Tucumcari, NM
Site:
Tucumcari KOA
Site: 41
Wifi: Verizon - Pretty much nothing / ATT - 15 down, 5 up
Cost: $42/night
Noise: None
We were supposed to stay in Alamosa, but fate had us stuck in Santa Fe getting fixed longer than intended. We were done with the repairs around 3:30pm, but didnt want to drive around in the dark, so we needed someplace closer than Alamosa. Tucumcari KOA had open spots, and we love being able to book online so that is where life took us. The actual KOA is pretty standard. The spots were incredibly close together, and you shared green space with your neighbor. However the office was well stocked, with incredibly friendly hosts who didnt have the fake happy “WELCOME TO THE KOA!” like some of the bigger corporate ones do. It was nice to be able to talk to such genuine people. They offered local recommendations and chatted with me while I waited for food from their cafe. Our spot was right next to the restroom, and it was nicely renovated. The showers were a little odd in that the changing stalls were short - I could see over them, and I’m 5’7”. The laundry was on the more expensive side but that’s just a KOA for you.
City
Tucumcari, NM
Tucumcari’s slogan is Tucumcari Tonight! We weren’t there for long, but it didnt look like there was much to do in the way of nightlife. It’s known for being a spot on Route 66, and they are very proud of that. There are a lot of buildings with art for Route 66 painted on the side. That said, a lot of the buildings were closed or abandoned. It looks like the town had a rough time when the Route 66 road stopped being such a main attraction. The town itself had all the basic amenities, but again we didnt stay long enough to really find anything to do.
Restaurant:
Tucumcari’s famous restaurant is Watson’s BBQ. It was snowing on our explore day, so Ron went and grabbed some to go. Pulled pork was delicious, as was the BBQ sauce, but the real star was the sugar cookies. We would go back for the sugar cookies alone.
