What a night! I still struggle with the complete silence that envelopes you here at night. I suffer from tinnitus and as such when it’s as quiet as it is in the desert, the only sound I hear is literally in my head.
As for darkness, well. As you can tell from the picture in the last post taken at about 4:00am this morning (& reposted below), it gets REALLY dark out here and with there being no tall trees, the sky is REALLY big.
This was the westernmost point in our trip and today we head eastward back to Picacho, AZ. Nope, not to look for Pokémon, but to camp for the next three nights.
Marmalade on cornmeal muffins with coffee
Painted Rocks Petroglyph Park
Returning to the I-8E we pass the Solana Generating Plant, a very large parabolic trough solar power plant capable of generating enough electricity to power 70,000 homes!
Solana Generating Plant
Picacho Peak State Park is known for its wildflowers and hiking trails so we are really looking forward to the next few days. Due to a water shortage in the area, they are asking all campers to arrive with a full water tank as there is no potable water available in the park.
The drive back towards Casa Grande and down to Picacho is uneventful and rather than write anything about todays drive I ask you to re-read yesterdays blog backwards (kidding). 😜
Picacho Peak, AZ
We arrived at the park shortly after 1:00pm and it’s busy with lots of day use folks out for a hike. The campground is flagged as being full, however the sites are nicely separated and so it seems quieter than we expected (Ontario Parks take note).
It’s time to leave Tuscon and continue our journey. The days are definitely getting warmer here yet the nights are still chilly. I awakened this morning wishing I had my extra blanket last night. So, up again at 6:00 and out for my walk. Nobody else seems to be awake yet, probably because it’s Saturday.
Today will see us head to the most westerly point we will achieve on this trip, but more on that later. First, we have to strike camp and hit the road. A shower followed with a light breakfast sets us up for the day. Packing away goes smoothly and we’re off the site by 9:30. Traffic in Tuscon is light being a Saturday, but still as frantic as ever it seems, particularly the nutty motorcyclists that choose to weave between lanes and traffic far above the speed limit all while wearing just a tee-shirt and jeans.
Tuscon and area, heading NW.
North of Tuscan the desert returns intermixed more and more agriculture. Eventually we leave the I-10W and begin passing lots of open farmland. It’s heavily irrigated from long drainage canals that run alongside the roads. Looking at the crop we were confused as it appears to be Alfalfa, in the desert? Sure enough, a little further along we see a farmer cutting the crop and sure enough it’s Alfalfa being cut in March! But for what?
Large Alfalfa bales drying on the sun
That question is answered a little further along as we pass a huge dairy farm. Due to the climate the barns are all open sided and silage is ramped for use later in the year. This farm has to have in excess of 500 cows plus younger animals. It will not be the last such farm we see like this today, nor the largest.
Huge dairy farm near Casa Grande, AZ
We finally arrive in Coolidge, AZ at our first stop of the day, Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. The site contains the remains of a village from around the 1300s. The main attraction is a large multistory adobe structure named ‘Casa Grande’ (Big House). There have been very few of these ever discovered and it is now protected from the elements under a large steel structure. The thought is that this site acted as an important trading site in the area and was important amongst the Hohokam tribes that lived in this area 700 years ago.
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
Leaving Coolidge, we drove to the city of Casa Grande where we reprovisioned at Walmart and picked up lunch from an Firehouse Subs. Argh, it’s Saturday and everyone in town is out shopping. It seems.
We leave town and head West on I-8W. It could take us to San Diego, CA if we wanted but our goal was much closer and far less occupied. Tonight we would set up camp on BLM land at the Painted Rocks Petroglyph Site and Campground near Dateland, AZ. $8/night without any services to camp in the desert away from it all. There are other campers here as well, but there is lots of room between us and so it feels almost as if we’re all alone.
BLM camping
In the late afternoon we wander around the Painted Rocks and observe petroglyphs that are 1000s of years old.
Painted Rocks petroglyphs
As the sun sets the magic begins. One by one the stars appear, these is no light intrusion here as we’re far enough away from any urban area. The moon unfortunately is almost full which obscures half of the stars in the sky. However, those we do see are brilliant.
SunsetStargazing. The shadow is caused by the moon.MoonshadowBig Dipper over the van
At 4:00am I awake and take a look outside. The moon has set and now the sky is full of stars, even the milky way is visible, I’ve include a picture below.
As we extended our stay at this park by one day we have to move sites to accommodate other reservations. Not a problem as we have plans to go ‘off-site’ today.
Another beautiful morning, another walk about the park. It seems a little emptier as I walk about, a few more vacant sites than I recalled from yesterday. It is March 31 so maybe some snowbirds are beginning their migrations home. Not yet for us.
Today we are visiting the PIMA Air & Space museum. It’s just a few miles from the park so only took a few minutes to get there. It contains a large exhibit both indoors and outdoors of over 400 aircraft on an 80 acre site. Given its location the majority of aircraft are American but they do also have many from elsewhere around the world, including Canada, Great Britain, Italy, France, Russia, Germany and Japan.
