03-20-2019 Crossing the Country

Current Location: Peregrine Pines Family Camp, USAFA Colorado Springs, Colorado

Full moon clear at 29 degrees F at 4:00 AM

The days are starting to all run together.  When traveling east on I-10, crossing Texas, it seems like it goes on forever.  I can’t remember how many days it took us to get across that state, but I am sure it was at least four.  What I have discovered, is that the name of the state doesn’t matter, one state, five states, whatever, it takes days and days to get back west.

1620 miles, 5 days driving, with one down day in Palestine, AR, looks like our 300 mile per day routine is about right with a little bit extra

When we left Okefenokee, our main focus was heading home, taking I-40 back west as an alternative to I-10.  It helps to have a bit of different scenery, new landscapes to wake up the eyes and heart.  I know there are many sights we haven’t visited along the 10, but my ache to see new sights is waning a bit as our trip exceeds two months.  I am sorta ready to be home.

The annual Home Show in Eufaula, Georgia would have been a fun stop if we weren’t in travel mode

We left our little campground in Albany, Georgia on Thursday morning the 14th of March, traveling west and north.  Our original plan included driving toward Nashville, where we had a reservation at Arnold Air Force Base for two nights.  We thought it might be fun to see a little bit more of Nashville than we saw back in 2007, and to continue west toward Memphis.

We did have an important destination.  My mother, deceased in 1952, was born in Palestine, Arkansas.  I have spent several years attempting to track down my mother’s father and relatives on that branch of my family with little success.  With the help of Ancestry DNA tests, I discovered that I truly do have family connections right there in Palestine.  We had been invited to park at my cousin Rita’s place as long as we wanted.  Our visit will get a post of its own, but that will come next.

My cousin Rita and her husband Johnny in Palestine, Arkansas

No matter where you travel this time of year, weather can get in the way of the best laid plans.  The huge “bomb cyclone” that hit the upper Midwest was coming east in a long red, orange and yellow band that stretched from the lower southwest corner to the upper northeast corner of our route, spawning flooding, and scariest of all, tornados.  There was no escaping it. Should we hunker down and wait somewhere for it to hit us, or simply drive fast through it and hope it misses us.  As my daughter Deanna said, you are moving and the tornados are moving, no matter what you do, it is a crap shoot.

We decided that we should take the most direct route possible to get to Arkansas, skipping the sight seeing and cancelling the Nashville reservations.  All I had to do when calling the office was mention the tornado watches we were traveling through and we got a full refund.  Nice.

Our goal on the 14th was to simply get through the line of tornado watches.  We crossed Georgia in lovely sunshine, entering into Mississippi and some of the most kerthunkety roads we have traveled since I-10.  We passed Montgomery and Birmingham, navigating the freeways without much trouble.  I thought a lot about the important historical locations in both of these cities.  I have read great stories about visits to both cities and wished I had the weather, the time, and the energy to stop and spend some time appreciating the changes we have experienced in our country since the early days of the Civil Rights Movement.

Did I mention I was a bit burned out on city sights?  I found myself a bit glad that I had the excuse of tornado warnings to keep us moving north and crossing Mississippi in record time.  I joked that there would surely be a tornado shelter at the Cracker Barrel.

There were only a few scary moments, as we watched the swirling black clouds north of Birmingham building, and fought the erratic wind gusts.  The sky never did turn green, and the warning system app never sounded an alarm for tornado conditions going from watch to warning.  There were a few intense downpours, but no hail, for which I was extremely grateful.

That night, once again we overnighted in the free parking lot of a Cracker Barrel in Tupelo, Mississippi, safely on the other side of the tornado watch.  Nickie teased that we must love Cracker Barrel food, but not so much.  We do love their free parking lots however, and so far at each one we have used, the lot has been quiet.  In Tupelo we were the only rig in the lot, as we were previously in Florida. 

On the morning of the 15th, we continued north and west, crossing the Mississippi River mid day and arriving at my cousin’s place early afternoon.  We stayed two nights, and as I said, the story of that visit will come in another post.

Lots of high water on the Mississippi Delta

On Sunday morning, the 17th, once again we pointed the rig west along I-40, crossing Arkansas and most of Oklahoma before settling in once again at another Cracker Barrel, and another night alone in a quiet parking lot.  There were a lot of hotels surrounding the restaurant, but it seemed perfectly quiet and safe, even on the fringe of a big city near the airport.

