August 25, 2019. We motor back east on I-40 and take the Bluewater State Park exit for the Stoneridge side. The road in is narrow and in places winding and then becomes a steep grade down onto the flatter area near the lake. I stop at the pay station and grab a tag, but don’t fill it out. I’ll do that once we find a spot to call our own.
ALL the electric sites are taken. The park is actually pretty full so I haven’t a clue what the ranger thinks all-but-empty means, but we do find a spot. Not ideal but it will do: Squished in between two other long-termers (full two week stay) with no shade. On the bright side, the Stoneridge side is beautiful. It’s a big park with lots of spaces and sections. Vault toilets, gravelled parking spots, picnic tables, fire rings, water spigots strategically located throughout.
After a couple of days the same ranger I spoke with at Las Tsusa stops by and tells me there will be spaces being vacated at the electrical sites later in the day. We take a lot of walks scoping it all out and eventually a space opens up and I grab it. There is a tree we can park beside, but it’s not even close to the table, but that’s okay. We need electricity.
Jockeying MissAdventure around to maximize shade, I get her settled in and immediately get my extension cord out and plugged in. The laptop gets fed, and she sips on that juice for over an hour. In the meantime I am getting potatoes cooking in the IP and digging out every thing that needs charged: The Kindle, my phone, my tablet, the stun gun, my camera’s battery. The two small battery packs I carry are lined up in line to have their turn at sustenance.
Amazing how we take our power sources for granted until they aren’t available when we need them. So thankful to have this electricity (at only $4 per day) I unpack my ac/dc fan and get it whirling the warming air out of the van. Next is a long walk for The Chiweenie Brothers. 
Bluewater, Stoneridge side has paved roads throughout and makes for a good walking surface of considerable length for long, leisurely walks. The Boys and I indulge.
Lots happens during our almost two week stay here. One night around 2 a.m. a loud exsplosion jolts us awake. It’s one of those things you aren’t sure what you have heard or if it even happened until you see vehicles rushing past with lights flashing. Never did find out what that was.
One afternoon rescue personnel came flying into the park quite near our campsite, and parked near the trail that runs along the canyon in the photo above. Someone had fallen along the trail (or off the trail!) and had to be rescued.
On a lazy afternoon sitting outside in the shade I spot movement out of the corner of my eye. It’s been a VERY busy and crowded weekend here, Labor Day, but many have left this morning. This guy becomes bold and is staring intently at a big diesel pusher. He eventually turns around, trotting back the way he came, taking a right at the stop sign, but I fear he has his sights on their dog and will probably come back.
I tell the camp hosts. They say they will tell the ranger. They come back later and tell me there is nothing they can do. I tell them I know that, but maybe they would like to warn the residents so they can keep an eye on their dogs. They don’t. Certainly not like Arizona where coyotes in the neighborhood are a big deal.
We spend the rest of our time here enjoying long, lazy days, cool nights, long walks and enjoy the heck out of having electricity.
The day before we leave, a group of wild horses come into the park. I was hoping to see them as they have signs posted not to approach or try to pet the wild horses. A group of four including the stallion, two mares, and foal!
Thanks for stopping by 2DogsTravel. Hugs, Shawna
I did not know about the horses. You got some good fotos. About the camp hosts and the coyote, some camp hosts do not feel a sense of responsibility towards the campers. The camp host should have warned dog owners, especially the big rig whose doges were being eyed by the coyote. Reminds me of an incident in southern Colorado a few years ago. The camp hosts did not warn any campers that a bear was routinely prowling the campground that summer. When I described to a FS ranger patrolling the area about how the bear tried to get in the camper shell of the 4-cylinder Nissan pickup I had at the time and the havoc the bear had caused at two neighboring camp sites, the ranger explained that the bear was circling thru three campgrounds that summer. I told him the camp host was claiming the bear that came to my camp site was a cub and not dangerous, but I described the size of the bear and told him a neighboring camper bear hunter tried to shoo the bear away and said it was a female weighing about 300 pounds. I am sure the Forest Service fully expected the camp hosts to be warning all campers when they checked in. I learned that camp hosts at other southern Colorado FS campgrounds were warning campers. So the problem lies with uncaring camp hosts, not with the state or the State’s rangers. Pardon me for venting but it still makes me angry when I think of those camp hosts. Sylvia
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I totally agree. It’s especially irritating since they told me in an earlier conversation that they’ve been hosting in this park for 25 years. Complacency and laziness.
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That looked like a beautiful place to stay. $4 a day with electricity….you can’t beat that! The coyote looked like a tall fox, very pretty and not scruffy looking like most are. And those wild horses! Aren’t they beautiful!
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Very beautiful. The $4 is with the annual camping pass but without it, it is still only $14 a day.
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Wow, would have been great to see the horses, not so much the coyote. I first thought you ment a person when you said big guy…then I saw what you ment. UGH, They love to lead domestic dogs to the pack for lunch… That would have been horrible!! Gladyou and the guys are safe tho.
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Pretty upsetting they wouldn’t even let the campers know he was hanging out waiting for an opportunity.
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