PIMA Air & Space museumWright Flyer
We chose to include a tram tour of the outdoor displays so as to get the narrated description of the aircraft on display.
Boeing 707 ‘Air Force One’
NASA’s recently retired SOFIA flying observatory
Consolidated PBY-5A ‘Canso’
I’ve included a few of the pictures above that we took while visiting. We enjoyed our few hours and of course picked up a pin for our collection from the gift shop.
Returning to Lazydays RV Resort we acquired our new site for the night and proceeded to setup camp before going to the on-site restaurant and getting some chicken tacos and ice cream to enjoy on our site.
Barrel cactus in bloom
This was our last full day in this park and we’ve really enjoyed our stay. Although it was nice to stop and relax for a few days our adventurous nature is making us want to explore more of Arizona. So, check back again and see where we go from here!
Good day. So another restful night here in Tuscon, AZ. The morning sun rises early into the clear blue sky, yet it is cool at only 2C. I repeated yesterdays walk and then headed to the shower. The shower gets an 8/10 but there are signs that indicate the parks is renovating the comfort stations this summer.
Eggs & bacon for breakfast on the patio before retreating to the van for some reading. I picked up Andy Weir’s book, Artemis when we were at the Space Center Houston and today started reading it.
While I dive into the new book, Barb decides to do something with the Seville oranges we picked by making Marmalade. She had found that we have enough sugar with us for the number of oranges we picked. (BTW, shout-out to my Mom who later in the day after reading yesterdays blog suggested we make marmalade). As you can see below, it looks like it turned out rather well.
Marmalade!
After our lunchtime sandwich we picked a few more grapefruit and then took a walk to return the picker. I captured a few more pictures of the resort to give you a better idea of the place.
Picking grapefruit
Lazy Days RV Resort, Tuscon, AZ
We enjoyed fajita wraps for dinner and settled in for the evening. I finished the book I had started earlier today (highly recommended). That’s four novels completed on this trip. I’m now eyeing up one or two of Barb’s books to read.
Tomorrow we have to move to a new site, so hopefully it’s as nice as this one.
First full day parked in Tuscon. I should have slept in but nooo, I had to be up at 6:00am for no known reason. Ok, time for a walk then. The park is large enough that I walked along every roadway and it totaled a 5km walk. Nice.
Breakfast included fresh grapefruit from a tree next to our site. Yummy!
Handpicked citrus
After breakfast we spent the morning making reservations for the remaining parks on this trip. We are far enough along now that we can say for certain where and when we will be at a given location. This proved a little harder than we have previously experienced as it includes booking sites over the Easter weekend. We had to make a few adjustments and cut out a couple of places we had planned to go because of lack of site availability. The good news is that we now have all of the reservations we need and so can now relax and enjoy the days as they arrive.
Citrus and cactus in the park
Just before lunch we visited the registration office and extended our stay here by one day. We will have to move to another site, but that’s not a big deal. We also borrowed a citrus fruit picker so that we can get a few more grapefruit from higher up in the trees. We also learned that the few oranges we can find are Seville oranges which are NOT sweet. More on that tomorrow.
During lunch we had some new neighbors pull in that have driven here (via Florida) from Burlington, ON. So we had a good chat and loaned them our fruit picker.
As the afternoon got warmer, 29C, we decided a visit to the pool was in order. We floated around for a while and then retreated to our site for strawberry daiquiris and to do some reading.
Barb spotted both a Roadrunner and a Northern Mockingbird on our site. We’ve been watching out for Roadrunners as we drove through the desert only to finally see one at our RV park site in the city.
Roadrunner zipping through our site. Beep Beep.Northern Mockingbird in the citrus tree on our site.
Dinner was grilled steak, mashed potatoes and a salad which like all of our meals here we enjoyed outdoors. The evenings outdoors get cool quickly after the sun goes down and so after a phone call to my parents, we retired into the van for the evening to watch a little TV. I suspect that tomorrow will be a wash, rinse & repeat kind of day. Nice. 🌴😎
Three weeks into this trip and today will be the hottest yet with a forecast high of 28C. Ahh. 😎
To follow on from yesterdays theme of ‘Stranger things’, we awoke this morning to the notification that we had crossed into a new time-zone. Hey! Wait a minute, AZ is in Mountain time, isn’t it? Yes, yes it is… but they do not observe DST and as such in early March they do not turn their clocks ahead thereby effectively moving themselves into the Pacific timezone until October. We are now 3hrs behind our family at home.
Barb rates the showers here a solid 9/10 yet I feel I should remove a point as they decide to clean the restrooms at 10am a full hour before checkout even though the sign on the outside of the building indicates that they clean at 11am. Grumble.
Driving today is split into two parts, the first taking us to Tombstone, AZ and the second to Tuscon, AZ where we will be stopping for 3 nights.
The drive to Tombstone started on the now very familiar I-10W for 30min and just outside of Willcox, over the first mountain range the scenery suddenly changed to be that of a giants rock garden. The rocks (boulders) look as if they simply been strewn about by a group of unruly teenage giants. Of course, they exist as they do because over time the softer rock around them has simply washed away leaving these boulders to rest as they do. Quite a sight.
