Explora

   We were in the area with a little extra time and free passes so we stopped in to check out this science and children’s museum. It has tons of hands of exhibits for grade school and middle school kids, not too much for older kids or adults.

   The exhibits are laid out in a maze of cubicles so navigating a wheelchair through may be tight at times and some of the exhibits are not within reach.

   Small RVs can park in the museum lot. Larger RVs can be parked along  the side streets. Explora
  35.09732, -106.66394 
 

The Albuquerque Museum of Art and History

    One floor of the museum is dedicated to New Mexico art and the other floor to four centuries of Albuquerque history starting with the first Spanish expeditions into New Mexico.

    The museum is fairly handicapped accessible. The doors have push buttons to open and most of the exhibits are easy to view. There are a few short ramps and getting back to the elevator to leave requires retracing your steps through all of the exhibits.

   RVs can be parked along 19th street. Art and History Museum
   35.09828, -106.66806

New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science

    The museum traces the natural history of New Mexico from the big bang to the ice age 10,000 years ago. Most of it is accessible with just a few exhibits that are a little too high for easy viewing. Start on the second floor to follow the timeline correctly. An elevator is on the right just after the store. Some of the exhibits are along a wide ramped walkway that leads down to the first floor. I think that the ramp is ADA compliant. It seems a little steep but it has plenty of flat resting areas.

    There are large parking lots for this museum and several other nearby museums. Most RVs will not fit in the lots but free parking is available along  the side streets. Museum of Natural History
35.09744, -106.66533

Black Mesa Casino

  Not the most scenic place to stay but it’s only $20.00 a night with electric hookups, except in the fall when the price rises for some reason. There’s also a dump station and fresh water. If you don’t need to hookup to the electricity staying overnight is free too. Park in the camping area even if you don’t use electricity because the casino lot is small.

Update 3/2024 - $10.00 dry camping  $20.00 electric hookups

The camping area lot is loose gravel so rolling is very hard. Park close to the paved driveway. The curb cuts are good. The casino is roomy with easy to move chairs and low pile carpet. Some of the machines have club cards slots and ticket slots that are a little hard to reach. San Felipe Casino  35.41399, -106.40091

Museum of International Folk Art

    The main exhibit area in this museum houses the collection of one man, Alexander Girard, an architect and designer. He and his wife donated their folk art collection with the stipulation that the exhibits be displayed in spaces designed by Girard. Houses. People, animals, and plants made of clay, wood, and other materials have been gathered together to make entire village scenes.

    Most of the museum is very accessible. There are a few exhibit cases that are a little high.

    Parking for RVs is available in the overflow lot located across the street from the museum. Part of the lot is gravel so park near the edge. After crossing the street there is a bit of a hill in the main lot. If you have a van or car, there’s plenty of handicapped parking in the main lot. An elevator accesses the plaza where the folk art museum is located. The Museum of Spanish Colonial Art and the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture are also located in the plaza.  Folk Art Museum
35.66402, -105.92627
         
     

Working on the Maps

   We're going to be stationary for a few days. We're in Santa Fe,visiting a friend who is recovering from minor knee surgery so I'm using the down time to make more Google maps. I've just finished Colorado. Colorado has so many places to visit!  We probably won't be spending much time there on this trip across the country but all of the information will be handy  for the next time.

  I'm trying to make the maps easy to use but of course, the attractions and camping spots are geared towards our preferences. If you'd like to personalize them to your own style just sign up for a Google account then when you click on any of the map links you'll be also able to click on "Save to My Maps". Once the map is in your maps you can edit and add comments to all of the attractions.

 Also I welcome any suggestions to make the maps better.
 

Sandia Resort and Casino

  A good overnight parking spot. The casino has set aside a huge parking lot for RVs. It’s fairly level and very quiet. Nice views depending on how you park. The parking is pretty far away from the casino entrance and most of the sidewalks do not have curb cuts. People in wheelchairs may find it easier to be dropped off at the entrance.

Update 3/2024 - $40.00 + for dry camping in lot

 The casino is large. The chairs are little awkward to move. The aisles between the machines could be a bit wider. Most of the machines have easy to reach money and card slots. Sandia Casino

Cadillac Ranch

  There's a fence and gate around Cadillac Ranch! We've stopped here a couple of times and could go right up to the cars but now the opening is too narrow and there's a second gate that can't be opened until the first one is closed -absolutely no way that a wheelchair will fit. I discovered that the cars were moved  a few miles west to this location in 1997 so maybe we  visited at the original location. Cadillac Ranch
35.18724, -101.9871


Shot with a long lens-

   

Palo Duro Canyon State Park

   We visited this park hoping that some of the trails would be a little accessible but they all are narrow with a deep rut in the middle. The handicapped sites, however, are very good. There are three newly built sites in the Sagebrush Campground. They have a large paved area for a RV and another vehicle and pavement to an accessible table, grill, and fire pit. The paving also extends to the water and electrical hookups and to the restrooms.

