The Sun Comes?

Don blathers: On our first trip in 2006 we had perfect weather for five months. We don’t recall a drop of rain on our 16,000 mile odyssey. Our luck has faded. OK, OK, it’s winter. Still, grumble. It’s been cool, cloudy or raining most of this trip. Sometimes all three! Partly cloudy and warming is forecast for Monday. Thunderstorms back on Wednesday. And so it goes.

More woes. Before we left home I did some work on the toad brake wiring. I failed to adequately re-secure the wire harness, so of course, it dropped down where the most damage could be done to it – hanging below a strut in the back of KoKo. The strut is there to prevent damage to the gray water tank if the rig is driven over too much of a dip. When we exited a restaurant in Bandera, we drug and shorted out the brake wires. Of course, we did not notice this right away. I did notice on the short run to Kerrville that the engine was revving higher than I thought it should on the not all that steep hills. Then Dorothy noticed that the toad brake light indicator was blinking intermittently. So the toad brakes were on a little and slowing us down. How many miles of brake dust we lost is not known yet.

We have eaten out more in the last two months than in any time in our lives.

Rambling on. I note that we are just miles from the 100th parallel. [99.58758] So what? Well, if you draw a line that evenly divides Kansas east/west that is close to the 100th. Then extend the line vertically, north and south. All west of it is much different from the eastern half of the country – water-wise.

Saturday, March 10 - Today is cold and dreary with misty rain. We do not have cell phone or internet coverage here. The first time in 18 months - wow! We can go to the Visitor’s Center and connect to the internet.

Sunday – March 11 - The sun came out. A glorious and long awaited day.

We moved to a different site this morning - it’s much more spacious between sites and there is no mud.

We took a Sunday drive to see this part of the Hill Country. It did not work out as I planned. Glenda had no clue where we were. A key county road sign was missing. We wound up on a dirt road that became a private road. Bubba and his son came out in their Mule with a rifle mounted to make sure we turned around.

We enjoyed sitting outside for cocktails. Low 70’s. No bugs. Just right.

Monday – March 12 –

Today is our youngest grandson, Patrick’s, sixth birthday. Happy Birthday Patrick. We got you a present while in Mexico. We will mail it to you.

Another glorious day, A year ago, we planned to paddle the Nueces River. I noted in 2010 when we passed over it in Hondo that it was the prefect river to paddle. Recall that last year Texas had a record drought. They have had rain this year, but not enough to cover the bottom of the Nueces and all the other rivers in this area. And so it goes.

We did have a great drive in the heart of the Hill Country. Did the back roads, the bump gates, saw several exotic animals and some beautiful country.

Back Road, Trees Starting To Leaf

Rio Frio behind a low dam. Dry below the dam.

Our lunch site. Flowers starting to pop

At the side of the road! One of many.

Why it’s call the Hill Country

The Sun Goes

Tuesday – March 13 – We woke up to a fine mist. That removed all doubts that we would head somewhere else. We left Garner SP northbound on US83 toward Junction. As we climbed up on the mesa the mist degraded to fog with limited visibility. We saw over a 100 bikers headed south. A few miles north, we saw more bikers. One or more of them had wrecked on the slippery road.

In the places where the fog was not too thick, we saw more “exotic” animals along the roadside, just inside the fences. Many types of horns were represented. Wildebeest were walking along like cows.

A lot of the Hill Country is devoted to exotic animals. How they all make any money is beyond us. We do know the fencing companies made a lot money putting up double high wire fences to keep the exotics impounded.

When we got to Junction we headed west on I10. Yeah, I know we don’t interstates, but this section of I10 has a great road surface and sparse traffic.

Overnight parking is allowed in Texas roadside picnic areas and rest areas. We went through the town of Sheffield, a pitiful little town. Then past Ft. Lancaster where the Army tried camels instead of horses. Calvary soldiers on camels – the experiment didn’t work out well. Then it was on to our beautiful site. We had the best view up high and it was cool. And stars - so many stars - you forget that there are that many when you live in light pollution. We have the huge area to ourselves. Once in awhile a local truck goes by.