Southern Arizona
Leaving the I-10W and turning South towards Tombstone we cross ranch land where the road simply cuts through a farmers ranch and entry and exit from the farm is made by crossing a cattle-grate. A smattering of Pecan orchards are still seen but it’s mostly open ranch land before after 30min we arrive in Tombstone.
Tombstone, AZ is most famously known as the site of the ‘gunfight at the OK corral’ but the town, like many in the West had its start in mining when silver and gold were found in the mid 1800s. The town has experienced three massive fires throughout its history and the mines have also been closed multiple times because of flooding. After each catastrophe many have thought it would be the end of Tombstone, but no it lives on earning the nickname “The town that will not die”.
Tombstone, AZ
The town today lives on as a National Historic Site and survives on the tourism industry. It’s kitschy and yet not overly done. Sure we purchased tickets to the live reenactment of the ‘shootout’ that is performed several time a day but the town feels honest. The Main Street is unpacked and has horse rails and the sidewalks are boardwalks under the eaves of the storefronts. There are no modern establishments made to look like they existed in the 1800s, the stores are all small craftspeople outlets making and selling leather goods, jewelry, tobacco. The restaurants are old saloons that now serve food as well as whiskey. We had a great time, and would recommend this for anyone traveling in the area.
Gunfight at the OK Corral
Leaving Tombstone we were required to pass through a US Border Patrol checkpoint (you get used to these down here, even on the interstates) we retraced our steps North, back to the I-10W where we joined the highway into Tuscon. We are staying at the KOA Lazydays RV park at the SouthWest corner of the city. Although busy the site we have is spacious and has a patio and it’s own Orange tree (no oranges, Boo). There are however Grapefruit and Lemon trees about the park that they welcome visitors to pick and enjoy.
Today is planned to be a day of travel as we head into Southern Arizona. Up by 6:30am and out for my walk through a new housing development near the KOA. Total distance of 4.3km with a 79m elevation gain, phew. Nice homes being built here in the southwestern adobe style that is so popular. The development is on a hilltop and has wonderful views across the Rio Grande valley and Las Cruces.
It was while walking that I saw the first unusual thing of the day, a scrap metal roadrunner structure perched on the hilltop adjacent to I-10. No picture taken though.
Breakfast and packing up was the typical routine and we were on the road shortly after 10:00am. We settled into the drive and were again marveling at the starkness of the desert along with the surprise of yellow poppies that grow in the verges along the highway.
Yellow poppies
We stopped in Deming, NM at the Walmart to reprovision as supplies were starting to run a little low.
Leaving Deming we returned to the I-10W where our windshield was struck by a small rock. Damn! A small chip now exists near the middle of the windshield. It does not spread the remainder of the day so will see what happens.
Further along the I-10W closer to the NM/AZ border we passed the continental divide and then ‘Fraggle Rock’. Some of you may recall the children’s TV show in the 1980s of the same name. The rock we saw today is simply a large pile of rocks with the name painted on the side facing the highway.
Fraggle rock
Shortly afterwards we arrived at the NM/AZ border and stopped to have lunch at a rest stop on the south side of the highway. It’s the NM visitor center so we took a picture of the ‘Welcome’ sign as we didn’t pass one when we entered NM a few days ago.
I know, we’re actually leaving the state, but…
The far Western side of NM is prone to dust storms and strong winds. We came upon a couple of these strong gusts accompanied by tumbleweeds. Luckily we were able to avoid hitting any tumbleweeds.
In NM they have many large signs warning of dust storms, zero visibility and actions to take if caught in one. Entering AZ the signs changed to state that the area is prone to blowing dust. Meh.
Dust storm warnings
Welcome to Arizona!
A little further along the highway we pulled off for fuel at the hometown of movie character John Rambo the much anticipated Bowie, AZ. There is a mural of Rambo at the gas station and a picture had to be taken so we are sharing below. There’s nothing else in Bowie that we could see, and I mean nothing.
Besides the desert we were also accompanied all day by Union Pacific trains running on tracks that Paralleled the interstate.
One of many UP trains seen today
Our stopover tonight is the KOA in Willcox, AZ. as this will setup our touring tomorrow. All for today. Good night.
Sleep in the overflow camping area was easy. Peaceful. We were awake early and enjoyed muffins and coffee to start the day. I walked about the campground again and marveled at how rugged the landscape is and the type of person it would have taken to settle on it over 150years ago.
Good morning sunshine.
Packed up, off the site and tanks dumped by shortly after 10:00am. Seems to be our preferred departure time. We headed to the gas station and filled up the van for what today will be a fairly short drive.
Our first and only stop of the day would be at the White Sands National Park. It was only about 30 minutes from Alamogordo and we soon arrived. $25 entrance fee (yikes!) and one road into the sand dunes. It was paved about 2/3s of the way and then we were driving on hard packed sand. We drove back to the primary area where folks seem to go and hike about and found a mostly empty parking area.