This time we decided to succumb to the big country breakfasts that they are famous for.  Mo had French Toast for the first time on this two month trip, and I had some kind of great scramble thing, with biscuits and fresh squeezed orange juice.  We don’t eat out a lot, and this was our first breakfast out on the entire trip. 

Texas Rest Areas are sometimes as big as everything else in Texas

Our lovely breakfast kept us satiated through the rest of Oklahoma into the Texas Panhandle toward Amarillo. We haven’t traveled the Panhandle since 2010, and we were still unsure if the weather was going to cooperate with our plans to turn north toward Colorado.  There were inklings of snow in Colorado Springs, and if that continued, our plan was to spend the night in Amarillo, and continue west toward Albuquerque.

Gorgeous informative displays at the Gray County Safety Rest Area

Checking the weather, messaging with Erin, and looking at options for routing, we finally decided that it would be OK to make the journey north.  Instead of stopping in Amarillo, we continued north along highway 87 toward the little town of Dumas, Texas.  Using All Stays, we found the Dumas City Park, called Texhoma Park, a free camping spot with free electricity.  Free?  yeah, it really is free, with a limit of 24 hours only.  There is a donation box if you wish to help keep the place available. 

Once again we were almost the only rig there for the night.  Our only company was a gray RV with signs all over it in Spanish, basically advertising their travels from Chile to Alaska.  I did a bit of sleuthing, I found a photo of the same rig on Facebook, and ended up messaging with the person who posted that photo who had seen them in Chile.  Crazy world.  He and I did some more hunting, and actually found the Facebook page of the family, who have been on the road for two years. 

I had a lot of questions about that entire process.  Do they have to get visas for each country they pass through? Their facebook page says they are supporting themselves by selling things, but how do they do that in the US? It is a mom and a dad, two kids and a dog. They left their ordinary lives and ordinary jobs of teaching in Chile to travel all the way to Alaska.  I guess the RV dream is everywhere.

When we woke up and planned a leisurely 200 mile drive to our next destination, we were shocked to see that the plug-in voltmeter  was showing 18 volts and we were on store! It dropped down to 14 part of the time, so we really didn’t understand what was happening.  We tested a few things before deciding that we needed to find some help.  I found a mobile RV repair guy, Bob’s Mobile RV Service, who was back south of Amarillo, but he was so kind and helpful.  He said it could just be the meter itself, but that driving between 14 and 15 volts might not be a problem to get us to a repair service.  He then made some calls and set up a visit for us at the local Ford Dealer.  What a sweet guy.  He even called back a few hours later to be sure that we were OK. If you are ever in the vicinity, and need help I would highly recommend his service.

After driving to the small Ford dealership in Dumas, we waited a couple of hours for a technician to check our batteries, and alternator. Everything was fine, and as Bob had suspected, it was our voltmeter that had failed. The Ford dealer didn’t charge us for the service and we were on our way just a few hours later than planned.  Nice that we had a shorter mileage day ahead.

Eroded limestone at a rest area near Two Buttes, in far southeastern Colorado

Speaking of the RV dream, I am definitely not a full timer.  We have been traveling for 2 months now, and it has been wonderful.  I am so glad we can do it.  I am also so glad that we are heading home.  I have lost a bit of the excitement, and the thrill of exploring new places has taken a back seat to the thrill of once more getting back west.  The thrill of returning to our little town, and our green lovely acre, and our comfortable home is overshadowing the thrill of seeing more brown barren trees and brown barren grass on the high plains of the United States.

The Texas Panhandle isn’t completely flat.  We might have liked to explore Palo Duro Canyon, the Grand Canyon of Texas, second largest canyon in the United States

Following the snow predictions for the east side of the Rockies, we knew that it would be cold but not snowy for a night at John Martin Reservoir State Park.  We stayed at this park back in 2010, even spending an evening kayaking.  It was September then, not March, and wasn’t as cold. We knew the temps on this night in March were going to drop to the 20’s.  I discovered by pure chance that the park is now reservation  only, and made a reservation at the last minute as we drove north.  When we arrived, signs on the posts said do not occupy without a reservation, but same day reservations were allowed. Only problem, there is limited cell service at the park and one would have to return to the little nearby town of Hasty to attempt to get service.

Once at the park, my choice of a site seemed really stupid.  On the website it is very nearly impossible to get any kind of idea of what a site might be like.  There are no photos.  We ended up all alone in a loop over by the dam.  It turned out nicely, however, since it was completely quiet, and I could take Mattie out running off leash without any problems.  It was too cold to be on the lake anyway!