Not a bad parking place for free

Wednesday – March 14 – Crossed more of west Texas. I am not sure even the coyotes like it here.  All the towns failed long ago. We overnighted in one of them, Van Horn, another sad town. We parked in the recently closed Dairy Queen lot. Dorothy wanted ice cream.

Thursday – March 14 – Finished Texas! We stopped at Costco in El Paso to get a few things. Gas $3.63.

Finally – Out West

Finally! We see mountains - we are really on our trip now. Big event was stopping in El Paso at Costco, but they didn’t have everything that we wanted. El Paso overlooks Juarez, MX, which is a very dangerous city. Thank goodness I don’t live there.

We arrived at Rockhound State Park. It’s a small park, up against a mountain. We look out our windows and see the mountain, yellow wildflowers, cacti and small junipers. What more could you want - views, cool at night, and phone, internet coverage and TV. To celebrate we had martini’s (oops, no vermouth!) but they were very good and we were relaxed. We are truly happy campers!

Our backyard

California Poppies

At Home

Friday – March 15 – We drove into Deming, did laundry and toured the Luna Mimbres Museum. They had collections of all manner of turn of the century items. We thought it was well presented, especially so for a small town.

Saturday – March 16 – We took a mile or so hike, it did not kill Dorothy and we got some needed exercise.

High winds are forecast so we moved from our perfect campsite to one with electricity so we can button up the rig from the wind born dust.

Sunday – March 17 – The winds came. 50mph rocks the rig, but the gusts only last a few seconds. The wind is supposed to lay down to gusts of only 30 by sunset.

I finished the taxes while the wind blew. Yippee!

The Hill Country

Monday, March 5 - Got to Pipe Springs and visited Don’s friend from his Navy days, Rodney and his wife, Cindy. We got a tour of the ranch where they raise Peruvian Paso horses. I really do like them. They are not as tall or as long as Thoroughbred or Quarter horses. We had lunch with them at Brick’s in Bandera.

This was our third ranch stop. First my cousin’s in Louisiana, then at Victoria and this one in the Hill Country.

We then moved on a few miles headed to Fredericksburg, but saw a city park in Kerrville that looked very good with the river running through it. We stopped and signed up for two nights thinking that we would paddle the next day. It is a very large and a former COE campground.

Tuesday, March 6 - What an awful day. I started coughing during the night and when I got up I continued to go downhill. I am sure I had a fever as I had chills for about two hours. I stayed in bed and in my PJ’s all day. Don made spaghetti but I felt too bad to eat until 8:30.

The wind was gusting to 25 and was forecast to continue the next day, so no paddling.

Wednesday, March 7 - I feel much better but still very short on energy. We are now in Fredericksburg, driving about 40 minutes to get here. We are parked at the Fredericksburg Fairgrounds. It’s okay, we have water and electric for $15. The highlight of the day was grocery shopping and going to Opas’ Smoked Meats. We got all kinds of smoked sausage.

Thursday, March 8 - A very busy fun day. We went to the National Museum of the Pacific. We have been there before, but they have enlarged the George H. W. Bush gallery in the past couple of years. I really wish I could seen it with my father, that served in the Pacific during WWII. We stood for 2 1/2 hours and then drove the 30 miles to Cooper’s Barbeque. We got ribs and a small slice of prime rib. It was heaven. And we brought home enough food for two more meals.

There is BBQ and then there is Cooper’s. It’s the best. There is so much meat on the ribs, three is a meal. The bean soup is divine.

We returned to the Museum for another two hours. We did not have the energy to stay and read everything. The temperature had started to drop when we left the museum.