White Sands, NM
The dunes are pure white sand, almost appearing to be snow or table salt. It is actually gypsum crystals that have formed from the repeated submerging of the land in sea water and evaporation of that water millions of years ago. The dunes are about 30ft tall and we were free to climb and walk about on them.
White Sands selfie
A common pastime is to bring a toboggan or sled and use the dunes like they are snow. Many people were sliding and taking pictures of themselves frolicking in the sand. Not us. First, we have no sled and 2nd we’ve sledded on real snow. Instead, we took off our sandals and climbed the dunes only to find the sand cold. Yep, the sun was blazing and unlike any beach we had walked on the sand was cold to the touch. We took some pictures and looked about and then returned to the van as the sun was blinding.
Fun with panorama pictures
In fairness people are advised to cover up, apply sunscreen, where dark glasses and drink lots of water. We did not cover up or apply sunscreen but we both wore dark glasses and hats and drank lots of water (the air is really dry in New Mexico). The air temperature was only 17C but the sun was blazing and if we were to be out for more than the hour that we were, sunscreen would have been essential as there’s nowhere to hide.
We stopped briefly at the gift shop on the way out to pick up a pin for in our van and then we were on our way to Las Cruces, NM where we have a spot reserved at the KOA for the night.
White Sands souvenirs.
However, before arriving at our destination we had to cross a mountain range. The highway was really good (albeit an almost dead straight road most of the way) and had a slow lane for the trucks and us on the ascent. The descent went rather quickly and before we knew it we had arrived into Las Cruces.
Our plan was to stop at a Mexican restaurant recommended to us for lunch before going to the park for the night. It being a Sunday and the restaurant being in a historic area with very narrow streets and no parking my stress level went way up as I tried to simply navigate the streets and not hit anything low or higher up like a tree. Not finding an obvious place to park a rig the size of our van in such an environment we drove onwards to the KOA and settled in for the night. It’s a really nice park and our site has split rail fencing and a patch of grass and 2 trees! Maybe we can find a nice place to enjoy lunch tomorrow.
Good news, we awoke in the same place we parked last evening. The winds dropped fairly quickly last night and it was peaceful on the range.
We departed before 10:00am and headed towards Carlsbad, NM. First a quick stop in Whites City to take a couple of pictures.
Whites City, NM
Carlsbad is a fairly large town with all of the associated amenities should you need them. We stopped for gas and moved on.
Heading North on SR-285, we drive to Artesia and came across several orchards of Pecan trees. We turned West onto SR-82 and drove through the nicely decorated town center. Heading out of town we were buzzed by student pilots practicing touch-and-go circuits at the local airport.
Pecan trees, Artesia, NM
Continuing West we entered ranch land. Lots of cattle ranches with large gates with names above them along with their branding symbol. Slowly at first and then more noticeably, the land climbed into the foothills of the Sacramento Mountains and onto the Lincoln National Forest. The grasslands became conifer forests as the road climbed to 8,676ft as we entered Cloudcroft, a small town clearly a year-round outdoor destination that had a small but quaint downtown, food trucks and BBQ joints. The ski hill was closed for the season but there were still a few remnants of snow from this past Winter to be seen.
Changing scenery on the way to Cloudcroft, NM
Cloudcroft, NM
We stopped and picked up pastries from a small bakery and tacos from a well reviewed food truck.
Lunch and bakery treats!
The road from here was all downhill, literally. 6% grades for several miles westward has us taking it easy on the brakes and letting the transmission do its job of managing the speed. We stopped halfway down at a rest stop to eat our Mexican lunch (delicious) and take a few photos before completing the 6% descent into Almagordo, NM.
Lunch stop on the way to Alamogordo, NM
Our destination is the Oliver Lee Memorial State Park just South of town. No reservation but they tend to have some ‘walk-in’ sites available. We arrived at about 2:30pm and all of the walk-in sites had been taken and all reservation sites were booked for the night.
We were contemplating our next steps when the park host came by and told us that he had room for one rig in the ‘overflow’ area. We took it. No services where we are camping but we have access to the comfort station should we need it and can dump our tanks before leaving. Good for one night!
Overflow camping, Oliver Lee Memorial State Park, NMThe end of another beautiful day
Good morning. We woke at 8:00am to the wind still blowing and a forecast of very strong winds this afternoon. The night was quiet (putting aside the aforementioned wind). No coyotes or other critters about.
Today we are visiting the Carlsbad Caverns, a well known large cave system in the Guadeloupe mountain range of New Mexico. We have entrance tickets for 12:30pm and so take the morning easy relaxing in the van (to windy and sandy to sit outside comfortably).
We arrived at the Carlsbad cavern visitor center at 12:15pm and were allowed to start our self-guided tour immediately. We had heard that they were strict about observing entry times based on reservations so this was a nice surprise.
We chose to walk into the caverns using the natural entrance as opposed to taking an available elevator directly down the the ‘Big room’ so as to fully experience the caves.
Natural entrance into Carlsbad caverns
The entrance is huge and is a good indicator of how large this cave system is. They have bat viewings at the entrance in the evenings when the bats swarm out of the caves into the sky to hunt for insects, we were not planning to stay quite that long.
