Mar. 4
Sunny and nice today. We stayed around the campground most of the day but in the late afternoon we went into town to do some grocery shopping.
Mar. 5
It is windy and cooler today but the sun is shinning. Around 2 in the afternoon we went into San Antonio to visit my cousin, Dick and his wife Janet, who moved here about 2 years ago. He is my age and we were together at family things as a child. They moved here to be near their children and grand kids. We had a nice visit with them. For dinner we drove to Texas Pride which is clear on the other side of San Antonio. There was a line clear out the door but the wait was worth it. They have delicious BBQ and we even bought a pound of brisket to take home.
Mar. 6
Cloudy in the morning but it burned off and had a nice sunny day. Jean, who we met at ice cream the other day stopped by on her bike. We sat outside in the sunshine and visited with her. In the evening we went over to George and Jean's to see them before they leave in the morning. We saw pictures of their travels in California, Arizona and Nevada. They are doing the reverse of our trip so we exchanged information on places to see. We had a piece of apple pie that came from a well known restaurant a little north of here and said our good-bys. We might run into them again someday.
Mar. 7
This is our last day in this campground. It is a nice sunny day again. We have had such good weather here in Texas. We stayed around the campground today and I did my laundry. In the afternoon we went for a bike ride. Drove into the cowboy town of Bandera for BBQ dinner.
Mar. 8
It is overcast but warm today as we leave Medina Lake. We spend the night in the town of Brackettville. It is a very small town and the campground in on an old cavalry fort. The fort closed in 1946 and is now privately owned. There is an entire community here on 1600 acres and gated with houses, condos, motel, campground and golf course. Some of the old fort buildings are being used and there are all kinds of activities going on. After lunch we went into the larger town of Del Rio which has a very large Mexican population. The Border Patrol was vary evident there and all along the highway. We went to a potluck dinner at the campground and met some nice people.
Mar. 9
Today we go to Big Bend National Park. It is another sunny day and we drive almost 300 miles to the campground. Along the way we stopped at the small town of Langtry where Judge Roy Bean was the "law west of the Pecos". He became the first Justice of the Peace on Aug. 2, 1882. The original buildings still stand, the combination saloon/billiard hall and courtroom that Judge Bean call the "Jersey Lilly" after the famous English actress Lillie Langtry. He never met his idle but wrote her many letters hopping she would come to Langtry to perform. Our park is 48 miles from the entrance and right on the Rio Grande River. We can't see the river from the campground but it is a short hike. When we get settled we drive to the river. Not much water and not very wide. We drive to Boquillas Canyon Overlook and the Rio Grande is just below the parking lot. There are two Mexicans on horseback selling their copper figures and painted walking sticks. I bought a copper and bead roadrunner for $6. The Mexicans were not concerned they were across the boarder illegally. They had walkie-talkies and I'm sure lookouts. Across the river on the hillside we could see the village of Boquillas where they had come from. They live on the money they make from selling their crafts. Next we drove to the Hot Springs and walked a mile to the spring. It was full of people. A school group of 8th graders were in the water. They say the water stays at a constant 102 degrees. A wall was built to catch the spring water and it was like a giant hot tub with the Rio Grande River was right beside it.
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| Saloon/billiard hall and courtroom of Judge Roy Bean |
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| Inside saloon/billiard hall and courtroom of Judge Roy Bean |
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| Mexicans selling their crafts |
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| Rio Grande River |
Mar. 10
Sunny and warm today with alight breeze. We left the motor home around nine and drove to Chisos Basin. This is in the Chisos Mountains. The drive there was pretty with dessert and then climb to higher elevation and trees. There is a lodge and campground there. Next we drove to Castalon area which is right along the Rio Grande. We took an unpaved road which was very rough for 12 miles and drove out of the park to the town of Terlingua. Five miles further is the Terlingua Ghost Town. We stop for lunch and then drive through the town. There are adobe ruins everywhere. Some have been fixed up and people are living in them. We stop at the old cemetery from the 1900's. There are not many headstones and chimney like rock formations built over the graves. The cemetery is still being used for burials. On the way back to the campground we see Javelins which are from the rat family only larger. That night we went to the program on rattle snakes in the park.
