Southern States – Page 5

Big Bend National Park

We’ve had three days with no internet connection but lots of scenery. Big Bend National Park is in the bend of the Rio Grande River in Western Texas. Across the river is Mexico but all the crossings within the park have been closed. This park is so big it is easy to forget how close you are to another country because this part of our country has such a variety of land within it. Without further ado may I, please, present three days of Big Bend National Park.

Hope you enjoyed your visit.

TTYL,

Linda

Davis Mountains

About 6 a.m. this morning the wind finally quit rocking the RV so today we headed up into the Davis Mountains at last. We took Texas 118 up from Alpine. It’s a good way to go. The road is smooth asphalt all the way up and there are lots of picnic areas, scenic overlooks, and historical markers along the way.

Our primary destination was the McDonald Observatory. We reached it about 12:45 p.m. as you can see on this huge sundial.

The visitor center has participatory exhibits, a theater, a cafe, and a gift shop. The big telescopes are on the hill behind the visitor center.

The next program was scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and would last until 4:30 p.m. so we had lunch in the Star Date Cafe. As we often do in museum cafes we shared one sandwich, one beverage, and one desert. Dave, of course, voted for ham and cheese but I talked him into chicken with sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and cheddar cheese on focacia. Mmmm. I bribed him with a brownie.

Then we watched a video about the observatory. After a short break, the observatory’s version of a ranger presented a talk about stars with excellent slides. Then the speaker, Dave, and six others climbed into a shuttle bus and headed up the hill to see the big telescopes.

He took my camera with him so you’ll have to ask him about these photos. He said something about big mirrors and a windbreak in front of the opening when I asked.

While Dave was off on that 90 minute tour I played with the interactive exhibits, explored the gift shop, went back to the RV and took a nap, and ate chocolate. We both had a good afternoon.

Then we headed back down the hill to Davis Mountains State Park campground after having decided we could spend one night without internet. We pulled in just minutes after the office closed. The late registration instructions gave us our choice. We could self-register if we were going to leave before 8 a.m. or we could come back between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. to register in person. Right. Like that’s going to happen. For those of you who don’t remember, I am NOT a morning person. There aren’t many places I’m willing to be by 9 a.m. and campground registration is not one of them.

So we are back in Alpine, Texas, at the Lost Alaskan RV Resort and check-out is noon, thank you very much.

TTYL,

Linda

Two More Days

As we were trying to decide where to go when, I asked Dave about his priorities. Scenery not sights was basically his answer. He could drive 4-5 hours a day without stopping for anything other than food or gas and be content. When we stop for the night he’d prefer the neighbors not be too close and the wifi be good. If the spot is cheap as well, so much the better.

So we stopped that night at Eagle’s Nest RV Park in Van Horn, Texas. We had space around us only because they did not park anyone on either side of us. Our wifi was intermittent with the park’s wifi usually being better. And we paid $27 a night which is not cheap camping. Yet we stayed two nights. Because the park was where we needed it to be and the weather forecast was for strong winds and rain. And the park we were headed for, Davis Mountains State Park, was guaranteed to not have any internet at all and I had lots of research about the road ahead of us to do.

We arrived at Eagle’s Nest in the midst of a rush. People come in mostly between 2 and 7 p.m. At 11:30 the next morning we were the only rig still in the park. This is definitely an overnight type of place. I wonder what the owners though of us weirdos who stayed two nights?

The storm hit with lots of wind but just enough rain to make a mess of our RV without washing it off again. I got lots of research done so feel like I can relax for a bit. And they had these unusual picnic tables which I thought would be good for playing games if the weather had been fine and we had known any of our neighbors.

We left Van Horn on U.S. 90 headed towards Marfa, Texas. Along the way we saw some clever anti-littering signs. One said “Drive Clear Across Texas.” And the other said, “LITTERING IS unlAWFUL”

Today’s dot in the sky turned out to be another blimp.

I figured there must be another Border Patrol Checkpoint ahead since that’s where we saw the previous blimp several times. Dave said there’s a checkpoint south of Marfa. But we were wrong. According to the signs it was a United States Air Force Tethered Aerostat Radar Site.

Which is probably what the previous blimp was as well. The fact that both blimps are located near Border Patrol Checkpoints appears to be coincidence. We did see a Border Patrol truck, though. It was pulling a thing behind it that smoothed the gravel road it was on between us and the railroad tracks. Dave’s theory is that it was erasing previous footprints so they could identify any new ones.

Marfa’s claim to fame is the Marfa Lights. These are a phenomena something like the Northern Lights except no one has yet been able to explain them. The first reported sighting was in 1883 so they can’t be explained as aircraft lights even though they appear at a former U.S. Army Air Field.

So may people stop along the highway here in hopes of trying to see them the Texas Dept. of Transportation finally built a viewing area on donated land. It provides restrooms and a variety of choices of places to roost while you wait in hopes of seeing the lights.

