Mounting Flat Screen TV In My RV

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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

Oxygenics Shower Head Review

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

Posted by hankster |0 comments

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

Posted by hankster |0 comments

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.