Ross & Beverly Taylor came to the campground to pick us up and take us to their house for cocktails. We met them at a South Central Lazy Daze Roundup. Then we went to the Fredericksburg Brewery for dinner. I really do like Fredericksburg. Food was good and Don got a red ale that he liked. We very much enjoyed the visit and hope to run into them on the road sometime.

Friday, March 9 - It started raining around 4:00 am and continued until around 7:30. After breakfast we hooked up to make the two hour drive to Garner State Park in the big hills of the Texas Hill Country. This is a very large (600+ sites) park and is on the Rio Frio River. It is also very pretty.

We had misty rain part for part of the drive This was the first test for the mud flaps. The rear window still got road crud, but the Jeep only had crud on the hood, none on the wind shield.

Today’s high is 46. The weather is forecast to improve Monday and so we may stay a day or two next week. This is Spring Break and this place is very popular. We will just wait and see how it goes. Holidays are the bane of RV travelers.

We are in our first signal hole - no cell phone or TV. The park does have wi-fi at the VC. We can get on the web, but we can not get or send mail. I guess they have those ports closed.

Last Week in Mission

Sunday, February 26 - It was a beautiful day. We made a final trip to the flea market.  Can’t believe we really enjoy it. There’s lots of good stuff and we have bought some of it and also lots of junk that we didn’t buy. I am looking for a top to a Corning Ware dish - you can find lots of bottoms, but no tops.

Monday, February 27 - Light rain last night and misting off and on this morning. I am so glad that we came to Texas to end the drought - according to people we know. We said goodbye this morning to Bill & Ruby. It was a nice visit. I took care of a little laundry, to get ready to leave Sunday. This afternoon Jim & Gayle came over for Happy Hour - it was great to sit outside.

Tuesday, February 28 - We went to Progresso for my crown today. We got there around 11:00 so we had time to go to Auturo’s for lunch. We had tenderloin tacos with lettuce, tomato and avocado and it was delicious. The wait staff is unbelievable. It’s older men only. The bus boys aren’t really boys either, more like in their 30’s & 40’s. By the time we had ordered, we had had four different people helping us. And in addition to all this and great food, the prices aren’t bad either.

The dental procedure - it took a long time. He had said 1 1/2 hours but it took more like 2 1/2 hours. He is very meticulous and does 97% of everything, with the assistants just standing by to hand him the drills and clean up after him. He made three different sets of impressions - said it had to be just right. I can’t believe I have used a dentist in Mexico - never thought I would do that, but I am very impressed. Most of his patients are Americans or Canadians. I did have some trouble with the deadening drug, septocaine. I had been having a problem with this previously, and I just didn’t feel perky for the rest of the day.

While Don waited for me, he went to the barber shop and he got a hair cut. It’s very short, but he likes it, so guess it’s okay. He also got a shave. Just think, haircut and shave for $4.

Wednesday, February 29 - This morning was perfect - blue skies, pleasant temperatures and enough wind to keep the bugs away. We are now in the preparing to leave stage. We are quite ready for a new adventure. The original plan was to leave on Thursday, but it’s pretty good that we won’t be on the road with everyone leaving the valley heading for the Hill Country. Canadians can only stay out of their country for six months a year or their health insurance is no good. So in order to get here in October for the winter, they leave the first of March.

I have defrosted the freezer. That’s not something I have missed doing since all refrigerators now are frost-free.

Such a good day that we were swimming at 10:00. Wish we could have a swimming pool and hot tub every where we go. Then we went to our last margarita party followed by more swimming and hot tub.

Thursday, March 1 - Nothing exciting today. Started doing the laundry and we went to the grocery store and of course, swimming.

Friday, March 2 - Big day. We went back to Mexico to finished my crown. Our first stop was was some shopping and then back to Auturo’s for another great lunch. Then to Dr. De La Rosa’s. The crown needed some adjustment, which was going to take an additional 45 minutes. Since we had finished shopping and eating, the only left to do to have a couple of margaritas at Auturo’s. After that I didn’t even need any numbing. I think that I got excellent care and all for only $210.