Yesterday morning we got up to a windy 24F degrees, that quickly warmed to 34F degrees but the wind was biting cold. 

Yup, that’s me trying to take phone photos at 24 degrees in the wind.  Stupid selfie camera comes on when I don’t know it

On the road by 9, we knew we had a short day ahead driving west toward Interstate 25 and our final miles toward Colorado Springs and the USAir Force Academy Peregrine Pines Family Camp.

We have read about this beautiful camp over the years, and seen beautiful photos from Erin’s blog about the trails and the chapel, and knew it would be a good place to stay.

Settled in at Peregrine Pines with the bluest skies we have seen in a long time

Erin and Mui loved this area so much, it called to them when they made their choice to end their full time lifestyle and settle down once again to a sticks and bricks home. (You can read about it here). We look forward so much to seeing their new home and spending time with them here in Colorado Springs.

Still not quite sure about our return route.  Once again, weather will be the determining factor. Mo isn’t too excited about returning back south to the 40 and I am not that excited about traveling over the mountains on the 70 or through the cold windy country  of Wyoming on the 80.  That route on the 80 is actually 400 miles less than my choice of returning back to the 40 and then having to go back north.  Ah well.  As I said, the choice will be made next Sunday morning when we exit Colorado Springs.

Hoping that a few extra miles going back south will be rewarded with warmer temperatures and maybe even some desert flowers as we continue our run home west toward Grants Pass.  Either way, home is the prize waiting at the end of the journey.

02-06-2019 San Antonio and then Finally out of Texas

Current Location: Shields RV Park, Gulfport Mississippi

Cloudy, windy and cool 56 Degrees F at 6PM

Our days in San Antonio went by in a blur.  Two nights is a luxury on this fast trip east,  but that still only gave us one full day for all the little myriad chores of living that don’t work well in a rolling vehicle, while still trying to see something of the place we are visiting.

As I mentioned in the previous post, we wanted to make our way downtown to the Historic Market Square, the Mercado, touted as the largest if not the oldest Mexican market outside of Mexico. There are dozens of shops and stalls and a lot of “stuff”. 

The camp host, Baker, was extremely helpful with maps of how to exit the base and get to the proper freeways to get downtown with as little trouble as possible.  It still was a bit crazy making, because her maps had names that weren’t showing up on google, and the street signs were all but invisible.  It didn’t help that when we managed to get going in the wrong direction, when we turned around to find our way, we ran into a ton of construction and the main one way roads closed and detoured.  Eventually we made our way to the parking structure just west of the Mercado, paid our ten bucks parking and easily found our restaurant.

I am sure there is better Mexican food in a lot of restaurants around the Southwest, but you cant beat the ambiance and the decor.  The food was pretty darn good, too.  We sat with my marguerita and Mos wine and opened up the blog to try to remember the last time we were here in 2007, the year we bought the MoHo in New Braunfels, Texas.

Our reading led us to the hysterical description of our first night in the MoHo, and we were laughing so hard I am sure people thought we were crazy.  If you want a good laugh, read this account of two newbies with their first fancy motorhome.  It really IS funny.

In the midst of the laughter, our meal was delightful, with lovely flavors and the sound of strolling mariachi musicians wandering around the restaurant.  Yes, campy and touristy, but still fun. 

After our mid afternoon dinner we wandered the market where we found the our little goodies.  We weren’t shopping for anything in particular, but we still got caught by some very nice number tiles and a wrought iron holder for Sunset House, and we both fell in love with some half price Christmas bells made from dyed cornhusks.  A fun addition with a nice memory to go with it for the holidays. Nice and small so they don’t take up much space in the Tracker as we make our way across the country and back.

With Baker’s directions, 2 paper maps, and google maps, we managed to get back on base through the maze of freeways without too much difficulty.  We made sure tanks were dumped again, the car was hooked up and ready to go, and we were completely ready for our next travel day toward the east.

Leaving San Antonio wasn’t too horrible except for the truly horrendous construction zones, horribly bumpy pavement, and narrow uneven lanes.  Stressful to say the least!  Even when the traffic lessened, the rough roads and side winds made the drive less than fun. 

We were glad that we had a destination with a place to be when we rolled into the Sam Houston Jones State Park in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  The park is a few miles from the Interstate, but there are very good signs pointing the way, even though it feels as though you are wandering off to nowhere.  Also, on a side note, fuel is still incredibly cheap.  In Louisiana, the cheapest fuel is again 87 octane and we have been filling the MoHo at $1.86 per gallon in most places.