Slowly receding from the light of day
The caves slowly get darker but there are plenty of low level lights that show you the way of the walkway.
The walk down the entrance cave is done on a paved walkway with stainless steel hand rails, there are only a few stairs in very steep sections. As per the signs at the entry, we had to walk down about 750’ (230m) or the equivalent of 75 stories (the height of the Empire State Building in New York).
Along the walkway down the natural entrance cave
In a nutshell, this is one big hole in the ground! It took us about an hour to descend to the level of the ‘Big room’ which is the main spectacle of the cave system stretching many hundreds of feet in multiple directions and containing so many different stalactite and stalagmite formations all lit with accent lighting. The temperature in the caves was a little warmer than we expected at 12C and so the sweaters we wore were off before we completed the descent.
Navigation map when you arrive in the ‘Big room’
Our walk about the ‘Big room lasted about an hour before we chose to take the elevator back up to the visitor center which of course drops you off directly in the gift shop. We purchased a couple of pins for our collection before departing.
Carlsbad Caverns, Big RoomElevator information
In all we were in the caves for a little over 2 hours and really enjoyed the experience. The walk down is not hard but your knees and legs do get quite a workout. You do not need to be Uberfit to complete the walk, but you will want to take advantage of the seating provided along the walkway to rest, hydrate and enjoy the various views.
Not our van, but a serious German adventurer
We drive back to the BLM land on which we camped last night and managed to snag the same site.
The winds had risen significantly while we were underground with wind gusts now at 64km/h. These are supposed to drop steadily overnight, so hopefully we will awake in the same place we parked.
The wind let up around midnight and the cool air arrived bringing with it a heavy morning dew and fog down in the valley. We slept in. We ate a simple breakfast. We organized the van for a day of travel. We vacated the overlook parking area at 10:00am.
Good morningLooking back up the valley to where we stayedRemains of Fort Lancaster, TX
We headed West down the SR-290 towards Sheffield, TX. Stopping briefly at the Fort Lancaster visitor center to take a photo of the fort ruins. Sheffield is a depressing, small town that time appears to have forgotten about around the time the I-10 bypassed the community.
Returning to the I-10W we continued toward Fort Stockton, TX where we stopped at the visitor center. The town mascot is a large Roadrunner statue that stands across the road from the visitor center. The visitor center itself is in a renovated train station that stands beside a SantaFe rail line that ran into Mexico. It’s no longer used.
Fort Stockton, TX
We tried to procure a coffee at the local McDonalds but it was being overrun by teenagers when we arrived and so we chose to move on.
Leaving Fort Stockton our route turned NorthWest on SR-285 towards Pecos. We were entering Texas oil country. Everywhere we looked there are oil pumps, storage tanks, pumping stations and refineries. The oddest sight to us were the workers camps setup along the side of the highway that consisted of rows of RV shelters and temporary housing structures. The road was undergoing a major reconstruction and as such there were many reduced speed zones.
West Texas Oil
Arriving in Pecos, TX we stopped at the Pecos Museum where we parked in the RV parking area and made lunch in the van. Afterwards we walked about and took some photos around the museum.
Pecos, TX
The SR-285 North of Pecos was also under construction right to the New Mexico border, which, because of construction was marked by a bump in the road. No “Welcome to New Mexico” sign. Construction continued into NM however, reduced speed limits of 45mph instead of the Texan reduced speed limits of 65mph meant much slower progress was made. Eventually we turned from the SR-285 cross country towards Whites City.
We are trying for the first time camping on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land. This is US Gov’t owned land and is open for public use. Camping is considered ‘off-grid’ as there are no amenities or even paved roads. Site selection is on a first come first served basis. We have chosen a spot about 500yds away from the highway on a dirt track in the middle of the desert. It is windy, but peaceful. Yes, there is some limited cell phone coverage. We plan on staying here for a couple of days.
A bit of tidying up and a quick breakfast and we were ready for the road. Oh wait, the water tank needs filling and the other tanks need emptying. Ok, so 10:00am and we’re driving off of our site to the dump station, no waiting, we’re #1. No no issues, time to head west.
Our journey took us out of Austin westward on SR-290 and started as multi-lane highway that all-to-shortly ended at a construction zone. The 290 is an older highway that weaves its way westward across the state. After many traffic lights we were in the country, it was still cloudy and humid after the recent rain. The city had fallen away to Texas Hill Country, the flora was changing to be more tolerant of drought with the trees becoming fewer and the grasslands dominating the landscape.
West of Austin, TX
Johnson City, TX. Not a place we stopped in but clearly the beginning of Texas wine country. Between Johnson City and Fredericksburg there are hundreds of wineries and a few distilleries. Some with interesting names, some trying to sound European, and a few just off the wall, like “Fat Ass Brewery” (where the ass is shown as an outline of a mule). Typically Texan, the wineries and tasting rooms are enormous, some even castle-like in size and appearance so it must be making financial sense to grow grapes and make wine in Texas.
