What a difference a day makes!

Thursday, March 24, 2011 (day 188)

We got up early again, and took a walk on a different trail around the RV park. (It was a balmy 65degrees.) Then we hit the road for a long day of driving (about 400 miles). We started in the desert, full of dirt and sand and cactus and mesquite trees. As we traveled east toward San Antonio, we started noticing the brown dirt slowly turning green with some bits of grass and ground cover. Then real grass and shrubs appeared. Then the trees got bigger and more diverse. Beautiful wildflowers started appearing along the roadside. They were white, then pink, then blue, then orange and magenta! Too bad we don’t know our wildflowers. Our day started out brown, and ended up very, very green.

Entrance to Fort Clark Springs



We drove past San Antonio headed toward Houston. We actually stopped a little south east of Houston, so we could be close to the Johnson Space Center for Friday. (Driving through Houston during rush hour was fun….not!) We pulled up after dark into a small RV park very, very close to the Gulf shore. We could smell the salt water and feel the humidity. From the desert to the ocean!

Another library saves the day for checking e-mail



Total miles driven= 400

Hangin' out at Fort Clark

Wednesday, March 23, 2011 (day 187)


Today was an R and R day….We decided to stay an extra day at Fort Clark RV Park. We got up early to take a walk while it was relatively cool..about 65 degrees. Then we came back for breakfast and laundry.
Fort Clark Springs is in Brackettville, Texas. It’s located on over 1600 acres. From the brochure:
Long a favorite Indian campground, Fort Clark was established on the banks of Las Moras Creek by the US Army in 1852. The fort played an important role in protecting a segment of the lower road from San Antonio to El Paso, and frontier settlers, from Indians and bandits. Virtually all US Cavalry units and many infantry lived, trained, or visited at Fort Clark while patrolling West Texas and the US-Mexico border. Military heroes of both the Union and the Confederacy served at Fort Clark. World War II Generals George Patton and Jonathan Wainwright were among notables who served at Fort Clark. The Fort was closed in 1946 and has since become a haven for those who seek peaceful recreation, resort and residential surroundings.

Now, the former fort is full of apartments, homes, land, an RV park, a huge spring fed pool, trails, trees, etc. There’s even a golf course!

Our morning walk in FT Clark



We went into town to find internet service, since the RV park’s internet isn’t working. While there Harris downloaded several caches. We tried! We honestly tried! We found one, sorta. We saw the container, located in the middle of some thorny bushes. So we counted it as found, but didn’t actually open it. Then we got skunked on about 3 more. We gave up and decided to cool down in the pool. It’s spring fed, and sun warmed…..to about 68 degrees. Which is actually a bit on the cool side, except that it was 90 degrees outside today. Judy plunged right in, but Harris took a little longer to get wet. Everyone said it would be refreshing, once in, and everyone was right.

One of many red birds we saw today





Wonderful lunch Judy made (red is in today)



(Oh, Harris did find one actual cache, in the picnic area by the pool…yea!)
We came back for drinks and an early dinner, and an air conditioned Howie. Judy loves being plugged in on these hot, hot days!


The swimming hole



Total miles today= less than 10

Fort Clark Springs, TX

Tuesday, March 22, 2011 (Day 186)

After a very hot night, we decided we need places to camp that we can plug into electricity and use the air conditioning….at least Judy decided this.

Not quite the Smokey Mts. in Big Bend



We got up fairly early and drove to take a short hike down Boquillas Canyon. This trail goes down to and along the Rio Grande River, until it reaches canyon walls. All along the trail, we saw small heaps of painted walking sticks, beaded figures and metal work that have been brought across the river from the small town of Boquillas, Mexico. Each heap had a jar to put money into, and a price list. The park service newspaper mentions this, and warns that people may approach you to sell you things. They tell you that the Mexicans can be arrested and the items confiscated, so please don’t encourage them. We were only approached by one older gentleman who could have been “singing Victor”, a man who sings in the canyon for entertainment.

Trinkets for sale from the Mexican village across the river



Last night we spent a bit of time talking to Peter and Karen, as we mentioned on yesterday’s blog. They encouraged us to see another part of the park, the Chisos Basin, which has beautiful mountain views. We were tempted, especially by cooler temperatures, but decided we wanted to spend more time elsewhere, so we left the park and drove east. (Sorry, Karen, we’ll leave that area for our next visit to Big Bend. We always leave ourselves something to come back for!)

Unusual sight for us--cactus and trees together!



So, we headed east on highway 90, passing untold miles of cactus and sand and scrub brush. Occasionally we’d see a few head of cattle, even some long horns, but it seemed mostly to be unused and unusable land. When we crossed the Pecos River we did see the greenest river we’d ever seen. Perhaps it was because we were so used to seeing brown rivers in the Northwest and gray rivers in Alaska.

cool (and shady) canyon on our walk
that's the border too




We drove through a few small towns…some very small. All had boarded up shops and crumbling houses, at least along the highway. The biggest town we came to was Del Rio, so we stopped there for gas and groceries before coming to our stopping place tonight. (Fort Clark Springs) Yeah for electric hookups and air conditioning!
One other thing worth mentioning…..Our route has been along the border for the most part. We have seen lots of border patrol police along the highways, some driving very slowly along the shoulders, looking intently at the ground. And there are roadblocks and checks, even on the interstate. All vehicles must stop. A guard asks, “how many people are in your vehicle? Are you all US citizens?” Sometimes they ask where are you from and where are you going. So far, we’ve not been asked for IDs. We know they are taking pictures of each vehicle, and wonder if they are also scanning us with heat seeking equipment, looking for stowaways or something. It seems so weird to us, and almost illegal at that, to be stopped on an interstate or highway for a citizen check. But we don’t argue, as we want to be on our way.

Green Pecos River



Harris says our total miles today was only 276…seemed a lot longer!

Big Bend National Park

Monday, March 21, 2011 (Day 185)


Officer's Row at Fort Davis



We woke up very early and decided to put some miles on before breakfast. It was weird driving in the dark. We decided we liked this view of eastern Texas very much….dark, with the hills sharply outlined in the slowly rising sun. It made the desert landscape seem to go by much easier.

Medical equipment





Match them up!



We stopped after a couple of hours and ate a quick breakfast, then drove on. Our big stop today was at the historic site of Fort Davis. This was a national historic site, so we decided to buy our annual national park pass while there. We walked into the visitor center, and asked the kind lady for an annual pass. We then had to listen to all the benefits of getting such a pass….yes, we knew this, we asked for one! Finally, she sold it to us, then gave us a map of the fort, marked the restored parts and let us go. We enjoyed walking around in the morning sun, seeing officer’s quarters, (one fully furnished, down to the silver and china on the table) the hospital, and the enlisted men’s barracks.

enlisted men's barracks



Then we drove and drove and drove through the desert landscape towards Big Bend National Park. This is in the extreme south east part of Texas, where the Rio Grande River bends, hence the name. Someone in Arizona had told us not to miss this park, so we came here, but honestly so far it doesn’t live up to our expectations. Perhaps because we have been seeing very similar topography the last week or so. Yes, there are “mountains”….hills more like. We’ve been up and down through a pass. High temp at the top was 85…down here where we’ve camped by the river, high temp was 95 today. We even ran the generator for a short time to run the air conditioning, trying to cool Howie down. It’ll be a warm night for sure!

Quilt AND Bakery in one stop!



We met a terrific couple from Connecticut, Peter and Karen, who are driving a Pleasureway van, although it’s not a Sprinter. So, of course we had to go talk to them. Turns out, they spend several months on the road, mostly to Florida and back. We asked them where they like to camp and they gave us several suggestions. We’re looking forward to checking them out when we go there.

Karen and Peter, fellow Pleasure Way owners





Vermillion Fly Catcher




Miles traveled today 258

Leaving El Paso

Sunday, March 20th , 2011 (Day 184)

While it was warm watching the moon rise last night, this morning the temperature caught us off guard—a chilly 36 degrees. While standing in line as the office opened at 8AM (to get one of 70 daily permits to do a hike/walk at Hueco), there were several college kids that were bemoaning the fact that they only brought a sheet and a pillow to sleep with.


Judy peeking in at the art



After getting our permits we headed back for breakfast and to let the sun work its magic on the air. An hour later we headed for our hike to check out the pre-historic wall art. The first site was an easy walk and as our eyes searched them out, more became visible. The next site was higher in the rocks and we thought of our friends Rick and Candy as we headed up the rocks. They had recently finished a similar climb but had to contend with loose rocks and sand. Our hike was over solid rock with hand rails made of chains provided at particular spots—much easier for us! We were feeling quite old as several groups of rock climbers passed by with boulder climbing gear (basically a folded cushion to land on with water and munchies in the middle. We did hear a guy scream and thought the worst before hearing him lament “I’d almost made it before the finger joint blew out on me!” Ah youth…

Close up of some art



After returning back to ground zero, we cleaned up and headed to El Paso to ride the tram up the mountain to see 2 countries, 3 states, and a whole lotta other stuff. During the 4 minute ascent we helped placate a middle schooler who was afraid of heights. Judy was especially good in this (Harris simply said he could always walk down the 2.5 hour trail).

The trail back down...



While at the top we heard about a must eat at Mexican food joint called Casita Queraos which had a little pig in front of the restaurant. Harris, a sucker for Mexican food, had tried once with Rick in Good Year (terrible), a second time with Rick and Candy at a place in Miami, TX (ok but nothing matching the excitement of the person recommending the place) hoped that perhaps the third time is the charm might take effect. So off we went, taking a scenic drive that showcased down town and many mansions (a la Mulholland Drive), and passing it because we were looking for it on the wrong side of the street. Wonderful, awesome, great to the last morsel food. The mole sauce was so good, we asked for a to-go for our leftover sauce for sandwiches. The waiter gave us a small cup and we gave him an extra good tip.

Some "new" art with the old...



On the way out of town we wanted to check out the fence that would help protect us from all those people wanting to take our jobs so we headed to the border (we would never be closer) and made sure we didn’t end up in any lane that would take us over to Mexico because neither of us brought our passports. We traveled along the border highway and saw what had to be the most boring job in the US; a guy in a truck parked under a shade awning looking down the fence along the border. The fence looked expensive and I flashed back to stories and pictures of the Berlin wall and Soviet Union borders of long ago.

The El Paso tram ride up



The last stop in El Paso was a mission that turned out to be closed, but we ran into two brothers and their wives who have made it a mission (pun intended) to see every mission from San Diego to San Francisco. Very nice and interesting folks. We got out around 4 PM and stopped in Van Horn around 7PM (lost an hour and we’re now on Central Time). Harris didn’t want to pay $30 for an RV place just for the night and Judy didn’t want to do a Walmart parking lot so we compromised with a stop in a Knightly Inn parking lot with Harris paying the owner $10 for the privilege. Since they have wi-fi, we’ll be posting the blog on the same day!

The Fence...



Distance traveled today 135 miles

Leaving Lost Dutchman

Saturday, March 19, 2011 (Day 183)

Great sign during our walk today



This morning we took a quick walk up a hill next to our campground, which gave us a view of the “Hidden Valley”….also the name of the RV park. We were surprised at the number of people at this park. We figured most of them had to be snow birds, staying put for the sunshine. It’s certainly a ways from town, and the road is very bumpy and slow, so we don’t think trips to town are frequent.


Why Hidden Valley RV got its name...



As a result of the stopover that required 10+ miles on dusty roads, Howie needed a wash. And as luck would have it there was a group doing car washes for donations and as I approached there were smiling faces welcoming something different than “just another car”. I found out they did car washes weekly (they were part of a Baptist outreach program, but today was a little slow because there were several competing groups doing washes.)

Sticking out like a sore thumb...



We stopped yesterday at a small quilt shop, and the owner gave Judy a book of quilt shops across the US. Well, that little stop might cost Harris a bunch as we travel across the states! Sure enough, there was a quilt shop in Deming, the next town along the way, so we stopped. We also ate a quick lunch there, then headed for Las Cruses.

Getting Howie washed after the dirt roads



We had decided to just cruise through Las Cruses, and do more in El Paso. We did stop for a quilt shop, but then drove on. In El Paso, we stopped at the visitor center and were given more brochures, maps, and info than we know what to do with. We headed out to Hueco Tank State Park, which was a good thing since they close at 6. We were given a site, required to watch a video about the park, and told the gates close behind us at 6. We are about 30 miles from El Paso, so it’s a good thing we have our groceries already!

Our camping spot for the night



Heuco Tank State Park is an ancient site, full of petroglyphs and pictures from hundreds of years ago. The “tank” refers to many natural basins that fill up with rain water and hold the water for a long time. So, this was a place many ancient peoples have gathered and lived. Tomorrow we’ll go exploring.

New moon rise behind our camp site.

Leaving Lost Dutchman (and Candy & Rick)

March 17th and 18th (Days 181=182)

On Thursday, we decided to make an easy start to our day. We ate a leisurely breakfast, and then went geocaching around the park. Alas and alack for Judy, this meant hiking up the trail again. She wasn’t adverse to this course of action, exactly, just doing it later in the morning meant it was considerably hotter. Sunseeker, indeed. More like shade seeker. Of which there is none.

Candy and Rick Geocaching



But, hike we all did. Up the trail, off the trails, up and down the ravines, searching for the elusive caches. Candy and Rick were put in charge of finding the caches and did a great job. Then we went back to camp to soak our tired feet and recharge in the shade of the vehicles for a short time.

Western Tourist Trap down the road from campground



We headed next to the Goldfield Ghost town, which was just down the road from our park. It’s like a huge movie set, with old buildings, wooden sidewalks and dirty, dusty streets. The buildings are almost all occupied by various shops, a couple of museums, and a few eateries. We had some lemonade and enjoyed the atmosphere.

Tonto National Monument cave dwellings



Then we drove toward the town of Globe, hoping to see some ruins nearby. Since we had left our map at the camp, we stopped at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum for some directions. This looked like a great place to come back to, since it was much too large to see in just an hour. While we were chatting with the workers, a man came by and offered us his opinion. He said he lived in Globe, and there were much better ruins in a different place called Tonto National Monument. He also gave us the name of a Mexican restaurant to try in a little town called Miami on the way back. So…..we detoured to Tonto.

It was a long 20 some miles through some scenic hills, but by the time we reached the monument, the trail to the cliff dwellings was closed. We could tour the museum, and see a film, and “see” the dwellings up in the hills, but not get up close and personal. Disappointed, we started back down the highway to Miami and dinner.

The view from the caves down toward Salt River



The restaurant was okay, but we were expecting a lot more based on the recommendation. But we were hungry, so we enjoyed the food. The guys especially enjoyed the “small” pitcher of margaritas. It was supposed to hold 3-4 drinks. It must have held more like 8. No, they didn’t finish it all…
Back in camp, we played “oh hell” again. Rick won this time. Judy teased him by saying he won by doing nothing. In this game, if you bid zero, and take zero tricks, you get 10 points. He did that a lot!

Candy and Rick trying to look sad upon leaving us



Friday, March 18, 2011


We bid a sad farewell to Candy and Rick today. Too bad some people have to work, and aren’t free to just keep traveling! They were a little glad to be going back to their own bed/house/routine, but not glad at all to be leaving 80 degree weather and go back to Montana snow!


Farewell to our lovely camp site #57



We traveled east on highway 60 again, just like yesterday, so this time we decided to stop at the first ruins we had wanted to see. They are called Besh Ba Gowah. It is an archaeological park, with some ruins visible, some still under earth, and some restored. One building has been reconstructed to include 2 stories and a roof you can venture onto. Going into these rooms felt soooo good.

Outside Besh Ba Gowah ruins



Outside, temperature 80+. Inside, at least 15 degrees cooler. Thick stone walls and just a few small opening s for windows make a lot of sense in this climate. And this is only March! Imagine what it would be like in July!
After a quick picnic lunch we drove on to Deming, New Mexico. We took highway 70, and drove for about 6 hours through miles and miles and miles of scrub brush , cactus, and brown earth. Not the most scenic drive, but very different from home. We decided to use the USA Campclub book to find a place to crash.

Inside a reconstructed dwelling



We found a promising one, which didn’t look too far from the highway and tomorrow’s early start. Ha! Just 3 miles out of town……then 5 miles down a dirt road…..then 5 more after a turn. The road was rutted and slow, and we sure wondered where we were going and what we were getting into. We were pleasantly surprised to find lots of people here (Hidden Valley RV). It seems to be a place people come and stay for long periods, lots of activities planned, etc. Good thing, cuz you wouldn’t just pop into town on that road!