We are so incredibly lucky to have found our new “home” after only two days into our RV career. We love it at Kiva. Our ending up here was pure coincidence… providence played a major role.
Before leaving Utah, we installed Bluetooth radios in both vehicles (the Truck and the Element) so we could talk on our iPhones “hands free” without having to resort to an earpiece. We also got a nifty little device that would let us charge our phones with the vehicle DC AUX outlet. Our plan was to switch the phone charger between each vehicle when we stopped for gas. You know how plans can go… and we forgot to switch and Shirley’s phone went dead around 5:30 pm on Oct 8, 2014 when we were 40 or so miles south of Albuquerque NM. I resolved to stop at the next exit that had a gas station so Shirley and I could resume our constant communication link.
I saw a Phillips 66 billboard by exit 175, so I pulled off the highway in the no-where’s ville town of Bernardo. Unfortunately there was no gas station. Ooops. The billboard was advertising a later exit! However, there was a large open field right off of the exit that I could pull the fifth wheel into. I figured we’d at least switch the charger between the vehicles. And as we were doing that, it started to get dark and threaten rain.
Hmm… we’d been driving since 6 am and we were pretty tired and not in the mood to stay the night dry camping at a Rest Stop again. The semi-trucks that park right next to you can be very, very noisy (especially the refrigeration ones). This hard lesson we learned the prior night at a Rest Stop a little north of Moab UT. Plus, not being able to extend the slide outs meant that Shirley and I had to share the bed in the bedroom, along with Izzy. It was tough. My snoring would keep Shirley awake, and then I tried hard not to snore and couldn’t sleep myself. Needless to say, not very restful.
That’s when we noticed the large Kiva RV Park and Horse Motel sign just behind us. So, we hopped in the Element and drove into the Park to check out the rates and spot availability. We were interested in the park, but did not want to stay at the horse motel. Barns are nice and all, buuuuttt…. Turned out that the rate was reasonable (only $28), and they had a spot for us that had a 50A electrical hookup, water, our very own sewer dump, wi-fi, and plenty of room for our slide outs. It sounded like heaven after our prior night.
Kiva RV Park accepts all sorts of dogs 🙂
It turned out that Kiva RV Park was looking for some work campers to help them out. And for some mysterious reason they thought we’d be good for the job. They must have been desperate. We weren’t too sure… we really were not looking for a “job.” But the people seemed really nice (we talked to the manager, the other work camper couple, and some of the “permanent” RV residents), the park was very neat and clean and had lots of trees (a bit of a rarity in the boonies of New Mexico), and the more we heard about New Mexico, the more interesting it seemed. In return for working two 11-1/2 hour days per week, we would get an RV site, electricity, water, sewer, wi-fi, laundry, coffee, and a great family-feel small community of people who supported each other. Plus, they are super pet-friendly here and they love Izzy. So we agreed to camp host up through Dec 1st.
Shirley got the “outdoors” set of tasks (picking up dog poop, raking leaves, leading people to their RV sites with a golf cart, trimming trees and bushes, turning on/off irrigation water, repairing broken water spigots, dumping the trash trailer, etc.). I got the “indoors” set of tasks (primarily manning the office/clubhouse… answering the phone, taking reservations, checking people in and keeping the paperwork and taking the money, making coffee, washing dishes, cleaning floors, feeding and cleaning up after the clubhouse dog and parrot, keeping people happy, and of course, playing pool on a yard sale table, etc.).
The Park owner (Bob) is a cheeky fellow from England and his wife (Diane) is an expert horse rider. The park manager and her husband (Reba and Gene) are the sweetest, down-to-earth people you could ever meet. They are simply delightful. We really enjoy them.
And after a couple of weeks of being at Kiva, we revised that end date to “unknown, but we are not planning on leaving soon.” So, Kiva is now our current new home sweet home. We love it here.
Kiva RV Park and Horse Motel entrance sign. Notice the “Yes” to Guns Allowed notice!
Kiva RV Park – a view of one of our temporary neighbors
Kiva RV Park – How the park generally looks in the winter.
Kiva RV Park – The worst snow storm that most of the folks around could remember. It took it 3 or 4 days to melt!