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| Javelin along the highway |
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| On the way to Chisos Mountains |
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| Cemetery in Terlingera Ghost Town |
Mar. 11
Sunny and nice today as we leave for Carlsbad New Mexico. Saw a roadrunner fly across the road in front of us and land on the shoulder of the road and ran into the brush. I love seeing roadrunners but they are so fast you can't get a picture of them. They are the official bird of New Mexico. As we drive to Carlsbad we past enormous pecan orchards. They grow lots of nuts in New Mexico, pecans, almond and pistachios. We also past irrigated circles but I don't know what they are growing. On the highway into New Mexico there are dips in the road for flood water to cross the highway. They have foot gages beside the highway to show how high the water is. There is no rain today so we don't have to worry. We stop at Guadalupe Mountain National Park in Texas just before we cross the border into New Mexico. We saw a movie about the park and there are no roads to drive in the park, only hiking trails. On top of the mountain there is a dense forest of pine, fur and Aspen. The forest in especially lush in the Bowl, a two-mile wide depression atop the Guadalupe Mountains. Also in the highland wilderness are deer, elk, wild turkey, mountain lions, black bear, golden eagles and falcons. As we go by Guadalupe Mountains we change into Mountain Time Zone.
Mar. 12
It is sunny and nice again today as we head to Carlsbad National Park and Caverns. We have tickets for the Kings Palace tour, which I bought over the Internet two week ago. As we enter the park boundaries the desert landscape changes and it is a beautiful desert as the road climbs to the caverns. Lots of cars are already in the parking lot so I am glad I bought my tickets over the Internet. We pick-up our tickets and have time to go to the bookstore and gift shop. This is the fourth cave we have been in on this trip. Carlsbad Caverns is definitely the best cavern we have seen. As soon as you enter the caverns, the entire trail there are all kinds of formation to see. It is so spectacular that it is hard to describe. Ev everywhere we looked there were stalactites, stalagmites, draperies, soda straws, flowstones, columns, popcorn and pools of water that was so clear you could see the bottom. The decorations of Carlsbad Cavern with an incredible variety of formations began over 500,000 years ago. It happened slowly, drop by drop. when water dripped or seeped down into the limestone bedrock and into the cave. The tour lasted 1 1/2 hours and then we explored some of the Big Room route which is self guided. We spent over 2 hours down in the cavern. There is a large bat population in the cave but they migrate to Mexico for the winter and don't return until early spring. The tours don't take people to where the bats live. If you ever want to see a spectacular cavern, visit Carlsbad.
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| Pictures inside the cavern |
Mar. 13
Today we move north to Alamogordo New Mexico. It is sunny and warm today and the campground is nice. The owner is very helpful and tells us of places to visit. After we got parked we drive to White Sands National Monument. We can see the white sands and the mountains behind from our campground. The Tularosa Basin lies in a mountain-ringed valley and in the hart of this basin is one of the world's great natural wonders, the white sands of New Mexico. Dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert and it is the largest gypsum dune field in the world. The gypsum that forms the white sand was deposited at the bottom of a shallow sea covering this area 250 million years ago. The area has miles of dunes and a road goes in and around the dunes. The wind blows the sand so the roads are plowed daily. People slide down the dunes on saucers, snow boards, and sleds. There was a lot of people on the dunes the day we were there. Some places plants grow out of the sand. Further into the dunes there were no plants growing, only giant sand dunes. It was fun to walk on the dunes.
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| Pictures of White Sands |
Mar. 14
After breakfast we drive up into the nearby mountains to the town of Cloudcroft. it is a small mountain town with lots of interesting shops. The town dates back to 1898 when the railroad decided it needed to put a railroad line into the Sacramento Mountains in order to bring timber out for railroad ties. They also built a pavilion for tourists to get away and enjoy the mountains. We spent a couple of hours there and ate lunch before going back down the mountain. On the way back to the motor home we stopped at a couple of nut stores and bought some Cinnamon coated pistachios.
Mar. 15
We leave early today to go to the town of Capitan to visit the Smokey Bear Historical Park. We have been collecting Smokey Bear pins since we bought our first motor home in 1997 so we had to go visit this place. Smokey Bear was rescued from a devastating fire in the Capitan Mountains in 1950. He was just a cub and his mother was killed in the fire. He became the living symbol of fire prevention campaign and lived at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. Upon his death in 1976 his remains were returned for burial in the town of Capitan, close to the mountains he was found in. We drive to Fort Stanton but it was closed up. There are lots of original building there and they are going to start restoring the fort. It is only open on weekends. Next we drive to Valley of Fires Recreation Area. This is Bureau of Land Management area with a campground and very interesting landscape. It is a 125 square mile lava flow which is 160 feet thick near the center that occurred about 1,500 to 2,000 years ago.
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| Statue of Smokey |
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| Smokey's grave |
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| Lava flow at Valley of Fire |
Tomorrow we go further north to Albuquerque for 4 or 5 days. We are slowly going north towards home but don't plan on being in Colfax until the first week in April. We are hoping the weather will be warmer by then. Definitely Happy Travels, Barb
