Travel from Marathon to Junction, Texas

We drove our coach 269 miles, about five hours of driving, from Marathon, Texas to Junction, Texas.

The map route, heading north then east:

Map route

Firstly, a video of retracting the front driver-side slide-out:

Our coach with the slides in, and the truck hooked up, ready to leave:

Coach and truck ready to leave

Paladin went straight down the steps, so I left the step cover open:

Paladin on steps

Some fairly barren hills; compare to later pictures:

Hills

Heading north:

Heading north

Roadworks; narrow lanes are a little disconcerting in a wide coach:

Roadworks

More roadworks:

Roadworks

Joining I-10 to head east:

Heading east onto I-10

Roadrunner mural:

Roadrunner mural

“Cud you not text and drive?” There were several amusing cow-themed billboards like this:

Cud you not text and drive?

Paladin still on the steps, enjoying the view out the cat window:

Paladin on steps

We stopped at a roadside picnic area for lunch:

Picnic area

Since the step cover was open, I hopped out to stretch my legs. Here’s an old stagecoach stop:

Old structure

Our coach:

Our coach

Paladin on the back of the couch during lunch:

Paladin on back of couch

An interesting mountain:

Interesting mountain

Cutaway

We stopped again, at a parking area (there are various kinds of stopping places: a rest stop has bathrooms, a picnic area has tables but no bathrooms, and a parking area doesn’t have any amenities… which is fine for us, being self-contained):

Parking area

Our coach:

Our coach

Road Ranger fuel stop:

Road Ranger fuel stop

There was both the Road Ranger truck stop and a Love’s fairly nearby; we would normally have gone for the Love’s, but the Open Roads app indicated that Road Ranger had a much better discounted fuel price:

Open Roads app

Cutaway

A river, and a lot more greenery; we’re out of the desert now:

River

Our exit:

Our exit

Our destination, Pecan Valley RV Park and Farm, nestled behind a pecan tree farm:

Pecan Valley RV Park and Farm

Pecan Valley RV Park and Farm

Pecan Valley RV Park and Farm

Chick-in:

Chick-in

Guided to our site by the owners:

Guided to site

I started this post with a picture of our coach ready to leave; let’s end with our coach just arrived, before putting the slides out:

Our site

Palomino Campground at Caballo Lake State Park

We stayed at Palomino Campground in Caballo Lake State Park in Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico. (Campground Reviews listing.)

We do enjoy state parks, and lake views. Our specific site only had a glimpse of the lake, but still nice.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2022-10-09
  • Check out: 2022-10-15
  • 6 nights

Weather:

  • Mostly sunny
  • High temps ranging between 67-77°F, lows around 49-53°F
  • No significant wind

Noise:

  • No road or train noise

Site:

  • #2, pull through, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad; parked beside coach
  • Fairly level
  • Smallish site: about 45 feet long by about 40 feet wide
  • Full hookups:
    • 50 amp power, conveniently located
    • 50 PSI water, conveniently located
    • Good sewer connections, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
  • Picnic table on concrete with shelter; no fire pit
  • Partial lake view

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 12-25 Mbps down, 18-26 Mbps up, 70 ms ping
  • AT&T: 90 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 72 ms ping
  • Verizon: no service
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpster
  • No pool

Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:

Picturesque and pleasant park

We stayed at Palomino, Site 2, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We were met by the camp hosts who helped get us centered on the site and chatted for a bit. The site was level and pretty big, with plenty of room outside of the picnic shelter to get settled in. The only downside to the setup in Palomino is that all the sites are backward, so you can’t enjoy the view of the lake if you have a motorhome. If you have a fiver with a rear window or a toy hauler with a “back deck” you’d get much more enjoyment of the view. The picnic shelters are also backward on the site, so you have to walk around the wall to get to the table. Weird, but not dealbreaker stuff by any means. We camped at Caballo Lake State Park in a Motorhome.

The park map online is not great, but does highlight our site:

Map

Here’s an interactive map — tip, site 4 would be the best view of the lake (site 3, not shown above, is the camp host):

Our site:

Our site

Our site

A glimpse of the lake:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

There were a number of birds in the area, and some liked to nibble dead bugs off our mirrors, which Paladin found super fascinating:

Paladin and bird

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

A lake view from the edge of the campground:

Lake view

Lake view

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

The camp host site, briefly vacant during changing of the host:

Other sites

Bathrooms:

Bathrooms

Dump station:

Dump station

Cacti:

Cacti

Cacti

Cacti

Cacti

We got out our bikes to take a ride down to the lake and around the campsites:

Bikes

Me on my bike:

David on bike

Boat ramp:

Boat ramp

Another campground; this one has power and water, but not sewer:

Other campground

Other campground

Other campground

A video of the bike ride route:

Some sunsets:

Sunset

Sunset

Sunset