Since they can only be seen at night, not every night, with no way to predict which night, we decided not to wait for them.

So we moved on to Alpine, Texas, to the Lost Alaskan RV Park. No we didn’t go to Davis Mountains. It’s supposed to have winds gusting to 60 miles an hour up there and still no internet. So we’ll sit here a couple more days in hopes the weather will get better. Texas has winter storms, they just don’t look like Minnesota ones. Dave would really like to go to the McDonald Observatory up there and I’d like to see their displays as well. Wish us better weather soon, please.

TTYL,

Linda

Catching Up

It feels like forever since I posted an entry but it has only been two days. I guess they’ve been very full days. Let’s see what my notes say we’ve been doing.

When we departed Usery Mountain it looked like it was snowing on Hwy 60 in Phoenix! It was just pieces of styrofoam blowing in the wind, though.

We stopped at REI and stocked up on freeze dried food then headed south on I-10. The next thing I know a sign was warning “Blizzard conditions ahead!” Snow after all? No, it was an ad for DQ.

We stopped for the night at Picacho Peak State Park still in Arizona. Cool place. $20 for an electric hookup. Spaces placed so your neighbors didn’t feel like they were in your lap. A Civil War Reenactment we didn’t see because it’s next month. And hiking trails we didn’t hike including one that recommends wearing gloves to grip the cable that helps you climb Picacho Peak.

It’s a nice stop right along the highway but far enough from the road for the highway traffic sounds to be white noise. We’ll come back here, I’m sure. Next time I’d like to do some trails. Not the one with the cable, though.

While in the park Dave heard a cat. Around here outdoor cats are called coyote food. If you come here, don’t bring any cats that like to escape the confines of your vehicle.

As we passed Tucson I saw a roach coach type food vendor except this one was built on a golf cart! I guess that makes sense since I saw it on a golf course.

Along I-10 there was a sign that said, “Mowers Ahead.” My first though was, “They mow cactus?” The answer turned out to be, “Sort of.” They had some machine they placed over small trees and it chewed them up. Reminded me of the movie Fargo.

Another sign: “Diesel Deli.” It made me laugh then I realized it could actually mean what it said. What type of diesel would you like today? Farm diesel? Low sulphur? Ultra low sulphur? We have it all.

We stopped for a night at the Escapees’ Saguaro Co-op in Benson, Arizona. The sign at the entrance said they were full except for boondocking but when Dave went in to register they said they have one spot with hookups that can only take short RVs so we got full hookups.

We knew ’08 classmates Mike & Julie were supposed to be in the park somewhere but they posted on the forum that they were going to Mexico for the day. Not knowing what happens when a call bounces outside the U.S. we decided not to try calling them on the phone. Instead we posted a message that we were in the park, too. I didn’t get their reply until the next morning just before we headed out so we missed seeing them but we did talk by phone about where we are headed and the likelihood we would meet up again along the road. I would have liked to stay another day to see them and maybe Dave K. who was headed that direction. But the weather forecast is for windstorms with rain the direction we are headed so we decided we needed to keep moving.

Leaving Benson the sign gave the mileage to the next town then the mileage to El Paso, Texas, as if New Mexico is not between the two. Hmmm. Some rivalry there maybe?

On the track beside the road was a unit hopper train with smoking coming from it about half way back from the engines. We paid close attention thinking maybe we were going to see a hotbox. What we saw was one hopper gate open a little bit spilling rocks along the way. Dave’s theory is they were replenishing ballast.

We stopped at a rest area where a vending machine started calling to me. “Linda. Come over here. We probably have something you’d like.” Now, I’ve been trying to eat more healthful food. Instead of cookies and chips we’ve started buying graham crackers and fruits and nuts. I’m enjoying eating those. But that darn machine just kept calling. So, I bought a small bag of Cheetos. I didn’t eat them, though. We were too close to one of my favorite lunches.

We saw a sign advertising a place called Phantom Fireworks. Dave asked, “Do they really exist?” Which we thought was really funny until we got to the places and it was closed. Then it was even funnier. I guess you had to be there.

We keep passing sets of signs warning of possible dust storms which could have “Zero Visibility” and warning you to not stop in traffic lanes. I guess it’s a good thing we keep moving without stopping at the sites along the way since the winds are supposed to hit here before the rains do. Mike and Julie are planing to travel this road a day behind us. I hope they don’t get into one of those wind storms.

The speed limit on this stretch of road is 75. I saw the sign and looked at Dave with a smile. He smiled, too, and said, “I’m going a dyslexic 75.” We get better mileage going just under 60 mph so that’s what we do. Unless we are going slower than that. In one construction zone the speed limit was 65 but we decided we didn’t have to go that fast there either. Which was good because it dropped to 55 shortly after that so even we had to slow down for that one.

