A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 122 miles from Taos, New Mexico to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the balloon fiesta.
Travel from Taos to Albuquerque, New Mexico
We drove our coach 122 miles, about 3 hours of driving, from Taos, New Mexico to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to attend the 50th annual balloon fiesta.
The map route, heading south:
It had rained, so when we brought the slide-outs in, water poured off. I generally prefer to not be standing under that when that happens:
Leaving the RV park:
An interesting round shave ice cart:
Adobe buildings:
Rio Grande gorge:
Another circular shave ice cart:
Mountains:
Rockfall fences:
Old gas pumps:
Rio Grande river:
Roadworks:
Camel Rock:
There was only one rest area on this route, but it was on the opposite side of the freeway:
So we exited after the rest area, and headed the other way to the rest area:
At the rest area; Paladin on the back of the passenger chair:
Lunch:
Roadworks:
Rain:
We went past the turnoff to the balloon fiesta to go to a T/A truck stop:
A bit over half a tank of diesel:
We also filled the DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid):
Then back towards Balloon Fiesta Park:
Balloon Fiesta VIP West sign:
Balloon Fiesta check in:
The truck following the coach, following a golf cart to our site:
Santa Fe
We had some chores to do, so went to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and explored a little of the area.
The route from Taos took us along the Rio Grande River gorge:
A hot air balloonist, no doubt on their way to Albuquerque:
We really enjoyed how the adobe buildings blend into the landscaping:
Santa Fe sign:
After our chores, we went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch (with a red hue due to an outdoor canopy):
Cute bill folio:
We went to the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, though had neglected to make a reservation, so couldn’t get in:
We then headed to the Chuck Jones gallery:
But they were closed, probably because they were at the Albuquerque balloon fiesta:
Some interesting buildings:
Santa Fe Plaza:
An interesting overpass:
We took a scenic drive back to Taos:
Video: two days at Taos Valley RV Park
A timelapse of activity at Taos Valley RV Park.
Taos Valley RV Park
We stayed at Taos Valley RV Park in Taos, New Mexico. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Buddy sites, but good enough for a couple of nights.
Dates:
- Check in: 2022-10-02
- Check out: 2022-10-04
- 2 nights
Weather:
- Rainy
- High temps ranging between 61-64°F, lows around 44°F
- Some wind
Noise:
- No road or train noise
Site:
- #50, pull through, gravel (too large stones for good jack stability)
- Buddy sites (i.e. alternating directions, so doors face each other, though offset so not too bad)
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
- Rather unlevel
- Medium site: about 80 feet long by about 30 feet wide
- Full hookups:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 60 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connections, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
- Picnic table on concrete; charcoal grill on gravel
Internet (in usage priority order):
- Starlink: 10-83 Mbps down, 3-7 Mbps up, 50 ms ping
- Verizon: 30 Mbps down, 7 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
- T-Mobile: 3-7 Mbps down, 2-4 Mbps up, 150 ms ping
- AT&T: 20 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 80 ms ping
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage bins at each site
- No pool
Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:
Charming campground in the heart of Taos
This was a nicely landscaped park close to Taos. It rained the entire time we were there, so we didn’t get to enjoy the park as much as we would’ve liked. The entire park is gravel, which is fine, but it’s the wrong type of gravel. River rock doesn’t settle and “lock” into place like coarse gravel does, so things shift underfoot and under the stabilizing jacks. With the rain, there was a lot of thick mud around. Our site wasn’t particularly level, and I think a thicker layer of coarse gravel would have helped with that and prevent the muddiness. Be aware that the pull-through sites are buddy sites. There’s a nice fence giving some separation between the two living areas, but we saw at least one person pull in facing the wrong direction, so their hookups were on the opposite side. We camped at Taos Valley RV Park & Campground in a Motorhome.
The park map:
Our site:
We didn’t bother putting on the Magne Shades, since we were only there for a couple of nights:
Our site and the neighboring site; this is in a “buddy” configuration, where the sites face opposite directions, so the doors face each other. But not too bad in this case, since the sites are angled such that they are offset, and have a fence between them. Still, not our favorite configuration:
The other neighbor had a nice Magne Shade on their windscreen:
The sites had a picnic table and charcoal grill:
Some stones with messages under the grill:
Utilities:
Other sites:
After staying a night in New Mexico, we can finally add a new state sticker to our coach; the first new state for several months:
In about a month we’ll be adding Texas, where we’ll be spending this winter.
