Casa Blanca, NM

We mentioned in our previous blog we stayed at an overpriced place in Albuquerque. Several times if I remember correctly.

I can’t help it. I’m cheap. And I’m not embarrassed about my cheapness. It drives Jake insane sometimes. But in this instance he agreed with my tendency towards cheapness. We decided we needed to find somewhere cheap to stay for a bit to makeup for the bling$bling we spent in Albuquerque.

Of course, Dyna’s been being a pain in the a-double-s lately, so we aren’t currently able to wildcamp. Which would typically be free. Something to do with the radiator that is sitting in a box on our bedroom floor but is supposed to be nestled into our generator.

We did find an RV park at a casino a few miles West, in Casa Blanca AZ. A casino RV park that charges $11.38 per night for full-hook ups. $11.38/night is in the budget.

Also, it’s still cold down here. And I hate being cold. So if Jake wants to maintain his own sanity, he knows we’re going to be running some space heaters. Or else I’m not getting out of bed. Ever again. Until it’s at least 65º. And also, gonna need some coffee. And candy. To lure me out of the bed. Unless it’s 80º. Then I’ll get out willingly.

Anyways, we ended up at the Dancing Eagle Casino RV Park. For $11.38/night.

Space heating to the maximum power!

Casa Blanca is pretty middle of nowhere, on Acoma Pueblo reservation land. There is a casino (the Dancing Eagle) where you can smoke all you want to smoke while you pull slot machine arms down until you lose (or win!) all your money. We attempted to go in and utilize the new player free plays which every casino inevitably offers. But it was too smokey. Worse than regular casino smokiness. So we aborted that mission. We did eat at the casino restaurant. Twice. It was fine. And not smokey. They served sopapillas with honey. That pleased me. I ate many sopapillas.

Other than eating sopapillas and not gambling, there wasn’t much else to do. I read a lot. I’m deep into the written world of Game of Thrones right now. Sopapilla fueled GOT reading is the best.

Jake worked a lot. Lucy helped.

There is a post office for mailing post cards depicting all the things there are not to do in Casa Blanca.

And a really swanky little grocery store / hardware store combo that carried 99¢ liters of cola. And the grocery store also sold Peeps, the world’s greatest Easter themed candy (don’t argue – you’re wrong).

Here’s the thing about special candy like Peeps. Some candies are so special (like Peeps) that they really shouldn’t be eaten ‘just because.’ ‘Just because’ is for other kinds of candy like M&Ms and snickers bars.

Peeps must be earned. They must be eaten in celebration. Or possibly sorrow. But they are only to be consumed during some event of specialness.

I hadn’t even realized it was Peep season until a friend posted about her post run Peep eating escapades. (Thanks Sheila)

Once I realized, I decided to take advantage of the only other thing Casa Blanca offers – quiet roads and country side res land disturbed only by side trails and the occasional free range horse or cattle herd. And by take advantage of it, I mean run all over it. And then reward myself for running double digits for the first time in over a month by eating Peeps. Which are the best Easter candy in case you forgot already.

It was on another quiet road run that I realized there might be more to Casa Blanca than Casa Blanca was openly leading us to believe. Apparently Casa Blanca is hosting grave digging. Which hopefully means that the coolest Monster Truck ever made an appearance in town. I suspect this hope was false, and this ‘grave digging’ meant something involving shovels and dirt and maybe dead bodies. Sadly, we missed the event by a few days. Maybe next time.

On the recommendation of an RV park staffer (the one and only RV park staffer), we also took a countryside drive. Up the road from Casa Blanca resides the Acoma Sky City, a city high up on a mesa. We didn’t hear about this sky city until visiting hours had past for the week, so we didn’t get to pay our dues and check it out up close. But it was neat even from afar.

Although it was tempting to hang out a bit longer enjoying the quiet roads and open lands of Casa Blanca (and also the $11.38 FHU price scheme), there is a chassis shop in Holbrook, AZ calling Dyna’s name. For more scheduled maintenance. Because it has been two blogs without maintenance. Apparently two blogs too many.