We were just outside Albuquerque, NM, For Stop #2 of Road Trip 2018 and again for Road Trip 2019. For these trips, we decided to try a different park than the one we stayed at during Road Trip 2017, American RV Park. We had never stayed at a casino RV park before, so we thought why not. It’s relatively new, so let’s try out Route 66 RV Resort.
For the most part, we liked it. It has nice big long and wide sites. Of the 100 sites here, most are reasonably spaced out, although we noticed some that were closer than we would have liked which made no sense given the overall spaciousness here.
The lack of trees means it is an excellent setting for using our satellite dish. The pads are concrete and level… another bonus. On the other hand, the lack of tress means there is not much shade. The dog park has grass which is good, but… there’s no shade.
Our site was at the rear of the park, but we noticed there are nice sweeping views on the other side of the park. If only we had realized that when we booked. The things that websites and park maps don’t show you very well.
Next time we resolved to pick a site on the other side to get that view (and we did in 2019). As I was booking for 2020, I noticed they don’t allow choosing a site online anymore which makes me sad. I definitely have my favorite now!
During our 2018 stay, from May 20 to May 22, it was incredibly windy, so we were not inclined to sit outside and couldn’t put our awnings out to provide our own shade. In 2019, we stayed from April 17 to April 19, and it was STILL very windy. And it was so stormy that it knocked out the power for a while.
Remember there’s a casino here. We took a peek inside just to see what they call Vegas-style. Yes, the adjective is fitting, but it’s no Bellagio. At any rate, there was a restaurant here that was fine. Not fine dining, but we had a reasonable meal for a reasonable price and we didn’t have to cook outside in that wind!
There’s a shuttle that will pick you up at your site and take you to the casino, but we chose to walk there and back in 2018. However, in 2019, the weather was so stormy that we definitely took advantage of the shuttle!
After a couple of days here in 2018, we were really wishing that we were parked on the other side of the park. If we were over there, we would have that view without seeing other RVs in the way. Now we know…
So… in 2019, we got our wish. Not only did we get a great expansive view of the desert from our site, but we also had a huge side “yard.” So huge that our neighbors on the other side of that yard are hard to see! Okay, maybe the camera angle is a bit deceiving as the photo in the bottom right corner shows white specks for the neighboring RVs, but the arrangement of our site kept our view mostly clear of the neighbors.
One more thing. We decided in 2019 to add an AT&T phone to our tech ensemble because we found during our 2017 and 2018 trips that Verizon coverage was limited in some areas. In one case, it was even non-existent. So as a public service, we’ll include Speedtest results for data speeds in our campground reviews. In this location, we found that AT&T was smoking fast at 53.9 Mbps as compared to Verizon at 16.6 Mbps. We depend on Internet access, so we were very happy that we added AT&T this year.
Overall, this park is functional and clean and quiet. And that’s important to us, even on short stayovers like this. For now, this is our preferred location when passing through Albuquerque.
Route 66
Just for kicks, on Route 66 (sorry), we drove by the Historic Rio Puerco bridge built in 1933 and officially added to Route 66 in 1937. It’s been remodeled a few times to add clearance. Vehicles are no longer allowed on the bridge, but you can take a walk on it if you like.
Wine Tasting
Because we decided to stay two nights in Albuquerque on this trip, we decided to find a local wine tasting opportunity. Success! Casa Rondeña Winery is a beautiful winery in Albuquerque with an interesting variety of wines. The whites are estate-grown while the reds come from vineyards in Deming, NM.
This last bit of information I found amusing because a section of high school life for me was spent in Deming, WA and that’s when I learned there was such a thing as Deming, NM because that’s what happens when you live in a town with the same name as another town…Sort of like Las Vegas is a city in Nevada and a city in New Mexico. Hey, New Mexico… what’s with that?
Below is where the wine gets made -the building part, not the vines. Although they are, of course, a contributing factor!
The domed building is where aging takes place and the building on the left is the clubhouse where members get to go hang out.
A major storm hit while we were visiting in May 2018.
Not just any thunderstorm, but a hail storm.
For desert rats that haven’t seen precipitation in months, this was quite the event du jour!
This is such a beautiful venue. Even when I felt like I was in a slip-and-slide.
As for the wine tasting, we liked two out of the wines very much and the other four were meh… However, that’s a subjective thing. The prices are reasonable, too. We would definitely revisit this place.
Heading East
From here, we have always continued our travels eastward to Amarillo. In 2018, we stopped next at Fort Amarillo RV Resort, but in 2019 we decided to try the Amarillo KOA.
