Category Archives: Fernando’s

Alamogordo, Fernando's, Fort Amarillo RV Park, New Mexico, White Sands National Monument

Wind, Sand, Snow…More Wind

Good lord…it’s windy. Winds from the south at 24 mph gusting to 32 mph…or 232 mph depending on your point of view. And whether you are driving an RV into the middle of a bunch of sand dunes.

Which we are…because well…if the wind is gusting to 232 mph, why not? How can this be a bad idea?

And, so, on this lovely day, we head out to White Sands with saucers. And we get plenty of wind, sand and drama (because of the wind and sand).

Finally…sledding on the dunes…
Keep your eyes covered…and the sand out of your hair!
She would never make it in the desert…or Saudia Arabia

Not to mention that some weather alarmist in the O’Reilly’s store in Alamogordo (the town near White Sands) says there is 9 inches of snow coming today (although he is not overly specific about that “today” part). So…back to Yahoo! maps and weather.com…I’m wondering whether Al invented the internet so we could all check on these freak weather patterns that are surely part of his global warming crisis…

Not that I’m a conspiracy theorist or anything…

Ok, maybe we should have listened to the alarmists…we drive out of one type of blowing white stuff (sand) and into another (snow). The road atlas is my new favorite book…especially when we are in the middle of “scenic” New Mexico where the Internet is still a good idea in theory but not so much in practice. We are constantly trying to find the sections of highway on the map that are closed due to bad road conditions while simultaneously trying to read the road signs through the snow that is covering them. I can tell you wish you had been there!

Yes, yes…I know.  This really looks like nothing to us seasoned Missourians…except that in general we are not driving RVs in the middle of New Mexico.  Next time, you can drive!

So…we did make it out of New Mexico intact and took the highway into Amarillo.  Guess how the highway was?  WINDY!  But we kept up a good pace so we could make it to Fernando’s (and got Jennifer as our waitress!) before they closed…followed by another stay at Fort Amarillo RV Park. Why mess with success?

Jen

Amarillo, Fernando's, Fort Amarillo RV Park, Little Sahara State Park, Tonkawa

Day 2: Tonkawa to Amarillo…by way of some dunes

The day dawned beautifully, and Mike captured it perfectly while walking around the field, oops, I mean RV campground, we had crashed at for the night. We were unbelievably thankful to happen upon this little place. I kid you not – it was a field beside a house that had “sites” (and I use the term loosely) with electrical hookups and cold, cinder block (but very clean) bathrooms.

Tonkawa sunrise

It was exactly what we needed at the end of that first night. And even better – it was a total bargain at $16. We like to call those little finds our “Super 8” campgrounds. They are great when all you are really looking to do is get off the road and get a good night’s sleep.

With that done, we were back on the road to Little Sahara State Park further west in Waynoka, OK. And it’s just what it sounds like…SAND DUNES! Not quite as white as the ones we discover later, but fun and not like that sand you sink into at the beach. This was almost like flour…

Max & Mara at Little Sahara

From OK we went west mostly (and a some south)…into Texas, specifically Amarillo (which had Mike singing that classic country song…). The day ended with a trip to Fernando’s restaurant found via Yelp! (which we also used in Hawaii to find Cilantro’s), and a check in at the RV park. Our home for about 36 hours was the Fort Amarillo RV Park which we highly recommend. Indoor pool for the kids, decent workout room, and the nicest staff. Plus, it had one of the bonuses we’ve come to like about certain RV parks…proximity to the roads we are traveling coupled with big intersections for those wide RV turns.

Dinner at Fernando’s

Jen

P.S. – Our server at Fernando’s was Jennifer (awesome name!) – and she made that meal a great experience…and she mixes fabulous margaritas (not El Patron exactly but still good).