When we stayed at this park on our eastward route in 2014 (blog link here) the skies were blue and we had a wonderful time hiking the trails along the river, enjoying our campfire and letting the dog and cat run around our campsite.

This trip we only planned a single night, and the weather was rather iffy, with dark clouds and threatening rain.  We settled in to the same site we had five years ago, and right away before it got too late, took the dog for a walk along the river.

The park is quite lovely, a hidden surprise a few miles north of the interstate, in the forest.  The state park is working diligently to restore the native long leaf pine forest that was almost completely decimated in Louisiana in the past century.  It was a quiet and lovely evening with the temperatures in the low 70’s , and we were serenaded by the lovely music of frogs and crickets.

Yesterday, on Thursday the 7th, we were on the road by 8:30.  It was to be a reasonable day of driving, with just 340 miles or so along I-10 to Gulfport, Mississippi.  I had originally reserved space for us at Keesler AFB Family Camp, but the more I read the more I began to worry about that choice.  I re-read Erin’s blog about their stay at Shields, where she also mentioned the difference between the two campgrounds, re-read the reviews of Keesler, and when I woke up Thursday morning, I made a call to Shields at exactly 8am.  Somehow we got lucky, and there was one space available for two nights.  I made the reservation, canceled our reservation at Keesler, and we continued on our eastward route much relieved that we avoided shooting ourselves in the foot.

I drove first, and before long, after a LOT of bumpy pavement again, we entered Lafayette.  We had decided that we needed to purchase a surge protector for the rig, and decided to stop at the Camping World in that area.  I cannot begin to describe the kerfuffle of trying to find that dang place, and I even called the store and spoke to someone who couldn’t figure out where I was and couldn’t seem to tell me how to get there. 

If you want a real laugh, look at this image from my google timeline that shows the circles we drove trying to find Camping World.  After a few short words between us, which doesn’t happen often, we gave up the search, got back on the freeway, and continued east. 

I was looking forward to visiting the Atchafalaya Visitor Center near the long bridge that traverses the Atchafalaya Basin, another repeat of a previous visit, but this time all the updates and construction should be well completed and the place is so pretty I didn’t want to miss it.  Well, then it happened.  The Blowout.

But as they say, that is the “rest of the story”…

02-05-2019 It Ain’t All Sunshine and Flowers

Current Location: Joint Base San Antonio Sam Houston RV Park

Cloudy, foggy and 67 Degrees F at 9AM

Site 47 at JBSA Fort Sam Houston

We have safely landed almost smack dab in the middle of Texas for a couple of days.  JBSA Sam Houston RV Park is delightful.  Wide open spaces, green grass, level sites, with large patios and picnic tables.

The rain held off until we arrived at the park and as we checked in big fat drops landed on the windshield.  Lucky for us we had nowhere to go last night.  Especially since the Verizon Hot Spot on my phone decided to work after all.

Things get a bit weird when the internet acts up.  Especially when we chose this location as a place where we could catch up on bookwork and banking.  That stuff just doesn’t go away because we are traveling.  Deb is handling the mail, but it is tax season, and she is sending pdf’s of some items to us, and we are talking on the phone and discussing which hard copies might need to be forwarded to a location in Florida when we get there.

My phone had 5 bars and 4G so I couldn’t figure out why it kept saying “data connection not available”.  It certainly didn’t help my mood when I texted Daughter Deanna and she said she has had trouble with her hot spot as well.  Ack!!  What to do?  Go find a Starbucks?  I can’t believe how dependent we are on the internet, especially since we have arranged to have most everything handled electronically.  Then for no reason whatsoever, I tried one more time and the connections lit up nice as you please.

Fort Stockton RV Park

The drive yesterday started off beautifully, with a high cloud cover and a bit of light coming from the east as we left Fort Stockton.  I somehow missed the unmarked onramp to the freeway and ended up on a frontage road that ended ignominiously in a pile of dirt and a fence.  Lucky there was a turnaround and I only went a mile or two out of my way.

Another not so rosy development, for the second time on this trip, the battery in the tracker went dead.  Not a big problem, because we can start it up with the MoHo.  Only problem is trying to find a wide enough place along the interstate to get everything turned around properly.  Still aren’t sure exactly what the problem is but we are working on eliminating possibilities. We stopped in the little town of Sonora and started up the Tracker and Mo drove it for an hour eastward to Junction where we hooked up once again and continued on our way.  When we arrived in San Antonio, all seemed good.  Let’s hope it stays that way.