What I notice about border towns is that everyone is working. If there are rules to restrict commerce, they are not evident to me. You see elementary school kids hawking bracelets in their school uniforms. On street parking is handled by men having purchased kaki pants and shirts they take over a parking spot in the early morning. They blow whistles to direct a car into “their” space. If your car needs washing someone will appear with a bucket of water and brushes. Young men line the walks hawking dental services and pharmacies. Our dentist had a fellow that was constantly in and out of the office doing all sorts of chores. I would see him in other offices also. Everyone works.

Saturday, March 3 - Our last day at Bentsen Palms.  This is probably the nicest RV park in the Valley.  If you want to stay in a RV park, we can certainly recommend this one.  I have finished the laundry, the kayaks are on the Jeep and things are getting put away.  We aren’t in a rush to leave tomorrow since we won’t go very far.  We are definitely ready for a new adventure.

We have tried south Texas twice. We don’t see a third time. RV parks are just not for us. Besides while the weather can be great, it can be not so great. We have little in common with others as most of them are concrete campers. We think we will just stay home next year until March or April. Lesson learned.

Sunday, March 4 – We got away by 11 and stopped for the night in Pleasanton just south of San Antonio.

Third Week In Mission

Monday, February 20 - It was a beautiful day.  We went to the Cinderella Animal Rescue and walked some dogs and played with some cats.  There were two dogs, one young lab and one lab puppy.  They were so sweet and they really did want someone to love them.  If I wanted to have a dog I would have taken both of them.  And some of the cats were friendly and playful.  One reminded me of Calvin, Alecia’s perfect cat, that both of us loved.  He sat in my lap and just looked me in the eye and let me pet him.  We really enjoyed being with the animals.  Then in the afternoon, we went swimming and soaked in the hot tub.  With warmer weather, there is more activity in the pool.

 

This and all pictures in this post were stolen from Life’s Little Adventures. Here, seven cats are paying close attention to a never before seen dog chain. Cats.

Tuesday, February 21 - Another beautiful day in Mission.  We went to grocery store (again), it’s just like being at home.  We went to the spa.  As the weather warms up more and more people show up.  There’s hardly room to swim.  Of course, they are all Canadians, mostly from Ontario.  I thought people from Ontario went to Florida, and a lot do since it’s closer, but those here said they think it’s prettier and certainly a lot cheaper.  Since it was Fat Tuesday, a group of campers got their trikes and themselves, decorated for Mardi Gras and rode around the park, throwing candy.  And then later in the day Bill & Ruby joined us.

Wednesday, February 22 - Ever since we have had the Jeep, it has had a quirk.  Sometimes, for no rhyme or reason, it just locks.  It is not very frequent and it is not the same way each time.  This morning we went to Los Ebanos to look at the last hand-pulled ferry.  It goes across the Rio Grande and the pictures we saw were quite picturesque.  So Bill & Ruby got in our Jeep and we headed off.  Bill got out first and then Don opened his door with the keeps in the ignition.  The Jeep was beeping and I told him to stop the beeping.  So he took the keys out of the ignition, put them on the dash and got out since we weren’t going anywhere. He wanted to park someplace else.  Then Ruby got out.  Of course, I got out, but I didn’t close the door completely.  The Jeep decided to lock itself.  Normally I have my keys on my belt look, but not this time.  We couldn’t call for help because all the phones were locked in the car.  The immigration people called the police for us, but they wouldn’t come out because of liability issues.  Bill got a ride back to the RV park to get his Jeep so he could try to find a locksmith.  The immigrations folk felt sorry for us sitting around looking forlorn and they found someone to find someone to find a locksmith.  Locksmith arrived in about 15 minutes and for only $25 the car was unlocked.  Of course, we couldn’t leave because we had to wait for Bill to return.

And by the way, the ferry crossing is no longer picturesque because they are building a very large immigration building so every thing is torn up.

