Big Bend RV Resort

Posted by hankster |1 comments

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

Posted by hankster |0 comments

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

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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

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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

Posted by hankster |0 comments

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.