Wineries & Brewery’s in Texas
Fredericksburg, TX
Eventually the SR-290 merged into the I-10W. The surroundings were now clearly desert-like as there are few trees and lots of low scrub. Texans like driving fast, the speed limit is 80mph (130kph) which most seem to exceed. Not us, 75mph is plenty for the van, especially today as the winds have come up and are blowing across the highway not allowing me to relax at all. The temperature is now 29C (up from 17C earlier this morning). No, we’re not complaining of the heat but a little moderation might be nice.
We stopped in Junction, TX to have lunch in a park next to a river. It was warm and allowed us to dry out a few items while we ate.
Junction, TX
We stop in Ozona, TX for provisions and fuel. The grocery store, Lowe’s Market, is a typical smaller town grocery store and Barb had some challenges finding exactly what she wanted. However, we will not starve. We decided that Sonic takeout would suffice for dinner and once acquired we were back on the road to our destination.
Fort Lancaster Scenic Overlook (on the old SR-290) had been recommended to us by the Milddogs based on their van trip last year. It’s a picnic area that overlooks an amazing valley. We arrived and chose our spot, there are two other vehicles that look like they’ve settled in for the evening. We ate dinner and then relaxed waiting for sunset. The sunset did not disappoint, the sky was clear except for a few very high clouds that turned a wonderful shade of orange as the sun slipped below the horizon.
Sunset in West Texas
We settled down in the van for the night having been joined in the parking lot by two more campervans. As the sky darkened, the stars began to show themselves and what a show. The sky is pitch black, there is no light intrusion from civilization, the stars are brilliant.
Good night all.
P.S. The Milddogs to which we have referred in several of these posts are our friends from home. They too have a campervan and have been traveling about Texas for the past few weeks. Our paths crossed and so we cross-posted in our respective blogs. Please give them a read if you have some time.
Yep, we’re still here. The weather though… ugh. Awoke to light rain that was not forecast. Result: the walk was wet today.
Because of the lack of rain in the forecast we decided to leave our chairs and outdoor rug outside overnight. They are wet and full of sow bugs and beetles. Yuck.
Breakfast was leftover pancakes and bacon with maple syrup. Mmm.
After lunch we accompanied our friends, the Milddogs, on a walk to a few of the interesting sites within the park. We started by walking to the upper falls and then to ‘Old Baldy’ a large and very old Bald Cypress tree. Then onto a cave in the riverbank that was a prehistoric home. By this time the rain intensity had increased to that of being uncomfortable and so we returned to our campsite to dry off.
Upper McKinney Falls
After drying off we returned to Camp Milddogs for some late afternoon banter and drinks before returning to the van for dinner.
After dinner we hosted the Milddogs for a final evening of cards before they and us each head in our own directions tomorrow to conclude our camping trips. It’s been fun catching up with good friends and being able to swap ideas and tips that we can use while traveling. Bon Voyage mon amis.
Our evening was concluded by getting a jump on preparing for departure tomorrow by loading the bikes and putting away a few items. It is supposed to be a warm 17C overnight, so no heaters or heavy blankets will be required. Tomorrow the heat is supposed to arrive. Stay tuned.
Another chilly start to the day with the temperature being only 6C outside the inside of the van was only 11C. So, turned on the heater before getting up for the day.
After a cup of coffee it was time for my morning walk which took me 4.5km around the campground on a mixed-use trail. It was fairly easy walking with a few hills and one steep descent. The area has mixed hardwoods as well as some cactus and lots of wildflowers. It looks like it does in May at home yet I’m constantly reminding myself that it’s only March. I came across an entire meadow of Texas Bluebonnets (state flower).
Texas Bluebonnets
Back at camp, we cooked pancakes and bacon for brunch and enjoyed it outside at the picnic table.
After brunch we got our bikes out and rode them about the park exploring other sights, including both the lower and upper falls which we concluded are probably very popular in the hotter months as places to come and cool off.
McKinney Falls (lower & upper)
Flora about the park
Our friends, Mr & Mrs Milddogs arrived later in the afternoon and we caught up on what we had seen and found.
For dinner I tackled grilling steak, onions & peppers. The steak was sliced and chopped and the mixture applied to buns and smothered in provolone cheese which was then toasted. Mmmmm, cheesesteak sandwiches.
The day was finished up playing cards with the Milddogs in their van. Tomorrow looks to be rainy, so we’ll have to see what we’ll chose to do.
Another chilly and windy morning awaited us today. Overcast conditions persisted; however, we were heading inland today, away from the coast so maybe it will warm up and be a little nicer.
Goose Island State Park, Day 2
The morning walk was shorter than usual, but as I met and walked with Mr. Milddogs it was faster than my usual pace. That was enough for the morning as I felt I would do a little more after arriving at our new destination later in the afternoon.
Packing up of the van went well and we were on our way just before the noon checkout time. We started by retracing our drive North for about half an hour before heading NorthWest towards Cuero, TX where we stopping at the municipal park and ate lunch next to the lake where we were joined by some ducks and geese.