Photo stolen from a previous trip.  It was so ugly this time I didn’t even shoot a single one

The other not so rosy little thing yesterday was many miles and a couple of hours of dull, gray fog.  I have no idea how there is fog in the middle of this dry landscape, since there isn’t a lake or ocean for a few hundred miles at least.  But foggy it was.  Sometimes thick, sometimes thinning a bit, but  all the time gray and dull.  When the fog did clear a bit, we realized that the landscape was also gray. The grasses aren’t really yellow, but more like a dull gray brown.  The entire day seemed to be different versions of gray, brown, and dark dull olive green. 

When I drove with Daughter Deb to San Antonio in 2012 the flowers were blooming along I-10

The drive wasn’t too bad at all, and we got to San Antonio in about 6 hours, in spite of the extra stops.  However, I remembered well the maze of overpasses and freeway interchanges that are throughout the city from the times I visited my daughter when she lived here.  We were prepared. Mo was driving, I was navigating, with two websites open, google maps and the military camp website which had a full page of complex directions for getting through town, onto the base, and finally at the campground.  It was stressful, but not horrible, and traffic flowed along nicely in spite of the interchanges and construction. 

We were both incredibly grateful when we arrived at the park, and were greeted by “Baker”.  I have spoken with Baker a few times on the phone, and she is just delightful.  She offered so much help and information to us about getting around, and gave us several maps with directions to get downtown and avoiding the worst of the traffic. 

As soon as we settled in, after finally getting the internet to work, I checked out the showers and got a couple of loads of laundry going. The machines were clean, worked great and at a buck fifty each were a reasonable price.  The showers look OK, but I will wear my rubber shoes since I’m not so sure about the floors.  Still, this is a very nice park once you find it, and we are looking forward to our down time here.  Our big exciting outing will be to go downtown today to the Mercado, where we plan to dine at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants of all time.  More about that later!

Mattie was excited to head for the dog park this morning.  She was also excited to go back home.

Of course, looking at the weather hasn’t been particularly encouraging.  After really gorgeous skies and sunshine in the southwest, it seems we will now be dogged by rain, clouds and fog for at least the next two weeks.  It is supposed to be raining when we get to Louisiana, raining for the two days we will spend at Keesler AFB in Biloxi, and sadly, raining for the first few days of our visit to the gorgeous barrier islands of Saint Vincent, St Joe Peninsula, and Saint Marks. I am not quite sure how our kayaking plans will fit in with all the predictions of rain. All I can do is hope and pray that it lets up eventually, and sooner or later we will get a taste of why we are going to Florida. 

We had read about trains at this park, and they were around, but not really intrusive.  We actually slept really well with outside temps in the 60’s and rain on the roof.  Sleeping in till 8AM is a rare thing for us.  It was nice.  Today should be an easy day with the fog predicted to lift before noon and the afternoon showers to be light.

02-03-2019 Crossing Texas

Current Location: Fort Stockton, Texas

Clear and 61 Degrees F at 10PM

Our site 114 on the bottom row at Fort BIiss RV Park

I think I may have titled more than one blog post like this, with different dates.  The last time we crossed Texas was in 2014, and we took our own sweet time, visiting the Davis Mountains, Big Bend National Park, Seminole Canyon, Corpus Christi, Port Aransas, and the wonderful Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge.  This time it is really just about Crossing Texas.  A friend responded on Facebook with a little rhyming ditty, “The sun is riz.  The sun is set. And we ain’t out of Texas yet.”  Bout sums it up.

Actually it isn’t all that bad.  We aren’t sight seeing, but neither are we busting chops to get across as quickly as possible.  We left Mike and Janna’s place in Southeast Arizona at a comfortable 9AM, and traveled a short day on I-10 to Fort Bliss in El Paso.  We passed the big road runner approaching Las Cruces, reminisced about our stays at the Hacienda RV Park and visiting Old Mesilla, and just kept driving.

We took the back way into the campground, described very well on the Military Family Camp website, happy to skip the heaviest traffic approaching and through El Paso.  It had been a short day and we arrived shortly before 2PM.  Just barely in time to take the second to the last spot available for the night at the park.  No reservations at this military camp, like many others we have visited, but this one doesn’t have any kind of overflow accommodations.  We knew this going in and had plans to just keep driving if need be.

