Car Camping at Chaco

So, is it "car camping" if you have a Hummer? I digress.

At the end of our first day at Chaco, we returned to the campground to relax, eat a simple meal (tuna packs) and sack out. First, we got out our camp chairs, faced the ruins and had a pre-dinner snack and drink. Can't say I've experienced many better surroundings than this.

After "dinner", we took a short walk and watched the moon rise over the red rocks on the other side of the campground. What a marvelous sight, with nary a sound to disturb it. Now this is living!

Now, I hate to break the romantic mood, but reality struck when it was time to go to bed. After a stroll to the campground bathrooms to brush our teeth and ... you know ..., (the bathrooms were REALLY nice, which made Marie REALLY happy), we climbed into the Hummer to read and go off to sleep. With only one headlamp - mine - illuminating two books, my neck began to cramp, so we decided to turn in. Back went the seats of the Hummer and we settled in. After a bit of tossing and turning, and occasionally getting my feet stuck in the pedals, I found the one position which felt relatively comfortable and stuck with it. Marie seemed to adapt easier - SHE didn't have any pedals to contend with. ;o)))  Soon we both dozed off, though our sleep was fitful. (As an aside, every time I woke up my feet were tangled in the pedals again. I keep wondering if I was pumping the brakes all night and sending signals to the surrounding campsites. Hopefully I didn't offend anyone.) Finally, daybreak arrived, and we ate our blueberry muffins and drank our bottled diet raspberry iced tea while gazing at the ruins through the bug-splattered windshield (and watching the neighboring RV campers sip brewed coffee - bastards!). Unfolding out of the truck, we stretched and prepared for a new day exploring Chaco.

Comments

[J]

'car camping'. n. camping where you drive a car directly to the campground (as opposed to backpacking to the campground) where you then set up your tent, mat, and sleeping bags and then sleep in those.

[John]

Thanks, Janet. While your definition of car camping might have been more comfortable, the term only applies to how you get to the campground, not where you sleep. Once you've driven to the campground, sleeping arrangements can range from sleeping in the car or SUV to tents, capped pickup beds, conversion vans or luxurious RV's. In our case, since we flew out to the Southwest and don't own the camping equipment, "Hummer camping" worked just fine for one night. And added to the adventure!