  The terrain of the canyon is quite different from the surrounding Texas plains so even though there aren’t many accessible activities, the scenic drive along the canyon road is nice. The road down to the canyon is very steep-be prepared to downshift. The small visitor’s center is accessible but the road to the parking area is so steep that the rangers recommend parking in the lot above and walking down. A van should be fine but large RVs shouldn’t attempt it.  Palo Duro Canyon
34.93549, -101.63688
 

Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum

  This is an excellent museum. The museum itself is really big but the area of Texas, the panhandle, that it covers is not so the exhibits are very detailed.

   Most of the museum is accessible. Ramps lead to the entrances but they have double sets of doors which may be tricky to open without help. The admissions desk has a lowered section. A few of the exhibits are hard to view but most of them are fine. The theaters have enough room for wheelchairs at the edges of the seating.  There are  two separate elevators that must be used to see all of the different exhibits.

  Museum parking is marked with brown and white strips on the curbs and is available along the street or in the parking lot across the street from the museum’s front entrance. RVs will fit in the parking lot spaces if they’re backed up over the grass, otherwise park along the street. The sidewalks and curb cuts are in good condition.
Museum
34.97983, -101.91566

Wayne Russell RV Park

   If you’re passing through Floydada,Texas this little city park is a good place to stay. The first two nights are free-$5.00 a night after that and 5 nights maximum stay. It has electric and water hookups and a dump station. There’s also a pool,opened in the summer and a few picnic tables in the grassy area. The camping area is flat and graveled-easy rolling.  Floydada

Mt Blanco Fossil Museum

    The owner and curator of this museum has dug up hundreds of fossils from the lands around Crosbyton,Texas. Many are on display along with casts of  fossils found elsewhere. The main goal of the museum is to provide evidence of humans and dinosaurs coexisting and disprove evolution which makes the whole thing kind of weird. We’ve never heard of most of the theories that are laid out in the museum showcases.

  The front entrance has two steps but the back entrance is supposed to be handicapped accessible. Most of the exhibits are easy to view. Parking is available on the street. Fossil Museum
33.6597, -101.23828 

Abilene Zoo

  This is a very small zoo. The larger animals, like these giraffes, have few barriers on their enclosures so nothing obstructs viewing. Some of the others have cages and fencing which partially blocks the view for people in wheelchairs. The doors to the reptile and aviary displays are a bit heavy. I usually don’t pay much attention to the reptiles but most the ones in this zoo are very colorful and easy to view.

  The paths are all fairly level and in good condition. The parking lot is large enough for RVs. The park surrounding the zoo includes a great playground and two fenced dog parks. Zoo
32.43671, -99.69114
    
   

Frontier Texas!

   Visitors are led through the early history of west Texas with theater shows, special effects, recreated scenes, and personal stories of historic figures.Very well done.

    At times it’s hard to understand what is being said because the  displays are close together and almost all of them have some type of automatic narration which means that they interfere with each other especially if  people are moving through at different paces.  It’s fairly wheelchair accessible but a some of the  displays  require turning spindles to read all of the information and they don’t have a very substantial  edge to grip.

  Motorhomes can be parked across the spaces in the lot. Frontier Texas
32.44941, -99.72827

Sea Bee Park Free Camping

  This isn’t really a campground.It’s part of Seabee Park, a local fishing area on the edge of Lake Fort Phantom Hill.It has a few paved spots with tables but we also camped in the opened grassy area. It’s a little rough around the edges.The asphalt is crumbling and the grills are missing but it’s quiet and close to Abilene. Camping is free with a 48 hour limit.

  Accessibility is limited. The tables are on concrete pads without ramps or access to the ends.The asphalt parking areas and roads make rolling around easy. The lake shore is pretty muddy.

I couldn’t find an official website. This site has some good maps of the park and surrounding area. SeaBee Park
32.54045, -99.71048

National Museum of the Pacific War

   Plan on spending most of a day or even two at this museum. There are actually three museum buildings, a Japanese garden, and several memorial areas. Admission tickets are good for 48 hours.

  We only made it partway through the main building, the George H.W.Bush Gallery. Everything is handicapped accessible - ramps to the entrance, push button doors, a low section on the ticket desk, and concrete floors. All the signs and displays were easy to view.

  Parking is at the visitor’s center which is directly across the street from the main building. The lot is large enough for RVs but may be crowded on weekends. The sidewalks and curb cuts are all in excellent condition. Pacific War Museum
30.27204, -98.86794

San Antonio Botanical Garden

   Most wheelchair users will need to have some help to cover all of the different areas in this garden mostly because of the hilly terrain. Sections of some of the garden areas are not accessible or difficult for various reasons. The Sensory Garden has a steep downhill ramp leading into it. The Japanese Garden and a couple of the greenhouses have steps or uneven, narrow paving. The Cactus Garden has loose gravel.The East Texas Pineywoods isn’t paved but the ground is hard packed.

  The far parking lot is large enough for RVs parked sideways across the spaces but it’s an uphill push to the garden entrance. Botanical Garden
29.45975, -98.45745