The camp is rated very highly, with many folks saying it is among the best in the country.  I would beg to differ with that.  Maybe not a lot of folks have made it to Sigsbee in Key West, or had the pleasure of visiting what we think is the very best family camp ever on Whidbey Island in Washington State.

Still, it was a decent stay, on a par with perhaps Flag City RV.  Well run, full to the brim, plenty of space between sites, concrete pads and patios that are reasonably level, and full hookups.  Local TV stations came in just fine with the new antenna. 

We were a bit worn, in spite of the short day.  The last few days have been filled with lots of social visits, lots of moving around, and we had no desire to jump outside again to explore the city of El Paso.  Erin wrote about a visit to this same park a few years ago when she and Mui explored the lovely Mission Trail.  We didn’t even bother to unhook the Tracker to go check out the big, very well reviewed commissary, and to have dinner at the great restaurant they recommended.  All I wanted to do was to sit in the rig, read a bit, watch local news a bit and write a blog.  It was wonderful

Dinner was fabulous, quite easy, with a small batch of fresh homemade tartar sauce, and salad out of a package as my only effort to go with the leftover fish we had from our evening out with Wes and Gayle.

High winds were predicted with warnings for 50mph gusts the next day in the El Paso area, but when we listened on the news and reviewed the forecasts, we were happy to see those winds wouldn’t be around until mid day when we would be long gone.  In spite of the proximity of the freeway, I put in earplugs and slept just fine.

Waking this morning to clear skies we were on the road by 9. With another fairly short day ahead of only 245 miles we could take our time.  We fueled at the station right at the park, grumbling to ourselves about the less than 87 octane fuel that seems to be all over some of these western states.  The advertised price is for 85 or 86 octane.  Who even uses that?!  Of course, the higher octane 88 stuff is 30 cents per gallon more.  I guess we shouldn’t complain, we are paying at least a dollar less per gallon than we paid for fuel on our last cross country trip in 2014.

Mo and I took turns driving, jockeying with the big trucks on the highway that was sometimes smooth and sometimes ridiculously rough, especially in areas of grooved pavement.  I had to look that one up to try to figure out why in the world they did that and discovered it was to add traction and prevent hydroplaning in areas that have accidents due to wet roads.  Well, those dang ridges will drag a motorhome all over the place, talk about an accident waiting to happen.  Sheesh!

We stopped at a decent rest area for a lunch break and a walk for Mattie.  Lunch was simple, and the same as we usually have at home.  Cheese, some dip, veggies and a few crackers, and a few grapes.  Mo loves cauliflower and it is Mattie’s favorite as well.  That little dog loves her veggies!  We try not to give her people food, but relent with cauliflower and carrots. She is very good about not begging, or being rude, but she does pay rapt attention when we bring out the veggies and dip.

We traveled along the route for a couple more hours, reminiscing again about our stay at Balmorhea State Park as we passed, about our time in the Davis Mountains, remembering how wonderful it was to be at Big Bend. We even remembered stopping in at the museum in Fort Stockton on one of our trips, who knows which one.  This time we stopped only for fuel at the Flying J and pulled into the Fort Stockton RV Park by 4 in the afternoon, even with another hour lost to the time change.

It is a fairly big park, and at $36 per night with both AAA and Military Discount, reasonable enough for this part of the world.  There are full hookups, gravel and dirt pads that are long and level with grass between reasonably roomy sites and picnic tables.  I was glad we had made reservations, as the park filled to the brim as the evening progressed.  It was Super Bowl night, and I guess it is a big thing to load up a bunch of friends and go hang out in the RV park to watch the game.  We saw many groups gathered around their outside TV’s and the smell of all sorts of game food appetizers wafted our way as we settled in.

I had my own food planned, with fresh peppers and onions and strip steak cooked on the grill for some very tasty fajitas.   We even watched the game a bit, simply because we had cable, but weren’t interested enough to go past the rather stupid half time show, and I didn’t see a single commercial that was memorable.  Mo used to big a big football fan, but has lost interest in the last few years.

I caught up with family and friends, sharing photos and conversations as we “chatted” back and forth on messenger. The Brothers decided to travel north from Desert Hot Springs via Highway 395 with hopes of boondocking in the Alabama Hills.  Word today was that it was too cold and wet and windy for that and instead they camped at a park in Lone Pine, and continued on toward Minden today.  Looks like the weather isn’t very much in their favor with snow predicted for Minden.