By this time we are really hungry and luckily we found a very good Mexican restaurant.  Ruby and I had gourmet - Napolitos (prickly pear cactus) & shrimp.  Yum. See how much fun we have in Retirement Land.

Thursday, February 23 - We went to Mexico today for dental appointments.  We both had our teeth cleaned and x-rays for only $45 each.  We will stay in Mission a few extra days because I have to have a crown replaced.  We then went to Arturo’s for lunch.    Don has been craving goat that they serve there and it is very good.  Food is excellent.  It’s a white linen tablecloth place and the waiters are dressed in nice jackets and bow ties.  Then continuing our Mexican adventure we did some shopping and finished up the  trip with margaritas.  Very very good and costs less than $2 each.

You pay two-bits and enter Mexico.   Our dentist.

Our day culminated with a two hour game of Mexican Dominos in the Rec Room.  We were too tired for the hot tub.

Friday, February 24 - Nothing today, just laundry and relaxing from our hard week of play.

Saturday, February 25 - Maybe I am getting a little tried of this place.  This morning we awoke to light rain and now it’s overcast skies.  All I notice is gray skies and big white box RV’s.  I haven’t really paid any attention to it before, so guess it’s just my attitude.  We can stay in an area for a month or more, but it’s usually with wonderful scenery without big white boxes.

But today wasn’t without fun.  First an exciting game of Mexican Train, followed by happy hour, then dinner and finally another game of Train.  

Bentsen Palm RV Village

Still in Mission, Texas until the end of the month.

Sunday, February 12 - Rain again, don’t need to say more.  So now we are wondering what to do next winter.  South Florida is a long drive to get where it’s warm and it is expensive.  Central Florida can still be cold and it isn’t pretty in our opinion. We like the Gulf coast the best, but it can be cold there if it is cold in Montgomery.  The southwest is windy and dusty - don’t want that.  So what to do - stay home and then take trips to Gulf coast if it’s pleasant - who knows. [I vote for Brazil]

Monday, February 13 -  Light rain and cloudy until the afternoon when the sun came out.  And it got warmer, so we got to have cocktails outside!

Some observations about life on the border – there are a lot more Mexicans than Americans.  All radio stations are Mexican, except for three religious stations. They do not integrate with us.  Everything is bilingual with Spanish being the first language.  Their culture is not ours.  I know that they were here when the Europeans arrived, so they must feel that this is their land.  This is a problem for the government and it’s not being handled, but I don’t think anyone else has any way to handle this either.

Don writes: Before the Spanish came, what we call Mexicans were the same blood stock as the inhabitants of what is now called the United States. Canada too. Many present day Americans have a soft spot for Indians. I wonder why this does not extend to Mexicans?

Tuesday, February 14 -  Happy Valentines Day.  Started the day by cleaning the refrigerator and defrosting the freezer.  See it’s fun on the road.  Once again the sun came out in the afternoon.  We have spent time planning the trip out of Texas, but it’s still two weeks before we leave here.  Got more veggies from the vegetable man.  Sure do like someone bringing fresh vegetables and it’s an easy walk to get there.  Also, it’s very cheap.  But today, we drove because I just had to have a watermelon along with the other things I bought.

Wednesday, February 15 -  We went back to the flea market and picked up a couple of things and then to H E B,  a Texas supermarket.  We enjoy it - they make fresh tortillas which are yummy.  Food is less expensive here, at least the fruits and vegetables.  We got back in time to rest before the margarita party.  We sat outside in the very pleasant weather and had a enjoyable chat with Jim & Gayle and a couple from Texas, Don & Donna.  Afterwards the weather was pleasant enough to soak in the hot tub.

Thursday, February 16 - We had planned to take the kayak trip today, but due to the weather forecast this morning, it was cancelled.  So, other than doing a load of laundry we didn’t do too much in the morning.  After lunch we sat in the palapa and played Mexican Train, then had Happy Hour, followed by dinner and another game of Mexican Train.  As you can tell, it’s very busy in the campground.