Video: Alamosa, Colorado to Taos, New Mexico motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 97 miles from Alamosa, Colorado to Taos, New Mexico.
Travel from Alamosa, Colorado to Taos, New Mexico
We drove our coach 97 miles, about 2 hour of driving, from Alamosa, Colorado to Taos, New Mexico.
The map route, heading south:
Goodbye sand dunes:
Passing through Blanca:
A short skoolie:
Their claim to fame is the oldest continuously occupied town in Colorado, which they declare on a hillside:
This journey was rather rainy:
Horses open range:
An interesting trailer:
Welcome to New Mexico:
A lunch stop in a wide area on the side of the road; I look for such places when planning the trip, if I can’t find proper rest areas (I’ll do a post about trip planning sometime soonish):
Paladin on the back of the driver chair during the lunch stop:
Onward in the rain:
Our destination was in Taos, an interesting town with lots of adobe-style buildings, founded in 1615. We might want to explore it some more in the future:
Our destination:
The office (looks rather KOA-like):
Our tow bar, with the lights on:
Great Sand Dunes National Park
We visited Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado:
Mountains and sand dunes:
The picnic area parking was full of people who had inconsiderately parked there then gone to the dunes, but we found an empty amphitheater as an alternative place to have our picnic lunch:
With a better view of the dunes, anyway:
The visitor center was being renovated:
So they had a temporary visitor center building set up:
Jenn enjoys collecting cancelation stamps:
And smashed pennies (with a couple of fascinated little girls watching her):
The temporary gift shop:
Then we headed out to the sand dunes:
A selfie:
We rented a couple of sand sleds from the KOA RV park:
Sand dunes:
Jenn:
Sand dunes:
Jenn preparing to slide:
Me with a sand sled:
Jenn waxing her sand sled:
Selfie:
A video of Jenn sliding down a sand dune, and wiping out at the end:
Sandy Jenn:
Kite:
Beard in the wind:
Grasses and rainy mountains:
Log and dunes:
The dunes with the stream in the foreground:
Impressive sand dunes, and a fun experience.
Video: two days at Alamosa KOA Journey
A timelapse of activity at the Alamosa KOA Journey RV park.
Alamosa KOA Journey
We stayed at Alamosa KOA Journey in Alamosa, Colorado. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A decent KOA near Great Sand Dunes National Park, with pizza delivery to the site.
Dates:
- Check in: 2022-09-30
- Check out: 2022-10-02
- 2 nights
Weather:
- Sunny, cloudy, a little drizzle
- High temps ranging between 65-72°F, lows around 36-44°F
- Some wind
Noise:
- Some road noise; no train noise
Site:
- #57, pull through, gravel
- Didn’t need to disconnect toad; parked behind coach
- Fairly level
- Medium site: about 85 feet long by about 30 feet wide
- Full hookups:
- 50 amp power, somewhat conveniently located
- 30 PSI water, conveniently located
- Two sewer connections, somewhat conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)
- Picnic table & fire pit on gravel
Internet (in usage priority order):
- Campground Wi-Fi: 10-57 Mbps down, 2-9 Mbps up, 15 ms ping
- Verizon: 13-28 Mbps down, 15 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
- T-Mobile: no service
- AT&T: no service
- Starlink: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage pickup from site
- Closed pool
- Pizza and other food delivered to site
- Sand sled rental
Here’s our review on Campground Reviews:
Nice base for Great Sand Dunes
One of the things I’ve come to appreciate on a travel day is not having to cook dinner. We were pleasantly surprised that they not only offered pizza but that they’d deliver directly to our site. I call that a win! The staff were all very helpful, and the campground conveniently communicates via text. Our site was a pretty basic pull-through, but we had a peek of the mountains, which was nice. Some road noise from the highway, but not too bad. We had one full day here, so we rented some sand sleds from the office and hit the dunes at the national park. So much fun! We camped at Alamosa KOA Journey in a Motorhome.
The park map:
Our site:
A nice feature of this RV park is that they have a small kitchen with a menu featuring pizza, baked potatoes, and other items, which they can charge to the card on file, and deliver right to our coach. We got a couple of pizzas (enough for two meals), plus a baked spud for me (because I like them):
The office and camp store:
A picnic shelter:
Playground:
Bathrooms:
Cabins:
Dog park:
Art:
Other sites:
We had a nice view of mountains from our site:
