My RV Adventures

New Blog Location

2010-08-18T15:01:00.001-04:00

I know I haven't updated in a while but things have been busy and I am finally getting around to doing some updates.

I am currently in the process of moving my Blog to the WordPress platform. This will give me more options and greater control over the Blog. The changeover isn't done yet but you can have a look at the new tgif: let's RV blog and web site.

Winter 2009/2010 Trip Wrap Up

2010-03-23T20:52:00.001-04:00

OK, so I know I haven't posted to the blog for a bit. I got home on March 13th and have just been winding down and getting back to the old home routine. It was an awesome trip, at some times a bit tiring, but I haven't regretted one minute of it.

I put over 7000 miles on the truck. Considering over 2 1.2 months I spent 3 weeks in the Rio Grande Valley, 1 week at Big Bend National Park, 1 week in Alamogordo and 2 weeks on Mustang Island, that's a lot of time on the road. A quick breakdown shows I spent an average of $55.00 per day for fuel, campground fees, entertainment and other expenses that I normally wouldn't have, I consider that pretty good. Food is not included in this figure as no matter where I am I would have to eat.

I figure I actually saved money on food as I ate in most of the time where I normally eat out at home. I also saved money on utilities at home as I had the heat turned down to 50, used no water and little electric. I also suspended my Dish Network which saved. Those 2 1/2 months equaled about $400 in savings. This would bring my grand total of extra expenses to less then $50 per day. That's one hell of a vacation for a bit over $4000.00 total.

I created a map of my travels just in case you would like to see where I traveled to and what routes I took. You can find it here.

Now it's time to do a few updates and upgrades to my trailer. I bought a used solar system that I need to install, a new A/C converter for battery charging and I want to strip off some peeling strip decals and put on something new in their place. With that done I'll be ready for more adventures this summer. Stay tuned for info on the updates and things I am doing this summer.

How Time Flies

2010-03-12T19:42:00.001-05:00

I just realized today that I am going to lose two hours over the next couple days. First hour is for daylight saving time and second is a time zone change as I travel east. Not sure if I can take losing two hours in such a short amount of time.

I left New Orleans today and headed north. I was a nice warm 65 degrees and sunny when I left at 9am. Taking I-55 north I traveled the length of Mississippi and stopped just outside of Memphis. It was a longer drive then I normally like to do but there isn't a lot of campgrounds in the time frame I like to stop in so I just drove on to Memphis. Then I arrive, it's raining, 55 degrees and cold. Not sure what it is but 55 in Memphis sure feels a lot colder then 55 down south.

Driving all the way to Memphis also puts my driving schedule just about right to stop and visit my sister in Indy. I can drive about 6 hours tomorrow and get to Casey, IL or Terre Haute, IN for the night. Then it will only be two or three hours to Indy.

If all goes as planned I'll be back home in MI on Monday.

New Orleans Bourbon Street

2010-03-11T00:00:00.000-05:00

Even though it was suppose to rain today I decided to head over to New Orleans and check out Bourbon Street. It only drizzled a little bit all day and it was in the 70's so I'm glad I went. I drove over to the Algiers Ferry to take it across the Mississippi instead of trying to drive into the Big Easy. The ferry landing is located in an old run down part of town. Many might even consider it a slum area but i found it interesting that I saw a very diverse group of people living in the area as I drove through it.

The ferry ride is free for people and costs $1.00 for cars. It runs every 30 minutes so you don't have to wait long to get across the river. The upper deck has chairs and is covered but I walked down to the lower deck where the cars are parked so I could a better look at the river and surroundings. During my trip there and back a number of tug boats and one big cargo ship went by.

A Harrah's casino is located at the ferry landing on the New Orleans side so I just had to go in and donate 20 bucks to their slot machines. It is about a 10 block walk down Canal Street to Bourbon Street. Canal Street kind of reminded me of New York city where you have little discount camera and other junk shops located right next to fancy high class stores.

I got to Bourbon Street and started to walk down it. I really wasn't sure what to expect. The street are very narrow with barely enough room for two vehicles side by side. All of the streets are one way with parking one side. I think I seen 50 or more beer trucks unloading during my mile or so walk. The whole street is nothing more then restaurants, bars and souvenir shops. There are also a few strip clubs sprinkled in among everything else. There may have been a few upstairs apartments sprinkled in there but you could hardly tell. All of the bars shops have their doors wide open to make it easy enter. Most of the bars are no more then a long bar and maybe a couple of tables. Daiquiris and Hurricanes seem to be the drink of choice and many bars had rows of daiquiri slushy machines lining the wall behind the bar with 20 or more flavors.

The area is a bit run down with many of the buildings needing paint or other repairs. There were also missing bricks and stones from the sidewalks. About half of the buildings had balconies that we all see on the Mardi Gras pictures and on TV. But then the run down look didn't really bother me much as I imagine that the storm damage they have had plus the heat and humidity that must be present most of the time must take it's toll. I defenently can see how this could be a party place with many places having Jazz & Blues bands and when I found drinks 2 for $5 or Daiqiris, all you can drink for $20. I had to drive back to the park so all I had was a beer.

Royal Street is one block over and there are many art shops and other local craft shops there. I found a lot of nice paintings and jewelry on display as I wound my back to Canal.

Overall it was an interesting day. If I ever get down this way again I will make it a point to find a hotel to stay in one night so I can see just how bad they really do party down there.

See a few more pictures of New Orleans.

Taking It Easy In The Big Easy

2010-03-09T00:17:00.001-05:00

I made it to Bayou Segnette State Park in Westwego, LA which is just across the Mississippi from New Orleans. The drive here was pretty decent except for the rain I had all the way. It wasn't heavy rain, just enough to use wipers. But that was enough to trash the outside of the trailer, it looks like I've never washed it.

The park is really nice. It has electric and water hookups and the sites are huge with 50 foot or more between sites. The bathrooms/showers are immaculate and they even have free laundry facilities. There is also WiFi but it sucks so I'm tethering my Blackberry. No pictures of the park today as it was raining too hard to go out and take some. I'll post a couple tomorrow. I have reservations for 3 nights but since it suppose to rain for the next 2 days I may just stay a couple extra days to "investigate" Bourbon Street.

A few things I have noticed that are interesting. To get here I used I-10. During part of the trip it goes over swamp land.... lots of swamp land. One part of the highway was actually an 18 mile bridge built up over the swamp. Watching local news there is still problems with abandoned homes damaged by Katrina. There are still 50,000 homes that have not been repaired or tore down. Lastly there is a oil executive that turned up missing last Friday. His last known were abouts was walking towards the river from Bourbon Street late at night. Guess I'll have to take some precautions on my visits there.... but then I have already heard about how to safely visit that area.

Update on the missing guy. Looks like he was drunk and fell into the river. Haven't found him yet but from security cameras it looks that way.

The Long Trek Home

2010-03-07T23:33:00.000-05:00

I've started my way back home to Michigan. First stop for the night is at Gulf Coast RV Resort in Beaumont, Texas. It is a pretty decent park that is right off of I-10. The park is really clean and it has nice facilities. But they pack the sites in pretty close with only about 12 feet between sites. One thing I did like was the washers and dryers only cost a $1 each, the cheapest I have found my whole trip. Cost to stay the night is only $17 with my Passport America membership. This is not really a place I would want to stay for more then a day or two but the easy off/on to I-10 and the low cost make it a worthwhile stop for the night.

The drive here was fairly easy. I did go through Houston and even though it was Sunday there was a fair bit of traffic. I'm sure glad I didn't try to drive it on a weekday. Tomorrow I have about a 5 hour drive to New Orleans. This will be my last destination before I turn north and head back home in earnest so I may stay for 3 or 4 days to enjoy the southern warmth one last time.

Can We Say Duh!

2010-03-06T23:35:00.000-05:00

OK, so for 2 weeks I was figuring on leaving Port Aransas and heading east to New Orleans on Sunday. I figured that since today (Saturday) was my last day I would go out and treat myself to a nice seafood lunch. On my way back into the park about 2pm I stopped by the gate as normal and the lady staffing the gate asked if I was leaving today.

I said, nope, tomorrow. She then said, well, you only have a reservation for today and there are no openings tomorrow. Huh? My ticket says I leave the 6th. She says today is the 6th. What!!!! It's not the 5th today? Doh!

So, I head back to the trailer, pack up and head out. I think it only took me 30 minutes to get everything put away and head out. So now it's 2:30pm and I sure as heck don't want to drive at night so I plot a course to just north of San Antonio and pull into a park just after 7pm. Luckily they one space available for the night... I think. I got here after the office closed so I just found the only spot left and parked. No one has knocked on my door telling me to leave so I guess I'm OK.

It's really not that bad. I still have to head up to Austin tomorrow morning to pick up a solar panel setup I am buying and then I'd head south east with plans to stop at Beaumont, TX for the night. That puts me in about the same place I would have been if I would have left Sunday morning and I don't have to drive as far as I would have.

A little crazy for a bit but all is well now.

Laundry Day and High Tide

2010-03-01T21:20:00.000-05:00

Just been chillin' over the past couple of days. It has been a bit cool but still enjoying the sun and no snow. Yesterday was nicer with a high in the upper 60's. Today was laundry day. I tried to put it off as long as I could so I could get away with not having to do laundry again until I got back. But I just plain ran out of clean clothes to wear so had to do it..... which also means I'll have to do it again one more time.

The laundromat in Port Aransas is pretty nice. Lots of machines in good shape, pool table, air hockey, video games, juke box and you can even order pizza in. Once I got the clothes in the drier I walked a block to the Rusty Jeep BBQ and had a chopped pork BBQ sandwich platter with beans and slaw. Pretty tasty!

By the time I got back to the trailer it was up into the mid 70's. Spud looked really sad that I had left him behind so decided to take a drive to the beach and walk him. As I drove onto the beach I noticed the water was up a bit more then it normally is. The waves were really crashing in so I figured it was just the high waves that made the gulf look higher. I looked down the beach and there were a couple of cars and a few tents as is normal.

Parked the truck up close to the dunes and headed out for a walk. Got down the beach a hundred yards or so and I could see a state park truck driving down the beach. You usually see them once an hour or so as they patrol. As he got next to me stopped and asked if that was my truck down there. Told him yep and he advised me it might be a good idea to get it off the beach as the tide was really going to be high today and they really didn't know just how high it was going to be. He pointed over to the day use area were there were about 3 cars and told me they were already trapped in the day use area and couldn't get off the beach. took his advice and got off the beach and parked in the paved parking area.

Once I got on the beach in the picnic area I looked down and could see that the other couple of cars and tents that were pitched had packed up and were leaving. Still went for a walk and in the the hour or so I was there the waters had come up at least to where my truck had been parked. The water had eaten up at least 80 foot of the beach and I had never seen it even close to that high before. Sure glad that park truck happened by when it did!

Now at 8pm, it still is fairly warm out but the winds have really picked up with 35mph winds, gusts to 40mph. I really like this area but I'm not sure I could take these winds day after day after day. They say it's not as bad in the summer but I still wouldn't want to have to put up with it for even a couple of months.

Mounting Flat Screen TV In My RV

2010-02-27T18:48:00.000-05:00

When I purchased my 5th wheel it had an old 19" analog TV in it. I could have just bought a converter for digital TV but decided I wanted to put in an LCD flat screen TV. After some measuring I figured I could fit a 24" LCD into the existing opening. I looked on-line and found a few that would just fit.

Since it was close to Black Friday I decided to wait until then to see what kind of deals I could get. That is where the problem started. What I found on Black Friday was a 32" LCD TV for $199. I just couldn't pass up the deal. Then when I got it home I had to figure out a way to mount it in the entertainment center. After measuring, looking, test fitting, measuring some more I figured a swing arm mount would be the most versatile.

The TV only weighs 25 pounds but I wanted something that would take the abuse it would have to stand up to in a bouncing trailer. There are many different designs but I settled on a twin arm design instead of a single arm design. This gives you two mounting points at each swivel point instead of single pivot point which should be more durable. I also wanted one that would handle a lot more weight then what the TV weighs, again for a safety margin. Looking at the big box stores I was shocked to find that a heavy duty mount like that would cost almost as much as the TV! I finally found one on eBay (click for examples) with dual arms that would hold 80 pounds for $50.

The walls of the entertainment center are only made of 1/8" pressed board so I needed something stronger to mount to. I went a bought a 4' x 4' piece of 5/8" MDF and cut it to the full size of the entertainment enclosure walls. This made a sandwiched with 5/8" MDF - 1/8" pressed board - 5/8" MDF. Then drilled a few holes and bolted the sandwich together. This gave me a bit over 1 1/4" thick wall to bolt to.

Here is where I made a mistake which I will point out later. I attached the mount to the TV and lifted it into place where I wanted it. I marked the wall mounting holes for the articulating arm, drilled holes and bolted it through the MDF sandwich wall. But what I found was that there was just too much give in the arm that would allow the TV to bounce. No matter how I tried to strap it down for transporting it was not very secure.

What I ended up doing was to extend the bottom of opening in the entertainment center out 5 inches to allow the TV to set on it while being transported. I just took another piece of MDF, cut it to the size of the opening floor, plus 5" and let the TV set on it. The bottom of the TV is not completely flat so I put two small blocks on each end of the shelf to support the TV. I wasn't sure I would like it this way but I found the space that was between the spacer blocks was a perfect place to put my Wii sensor bar. It almost looks like I planned it that way.

The last thing I did was to put a few pieces of sticky back Velcro (the soft part) on each block and on the back of the TV where it would touch the entertainment center to eliminate any wear and tear. So far I have been happy with the install. I put this in during the winter so I still have to paint/stain things to dress it up. But it has traveled over 4,000 miles this winter and is as good as new.

Texas State Aquarium and Snoopy's

2010-02-26T00:13:00.000-05:00

Headed to Corpus Christi today to go to the Texas State Aquarium. I had heard it was nice and figured since I was in the area I should go see it. It happens to be right next door to the USS Lexington that I went to a couple of weeks ago. This would be a perfect pair of activities to do in one day as each of them take 3 or 4 hours each to see.

I got there at just the right time as a dolphin show was starting 15 minutes after I got there. There were three dolphins performing and the show lasted about 15 minutes. Of course they do the usual jumps, ball throwing and spectator splashing. It was an enjoyable show.

There is also an otter habitat, sea turtles, swamp turtles and a birding show. I didn't stay for the birding show. Inside they have an area for kids to touch sting rays and a really nice aquarium area that has a many different large and small aquarium setups with everything from sharks to jelly fish. It was a nice relaxing activity.

More pictures of Texas State Aquarium.

On the way back I stopped at Snoopy's for a bite to eat. It is located right at the exit of the Padre Island side of the causeway that connects Corpus Christi to Padre Island. You drive down a narrow road that looks like it will flood with any rain at all, and drive out on the jetty where it is located right on the bay.

You walk in to a counter where you place your order. The owner is friendly and we traded a few jokes before I order the recommended fish and chips.... and a Lone Star. I grabbed my brew and walked out the back door to find an open air seat that was right on the bay. In a few minutes I hear my name over the load speaker and go get the food. The fish was excellent, nice, fresh and firm with melt in your mouth breading. And the fries weren't bad either. Just sat there enjoying the food, the sun and watching the boats go by.

Oh yeah, it doesn't appear there is any heat in the restaurant building itself and everything is pretty open. There is a fireplace in the middle of the restaurant if you are feeling a little chilly. It's not a fancy place but I really enjoyed the setting and the food was outstanding as was the ice cold Lone Star. You know you have to drink Lone Star when in Texas. I would highly recommend Snoopy's to anyone.

A Bit O' Shrimp

2010-02-24T23:29:00.003-05:00

Got up this morning and the weather is a lot nicer. Still a bit cool but I'll sunny and mid 50's any day over the crap we had yesterday. Went out to a local restaurant today for lunch. Didn't really have a plan where to stop so I just drove down the road until I found one with a full parking lot. Found one about half full so I stopped in. I noticed this one before because they always have a "lunch special" sign out front.

I went in and they were pretty full. Ordered fried shrimp and fries and dug into the salad bar. Had to just wait just a short bit for the shrimp to get served. The plate had 7 nice fat shrimp and cottage style fries and it looked good. The shrimp itself was really good and fresh but I think the breading was just a bit undercooked. Not really bad, just a little bit mushy. May have been the style of breading but I don't think so. The fries were really good as they had some seasoning on them giving them a bit of tang. Not a bad lunch, just not great.

On the way back me and Spud stopped for a short walk on the beach. When I got back there was a propane truck in the campground filling tanks. With all the cold weather I figured it would be best to check my tanks. One of the tanks was almost empty so I flagged down the truck driver and had him fill the tank. Cost to fill the 30# tank was $20. It took 7 gals of propane so there was only a 1/2 gal left. I could have saved a couple of bucks if I would have driven to the refill station in town but would have spend more in gas on the 10 mile trip then I would have saved. At least I'll be set for propane for the rest of my trip.

Once we got back into the trailer Spud ran over to his food dish and started to chow down. Maybe he was just telling me that I should have saved him some shrimp. As I was sitting there watching him eat I got a real laugh. Sometimes Spud likes to take the food out of his dish, lay it on the floor and then eat it off the floor. This also means there is always dog food scattered around his dish. When I looked, sure enough there was food on the floor. But this time he had the food nuggets lined up in 3 nice little neat lines. (see picture). Maybe he was just setting it aside for breakfast, lunch and dinner or maybe he's becoming anal in his old age.

Texas Winter on the Coast

2010-02-23T18:43:00.000-05:00

A nice cold front moved through last night and dropped the temperatures. Today is was 42 degrees, winds a constant 20 mph with rain. That is a 25 degree drop from yesterday. Not a very pleasant day to be outside. I even wussed out and didn't go out for lunch and just had hot dogs and acgrilled cheese sandwich. Yes, I took my chances and ate two of the old fashioned tubular hot dogs. I didn't choke once. Now I sit, running 2 electric heaters, listening to the slide topper (awning) flap in the wind and watching RTV.

RTV is Retro TV that shows old serials like Kojack, I Spy and The Hulk. There is this strange attraction to these shows. Maybe it is the memory of watching them when I was younger. But compared to today's shows, they sure are funky and the acting is sooooooo bad. I'm scared now, David Bannister just turned green!!!!!!!

The weather is suppose to get better soon with temps in the high 60's on Thursday and lasting for a few days. Look out Florida, this cold front should hit you in a couple of days!

Just another day at Mustang Island SP

2010-02-22T13:42:00.002-05:00

Looks like I've settled in here a bit. No real rush to go out and do things since I'm going to be here for another 12 days. I did go out and take the truck on the beach to walk Spud. But I happened to pick high tide to do it and there wasn't a whole lot of beach to drive on. There were a few trucks and cars in the parking area so I figured it was safe and I didn't have any problems. Other then that not much else going on.

The park is completely full and will be for the next 3 weeks or so. Not every space has an RV in it as it seems someone is leaving and arriving every day. Looks like I was lucky to get a space for 2 weeks.

It was nice and warm yesterday with a high in the low 70's. Today is cooler and breezier with a high in the low 60's and winds about 15 mph. A cold front is suppose to move through tonight and drop temps into the 50's for highs and a bit of rain. Thinking it will be a good day to go out and have a nice seafood lunch.

Mustang Island State Park

2010-02-20T21:54:00.005-05:00

This morning I packed up and moved to Mustang Island State Park located just north of Port Aransas, Texas. It is only about 5 miles down the road from where I was so the move was easy. I didn't have to really pack things away as good as I would on a day I was going further so it only took about 15 minutes to get everything put away. I made reservations for 2 weeks earlier and I'm glad I did, they were full when I got there at 10am this morning

Mustang Island SP campground is located just over a small sand dune from the Gulf of Mexico. The RV campground area has 48 sites available with 15/30/50 amp electric and water. A dump station is close by. I'm not worried about dumping my tanks because I can go 2 weeks without dumping. The RV campground basically a packing lot with paved pads off the sides. Each site has a small gazebo, picnic table and charcoal grill. The sites aren't huge but there is plenty of room to put out your awning if you want and to extend your slides without feeling cramped. With the wind coming off the Gulf I doubt I'll be putting out my awning much. There is also building with bathrooms and showers that are restricted to camper use. WiFi is available at the park office but I am able to get it at my campsite with my external WiFi adapter. So far the connection has been good and fast. At $17 per day this campground has everything I need,

The Gulf is only a short walk away with an access road so you can get your vehicle on the beach if you want. There is a paved parking lot next to the beach but it is pretty low and was full of water when I took a look. To the north of the parking lot is a day use area for people who are enjoying the beach for the day. That area has a couple of breakwalls and a porta potty for the day use visitors.

To the south of the parking lot is a camping area right on the beach. It has a capacity of 300 tents and you camp right on the beach. There are porta potties, rinse showers and water available in this area. There are a few picnic tables that came be shared by the tent campers and day users. As you walk the tent area you come across holes dug in the sand and remains of campfires that the tenters have used the previous night.

I just find the driving and camping on the beach amazing. Coming from Michigan where none of this is allowed, I find it refreshing that these recreational areas are preserved for the enjoyment of the public rather then horded by private interests. I didn't do much today other then take Spud for a walk on the beach. Will most likely enjoy the beach again tomorrow as it is suppose to turn cold the beginning of the week. Right now I'm planning on staying here two weeks then start winding my way back to Michigan.

Come on you Michiganders, get that weather warm up there already, will you!

WRVO: NYS Recommends Closing 41 Parks and 14 Historic Sites (2010-02-19)

2010-02-19T13:32:00.001-05:00

WRVO: NYS Recommends Closing 41 Parks and 14 Historic Sites (2010-02-19)

Oxygenics Shower Head Review

2010-02-18T16:12:00.001-05:00

When I purchased my used 5th wheel and finally got to use it I found that the shower head did not spray very far. I took it apart a number of times trying to clean it but nothing seemed to help very much. When I was in the Rio Grande Valley I stopped into the Camping World store and decided to find a replacement for the useless shower head.

While looking at a couple of different models I seen the Oxygenics shower head. The concept looked interesting as it said it injects air into the water stream increasing the apparent water volume. Almost sounded like one of those "as seen on TV" commercials and the thing cost $75.00! But I was desperate for something better so I coughed up the dough and bought it. Figured if I didn't like it I could always return it.

Once I got back to the trailer I took it out of the package. It was only then I noticed there was no remote shutoff valve. Oh well, I was alreay this far, might as well install it and give it a try. There were no problems with the install. The hose screwed on right were the old shower head was and the head fit into the holder that was already in the shower stall. I turned it on to test for leaks and was surprised at the spray it put out, it easily sprayed all the way to the far wall of the shower. Cool, I'll give it a workout this evening.

I got ready for my shower that evening and turned on the hot water faucet. I waited, then waited some more. It took a good 15 seconds before the water started to get warm. OK, too hot now, lets turn on some cold water. I waited a few seconds and still too hot. More cold water and waited a bit more. Still too hot, more cold water, waited another 10 seconds or so. Now it too cold. Hummmm.... there seems to be a 15 second or so delay from when you turn the faucet until you feel the effects in the water.

I finally got the temps set right and climbed it. I had the adjustable pressure turned up full so I decided to try and turn it down to see if there was much difference. Found that it can be turned down to about a trickle. I settled on about 1/2 way as being low enough pressure and still give a good shower experience.

I lathered up and started to rinse off. It was a bit strange rinsing as the soap didn't just flow off as I was used to in my sticks and bricks house. I pulled the shower head off the hanger and held it closer and it then rinsed off much better. After some use I finally figured out that it is using so little water that it takes a bit longer to rinse off. Not a big deal, just have to get used to it.

I then wondered how little water it was using. My unscientific way to check was to take a 2 gallon bucket and see how long it takes to fill. I put the bucket in the shower, put the shower head in the bucket and turned on both hot and cold faucets full. It took just a bit over 3 minutes to fill the bucket with the shower head at 1/2 pressure (which is more then enough pressure for me).

Over the past couple months I found am able to take 10 minute showers and not have to worry about running out of hot water from my 5 gallon water heater. Not sure how long a shower I could take before running out of hot water. Overall, I am very happy with the Oxygenics shower head and it was $75.00 well spent.

Checking Out Other Mustang Island Campgrounds

2010-02-16T23:46:00.000-05:00

Didn't do a whole bunch today. Mainly just checked out some other campgrounds in the area to see where I may want to move to once my week is up here at Gulf Waters RV Resort.

Just down the road a couple of miles is Pioneer Beach Resort. They are mostly full but do have one space available for two weeks. I drove through and the RVs are packed tighter then sardines. They have a lot of activities, are located a short walk away from the beach and they have a lot of good reviews from others. Just not sure I'd like being that tight but it's always something to fall back on.

I then drove down to the northern tip of Mustang Island to check out IB Magee Beach Park. This is a county park that has just had a new office and bath house built recently. This is located right next to the beach on one side and the Port Aransas boat channel on another side. They even have primitive camping right on the beach. They do have about 75 "improved" campsites with electric and water but they are pretty rough. Some are in low land and have a lot of water on them, other are a bit better but look like they could get pretty muddy. The closeness to the beach makes it attractive but not sure I want to rough it that much. Lots of spaces available and at $125 a week it's not out of the question.

Last stop was Mustang Island State Park located on the southern side of the island. They have 48 improved campsites with electric and water plus 300 primitive campsites right on the beach. The improved sites are only about 50 yards from the beach. Each improved site has a covered picnic table and enough room between RVs as not to feel cramped. Price is about $150 per week but found I most likely would have to make a reservation as spring break is coming up the 2nd week of March and they start filling up the 1st week of March.

I may pick Mustang Island State Park to stay in as it is a bit roomier, still close to the beach and inexpensive. I'll have to decide soon.

USS Lexington and a Ferry Ride

2010-02-15T22:25:00.001-05:00

Last night a cold front moved through and brought high winds and rain. Winds were 30 MPH with gusts to 50 MPH for a few hours. Being on the ocean that means there is not much to buffer the winds. Made for a bit of an exciting evening until I just got used to it and went to sleep.

Since it was still a bit cold and windy I headed over to the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay. In Corpus Christi they have the aircraft carrier USS Lexington floating in the bay and have turned into a museum. It was about a 30 minute drive to get there.

The self guided tours through the Lex was great. What I really liked was that they have done very few modifications to the ship to accommodate visitors. You had to use the exact same ladders and had to walk through the same hatches that the sailors would have when the ship was in active duty. In so many cases modifications are done to displays to make it more visitor friendly but that takes away a lot of the how the real thing would look and feel in real life. It took me back to my Navy days.

It was funny all the things I noticed and remembered that I had forgotten about until I seen them again. I remembered what the symbols on the hatches and valves meant, remembered what some of the equipment did and they even had the machine shop (where I worked when in the Navy) on display. Much of what was being used back then was used on the USS Forrestal 25 years later. It was great museum and I highly recommend it for anyone in the area.

More photos of the USS Lexington.

On the way back I decided to take the ferry from Port Aransas back to Mustang Island. It is a free ferry service that takes only a few minutes but saves maybe 30 miles driving. It appears they have 5 ferries running at a time.

The wait to get on the ferry was about 15 minutes, you just drive on, they close the gates and take you across, then you drive off. Each ferrybholds about 20 vehicles at a time and I guess you can even take your motorhome or trailer on it. It's pretty cool. Hassle free, relaxing and the service is provided at no cost. Even had a Pelican waiting for us on a piling when we got to the island.

A few more ferry crossing photos.

I got back to the trailer and took Spud out for a walk. Right away he headed for the walkway to the beach but it was just too cold and windy to walk to the beach and then back. It was only about 4pm so we hopped in the truck, drove down to the access road and drove the beach for 6 miles. Stopped a couple of times to let Spud walk a bit and do his thing. No permit is needed to drive on the beach but there is a parking permit you are suppose to get for parking. There are a couple of "free" parking areas and I guess even if you park in the permit areas, as long as you don't park for hours, they don't hassle you. The water is only about 55 degrees so no swimming, it's just a nice walk even when it's a bit chilly and windy.

More beach photos from today.

Port Aransas, Texas

2010-02-13T19:48:00.000-05:00

This will be a two day update. I left Balmorhea State Park around 9:30am. It was cool and foggy but the fog wasn't bad enough to delay my start. A few miles after I got on I-10 there was a flashing sign warning of possible snow and ice. I had second thoughts but pressed on figuring I could always pull off for a few hours if it got bad. Never ran into any snow or ice, the fog cut visibility down to 1/4 mile so it really didn't effect highway speeds. A couple hours later the fog lifted and it was clear sailing.

I spent last night at the Top Of the Hill RV Park in Boerne, Texas. This is in the middle of Texas hill country and is a nice park that would be a good base for visiting the hill country. Since I already did the hill country on my way west, this was just an overnight stop for me. I got to park at the top of the hill and view from the camp sites is awesome. If I come back this way again I'll have use this park as a base for a few days.

It is only about a 4 hour drive from Boerne to the Gulf Coast so I wasn't worried about leaving early in the morning. I ended getting everything together and left around 10am. The drive went really smooth. Even San Antonio wasn't bad since it was a Saturday.

I arrived a Gulf Waters RV Resort in Port Aransas around 2pm. Gulf Waters RV Resort is a super deluxe resort that is really all owned sites that they rent out while the owners are not using them. Each site is nice and large, has great landscaping, cement pad for the RV, large brick patio, cable with 50 channels and electric/water/sewer hook ups or course. The Gulf of Mexico is just over a small dune. It is wasily the nicest RV park I have ever stayed in.... and the price reflects that.

When I got there they couldn't find my reservation. After looking around for a bit they found it was filed under the wrong day so there really wasn't a problem. I got parked and setup and just decided to relax a bit. After resting up I took Spud for a walk to the beach. The temperature was in the low 50's and it was breezy so it was brisk walking on the beach. Spud had fun none the less. It is suppose to warm up in a few days so we'll have to do the beach thing again then.

I'll be here for at least a week. Not sure if I'll stay in this park after that or move to one of the others along the beach. There is a decent State Park just down the road that I'll have to check out. Plans are to stay in this area until the end of February and then decide when I should start heading home.

Wind At My Back

2010-02-11T19:35:00.000-05:00

I got up early this morning to leave Alamogordo, NM and head to Corpus Christi, TX. A storm moved through last night and there was a chance of snow. When I looked out the window I seen nice blue skies and brown ground. Perfect! Snow was limited to elevations over 6,000 feet and Alamogordo is at 4,000 feet so we just got a bit of rain.

I got a couple of miles down the road and traffic was backed up. I looked down between the lanes and seen a helicopter in the road. There was an accident and they were evacuating someone. The delay was only about 10 minutes and I was on my way. The first part of the trip was south and once I hit El Paso I headed east.

The storm that passed through also brought with it strong winds out of the northwest. That means I finally had a good breeze to my back. While heading out west it seems I was always heading into the wind and I wondered if my 8.7 MPG average would change on the way back. My first tank heading east averaged 11.3 MPG, so having wind at your back is a good thing.

I ended up stopping at Balmorhea State Park for the night. This is a really nice Texas state park that has pull through sites, 50 amp electric, water, cable and WiFi. No sewer at each site but I don't need to empty my tanks for tonight so it's no biggie. The park is nice and clean and they have a desert wetland area and a large artesian spring pool. I didn't try out the pool, it's only 51 degrees out!

Tomorrow I'll head out again and stop someplace just west of San Antonio for the night.

See a couple more photos of Balmorhea State Park.

Day Of Rest

2010-02-10T18:04:00.000-05:00

Didn't do much today. I'm pretty burned out on driving so just decided to hang out a bit. I went over to the Space History Museum today. It was pretty cool as they had a lot of stuff from the space program. Only took about an hour to go through. I then gassed up and am now getting ready to leave in the morning for Padre Island.

I was going to head to Tuscon but then decided to slowly work my way back east. I've been moving a lot over the past few weeks and just want to take it easy for the next few weeks before I head back home in earnest. I picked the Corpus Christi area to spend some time and did a search for campgrounds. I really liked the beach when I went to South Padre Island and wanted someplace close to the Gulf. And after watching Spuddy run around at White Sands and remember how he liked walking the beach at South Padre I just had to find a place close to the water.

There are a few places on the gulf and it was hard to decide where to go. There are a couple of state parks and a few private parks. In the end I picked a higher end park to stay at for a week and I can investigate the state parks to see if I can get in and have a look at some of the other places too. I figure I'll stay in this area for 3 weeks and wouldn't mind moving a short distance once or twice.

Gulf Waters Beach Front RV Resort is expensive but is super nice. It is only a couple minutes walk over a dune to the gulf. I doubt I'll stay here more then a week because of the price but I just want a little bit of pampering right now :) So I leave tomorrow for 3 days of driving and I look forward to just taking it easy for the rest of my vacation.

Valley of Fire & White Sands

2010-02-09T21:02:00.000-05:00

I took a couple of outings today to see the sights. First stop was the Valley of Fire Recreation Area near Carrizozo, New Mexico. The Valley of Fire is a large lava field that was created 1000 to 1500 years ago. Surprisingly the southern edge of the lava field is only 14 miles from the northern edge of White Sands. The trip north to get there took about an hour. The site is controlled by the Bureau of Land Management and is not a county, state or national park. When you enter the park you stop at the payment station, stuff $3 in an envelope and enter.

There is a small bookstore near the walking path plus a picnic and tent camping area. The walking path that takes you through the lava field was made to be handicap accessible so it is an easy 1 mile walk (or roll if in a wheelchair). There are a few spots on the path where you can get off and actually walk on the lava. It's a nice interesting spot to stop at considering that there is this lava in the middle of the high desert.

See more photos of the Valley of Fire.

Next stop for the day was at the White Sands National Monument in White Sands, New Mexico. This is about 15 miles south of the campground I am staying at. This is the first time I have ever been here and I really enjoyed it. The temperature was only about 50 degrees so at least it wasn't too hot. You drive into the park and the first 4 miles are so is paved. The road then turns to white sand and you can drive another 5 miles or so into the sand dunes. While the white sandy road looks soft, the surface is almost rock hard. You just wouldn't want to get off the edge of the road. It looks like the use a road grader to clear the road daily and even by 3pm sand from the dunes was already encroaching onto the road.

There are a number of trails you can take or you can stop just about anywhere to climb the dunes. You can also rent a sled at the park office if you want to sled on the dunes. I didn't do any sledding but me a Spud did walk a bit on top of some of the dunes. Spud really enjoyed it and run around like a little kid. I think he just liked the feel of the sand compared to the mostly rocky surfaces we have been on lately.

See more photos of White Sands.

It was fun day and visitng two completely different environments.

Carlsbad Caverns

2010-02-07T23:25:00.001-05:00

This morning I headed out to Carlsbad Caverns. The morning was cool, damp and foggy. It took about 45 minutes to get there as I am currently just north of Carlsbad. Plus there is construction on the road to the caverns south of Carlsbad where they are adding two more lanes to the two lane highway.

When I got to the caverns I decided just to do the self guided tours. The first one take you into the natural opening of the cave using a steep winding paved walkway. In some places it is a 20 degree angle you are walking down. This part took about 1 1/2 hours to walk and you end up in the big room of the cavern 750 feet below the surface.

The bathrooms were closed in the rest area so I had to take the elevator up to wizz then go back down the elevator to take the big room self guided tour. While I was up top I stopped in the restaurant for a bite to eat. Back down I went to finish the big room tour.

The big room tour is a lot easier as the walkway is fairly flat. But it is more interesting then the main opening tour as there are many more stalactites and stalagmites. This walk also took about 1 1/2 hours. When I was done I was beat, my legs were sore and my feet were tired. I was ready to head back to the RV.

One thing I noticed is that there could be all kinds of phallic jokes looking at the stalagmites. But during my walk through the caverns I did see a boobie shape. Somehow that was strangely satisfying.

See more photos of Carlsbad Caverns.

ATVing Big Bend National Park

2010-02-06T00:01:00.000-05:00

I went on my ATV trip today. It really wasn't in Big Bend but just a few miles outside on the Terlingua Ranch. Terlingua Ranch comprises about 22,000 acres and is owned by Carroll Shelby (yes, THE Carroll Shelby) and David Witt. We were told it is being split up into 20 parcels and is being sold.

When I got to Far Flung Outdoor Center the outfitted with helmets and then gave us quick driving and safety instructions. I was a bit disappointed to hear we wouldn't be going over 20 mph. There were a total of 5 of us in our party, the other four guys all were together so I was a bit of an outsider.... at least for the first couple of minutes. The ATVs were Can-Am 400s. The one I was riding was brand new and only ad 22 miles on it. After riding it a bit and getting used to it, it could have been a bit more powerful. I suppose it is a good 4-wheeler for a rental unit but if I owned one it would have to have more juice.

As we left FFOC we followed a path behind the main building that had a few dips and loose sand. I guess that was to help us get used to riding them. Once we crossed into Terlingua Ranch we went on a dirt road for a couple of miles before we dropped down into a dry river bed that was filled with rocks, then loose sand, gully and wash outs got up and over the river bank and back onto another road.

As our guide Tony seen that we were handling the ATVs fine he picked up the pace. There were places on the smoother dirt roads where I hit 45 mph. I wasn't the fastest, one of the guys hit 49.

We stopped 3 times during the trip. Once at a old windmill, once at the base of Christmas Mountain and one last time to to water the rocks. What I found interesting was that miles from the main road that there would be a trailer plopped in the middle of nowhere. Some would have an awning on the side that had a rain gutter then emptied into a large (1000 gal?) container for water. No one was in any of them but Tony said that they are used during hunting season or just for vacation spots. That's roughing it.

The trip was great fun and it was cool being back into places that very few people get to see. I'm glad I stayed around a couple extra days to do this.

See more photos of my ATV adventure.

The Road to Presidio

2010-02-04T23:48:00.001-05:00

Instead of visiting Big Bend today I went and took a drive to Presidio, a town about 70 miles west. I have already driven every paved road in the park and the dirt roads were not in good enough condition from rain over the past two days that I wanted to take that chance. I had heard the drive to Presidio was nice and figured it would be a good way to see something different.

I headed out late in the morning and the first "town" about 5 miles on FM170 is the Terlingua Ghost Town. I didn't stop, figured I stop on the way back. On trips like this where I plan on back tracking I'll drive straight through to the end point, checking out places to stop, and then stop at those places on the way back as time permits.

Another 12 miles puts you in Lajitas. This is a bit of an interesting place as it has been built up with a real fancy motel and RV park. Problem is that it's location 25 miles from the entrance to Big Bend means it just doesn't get the traffic or guests that the investors hoped. I have heard it is in financial trouble. I almost chose to stay at the RV park here so I drove through. The park is really nice and fancy. Big stone entrance, lots of landscaping on the access road and large grassy RV lots, but only about 6 rigs were there.

I headed on west to and the road quickly narrowed to a normal paved country road, fairly narrow with little to no shoulder. It also quickly started to get into the mountains. The road ended up being very curvy with many hills and large drop offs on one side with solid stone walls towering on the other. The speed limit said 50mph but I was lucky to do 40 in most places. One part of the road is a 15% grade, both going up and going down! Even though I dropped the tranny down to first gear and started at 10mph, I reached 35mph by the time I hit the bottom of the hill (not using my brakes). Thinking I would have wore off 10,000 miles of brake pad if I didn't down shift.

The 70 miles trip ended up taking close to 2 hours to complete. Then I had to turn around and drive the same road back. I only drove into Presidio for a little bit, just far enough to find gas station so I could releave myself, dewater Spud and grab a G. There didn't seem to be much interesting there and since I got a later start I wanted to head back. On the way back I stopped a number of places to take pictures and enjoy the scenery. I will have to say that this is one of the most beautiful drives I have ever done, even better then any drive within Big Bend National Park. The road puts you right in the middle of the mountains and there are many different rock types and formations to experience. It's a drive no one should miss.

Here are a few photos that I took.

Big Bend National Park Day 2 & 3

2010-02-03T20:54:00.001-05:00

I didn't update yesterday so I'll just put two days of info in one update.

The weather was cloudy and hazy all day, not the best weather for picture taking. The main focus of yesterdays outing was to visit the Castolon area along with Santa Elena Canyon. To me this is the most interesting part of Big Bend with some of the most scenic areas. The drive was great with many steep curvy roads, huge mountain cliffs and deep gorges. There are a large number of paved side roads to scenic overlooks and short hikes to interesting features that I just had to do.

The round trip may have been maybe 100 miles but it took me 6 hours to do everything that was "easy" to do. I still have not done any of the dirt road routes and it looks like I may not get to do that now.... more on that later. I can't say enough about this drive and if you only have a day or two to spend in Big Bend, take the drive to Castolon, Santa Elena Canyon and Chisos Basin. While the rest of the park is interesting, it pales in comparion.

It rained all last night and today was still very cloudy with a lot of very low clouds. Just because the weather is cloudy is no reason not to go to the park as it can give a very different look to the park. Today I took the long drive to Persimmon Gap and the North Entrance to the park. This is a long drive and is mostly through the lower desert plains. What saved today's drive was the low hanging clouds that shrouded the mountains. Most times they would wrap around them letting the peaks poke their way out of the top. You could just sit there and watch as the clouds swirled over the edges of the mountain sides changing shape and form as they moved. If you enjoyed seeing animals in cloiud formations when you were a kid, you would have loved this.

I got back to the campground around 3pm. On my drive back it looked like a storm was brewing so I wasn't disappointed that I was leaving Big Bend early. About 30 minutes after I got back, those storm clouds roared overhead. The winds picked up and the rain poured down so hard I couldn't hardly see the RV parked only 20 feet away. Me and Spudy sat there, rock and rolling in the wind as the rain pounding on the RV was so loud I gave up listening to the TV. About 10 minutes later it all passed and the sun came out with a rainbow to the east. That also means this nice desert campground is a muddy mess. I took Spud for a walk afterwards and had to carry him to the shower to wash off his feet.

About 15 minutes after the storm passed, the electric went out. It was out for miles around. No electric, no water, no cell service, nothing. Then the water came back on, then the cell service, but still no electric. My RV has battery backup so I had lights, water and heat but that would only last through the night if the electric didn't come back on. About 7pm the electric can back on so we are all set.... except for the muddy campground. I'll live with it, that's the adventure of camping. At least I'm dry and not in a tent!

See pictures of Day 2 and Day 3 of my trip into Big Bend.

Big Bend National Park Day 1

2010-02-02T10:25:00.001-05:00

On Monday headed in the Big Bend NP about 9:30am. It was nice sunny day, a few clouds and just a bit hazy. I fun going into a place and not really knowing where you are going to go and what to expect. Stopped at the entrance gate, paid the $20 for a 7 day pass, took the map and decided to hit the main HQ at Panther Junction which about 20 miles away and is sort of in the middle of the park.

Once there I got a few ideas of what to see from the rangers and figured I would just do the main paved roads first, see the main sights and then maybe dig a bit deeper into the less traveled dirt roads. I could see that I would not be able to travel all of the paved roads in one day so it was off the the far southeast part of the park to Rio Grande Village where there is an overlook to the Rio Grande River. Rio Grande Village also has the only spot in the park where you can camp in an RV with hookups. It's not much of a camping area as it is just a parking lot that they added hookups to, but it would be a cool place to stay just because it is in the park. I didn't drive through the RV camping area but it appeared they were close to full.

It isn't the destination that is so great but the drive to get to them. On one side of the road you see the mountains and other side desert for miles. It seems every few miles the scenery changes and there is a serprise you I didn't expect. Even though there were bear and mountain lion warning signs, all I ever seen was a roadrunner or two.

While driving down to the Rio Grande Village I noticed a dirt road named Hot Springs. This got my curiosity up so I just had to go down it on when leaving the Village. While the dirt road is far from smooth, it is passable with a car. Once you get down the road for a mile or so you come on a small parking are with signs that warn no trailers or even dual wheel trucks beyond this point. I'm adventurous and even though my quad cab long bed truck can be a pain to maneuver I figured I'd give it try. Much the road is one lane with walls one one side and a 20' cliff drop on the other. I made it though the mile road but it was tight and I I almost got a scrape on the side of the truck bed a coupe of times.

A 1/2 mile walk gets you back to the Hot Spring which is right on the Rio Grande River and has been built up so you can easily get in and have a nice hot soak. I'd didn't bring any bathing gear so I just sat a bit and enjoyed to river. Along the path to the hot spring you find trinkets for sale. It appears they are made by some of Mexico's native population that cross the Rio Grande to place them there for visitors to purchase. If you look across the river where the trinkets are you'll see a couple of them sitting next to the river watching. It was an enjoyable side trip and I was glad I took the time to visit.

I then headed to Chisos Basin which is up in the mountains a bit. It is a steep curvy drive with a number of sharp 180 degree turns. They recommend no trailers over 20' or RVs over 24' on this road and I would agree. This is a great drive that cuts through the mountains and leads to a primitive camping area and a developed resort area that has a restaurant, store and motel style rooms. Another great drive that you can't miss.

From there it was time to head back to the RV. I had already spent over 6 hours in Big Bend NP and I was bushed. I got back to the RV, puled out the awning and me a Spud just sat in the shade to enjoy the rest of the evening. Temps were in the low 60's and it was nice just to sit and relax.

More pictures of my first day in Big Bend NP.

Big Bend RV Resort

2010-01-31T23:38:00.001-05:00

I made it to Big Bend National Park today. It was only a 5 hour drive from Ft. Stockton. I could have made it quicker but just took my time and enjoyed the drive. The scenery is fantastic, completely different then anything I have seen. No sure how to describe it since I have never been to an area like this before. You have desert land butting up against mountains. Guess I will get a better idea once I have a chance to get into the park.

Big Bend RV Resort in Study Butte Texas is not a place I would normally like. Everything is dirt or gravel with a few small trees around and a patch of brown dried out grassy spots. Looking around you find you are surrounded by mountains. First thing I did when I got here was get the trailer setup. I then checked and found out I have cell phone service (Verizon). There is WiFi at the cafe but when I started up my computer and connected the external antenna I was able to get a strong signal and the Internet connection is fairly fast. While hooking up the electric I noticed a cable connection. I ran a cable, searched for stations and they have 11 TV channels available. Full hookups, cell service, WiFi and cable TV... I think this is the first campground I have stayed at that had all four at the campsite and this is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. It may be the best place I've stayed during this trip.

I then popped the top on a beer, set out some water for Spud, tied him out to the trailer and had a seat on the picnic table. The temperature was in the upper 50's but it felt hot. I still had on my sweatshirt from this morning so I took it off to enjoy the sunshine. It was still hot so I headed inside and put on some shorts. I'm cold blooded and I just found it strange that here I was sitting in shorts and a t-shirt in 50 degree weather.

We just sat there for a couple of hours. On each side of us where these great mountain scenes and almost cloudless skies. I'd get up to go in to get another cold one and Spud wanted nothing to do with going inside. He'd just hunker down, laying as flat as he could on the ground, hoping I wouldn't see him and call him inside. The above picture is the view out the back window of the trailer. You can see some other views from my campsite.

I've signed up for three nights stay at the RV park. I may just have to extend that a bit if Big Bend is all it is hyped to be. Temps are suppose to get into the mid 60's the next couple of days so that should be great to exploring. So far I am really enjoying the area.

Fort Stockton Texas

2010-01-31T00:23:00.003-05:00

I left Guadalupe River State Park this morning for Big Bend National Park and stopped at Fort Stockton RV Park for the night. It was a bit frosty this morning with temps in the upper 20s. As I retracted the slider before leaving there was a bunch of racket outside. Decided I better go investigate. Their must have still been some water on the slide topper and it had frozen during the night. It all slid off as the topper rolled up and crashed to the ground.

The drive to Ft. Stockton was a nice change of pace. While it was a bit hilly, the scenery was very nice. It is what I would consider typical western plains scenery. Right out of a Marlboro commercial. There are also a lot of wind generator farms on top of the flat hills.

Here are a few more pictures.

The Fort Stockton RV Park is pretty nice considering it is in the middle of nowhere. OK, Fort Stockton may be one of the larger cities in the region, but there is still no much else around. Might be one reason the park is over half full, there really isn't any other place to stop within 100 miles. By the time I got here the temps had gotten up to 55 degrees, felt really good.

Not a lot trees and stuff on the lots but there isn't much of that in the area. The park is clean with a bit of construction going on behind the main building. The bathrooms/showers are surprising nice. All full hookup sites are pull through and there are sites for any size rig. I was able to pull in my 30' 5th wheel and leave my truck hooked up. The sites are wide enough to extend any slides you may have. They even have a tent area and a few cabins for rent. I was able to pull in 6 television channels, 4 or them are Spanish. They have WiFi but I found it close to worthless. The signal is strong, but so slow pages would time out loading. Verizon cell signal is strong so I'm tethering with no problems.

There is a small restaurant in the park that is open a couple hours in the morning and evening. I didn't feel like cooking something up so tried some of their Mesquite pork ribs. It was a pretty good meal for 8 bucks. I think I'll give their bisects and gravy a go in the morning.

I plan to be in Terlingua Texas tomorrow staying at the Big Bend Resort & Adventures RV Park. It is located only a few miles outside the west entrance to Big Bend NP and is suppose to be the best place to stay when visiting the park. I heard there is no cell service in the area but the park has WiFi. Not sure how many days I am going to stay there, it will just depend on how interesting Big Bend is.

Then The Rains Came

2010-01-29T15:17:00.001-05:00

I extended my stay at Guadalupe River State Park because of the storm that was going to roll through last night. And roll through it did!

It rained all day yesterday and last night about midnight the storm front moved through. There were even tornado watch issued for the area. Most of the storm went a few miles north but we still got over 3" rain. At times the rain was coming down so hard I had to turn up the TV volume over half just to hear it over the deluge pounding on the roof of the trailer.

This morning I got up to sunshine but much cooler temperatures. At 2pm it is 45 degrees with 20 mph winds. With all the rain I wanted to see what effects it had on the river. Me and Spud drove down to have a look. The river was running about 4' higher then the day before. Talking with the park ranger he said the flow rate was 1000 cfs compared to 100 cfs that is normal this time of year. He had pictures from the late 90's when the river was 42' above normal and most of the picnic and parking area around the river was covered with water.

The above picture is of the same tree before and after the rains. Click on it to get a larger view.
See some other pictures of the river flooding.

I plan on leaving the area tomorrow and head further west. With all the time on my hands yesterday I did some research and decided I want to visit Big Bend National Park which is north west border of Texas and Mexico. It will add an extra day of driving to my trip but then I have no agenda or timetable to keep. Looks like I won't get there for two days and I'll make another report once I get there.

Guadalupe, Pedernales and LBJ

2010-01-27T22:03:00.000-05:00

Had a chance to get out and explore the area today. Nothing here is very close to each other so that means a bit of driving.

First stop was where I am staying, Guadalupe River State Park located close to Spring Branch, Texas. The park is about 25 miles north of San Antonio just off State Highway 46. The main feature of the park is the Guadalupe River.... go figure. When I first saw it I was really surprised at the deep cut walls that line parts of the river. There are large areas set aside for picnicking with many easy paths that you can walk to take in the river scenery. There are even areas where you can fish, swim and even tube down the river. While the park is pretty deserted now, I could see that this would be a hopping place in summer.

All of the facilities look to be in very good shape with nice bathroom in each major area. I also found out they have WiFi in areas of the park. I pulled out my super duty WiFi antenna and can get a usable signal for internet access. This is great a place to stop if in the area.

See more pictures of Guadalupe River State Park.

I then headed north another 35 miles or so to Johnson City. Johnson City is the birthplace of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Before visiting the LBJ Ranch I took a side trip to Pedernales Falls State Park which is 9 miles east of Johnson City. This takes you into the heart of Texas Hill Country. The road to the park is hilly. At the bottom of some of the hills there are "flood level" markers so you can see how much water is flowing over the road... they went up to 5 foot!

Once you get on the park road is winding and hilly. Reminded me a lot of the road from Gardner to Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone. They have a large camping area in the park so I drove through to see what it was like. It's much like the camping area where I am at now. From there I headed to the spot on the park map marked as a swimming and tubing area.

This is not like any swimming spot I've ever seen before. You have about 100 yard walk down a path with numerous steps to get to the river. Once there you have patches of sand in between large rocks and trees. The river in this area is littered with boulders but these also create areas of calm water that would be perfect for a soak. Interesting indeed.

It was then on to Pedernales Falls. This was completely unexpected in the middle of Texas. The river is down so there was not a lot of water flow, but the whole area is awesome. You can get right down to the rivers edge and walk on the rocks that would make up the falls when the river is running faster. Sheer cliffs are on the other side of the river with a sandy beach for swimming below the falls. This is easily the best place I have visited since being in Texas and I could have stayed here all day. But time was running short and I had one more place I wanted to visit.

See more pictures of Pedernales Falls State Park.

14 miles west of Johnson City is the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site. This park was created from the Johnson Ranch and it is still a working ranch. The visitors center has a lot of information on LBJ's life and memorabilia. They have a self guided tour on a CD that you play in your car while you drive around the ranch.

One of the most interesting parts was the main driveway to the ranch that goes through the Pedernales River and your car is actually in the water as you cross the river (it is no longer in use). You may remember pictures of LBJ and Lady Bird riding in their Continental convertible as water splashed under it's wheels. Also located here is LBJ's Western White House, his parents home, the one room school house he attended and an exhibit of his white Continentals, other cars and other memorabilia at the ranch airplane hanger.

The LBJ State Park is more of an historical site then what many would consider a state park. If you have any interest of this time in history, you want to stop here,

More pictures of the LBJ Ranch.

That wrapped up my day. Well, almost. On the way back to the camp site I spotted a DQ, me and Spud shared a carmel sundae! Pretty exciting day and I saw things I never expected. I'm glad I took the time to stop in this area. I'm going to extend my stay for a couple more days.

Next Stop Guadalupe River State Park

2010-01-26T21:22:00.001-05:00

I packed up and headed out of the Rio Grande Valley about 8:30am this morning. My destination is the Guadalupe River State Park which is about 20 miles north of San Antonio. This is in the middle of Texas Hill Country and the area has gotten rave reviews from everyone I have talked to.

One the way I stopped at Blue Beacon Truck Wash to give the 5th wheel and truck a bath. The cost was $58 and in my opinion is not worth it. Oh well, live and learn.

I took I-410 around San Antonio. The north side of town was the worse drive I have had my whole trip. There was construction all over the place and the drivers made the I-94 drive through Detroit look like a cake walk. Next time I'll drive 100 miles out of my way if I have to to avoid San Antonio.

I got into Guadaluple River State Park around 3:30pm. The campground is really nice. The RV sites are water and electric only with a paved pad to park on. A picnic table, fire ring and tent pad are on each. I really didn't have any time to explore the area once I got set up, just drove down by the river to walk Spud. The river is really cool! I didn't take my camera with me so you'll have to wait until tomorrow to have a look.

Right now I have the site for 2 nights. Not sure how long I am going to stay, just depends on how much there is to see. There are very few people staying in the park so additional days will be no problem. I'll post more once I have a chance to get out and about.

Time To Move

2010-01-25T22:23:00.001-05:00

I've been in the RGV for 3 weeks now and it's time to move on to new adventures. I'm packed up and plan to leave Tuesday morning to Texas Hill Country. It is located north of San Antonio and is a days drive from where I'm now located.

I plan to stay at the Guadalupe River State Park for a few days as long as they are not full. There are a lot of RV parks in the area if I can't get in. It should to be an interesting area with a lot of different landscape to explore. The Texas Hill Country Drive looks to be a good place to start to get an idea of the area and then wing it from there.

I'll keep you updated once I get there.

AmeriCana RV Resort - Mission Texas

2010-01-23T14:05:00.000-05:00

Overview: ‪I stayed in AmeriCana RV Park for 3 weeks in January 2010. It is a mature park.... I hesitate to call it an older park as it wears it's age well. With the maturity of the park comes many of the things that attracted me to it. It is a smaller park with about 125 spaces, lots of mature trees for ample shading for most of the spaces and just enough facilities to make it enjoyable.‬

‪Location: AmeriCana is in a good location close to I-83. It is only 3 miles from Bentsen State Park which is the birding capital to the world. There are many other RV parks in the vacinity so you will see many other Winter Texans biking and walking in the area.‬ ‪This also puts it close to just about any big box store you could ever want, many eateries, movie theaters, malls and gas stations. A few blocks to the west is an area that is a bit run down but I never felt uncomfortable driving through the area. ‬

Lots: This is one of the most attractive features of AmeriCana. The premium lots are large compared to most parks in the area at the same price point. Each primium lot has a cement patio and is well shaded. Most RV parks would have split them in two and stuffed another RV in the same spot. Each lot has at least a couple of trees with ground cover instead of dirt or gravel. The RV sits on a gravel pad as does your tow vehicle or towed if you have one. The economy lots can be small and cramped with a gravel surface and no cement patio. I highly recommend paying the few extra dollars for a premium site. If you use satellite TV or internet be sure to let them know so you will get a lot with a clear view to the south.

All sites are back in and there are lots to fit any size RV. Since this is a mature park the roads are a bit narrow. Two vehicles can pass side by side but that is about it. With the lots being as large as they are I did not observe anyone having a problem backing into their sites. I would guess that 25% of the lots taken by permanent seasonal units that were all kept up very nicely.

Site Services: Each site is full hook up with 30 and/or 50 amp service, water and sewer. Sewer hookups are towards the rear of the lot so make sure you have enough hose to reach, I needed 30 foot of hose. My site had 50 amp only but I have an adaptor to hook it up to my 30 amp cable. I never had a problem with electric power or water pressure. The water is hard as it left a lot of water spots when I washed my truck. Cable TV is available through the local cable company, I did not use it as reception was very good for the 4 major networks using my over the air antenna. Free WiFi is available in the park clubhouse only. Aircard reception using Verizon was excellent.

Park Accommodations: The park has a pool and hot tub located next to the clubhouse. While not huge they are adequate considering the size of the park. There is a nice patio around the pool/hot tub and it was always clean and neat. There are mens and ladies bathrooms with showers located close to the pool. The bathrooms were nice and clean but the showers are a bit on the small size. The laundry room has 4 pay washers and dryers. Also available are mail boxes if you plan on receiving mail. The clubhouse has ample seating for activities and has a large kitchen that is used for weekly breakfasts and other activities.

The park is very pet friendly and you will always see someone walking their dog. At the back of the park is a bird sanctuary. It is privately owned by one of the park seasonal residents and it provides a nice stop to have a nice short walk in a wooded area and view a few birds at the feeding station.

Activities: There are a number of activities planned each day. This varies from Spanish lessons to Bible Study, Exercise classes, Poker, Pokeno, Computer help and bike rides. There are also a number of special events each month that are one time events. I did not participate in the activities but I seen the Pokeno, poker, Spanish lessons and the weekly jam session were very popular.

Cost: I paid $130.00 weekly including electric. Daily rates are $30 with monthly rates are $400 not including electric. Good Sam is accepted for a few day on the daily rate.

Summery: I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at AmeriCana. The hosts are super friendly and helpful and all of the parks guests/residents were great. My favorite things was the ample shading and comfortable laid back atmosphere of the park. It was great to have birds in the trees throughout the park instead of a barren plot with little to no landscaping. Almost every evening I would sit on the patio just to relax in the shade and chat with the other guests as they walked by. Almost every day a flock of parakeets would fly in to occupy the local vegetation. My neighbor had a a hummingbird feeder out and it was interesting to see them fly in to have a drink.

I would highly recommend AmeriCana RV Park to anyone visiting the Rio Grande Valley and would suggest that you upgrade to a premium site if at all possible.

AmeriCan RV Park, 721 N. Bentsen Palm Dr., Mission, TX
(956)581-1705 - http://www.americanarvresort.com

Leaking Tires and Sticking Slide, Oh My

2010-01-22T13:49:00.000-05:00

I have been in the same park in Mission TX for 2 1/2 weeks now. At the beginning of the week I had a low pressure alarm on my TST tire pressure monitoring system when I got into the truck to go to the store. When I got back I checked the pressure in that tire and it was at 40 psi. Thought it was a bit strange but aired it back up to 50 psi and didn't think much more about it.

2 days later I got another low pressure alarm. Checked again and the tire pressure was low. Thinking that maybe the TST sensor was leaking I aired the tire back up and put on a regular valve stem cap. Checked the pressure today and the pressure was again low.... time to get it checked out.

I called the Good Sam Emergency Road Service number. Took about 12 minutes to get someone on the phone. Found out that the bad weather has them swamped with calls and that was the reason for the delay. They sent someone out to chenge the tire. Said it would be an hour and it took them an hour to get here. Once the service guy removed the tire he found the metal valve stem leaking. It was installed incorrectly crimping the rubber grommet. He replaced it with a new metal valve stem, put the tire back on and I am all set. Total cost was $15 for the valve stem replacement, Good Sam EMS took care of the rest.

I am planning on moving towards NM on Tuesday. If the TST alarm didn't go off I wouldn't have checked tire pressures until Monday evening which would have meant I wouldn't have been able to get it fixed until Tuesday delaying my departure time/day. So tire pressure systems are useful when you are not on the road.

As a side note, I was going to retract the room slide to help the tire guy remove the tire as it was under the slide. When I tried to retract it, it would only move about an inch then stop. I later found out that the nylon slide plate on the floor inside the 5er had come loose and was jamming on the slide floor instead of allowing the slide to go over it. I tightened the screws holding down the slide plate and it now works fine. This is something I wouldn't have found until Tuesday morning when I was ready to leave so my tire problem also found another unrelated issue.

New RVing According to Hank : Always check your rig a few days before you are leaving. If you wait until the day before you leave and find something wrong, it may delay your departure.

Momma Told Me There Would Be Days Like This

2010-01-21T20:13:00.001-05:00

You things can't go smooth all of the time.

Yesterday I went to the store for a few groceries. When I got back I put a can of pop in the freezer to get it cold quickly. Today I remembered I put it in there when I opened the freezer and found pop splattered all over the inside of the freezer.

A couple of days ago I decided I would check the air pressure in the trailer tires. Since I last checked them when the temps were in the 40's I thought that maybe I would have let a bit of air out to get the pressures back down to where they should be. 3 tires were about 7 psi high so I aired them down. One tire was 10 psi low. I aired that back up to where it should be. Checked the pressures again yesterday and that tire is was 15 psi low. Looks like I have a slow leak in that one tire, I'll know for sure tomorrow when I check it again :(

I Could Get Used To This

2010-01-19T22:24:00.002-05:00

With two days over 80 degrees and three more in the forecast, it's even hot for Texas in January. Average temps are 70 this time of year so this is not usual weather. I'm not arguing.

Yesterday I went back to Bentsen State Park and took the trolley to the far end of the pack. There is a two mile trail that I walked. Really didn't see many birds but the walk was relaxing with a lot of different things to see. I took some pictures that you can see in my photo album.

What I did see while in the park is that it is a great place to bike. There are a number of birds feed stations throughout the park that no only has a lot of bird activity, but also seen some wild pigs. They are too far to walk to (for me at least) but is an easy bike ride to get to. Of course in my rush to leave Michigan, I forgot to put my bike in the trailer. Screw it, I went to Wally World and picked up an $89 bike to use for the rest of my vacation.

Speaking of birds, I had a surprise yesterday when I got up. In the morning I opened my door to walk Spud and there were two parakeets sitting in the tree about 15 feet away. Later this afternoon there was a big flock of birds flying around the park making a hell of a racket. I couldn't figure out what they were until they landed in a couple of trees across the street. I pulled out my camera to get a closer look and they were parrots. You know how noisy a parrot can be.... imagine 100+ of them!

I'm going to head back to Bentsen Park tomorrow with my new Wally World bike to check out some of the feeding stations. Hopefully I can get some decent pictures.

Mr. Rogers Was Right

2010-01-17T22:35:00.000-05:00

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood. OK, maybe that is a bit over the top but it sure was a nice day today. Since it was Sunday I decided to stay in the park and get some things done that I needed to do. The mid 70's temperature only made doing them that much better. I could also avoid the weekend crowds that was sure to be anyplace I wanted to go... might as well wait for a weekday to do them.

The truck was in bad need of a wash after a month on the road. I broke out the bucket and brush then gave it a good scrub down. Of course the water is hard as hell and that left water spots all over.... not just water spots, but big ass white water spots that made it look like a teenager reaching puberty! I had a few microfiber rags so I got one damp then wiped and dried, wiped and dried, then wiped and dried some more until it was done. Maybe that $14 hand wash just down the street isn't such a bad deal after all.

By then the sun was hitting the side of the trailer so I lowered the awning, popped a Miller Lite and slapped a couple of cheese and jalapeno sausages on the grill. The one thing about the grill is that it doesn't get real hot and that made it was about perfect for cooking sausages. Took me 3 Millers to finish cooking them. During that time a neighbor stopped by to chat and Spud just laid out on the patio enjoying the fresh air.

Once I stuffed down a couple of sausages and another brew just sat back to enjoy the day. I needed a few tunes and turned on the radio. Low and behold I found a classic rock station packed in between the country and Spanish stations.... I really wondered if they knew what rock music was down here.

By now it had gotten pretty warm so I figured I'd give the hot tub a whirl. Put on my suit and headed to the front to have a nice soak. 10 minutes in the spa, then 5 minutes in the pool to cool off, then back in the spa again. The pool water really isn't cool, it just feels that way after getting out of the spa. I feel like a new man and am ready to head out to Bensten Park tomorrow for a hike.

Nothing A Burger Can't Solve

2010-01-16T23:05:00.000-05:00

Over the past day or so I have been trying to figure out if I wanted to stay in the Rio Grande Valley for a bit more or head out towards New Mexico. The weather really has not been all that great in the RGV which means it wouldn't be much fun visiting a couple of places I wanted to go to. It really had me down.

The only thing to look forward to was that they are saying we are going to have some really nice weather later this week. After researching places to stop at on the way to NM I opened the fridge to make something to eat and there wasn't much there. OK, cool, I can head out to H.E.B. to get some groceries for the next couple of days. H.E.B. is a large grocery store chain in the area that I would compare to Wal-Mart's grocery section. But they have some really good Mexican pasteries that I have gotten a bit hooked on.

On my way there the sun was out, temps around 70 with a slight breeze. Great t-shirt weather. When in the meat section to pick out some ham I heard something. "Feed me" I heard while having flashbacks of The Little Shop of Horrors. Slowly I looked around and spotted it, four freshly made patties of beef were calling out to me! I couldn't resist, in the cart they went.

As I started to push my cart to the checkout I noticed the patties looked lonely. The cheese and jelapeno sausages in the next case were the perfect companion! I checked out and headed to the truck humming the Feed Me tune now stuck in my head.

It was time to break out the grill that was included with the trailer. It's pretty cool as it hangs on a bracket on the side of the trailer and attaches to a hose that runs from the propane tanks. Once fired up I grabbed those patties, sprinkled on a bit of mesquite seasoning and slapped in on the grill. That'll teach you to call out to me!

Topped it off with pepper jack cheese then slipped it a toasted bun and set back with a Miller Lite to enjoy the afternoon. I'm refreshed. I feel much better and look forward to an even warmer day tomorrow. Mid to upper 70's the rest of the week, bring it on!

Still in the Rio Grande Valley

2010-01-15T19:13:00.000-05:00

Not a lot of updates lately. I went to a local RV show yesterday. I was hoping to see a lot of parts and accessory booths but there really were none. There were about 50 new RVs on display and I walked through quite a few of them but since I'm not in the market for one it was more to pass the time then anything else.

We were suppose to get a lot of rain today but it really never happened. They even had flash flood warning but we only got a few sprinkles. Most of the rain was off shore. Good thing, didn't want to see if my trailer can float :)

Went to Wal-Mart today to get s few things. Figured I'd try a new one just to see if it was any different then the one I've already been to. So I did a search for Wal-Marts in my GPS and found one 8 miles away so grabbed Spud and off we went. Traffic was bad and it took about 20 minutes to get there. Started looking around for it once I got to the area and I see a blue and white building off to the side. What's this? A closed Wally World? Sure 'nuff, first time I've ever seen a closed WM.

The weather is suppose to be nice this next week, sunny with highs in the upper 70's. Plan on heading back to Bentsen Park and maybe go back to South Padre Island to walk the beach again. But at this point I am thinking of heading out up towards New Mexico. Problem is that it is 10 to 15 degrees colder up there so I'm not sure if I want to stay put with the warm weather or head out to see new sights.

The weather is pretty nice here in the Rio Grande Valley but there is really not a lot of the things I want to do around here. I compare the area to 28th St. in Grand Rapids.... for 25 miles in each direction. Sure there are 1000's of restaurants, shopping malls and movie theaters within 30 minutes drive but I could get that at home. I came out here to see something different. We'll see what I can dig up over the next few days with the nice weather coming up.

Two Days, Not Much Action

2010-01-13T12:07:00.000-05:00

Here it is going on 2 days and I've not done a whole lot. Yesterday was cloudy with a chance of showers and it is the same today. Highs in the lower 60's. I was going to go back to Bentsen Park yesterday but decided to say put, do a bit of grocery shopping and relax. With the rain today I think I'll do some laundry and catch up on some internet stuff.

Not really much different then I would do at my S&B (sticks and bricks) home. Maybe I'm just settling in a bit as I feel no real need to have to do something. While doing laundry maybe I'll see see if I can get some suggestions for a restaurant that has some authentic Mexican food.

A couple of things I notice I do more then normal is clean. Since the 5er is smaller then my S&B it gets cluttered a lot sooner. I find myself wiping things down, sweeping and washing dishes almost daily. Normally I wouldn't even have dishes to wash but I find myself cooking more then I did when home.

South Padre Island

2010-01-11T20:38:00.002-05:00

It looked like the weather was going to be nice today so figured it was time to have a peek at the Gulf. Headed out to South Padre Island around 10am and got a few miles down I-83 and traffic was backed up. There was an accident ahead and I got tied up in the traffic jam for about 1/2 hour. It didn't look bad but it was down to one lane. Once I cleared that it was smooth sailing.

Once I turned on highway 100 I stopped for gas thinking gas would be more expensive on the island. Once I got on the island is was a nickel cheaper..... go figure. Same thing happened on my summer trip to the Upper Peninsula. Gas was cheaper in the U.P. then 50 miles south of the bridge.

I stopped by a couple of campgrounds while there. The KOA is just north of the bridge and appears to be pretty nice. Some of the sites are pretty close together but a few are maybe 30' wide. I'd suggest looking at the sites if you can before making a reservation. The county park towards the north is bare minimum. The are hookups but it is basically a parking lot with about 15 parking spaces turned into RV parking. The entry is really tight and I can't see how an RV of any length would be able to get in there without scraping curbs with your tires.

The southern part of South Padre Island is really built up with lots of hotel, condos and shops. Head a few miles north on highway 100 and the buildings end then all you have is beach on both sides of you. All of it is public access, you just pull your car off the side of the road and walk maybe 50 years to the beach. There are a couple of parks that have bathrooms and/or picnic areas but why pay the $5.00 entry fee when you can get to the beach for free?

There are a number of public access areas with small parking lots and they have vehicle access to the beach. It's cool that you can get your vehicle on the beach and drive for miles right along the ocean front. Most of the access points would require a 4x4 to get to the beach but once on the beach it is packed hard enough that a 4x2 would have no problem.

There was very few people on the beach but with 30 miles of desolate white sand beach there could be many more then it seemed. I would look one way and only see someone flying a kite or walking a dog then look the other way and see a couple of trucks with a few folks fishing. All you heard was the waves crashing and the call of the gulls. I wonderful place to visit that no one should miss if they are anywhere in the area.

See more pictures in my photo album.

Bentsen State Park

2010-01-09T20:40:00.002-05:00

It was 9am once I got around this morning and I found my water outlet was frozen. The thermometer was showing 34 degrees so it must have gotten colder during the night. I unhooked my water hose last night so nothing was broken and it thawed by 11am.

It was sunny 45 degrees by 1pm so I decided to take a drive to Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park to see what's up with that. They bill themselves as the birding capital of the world. It's just a 3 miles drive down the road. You have to park outside the park as there wasn't any driving within the park. It's a pretty big place so you really wouldn't want to try and walk it. They do have a trolly that will take you to different areas of the park or you can ride your bike if you want. They also have bikes to rent. Admission is $5.00 per person

I just decided to go in and hike to the first trail that was less then a mile down the road. The Resaca Vieja Trail is about 1.4 miles round trip and half of it is handcap accessible. At the end of the trail is a dry lake bed. At one time it had water in it but with the damning of the Rio Grande, it is now dry. I didn't see much wildlife on the trail but it was interesting seeing some of the native vegetation. One thing I did notice is that the majority of plants have some type of thorn of pricklely on them.

I only spent about 2 hours at the park and I'll go back again to take the trolley further back into the park. You can see some of the pictures I took on my photo album. Not a lot of birds in this area so maybe once I get further back into the park I'll see more.

On the way back I stopped and got a bacon cheese Whataburger with jalapenos. The burger was great but their fries suck. Took Spud for a walk once I got back and he got a thorn or burr in his foot (remember everything has thorns in them). Must not have gone in too far since once I carried him home it had fallen out. He seems none worse for the wear.

The TV commercials are a bit interesting. I seen one for Stryker hip replacements and the blond lady that does the Zeigler commercials also does auto commercials here. Still trying to get used to the hour time difference. Went to the campground music jam tonight.... not my kind of music so headed back to the trailer to rest my weary bones.

Brrrrrrr

2010-01-07T19:20:00.000-05:00

The cold front that is covering about 2/3 of the nation has hit the Rio Grande Valley. Temps this morning was in the mid 50's, it's now 42 and dropping. Winds have picked up to 20+ MPH. They claim it is going the get down to about 30 the next 3 nights with a high of only the upper 30's tomorrow. Needless to say, that is cold for this area.

Didn't do a lot today. Went to the store to stock up on some goodies since I won't be doing much over the next couple of days. Double checked to make sure my electric heaters are working. Since electric is included with the lot rent, I'll use the electric heaters as much as possible to save on propane.

So just another uninteresting day today. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Just another day in Mission

2010-01-06T22:21:00.001-05:00

Not a whole bunch to report today. Freezing weather is coming in a couple of days so I did a few things to get ready for that. Check the propane to make sure I wouldn't run out. Reorganized the water hose so I could easily drain it if it looked like it was going to get that cold. Then took Spud for a couple of long walks since the temps were in the low 70's. He sure enjoys going for walks. He wants to smell just about everything and a 2 block walk takes about 45 minutes. He did pick up a grass burr in his foot today that I had to remove... felt like the mouse and elephant :)

Went to Camping World and got a sewer hose support so it will drain properly when I dump. Also picked up a water filter since the one I had was just about plugged. Stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up a some groceries and a few odds and ends. Then passed by a quick oil change place and turned around to get that done since I was about 1000 miles overdue.

All in all just a laid back day. Still kind of recovering from a week of driving and moving around. The cold weather is suppose to move out on Sunday so I should be ready to go out and investigate the area by then.

Winfield Landing Gear Cross Brace Stabilizer

2010-01-06T19:45:00.002-05:00

One of the first things I noticed when I got my 5th wheel trailer was that there was a bit of side to side shaking. The cause of this is that the landing gear that hold up the front of the 5th wheel have no side support which makes them wobbly. Think of a table with no braces on the legs.

I did a bit of research to find a solution and found there are a number of landing gear stabilizing systems on the market. I wanted something that not only took out the shake but was easy to install, easy to use and didn't cost an arm and a leg. I finally settled on the Winfield Landing Gear Cross Brace Stabilizer system.

Winfield appears to be a small one man company. When I called them his wife answered the phone and then put Scott on to make sure the stabilizer would work on my trailer. Less then a week later it was at my door. There is not a lot to it, you get 2 cross braces, 2 lower brakets, 2 upper brackets with spacers for smaller landing gears, assortment of nuts and bolts plus a flag to put over your landing gear switch so you don't try to raise the landing gear without disengaging the stabilizers.

Installation was breeze. No holes need to be drilled. Just remove the landing gear foot pin and attach the lower mount through the same hole using the supplied bolts. The upper mount clamps around the upper landing gear tube with a square u-bolt. A spacer is included if you have a smaller landing gear. Then just attach the crossbraces with the supplied bolts and it's ready to use. Total time to install was less then 30 minutes.

Using the stabilizer are just as easy. Once you have your unit in place and level just twist the outer stabilizer tube until the holes line up with the inner tube. Insert the clinch pin through the hole and screw the whole stabilizer until you feel some resistance, then give it an additional 1/2 to 3/4 turn. Do the same on the other stabilizer and you are all done. Takes only a couple of minutes to do.

One nice thing that was included is a flag that you attach over your landing gear switch (using velcro). This isso you know your stabilizers are still engaged and you don't try to lift your landing gear without first loosing them and removing the clinch pins. This flag can be removed from the velcro tab once the pins are removed and will store the the cinch pins for your next use. When you raise the landing gear the stabilizers telescope in so you never have to remove them.

Once in place and tight I could not detect any side to side movement eliminating the landing gear sway. Easy to install, easy to use, fairly inexpensive and it works. I would recommend them to anyone that wants to minimize side to side landing gear sway.

AmeriCana RV Resort

2010-01-05T20:41:00.002-05:00

Another day, another change in RV park. I got information on another RV park from rv.net and decided to check it out this morning. The AmeriCana RV Resort in Mission Texas is a smaller older park compared to many of the mega parks. The mega parks have rows and rows of RVs packed together with the gratuitous palm tree on each lot where the AmeriCana has more space between units and has mature trees throughout each of the spaces. The activity buildings are a bit older and while the meeting hall and bathrooms may not have the stark sterileness of the mega park, they are very clean and useable. Walk down the streets and there are orange and grapefruit trees to pick from and birds are in the trees right outside my door. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but for me it's just more comfortable and friendly then the mega parks. I signed up to stay 2 weeks and can extend from there.

Found out there was a fish boil tonight at the park and they said they had a couple of cancelations so I could get a plate. Didn't really know what to expect since I just arrived a few hours earlier. As I walked up to the club house I heard what I thought was a jet engine. What I found sitting outside was 3 huge pots of boiling water with big propane burners firing underneath.

I looked around and a group of guys were standing around the pots, beers in hand, deciding when the best time it was to start cooking. Maybe it was just the passing around of the cup of brandy but I see this is my kind of place! I headed back to the trailer, stuffed my jacket pockets full of beers and joined the group. We had boiled fish, potatoes, carrots, onions, cole slaw and bread. Sure was a nice finish to the day.

Texas Trails It Is

2010-01-04T18:19:00.001-05:00

I took a few hours today to go visit some of the other RV parks in the area that had openings. None of them have any real advantage over where I am at so I believe I will be staying here for a couple of weeks. The only real disadvantage here is no wireless but my Verizion tethering has been working pretty well. I figure if I get close to the 5 Gig bandwidth limit I can always go down and get an aircard for an additional 5 Gig. This will at least give me enough time to settle in, learn where things are and then figure out what to do from there. All I can say is the 61 degrees is sweet!

Day 5: RGV

2010-01-03T19:13:00.002-05:00

Today I reached the Rio Grande Valley. 62 degrees and a bit of drizzle greeted me. Since it is Sunday most parks have limited office hours. I ended up at Texas Trails RV Resort in Pharr, TX for the night. I doubt I'll stay here but I can take a few days to find a place that has more of what I'm looking for. There is no Internet or cable TV here. I can get about 10 channels with the antenna so that's not a big thing, but no Internet is a deal breaker. I understand that you can get wireless for an extra charge, we'll see what's up with that tomorrow.

What little I have seen the rest of the park doesn't seem bad. Space between lots is adequate and there is a fairly decent space behind the RV that makes it feel roomier. Lots of spaces available here and I just have this feeling it might because of the features for the price. I'll have a better grip on it tomorrow.

The remainder of my trip was uneventful. Traffic was light and the roads were good. Hit some drizzle the last 50 miles but that's about it. I'm just going to sit back and chill for the rest of the night.

Day 4: Schulenburg RV Park

2010-01-02T18:45:00.002-05:00

Today's stop is in Schulenburg, TX which is half way between San Antonio and Houston. I should have made it a bit further but I took an unintended scenic route. The morning started a bit frosty at 28 degrees. I didn't feel so bad after I took a look at the temps from my weather station back home. Packed stuff up while the coffee brewed and was on the road by 8:30am.

Things went a bit haywire when I pulled off the highway for gas. In my search for gas little did I notice that the exit I I needed to take was the one I got off of for gas. Once I filled up I headed back on the highway and it wasn't until 15 miles later I finally figured I was past my exit. OK, no big deal, we'll just take a couple of state highways to get back on I-35 and be good. I did eventually get back on track, but lost an hour of drive time. Not a big deal, I'm not on a schedule.

Had a caravan of 5 RVs for a while on US77. I'm sure that there were a few unhappy motorists as we were going 60 on a 2 lane road with a speed limit of 70. They do have a few passing areas and we slowed down on those to let them pass.

So I just drove until I decided it was time to stop. Punched up campgrounds on my GPS and this park was 4 miles away right on my route. It's a small park, only 49 spaces. The roads are a bit tight but I got in with no problems and have seen a couple of, I would guess, 35' 5th wheels pull in after I did. They have a pond with ducks that Spud found real interesting and a Dairy Queen right next door that gives you 10% off campground discount.... so me a Spud are gonna have Strawberry Sunday tonight. Now the bad part, their cable only has about 6 stations and no FOX network. That means I won't get to see the games tonight unless I can get the RV antenna to dial in a signal.

Did you look close at the picture? Notice that the door is open? Yep, that's right, it's in the upper 50's and warm as hell compared to that 15 degree I see back home. Sorry, just had to rub it in!

Day 3: Dallas KOA

2010-01-01T19:42:00.003-05:00

Another long day of driving. Original plan was to stop in Mt. Pleasant TX just west of Texarkana but it was early and I still felt pretty good. Figured the extra 1 1/2 hours drive to get to Dallas wouldn't be bad. The drive wasn't bad, I just was glad to get here. The whole day was great, blue skies with no clouds and it got up to 52. Roads were decent and traffic was light so I was able to make good time.

You'll notice the picture of the campground shows it is getting dark. I got here about 4:30 and decided to de-winterize the 5er. That involves hooking up the fresh water and flushing out all of the water lines. Since I've never done it before it took a bit to figure out the bypass valve to the water heater wasn't letting it fill up. Once I found it I let the water run until all the "pink stuff" (antifreeze) was flushed out of the lines. Then open the water heater relief valve to flush the water heater, fill the water tank to flush the water pump, then run each facet again just to make sure everything is clear.

Of course once this is all done the holding tank is 3/4 full so might as well dump that before it gets dark. It really wasn't that bad, only took about 45 minutes and I'm now ready for some real camping. The rest of the night will consist for a few brews while I watch the football game.

RVing According To Hank

No matter where you want to go it will always be uphill and into the wind
The curb you see in your mirror is closer then it appears.

RVing According To Hank

2009-12-31T18:44:00.005-05:00

Bits of wisdom, points to ponder and little known facts about RVing.... mostly just things you never figure will happen until they happen to you.

No matter how well you plan or how many lists you make, you will forget something important.
Never ever buy gasohol.... your MPG will thank you for it.
Most important accessory I bought so far..... heating blanket.
The snooze alarm will fail to work when you need it the most.
It won't start raining until you go to plug in the RV power cord.
No matter where you are going it will always be uphill and into the wind.
The curb you see in your mirror is closer then it appears.
Your sewer hose will always need to be 1 foot longer then what you have.
Always check your rig a few days before you are leaving. If you wait until the day before you leave and find something wrong, it may delay your departure.

More to come....

Day 2: Memphis TN KOA

2009-12-31T18:36:00.004-05:00

Despite the best efforts of my alarm clock, I made it to Memphis today. OK, it's not REALLY Memphis but Marion AR which is just across the river from Memphis. I set my Blackberry alarm for 7am. It went off and I hit the snooze for 10 more minutes of sleep. I found out at 8:30am that the snooze didn't work. That means no time for biscuits and gravy, just a cup of coffee and a muffin then hit the road.

This reminds me, I have to start a new page that I'm going to title "RVing According To Hank". It'll be bits of wisdom, points to ponder and little known facts about RVing.... mostly just things you never figure will happen until they happen to you. Look for the link on side menu once I get it started... and it'll be updated as I have more.

I drove about 400 miles today. More then I really want to drive but I felt this need to get to someplace where there wasn't going to be any snow. This also means I had to fill up twice today. Just a bit of advice: Do everything you can to never purchase any of gasohol in that corn lovin' state of Indiana. Your gas mileage will be in the crapper! Speaking of MPG, I found out I can get 1.5 better MPG if I follow another RV. The last 10 miles before I stopped for the night I followed another 5th wheel that passed me. I had to speed up from 61 to 64 to keep up and my MPG when up from 8.5 to 10. Something to file away for the future.

I have gotten this love/hate relationship with KOA campgrounds. I'm not sure they are a place I would go to to stay for a weekend or more. The sites are packed pretty close together and aren't "campy" enough for my tastes. They also tend to have a bit of highway noise since most are located for easy access. But then this easy access does make them ideal for over night stops when traveling someplace else. Most camp sites are pull through sites for easy setup, most have WiFi, offer some type of breakfast in the morning, nice clean showers and are generally well kept up. Kind of like the Holiday Inn... no big surprises no matter what one you go to but not someplace you really get excited about.

OK, so I'm now about 650 miles into the 1500 or so total miles to get to RGV and nothing eventful has happened. Let's keep it that way!

Day 1: Terre Haute, IN KOA

2009-12-30T15:19:00.002-05:00

And it begins: Believe it or not, I was able to leave home at 7am. Even surprised myself as I didn't get to bed until 1am and didn't get to sleep until about 3am. The roads were nice a dry and not very much traffic. I made it to Terre Haute about 1pm and decided to stop at the KOA for the night. I could have driven a couple more hours but figured that it would be best to try and get a decent nights rest before the next leg.

The Terre Haute KOA is a bit expensive ($40) but it is one of the few campgrounds open this far north. Since it's 30 deg. outside not much is usable at the campground but it does look like it would be a nice place to stay in the summer. They have free WiFi and cable TV, Spud got a treat and they came around later to deliver a few home made cookies. In the morning they offer a free continental breakfast but looking at the menu I seen biscuits and gravy for $2.50... thinking I'll have to spring for that!

Check back tomorrow for an update.

2009/2010 Winter Trip Expense Report

2009-12-29T20:22:00.010-05:00

Below I will detail my expenses for the 2009/2010 Winter Trip to the SW. This will include all expenses directly attributed to this trip. It will not include long term fixed expenses such as vehicle payments, insurance, phone, etc. I want to keep track of what the actual cost of the trip is compared to if I didn't take the trip.

12/29 - Fuel: Odo: 31290 - Starting tank fill up
12/29 - Food: $29.18 - Starting cache of food
12/30 - Food: $6.00 - Snacks
12/30 - Fuel: Odo: 31474 Cost: $70.12 MPG: 8.11
12/30 - Campground Fees: $40.64
12/31 - Fuel: Odo: 31665 Cost: $66.69 MPG: 7.87
12/31 - Food: $8.00 - Snacks and lunch
12/31 - Fuel: Odo: 31870 Cost: $65.65 MPG: 8.45
12/31 - Campground Fees: $52.00 including KOA yearly membership
01/01 - Fuel: Odo: 32072 Cost $62.59 MPG: 8.48
01/01 - Food: $11.00 - Breakfast and snacks
01/01 - Fuel: Odo: 32276 Cost: $62.57 MPG: 8.40
01/01 - Campground Fees: $29.00
01/02 - Fuel: Odo: 32685 Cost: $126.04 MPG: 8.77 (total 2 tanks)
01/02 - Food: $14.00 - Snakes and dinner
01/02 - Campground Fees: $28.12
01/03 - Fuel: Odo: 33053 Cost: 109.70 MPG: 8.82 (total 2 tanks)
01/03 - Food: $12.00 - Lunch and Dinner
01/03 - Campground Fees: $33.20

Total cost for 5 days travel to Rio Grande Valley = $806.50
Fuel: $563.36
Food: $80.18
Campground Fees: $162.96

Below are costs incurred once arrived. I will only show costs that are above and beyond my normal living expenses. Mainly the below expeneses will not include such things as food, clothes or fuel as I would be spending that no matter where I was.