Later we fell asleep listening to the hoots and hollers of the game watchers gathered around us in the dark.  It is even later now, and I couldn’t stay asleep, and got up to read and write a bit.  Now the park is dark and quiet, without the rabble rousing sort of stuff I might expect from a bunch of fans partying.  The only sound is the soft roar of I-10 to the south of us, and I have ear plugs to deal with that when I make an attempt to go back to bed.

Tomorrow we will have another reasonable day, traveling 315 miles to Fort Sam Houston RV Park at Joint Base San Antonio. We will be staying 2 nights for a little bit of a break from the one night stands we have had since leaving Organ Pipe.

1-21-2014 Judy finds the spoonbills

Current Location: Belle Chase LA, NAS: Temperature: 33 degrees F spitting wet stuff

I do believe that anyone who has an RV blog probably knows about Judy, the Bird Lady of Blogland.  She has hundreds of followers, uncounted readers, and if you are lucky enough to be anywhere in the vicinity, she is likely to have offered to share her refuges with you.  I think nearly every blogger that I follow has at one time or another declined to identify a bird in favor of Judy’s final say-so on the matter, me included.

When we realized that we were traveling within a few miles of Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Judy’s current volunteer location, I contacted her privately and asked where we might camp if we wanted to see the refuge.  With her usual generous spirit, she piped up, “Right here on my concrete pad if you don’t mind roughing it with 30 amp.  I have the day off and would love to show you the refuge if you have time”.

Well, then!  Lucky us!

We arrived on a sunny but windy afternoon and within a few moments were getting set up at the maintenance area of the refuge where Judy is currently parked.  I let my guard down for a moment…bad bad bad…and Jeremy immediately jumped out of the rig to investigate.  Usually not a problem, but I’ll let Judy tell the story here. She tells the story better than I would and you get another chance to see her sense of humor shine.

With an attempt to thank Judy for her hospitality, I offered to cook grilled chicken with rice and salad.  We visited on the patio, but the chilly winds drove us inside our rig for dinner.  We enjoyed having someone to share a meal at our new dinette.

I kinda knew that Judy had a dry sense of humor, but as our evening wore on and we shared our supper, all that good stuff started showing up.  We had a nice time getting to know each other and talking about travels, birds, volunteering, refuges, and yes…a bit of talk about other bloggers.  I guess it is only natural and of course it was all good stuff.

Judy knew I wanted to see spoonbills, but as we began our morning explorations, I let her know that seeing the snow geese do their thing was also high on my list.  With a few hours to spend at the refuge, we saw so much more than we could have on our own.  There is nothing quite like having a pro around to really show you the ropes.

Judy took us to several locations where we saw huge flocks of snow geese, and during the entire time she was sharing bits and pieces of her extensive knowledge of the history of the refuge, the devastation of hurricane Ike, and attempts to restore the wetlands to good condition.  Shoveler’s Pond, for instance, a fresh water environment, was completely inundated by the storm surge and the salt water killed all the natural vegetation.  Restoration included removing the salt contaminated soil completely and starting over.

Even with the high winds, we saw more than I ever expected.  Judy thought that the winds might have actually been in our favor because the birds were hunkering down.  Watching snow geese fly and hearing their sound is thrilling, something I seek out in the Klamath Basin where they move through in March. 

Judy took us right to several huge flocks, that obligingly put on a great show.  I took many photos, and also did a video recording of the sounds.  There is just nothing like it, except for maybe the sound of a huge flock of tundra swans.

As we drove around Shoveler’s Pond, Judy kept saying she couldn’t guarantee a sighting of the ‘big pink birds”, the roseate spoonbills.  I actually saw them first, and hollered, “Look, there they are!”  Sure enough we found them on one of the distant dikes across the pond, but Judy knew where the grasses would part enough for a closer view.  I finally saw the spoonbills, and even managed a photo or two.

After a bit of time watching the birds on the dike, they decided that I needed to see them fly, and took off just for us, knowing that of course we needed a fabulous photo op.

Judy says that if we return in March and are nearby, we can see the spoonbill rookeries on High Island, where birders come from all over the world to see the birds congregating after their exhausting travels over the Gulf of Mexico on their return north. 

What a treat it was to spend time with Judy and to see Anahuac  (did you know it is pronounced ana whack??) NWR as we would have never seen it without her. 

