for us. We had 3 driving days back to back last week. Three in a row was a bit much, but that's ok because it gave us more time at our next stops.
     Our country is so amazing! There are great natural things to see everywhere!  After checking out Branson, Missouri (possibly more about that in the fall), we made our way across Oklahoma and Texas. Then we stopped in Albuquerque, New Mexico to explore. Our campground overlooked the Rio Grande River with a view of the Sandia Mountains. It was beautiful and windy.

We checked out 3 national monuments that we had never heard of before. First was Petroglyph National Monument, where we looked at pictographs that the Ancestral Pueblo people drew on rocks. I think now it may be called graffiti.

The next day we went to Bandelier  National Monument to view an Ancestral Puebloan village and cliff dwellings. We enjoyed learning about this culture previously called the Anasazi and how they lived day to day. It was also fun climbing ladders up the canyon 140 feet to view the cliff dwellings there. Why can you only free climb like that at national parks and monuments?? ( Hmmm, less liability??)

Kasha Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument was on our the list the next day. More hiking through rock formations unlike anything we've seen before. What a beautiful day!

We finished the day with a ride on the Sandia Tramway to the mountain top for amazing views!

Next on to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado for 2 days. We did the Balcony House ranger led tour and viewed many of the the mesa top and cliff dwellings.  This picture is of Cliff Palace.

Our campground was next to a casino and the Sleeping Ute mountain. The best part of the casino was the strawberry shortcake and the free popcorn! (I think food is the best part of a casino!)

We love our 5th wheel. We are settling in, finding places for everything, and we are starting to call it home.  It is great to be able to come home each evening and relax after a busy day of driving or sightseeing.  Now we are at Arches National Park, such an amazing place!! It will deserve its own post in a few days. More soon.