01/04 - RV Park Fees: $33.20
01/04 - Accessories: $27.99 (20' sewer extension hose)
01/15 - Maintenance: $12 Cleaning Supplies
01/20 - Entertainment: $15 State Park Entrance Fees (3 days)
01/20 - Entertainment: $21 Souvenirs
01/22 - Maintenance: $15 Tire Repair
01/25 - RV Park Fees: $389.97 (3 weeks)

Tomorrow's the Day

2009-12-29T20:11:00.001-05:00

I have 12/30/09 marked on my calendar. That is the day I am leaving on my first extended trip to warmer weather! Not sure I can now call myself a "snowbird", just that I want to get away from these damned cold Michigan winters. If all goes as planned I'll be gone about 2 months.

The 5er is packed, truck is full of gas and a rough outline of my trip is in hand. Looking to leave around 7am and make Terre Haute for my first night stay. I plan on taking lots of photos along the way and keeping track of expenses. Keep an eye out on this blog for full details of my trip.

Snow Delays Departure Date

2009-12-26T19:55:00.002-05:00

Geez... just when I figured I'd be able to get out of town. The 1" to 2" snow we were suppose to have today has turned into 3" with an additional 3" tonight. Looks like I'll have to delay my departure date one day and leave on Wednesday. :(

Southbound Soon

2009-12-25T15:24:00.001-05:00

Looks like the weather is finally going to cooperate and give me a few days of good weather. Leave date for my adventure down south should be Tuesday 12/29. Not sure at this point what my final destination will be, I'll figure that out when I hit the Texas border. I am thinking maybe a dew weeks in southern TX in the Rio Grande Valley then head up to AZ for a few weeks. Just gonna wing it!

Meet My Flagstaff 28RLSS 5th Wheel

2009-12-17T19:21:00.002-05:00

The weather finally broke and I was able to get my new (to me) 5th wheel out of storage. Now I just need to get it prepped for my trip southwest. Plan to take a couple of months and either go to southern Texas or New Mexico and Arizona. Not sure where I'll end up, just depends how I feel when I hit the Texas border. I'll keep you updated on my progress!

Cold Brook Park - Climax, Michigan

2009-12-17T03:08:00.013-05:00

Cold Brook Park is a nice little county park located a couple miles off I94 at the Climax, MI exit. It is about 20 miles from my house. I like it because it is a clean quiet park that is close enough for me to just get away for a weekend and don't want to plan/drive for a more distant campground.

It has 29 improved sites (30 amp electric and water) and 22 rustic sites for tents. Camping fees are $20 per might. Each improved site has a fire ring and a picnic table. Most of the sites are shaded. The access road is paved and the sites are grass. RVs of any size should have no problem getting into the park. The shower/bathrooms are centrally located in the improved area and are nice and clean. There are 3 lakes reachable from the park if you are into fishing or boating. The boat ramp is about 1/4 mile from the campground. Some complain that it is too far from the campground but it is one thing I like about it. Those that come just to boat don't disturb us campers

Within close walking distance to the campground are two playgrounds for the kids, a pier for fishing, picnic shelters and a volleyball court. A short distance away (1/2 mile) is the boat ramp, dish golf course and swimming area.

This is just a campground that I enjoy. It is relaxing, sites are not packed close together and has a number of activities to keep you occupied for a day. You should check it out if you are in the area.

I rate it an 8 out of 10

Tailgating with your RV

2009-12-13T14:07:00.003-05:00

RVs are not just for camping!

We all enjoy getting out in the wild or heading out to destinations unknown. But you can enjoy using your RV in other ways! My family's big collage football fans and try to attend a game or two every year. I was born and raised in South Bend, IN so I'm a Notre Dame fan, my step-daughter graduated and works at Michigan State so a tailgate at a ND/MSU game was only natural.

The setup at ND is ideal for tailgating (see my photos). They have a huge field they open up to RVs which gives you a lot of room to park, cook out, play a few games or just sit back and enjoy the beverages. The weather was a perfect sunny 60 deg for this September game. We arrived about 10am for the 3pm kickoff, broke out the grill for the awesome bacon cheeseburgers and sat back to enjoy the cool adult beverages. Why bring your RV to tailgate? Not only do you have all of your supplies right at hand, but you have a potty at your disposal anytime you need it!

We wondered around a bit to visit the other tailgaters. A number were confused since we were wearing ND hats and MSU shirts! We got a lot of ribbing but it was all in good fun.

Oh yeah, we did go to the game too!

Riding on the Kal-Haven Trail

2009-12-12T14:19:00.006-05:00

One of my favorite spots to get away from things when home is the Kal-Haven Trail. View some of my photos. It is an easy trail to walk or bike, is not real busy and has some great photo ops. The 10th Street trailhead in Kalamazoo is only a few miles from my house so it makes it real convenient to get to. If your ever in Michigan and in the Kalamazoo, Bloomingdale, Grand Junction or South Haven area, you might want to take a couple of hours to walk the trail to unwind. Below is an excerpt from the Kal-Haven Trail web site:

Enjoyed by more than 90,000 outdoor enthusiasts annually, the 34.5 mile linear Kal-Haven Trail State Park extends from South Haven, on the shores of Lake Michigan, to the northwest suburbs of the City of Kalamazoo. The trail is built on the abandoned Kalamazoo & South Haven Railroad which existed from 1870 to 1970. The right-of-way was purchased by the DNR in 1987, and the trail opened in 1991. Trail passes are required for use of the trail. For more information, visit the Van Buren County website

The trail passes through the towns of Grand Junction, Bloomingdale, Gobles and Kendall where restaurants and other amenities are available for trail users.

A wide range of activities are available to trail users: biking, hiking, birding and horseback riding (on an adjacent trail between Bloomingdale and Kibbie); winter activities include cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling. Snowmobiling is permitted when the snow depth is greater than four inches.

Ten feet wide, the trail is surfaced with crushed slag and limestone. Parking is available at the 10th Street trailhead, about two miles north of West Main Street (look for the red caboose); in Bloomingdale at the depot; in Grand Junction at the DNR lot; and at the trailhead in South Haven at Wells Street and Bailey Avenue.

My Forrest River Flagstaff 28RLSS 5th Wheel

2009-12-12T01:04:00.005-05:00

OK, this is my final RV purchase for a while…. I hope. See more pictures in my Photo Album. The Forest River Flagstaff 28RLSS should fit my needs for quite some time. The super slide allows the couch and dining area to slide out giving me a lot of room and the queen bed in front will be real comfy. It has all the goodies that should get me by, large fridge, microwave, TV/stereo entertainment center, full bath with a roomy shower plus heat and A/C of course.

If you are wondering just what a 28RLSS is we can decode it a bit. The 28 means it is 28' long. OK, really it is 30' long but most manufacturers understate the length in the model number. The RL part means a Rear Living-room. The SS stands for Super Slide, or a long slide that, in this case, includes the couch and dining area. OK, maybe that's more then you wanted to know but it is interesting (at least to me) just what these model numbers mean.

As soon as I got I already was making plans to do some mods. The TV that is in it is an old 19″ analog TV. My choice was to buy a digital converter or a new TV. Guess which I chose? I hit the Black Friday sales and picked up a 32″ LCD TV. That also means I’ll have to make a custom mount to fit it to the entertainment center. But really, other then that there are no pressing changes that need to be done. I did get some landing gear stabilizers that need to be installed and the typical wheel chocks, hoses, extension cords, adaptors, etc. that you have to have.

So here I sit, waiting for the snow storm to pass, so I can get it home from the dealer and start getting it ready for my trip to warmer weather. I’m still not sure where I’m going to go. There is Florida, Texas or even New Mexico and Arizona to choose from. I’m tending more to the southwest and may just head out that way when the time comes and see where I end up.

The Winnebago Minnie-Winnie Experence

2009-12-12T01:01:00.001-05:00

RV number 2 is this cherry 1988 20′ Winnebago Minnie-Winnie. OK, really it is number 3 but I’m not including the pop-up I had for a couple of years back in 2000 or so. 5 cold and rainy weekends in the Teardrop convinced me I wanted something more comfortable and I came across this really nice Minnie at a local dealer. It was super clean inside, everything worked and needed very little work.

In the few months I owned it I got a lot of use out of it. I did a few camping trips to Cold Brook Park located about 25 miles from my house. I also used to tailgate at the Notre Dame / Michigan State football game and took a week long trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to see the fall colors (See pictures of my U.P. trip ). It really served me well and I enjoyed it, never would have done most of these trips without it.

But during my trip to the U.P. I did find one big drawback. If I wanted to just scout around a bit, I would have to break camp to drive there. The Minnie isn’t big enough to tow a vehicle so that was out. My new-found desire to head south for the winter for a couple of months each year also forced me to look for something that would better fit my long term needs. I really loved the Minnie, it was easy to drive, easy to park and had everything I needed for short trips. I just couldn’t see using it for longer trips.

So my search was on to find something that would be easy to drive and use for weekenders but be suitable longer trips too.

Camping in a Teardrop Trailer

2009-12-12T00:54:00.002-05:00

My first real RV that I started to use was a Little Guy Teardrop trailer purchased in the winter of 2008. It was perfect for towing behind my Honda Element and was different enough to draw attention. One of my hobbies is RC car racing and I run a web site, HobbyTalk, that is a discussion forum for RC, Die Cast, Models and Slot Cars. It was a perfect advertising venue for my web site and also served as a great pit trailer when racing.

I did a few modifications to the Teardrop by adding 3 stage battery charger, running 110 volt electric, adding an XM radio system and a separate 12v DC power supply so I could charge my RC car batteries off of the AC. It worked great as a pit vehicle but I found some faults when using it for camping. I have a few photos camping using the Teardrop in the Camping 2009 photo album.

Early summer of 2009 was marked by cold weather and a lot of rain on the weekends. 5 out of 6 weekends I wanted to camp it rained and was miserably cold. While I don’t mind being a bit uncomfortable once in a while when camping, 5 out of 6 weekends was just a it too much. Call me wimp if you want, but I wasn’t having fun and if I’m not having fun, then why do it? This weather and my desire to take some longer trips moved me to my next acquisition in Aug. of 2009.

A Bit of History: My Time in Yellowstone National Park

2009-12-12T00:50:00.004-05:00

Might be best to start with a bit of history to see what got me on this path to adventure.

In 2006 I lost the love of my life. After she passed away unexpectedly I was devastated, I was lost. To help heal and hopefully find my way I took a job with Xanterra working at Yellowstone National Park. My job was to be a carpet cleaner in the Mammoth Hot Springs area.

Of course things did not go as planned. 4 days after arriving I broke my foot playing volleyball. After a week they placed me in reservations…… I hated it. After 8 weeks in a cast, the doctor in Bozemen wanted operate on my foot to pin the broken 5th metatarsal bone. I decided to pass and headed back home to Michigan to get it taken care of.

But all was not lost. The 9 weeks spent in YNP started me on the path I am on today. I discovered the real wonders of the outdoors. The mountains, the rivers, the trees, the wildlife. The cast on my foot limited me to only scratching the surface of what was out there, but it had me hooked. I knew I had to experience more once I was healed and now I am in a time and place where I can do that.

I will, at some point, finish my quest to explore Yellowstone in deeper depth. But in the meantime I will take on some of the other wonderful sights that America has to offer. This blog will chronicle my adventures to explore the U.S. In the meantime you can view some of the photos I took during my time in Yellowstone National Park in my Photo Album.

RV Adventures Introduction

2009-12-12T00:49:00.004-05:00

What is this RV Adventures blog all about? Sometimes even I wonder about that myself.

My exposure to RVing all started in 2008 when I bought a Little Guy Teardrop trailer to use when I go RC car racing. I took it camping a couple of times and got the camping/RVing bug. It's snowballed into more then I could have imagined and has almost become an obsession.

And all that prompted me to start the RV Adventures blog.

I look forward to documenting my time spent in my RV, traveling, modifying and thinking about my RV. Look for detailed information on places I travel to, things I see, things I do and even things I don't do while on the road.

I prefer more rustic settings and places less traveled so you won't find much info about “RV Resorts” or high profile destinations. If you like state parks, grass, trees and fire rings instead of paved parking lots with shuffleboard, whirlpools and karaoke, then you'll want to keep reading. If you would you rather visit Alamogordo, Sonoita or Salida rather then Albuquerque, Phoenix or Vail, then hop on board.

I'm not a full-time RVer so I won't be traveling all year long. That doesn't mean My RV Adventures will be boring, we'll just cover a wide range of RV topics when not traveling. Look for pictures, reviews and even a few opinions along the way.

Stop back often to keep track of the RV Adventures of Hankster and my ever faithful sidekick Spud!