Winter 2009/2010 Trip Wrap Up

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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

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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.

Taking It Easy In The Big Easy

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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

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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!

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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

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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.

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!

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.

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.

Big Bend RV Resort

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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

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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

Posted by hankster |0 comments

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.

Time To Move

Posted by hankster |0 comments

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.