Heading North towards Tivoli, TXCuero, TX
From Cuero we headed to Luling where we found the water tower painted as a huge watermelon. Next, and most importantly, can Lockhart, TX. which is evidently the BBQ capital of Texas. This can be proven by the number of BBQ restaurants/takeout places in the town. We got gas, groceries and finally BBQ brisket dinners before continuing.
Luling, TXTexas BBQ from Lockhart, TX
About 30minutes further along the road we arrived at our destination for the next 3 nights, McKinney Falls State Park, Austin, TX.
The sign at park entrance stated “Campground Full” so we were glad to have reservations. Our campsite is a drive through designed for large fifth wheel trailers or motor homes, our campervan had plenty of options as to where and how to park.
McKinney Falls State Park, Site 9, Austin, TX
As the evening drew to a close the “Campground Full” sign came back to mind and I wondered where everyone was. The sites here seem huge and thus the title of this post ‘…there doesn’t seem to be anyone around.”
Another chilly (not chilli) morning. A coffee and a muffin to start the day and then off for a walk about the park. It was cold and drizzly so I opted for sweatpants, sweatshirt, rain jacket, hat & light gloves. It really is that cold (or so I thought).
The walk was nice and it wasn’t long before I realized I had over dressed. It was intermittently raining so the jacket was required but I could have done without the sweatshirt and gloves.
We are staying at Goose Island State Park for another night but have to move a few sites to the right as the current site is reserved for someone else.
Mr. & Mrs. Milddogs are joining us at the park tonight and will be on the site next to us. While I was walking the park this morning, I received a text from Mr. Milddogs offering to pickup Texas BBQ lunch for us. We quickly accepted the offer.
We did a quick pack-the-van and backed off of our site by 11:45am. Stopping at the camp office they gave us a new site tag for tonight. We then headed off to look at the parks main attraction ‘The Big Tree’.
It is what the package describes, a big tree. In fairness, it is a ‘Live Oak’ that is estimated to be more than 1000 years old. When compared to many trees like it in the area, it is clearly much larger. The tree has a split rail fence surrounding it to protect its roots and to discourage people from climbing.
Returning to the campground, we setup on our new site and then added a few decorations in celebration of Mrs Milddogs birthday. Yay!
Upon arrival, the Milddogs quickly established their site and brought the BBQ brisket over to our site and we all enjoyed lunch and catching up. It was great to see them and the afternoon passed quickly as we swapped stories ‘from the road’.
Mr. Milddogs noticed another van further along the park as also being from our home area and checked with his cottage neighbor who confirmed that it was his son. So they popped over to say hello for a few minutes before joining us again in our van for an evening of cards. Much laughter & chatter later, we called it evening.
We restored our van interior to our sleeping setup and settled down for the night.
We were awakened at about 4:00am by the rain and wind. The van was being buffeted about and the rain was intense. This kept going for the next 3 hours as we lightly drifted in and out of sleep. At 7:30 I ventured outside during a quieter period of rain to disconnect the van from the pedestals, heavier rain would return and I didn’t want to get completely soaked ahead of our planned 4 hour drive.
We took our time getting going and having breakfast and waiting for the rain to subside enough so as not to be a hazard when driving. We finally were away shortly before 10:00am. The rain was still falling but really now just as showers although there was lots of water laying about along the sides of the roads.
Texas, USA
We stopped in Lake Jackson where we shopped for groceries at the H-E-B store (fabulous). We then drove to Matagorda beach where we had lunch in the van as the temperature was only 9C and the wind was quite strong.
Salt marsh between mainland and Matagorda Island
After stopping at another Buc-ee’s for gas, we continued on to our destination, Goose Island State Park just outside of Rockport, TX. This will be our most Southerly destination on this trip. Our site is right at the waters edge, the sun has returned and has warmed us up, the wind is mostly blocked from our site. The skies are clear and we’re hoping to starwatch tonight.
A sunny but windy start to our relaxing day on Galveston Island, TX. I decide to walk about the RV park and walk on every road and trail within the park. 6.8km – not bad. Barb goes to the beach and is almost blown back to the park by the onshore winds from the gulf. She sees a few Man-O-War jellyfish on the sand and watches seabirds dance in the wind.
Typical beach houses
Galveston Island beach
The day has been set aside for housekeeping type activities and one will be laundry. Quarters acquired for the machines from the office and laundry is done while showers are taken. No excitement here folks.
Our van amongst trailers
Early after lunch Barb decided to go and float in the lazy river pool they have here. She arrived to find nobody else in the river and so stepped into the water. Minutes later she was back at the van exclaiming that the pools are not heated !
The clouds have now taken over the sky as a harbinger of the weather that will arrive overnight. The wind prevents using the griddle and so we cook in the van on the induction cooktop. We enjoyed chicken fajitas for dinner along with margaritas. After dinner a little reading and then we settled in for a movie, tonight the Swedish version of “The girl with the dragon tattoo”. Dark, sinister and so well filmed.
Tonight we are expecting a cold front to come through with wind and rain. The temperature should be cooler tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Early rise (6:30am), cool temperature (6C), the shower will likely take a while to warm up….. Do I have to get up?