About a half hour west of Deming, New Mexico, we passed what appears to be a railroad storage yard. One track had auto racks, one had tank cars, and one had hoppers. All just parked out there in the middle of nowhere. That could make an interesting model operation. A through train could stop and drop cars not needed elsewhere or pick up cars that are now needed. It’s seems likely to me that the drop off could be a mixed cut that needed to be sorted but the pickup would likely be all of one type.

We stopped at a rest area in New Mexico that had interesting picnic shelters.

And an interesting definition of pets.

There was a billboard that said “Follow the zipper to yardstick 102.” I thought about that one for awhile. The graphics indicated the zipper was the dotted line down the middle of this side of the divided highway. So it’s likely the yardstick is a mile marker or exit number. They could have just said that. Of course, then I wouldn’t have spent as much time thinking about it. I still don’t know what was at mile marker 102, though.

Some of the shops along here do too much advertising. These are “trading posts” with each sign advertising a set of items. One for jewelry. One for moccasins. One for products made from cactus. One for rugs. One for ponchos. One for moccasins. One for snakes. One for leather goods. One for a free hot dog with a tank of gas. By the time I’ve read all the signs all I can think is, “Tourist trap.” So we don’t stop. Not many other people do either. That last one had two cars out front and a small U-Haul truck at the gas pumps.

In Deming, New Mexico, we spent the night at the Escapees’ Dream Catcher RV Park. This one is not a co-op; it’s just an RV park—basically a gravel parking lot with just enough trees to make you pay attention when you are trying to park. They had a nice laundry though so we have clean clothes again. They also had what was probably a nice potluck but I didn’t go in with Dave to register so I didn’t see the notice. It didn’t even occur to Dave to mention it to me. So the first I knew about it is when I saw people heading to the clubhouse carrying crock pots. I guess I’d better start going in with Dave if I want to know what’s happening.

In Las Cruces, New Mexico, we stopped at the BLM District Office to get a map of their territory. I went in without Dave this time. They charged me $4 for the map of New Mexico. I had to go back out to the RV to get money. I liked the Yuma office better; they gave Dave two maps for free. Hmmm. Maybe I’m not supposed to go in.

Billboards on opposite sides of the highway advertised different places at Exit 0. One said 9 miles and the other said 11 miles to the exit. I wonder if their surveyor is the same one who did the original survey of Dave’s Dad’s property on Lake Milacs which resulted in everyone building their boathouses on their neighbor’s property?

We pulled into Hueco Tanks State Historic Site about 3:30 this afternoon. The sign said the park was full but we were welcome to come in and put our name on the waiting list. I decided to go in anyway to see where they recommend we go and to buy an annual Texas State Park Pass which will save us money on admissions. It turns out the campground is not full. What they ran out of is permits to hike in this historically important but fragile place. So as long as we don’t go see the pictographs, we can stay here tonight. We have a nice campsite with electricity and water and a beautiful sunset.

And the reason it feels like it’s been longer than two days since I posted is that I was already two days behind then. Sorry, this one is so long. I didn’t even include everything from my notes and look how long it is. Is this a case of “The hurrier I go the behinder I get”?

TTYL,

Linda

Usery Mountain Regional Park

Maricopa County has several parks surrounding Phoenix, Arizona. We were told these are good places. Usery Mountain Regional Park is the first one we’ve checked out. It’s about 30 miles northeast of I-10 and Hwy 60.

We liked it so much I’m not sure if we’ll ever check out the others.

The campground has 75 sites some of them pull-through. All of them have water and electric hookups although tents are allowed. The dump and trash are by the entrance/exit. The restrooms have flush toilets and hot showers. The site have tables, grills, and fire rings. RVs can be up to 45 feet long. All sites cost $20 a night. None are reservable. When we arrived about 5:30 on a Monday evening in February, there were five sites left. They are distributed around a couple of circles in such a way that you get some sense of privacy. Our site, #8, was level.

When you arrive they give you several papers full of information. One is a large map of the park. Another is a map of the campground. Another is a list of the park’s twenty-one trails with short descriptions of each trail including which ones are best for horses or mountain bikes. Another is the schedule of programs for the current month (47 programs for February 2009 with some repeats) but be careful which you plan to go to because you can only stay 2 weeks. You might be able to get permission of the park supervisor to stay longer but even then you must change sites.

There are picnic areas and group camps and an archery range with six separate courses. One of the trails is paved for wheelchair use and there’s a ranger led program on it for kids who might still be in strollers. One of them suggests you enter the Maricopa County Sheriff’s phone number into your cell phone before you begin. The trailhead staging area has a hitching rail and parking for horse trailers. They are building a new nature center right by the entrance to the park.

All in all this is a fabulous park for whatever type of camping you like to do. When you go, I’d ask you to save a spot for us but that’s not allowed.

TTYL,

Linda