Friday, February 17 - A gray, cloudy and overcast day, but at least it was warm.  Also I had a little stomach bug, so not too perky all day.  Don went to the palapa for cocktails.

Saturday, February 18 -  A great day!  The sun was shinning and it got warmer all day, but not too warm.  We went back to the birding center.  We did take a little walk also and it felt so good to be out in the sunshine and pleasant weather.  The green jays are so beautiful and we just enjoy watching them.  After nap, we went swimming and soaked in the hot tub and chatted with some fellow campers, Kathy and Donald from Arkansas.  Then we went to the palapa for cocktails.  It’s very pleasant and we wish we had known about the happy hour party sooner, but it’s informal so it’s not on the calendar.  We had good news - our friends, Bill & Ruby will arrive on Tuesday for a week.

Sunday, February 19 – I spent three hours washing the KoKo’s roof. Dirtier than it’s ever been. I think Dorothy was eating bon-bons while I labored. Then lunch, nap and finish a book. Now, it is pizza party time. I will wash the rest of KoKo tomorrow?

How we feel about concrete parking. Anyone who knows us, has to know we seldom park on a hard surface such concrete pads in RV parks. We tried it again this year in the search for warm weather. Well, it has been been warm here, but there have been many more overcast days than sunny days. There is no escape from taxes or winter.

This is one of the nicest RV parks we have seen and it is reasonable in price. It stays full. Some people have been coming here since it opened six years back. They like it. It’s OK with us. We have little in common with most of the other “campers” as they only park on concrete, while we prefer to camp where we have nothing but horizon. They are interested in hook-ups. We are interested in a view. It’s two different worlds. It’s a life-style choice.

Another Week in the Valley

Monday, February 6 – Rain - don’t need to say more because we didn’t do anything.

Tuesday, February 7 – The vegetable man arrived with lots of good veggies.  I bought delicious pink grapefruit for $0.25.  I also bought a jicama, which is good for something crunchy in salads and also for a vegetable tray and dip.  Bought a very large cucumber for $0.50.  And avocado’s at $0.50 each.  There were many things I wanted to buy but just don’t have room for.  This is a great place for fruit and vegetables.

We went to play cards last night and luckily took a double deck with us.  It seems that everyone had made plans so we wound up playing in Canasta with another man that had hoped to play Bridge.  None of us had played in 15 years or more, so it took a while for it to come back.  We didn’t keep score, so that made it very simple.

Wednesday, February 8 -  I did not feel well at all today, but forced myself to go to the margarita party hoping that it would improve my health.  After two margarita’s I still wasn’t any better, so we came back to rig and put on our jammies.

Thursday, February 9 -  Not a very exciting day, I did laundry.  It rained. Don took the jeep for service because the driver’s side window was hesitant about going up and down.  They found dirt in the mechanism - can’t believe we could possibly have dirt in there.  We’ve only been driving it off road in red dirt and sand.  After dinner, we played Mexican Train in the Rec Room  -  always fun.

Friday, February 10 - Our new saying, “Rain, rain go away”.

Saturday, February 11 – After eight overcast days, we woke to a blue sky.  This is what we paid our money to get.  First thing we did was go to the coffee/donut gathering.  We sat at a table of Canadians, but that’s not unusual for this park because probably half are from the different provinces.  The furthest would definitely be Nova Scotia.

After breakfast we went to the birding center.  Our favorite bird was the green jay. 

Some people really do dress their dogs up, which just doesn’t seem right somehow.  We really like the standard poodles, but tiny foo-foo’s were the majority.

Our Pick To Win

 

The clouds were back after lunch. Rain the next two days. To our friends in Alabama who wrote to tell us how great the weather was there - we pray the pox we put on your home will be gone by Spring.

Not really a post

This is here just to set up labels for later use.