We’re off again today, further Westward. We had to make a small repair to the bike cover last evening as one of the cords that keep the cover snug to the bikes broke. With that done it left only the normal electrical and water disconnects to be done before heading out. After a shower and breakfast.
Showers here get a 3/10 for lack of privacy, security and the ‘eww’ factor. The shower buildings are great, and kept very clean but the showers only have curtains (lack of security for belongings), are open to each other top and bottom (privacy concerns) and because they’re open at the bottom water and filth from your neighbour can spray your way. Thus we showered early when everyone else was asleep. Unfortunately that meant that we warmed the water for all who followed. Brrrr again.
Breakfast was light (coffee, banana & yoghurt) and before we knew it we were pulling out of the site. Farewell Palmetto Island State Park! If back this way we will probably stay here again.
Our route zig-zagged us across country towards I-10. We saw thousands of acres of flooded fields and couldn’t figure them out. The water levels were at times higher than the roads we were driving. Google solved the mystery, they are rice fields from which the farmers harvest crawfish (crayfish). Evidently commercial crawfish farming began in the 1980s when a farmer could make a good living on several hundred acres, now at least 1000 acres is needed to make a go of it. The farmers bag the crawfish in 40lb bags which is the most commonly purchased size.
Crawfish farming
Texas!
Our first stop of the day was at Space Center Houston (SCH) located adjacent to the Johnson Space Center where all NASA astronauts train and all space flights are managed and monitored.
Problem: we retirees forgot that it is March break and the place was crawling with kiddies and their families.
As we had previously visited the Kennedy Space Center in Florida some years ago, many of the exhibits described the same events. There is of course new items and stories from the ISS, JWST, Artemis and the future Mars program so it was easily still worth visiting. We also got to see a Space-X Falcon 9 booster up close which was cool as was the tour of the 747 that ferried Space Shuttles across the country after they landed in California.
Space Center Houston, Houston, TX
We were scheduled to take a tour of the astronaut training facility but the stupid mobile/online registration system unexpectedly cancelled our reservation and it was too late in the day to book another.
From SCH we headed South, wait, which way? Yep, South to a Buc-ee’s in Texas City. Buc-ee’s is a chain of truck stops in and around Texas known for their cleanliness and size, Texas-sized.
Buc-ee’s, Texas City, TX
We started at the gas pumps where we got fuel for a good price from one of what appeared to be 100 or so gas pumps. Never went to see how many truck pumps they had on the other side of the building. The ‘store’ looks more like a Walmart super center when you walk in. HUGE. They appear to sell anything and everything. Lots of food from snacks to hot sandwiches, fresh baked goods, soda pop fountains, coffee (lots of coffee), housewares, camping goods, art, clothing, alcohol, tobacco, bags of ice (ice machines surrounded the building). It was reported to me that the bathrooms are also immaculate and spacious. You can also have a shower here should you need one.
Anyway, we got a few snacks and a couple of hot brisket sandwiches for dinner and headed out towards Galveston island, our stop for the next couple of nights. Barb had snagged a site at the Jamaica Beach RV Resort that became available when someone cancelled. Barb would finally get some beach time.
A cool morning awaited us, it was almost 8:00am and neither of us really wanted to get up because it was just 14C in the van. First up would power on the ceramic heater but the floor would be cold, as would the toilet. Oh well, let’s get at it. Brrrr.
We’d spent the night at Palmetto Island State Park in Louisiana. It really feels like the middle of nowhere, the park is essentially in a bayou on land just a few feet higher than the water. It has the promise of being a place of solitude and peacefulness, that would be if the Texan neighbors with the 4 dogs tied to a post directly across the road would have trained them NOT to bark at anything that moved. Instead they seem hyper-sensitive to movement and bark incessantly.
Palmetto Island State Park, Abbeville, LA
The morning moved slowly and little was done about the van. Breakfast was had, brunch was cooked and enjoyed outside in the cool air but warm sunshine. Bookings were made for the next several nights, and then it happened! The Texan neighbors started packing up! Checkout was 1:00pm and they seemed intent on using every minute they were entitled to before heading back to Houston.
Shortly after lunch the world changed. The Texans pulled out and the park came through in spades with the solitude and peacefulness a place like this promises. Although there are many other sites occupied here today, we could now hear none of them. I think everyone was enjoying that same sound of silence we were experiencing. Bliss!
We untracked our eeee-bikes and decided to ride them about the park, exploring canoe and boat launches, and the cabins that are also available for rent. In all we rode about 12km and relished the beauty and silence of the park. It has to be one of the most peaceful places I have ever experienced.
In the bayou looking for alligators
No. of alligators spotted, zero. Disappointing really as I would have thought we’d see at least one.
No. of black bears spotted, also zero. Also disappointing given the number of warning signs dotted about the park warning people that bears frequent the area.
Light rain moved into the area later in the afternoon just as I was out for my daily walk (7km today), I got wet. We grilled burgers for supper and reloaded the bikes onto the rack ready for the journey tomorrow. The rain returned and we retreated to the warm interior for the evening. Much reading was done today.
Join us again tomorrow when you’ll hear us exclaim …..