At noon, we packed up, hooked up, and ambled off toward Louisiana

Up Next:  Sam Houston Jones State Park, Lake Charles, Louisiana

1-17 and 1-19 2014 Padre Island National Seashore and kayaks in the water

We only gave ourselves a single day to explore Padre Island National Seashore.  I am sure folks who love this place dearly are appalled that we didn’t take the time to settle in to the rhythm of the waves, and to really enjoy the longest stretch of undeveloped barrier island in the world.

Padre Island is truly a national treasure, one I had heard very little of until recently when I found bloggers talking about their time volunteering on the island.  North Padre Island is a bit different.  Technically it is a neighborhood of Corpus Christi, with many upscale seasonal homes on the intracoastal waterway, surf shops, and all that go with that beach resort kind of atmosphere. 

Unlike what I read about South Padre Island, North Padre Island seems to be a bit more laid back, not quite so crowded, maybe not quite as popular with the spring break crowd.  Very few high rises were to be seen. Just a few miles south, however, is the entrance to the national seashore.  The entrance is still a few miles from the visitor center at Malaquite Beach, and the broad expanse of the barrier island seems a bit featureless until time is taken to look at it a bit more closely. Camping is allowed both in two main campgrounds that are accessible by road, and along the entire 65 mile length of the shore with a park permit.  There is an additional campground at Yarborough Pass at milepost 15 ( through the dunes) that is on Laguna Madre, inland from the beach, and is accessible by 4 wheel drive or by boat.

We decided to drive to Bird Island and discovered one of the campgrounds, with several rigs settled in along the silty beach bordering Laguna Madre.  It was here that I first saw this very weird bird that I later discovered was the national bird of Mexico, a crested caracara.  There were white pelicans settling in on an exposed bar in the lagoon, and the wind was blowing hard.  Perfect for windsailing, which seems to be a popular pastime at this site.

Continuing down the road toward the visitor center, we found a short interpretive trail with a nice path that led through the grasslands.  The ecology of a barrier island is complex: simplified it consists of the beach, the dunes, the grasslands, the wetlands, and the lagoon separating the island from the mainland.  The grasslands are full of all sorts of plants and wildlife, and we saw the lovely vermillion butterfly.The weather was cool and windy for our walk, and the sun was brilliant.

Dog friendly beaches and trails were another great surprise about the seashore.  We were happy to have Abby with us all day on the trails and on the beach, although even with pavement, there were many stickers on the trail that Mo had to pull from Abby’s paws. Again, the national seashore is almost 70 miles of coastal frontage with no roads providing access.  The only access is in your vehicle, right on the beach. 

The first 5 miles don’t require a 4 wheel drive, but it is recommended after that distance, due to drifting dunes that build up along the route. The warning sign at the 5 mile marker regarding illegal activity and smugglers was a bit sobering.

We drove about 10 miles, most of the time we were the only ones on the beach, and it was very windy and cool enough that we were grateful for the protection of the car.  This landscape is a place where immersion would take commitment.  It would be wonderful to take the MoHo as far as we could manage and just sit there and watch the water and the view change with the shifting light.  Instead, it was an exploratory trip and we decided that we will definitely return to explore it in depth.

Shoreline trash is a big enough subject that it is directly addressed in the park brochure.  Seems as though most of the trash is blown in from the Gulf and there are both public and private programs to try to clean it up.  It would be a never ending project. An entire day could be devoted to picking up all sorts of flotsam and jetsam that must be dumped from ships or who knows where.  It was a shocking, actually.  More trash than I have ever seen on a beach anywhere.  In an nearly pristine wilderness. Trash bags are provided at the access roads to help with the garbage pickup. Made me really sad, and yet overwhelmed enough that I didn’t fill a garbage bag and try to take it back.  Sorry Erin. I did manage to pick up a lot of trash at the NAS beach.

Unlike the complex, ever changing coastline of the Pacific, this gulf shore feels infinite…going on and on what seems like forever, with very little change.  The subtle differences would have to be experienced at a slower pace.  As nesting grounds for the endangered Kemp’s-ridley turtles, there would be nests to watch for as early as April, but with the chill winds, we saw no sign of turtles.

The story of the Kemp’s-ridley turtle is fascinating.  Nearly extinct, they were losing their nesting sites to development, so biologists put Padre Island sand in their incubators to help them imprint, released them after tagging them from the shore, and recently tagged turtles have been returning and nesting in what was not an original nesting site for them.  Although five different species of sea turtles nest on the island, we saw no nests and no turtles.  Still too early in the season, I am sure.

In spite of the chill wind, seeing that expansive shoreline was fascinating, especially for me as a westerner with a Pacific ocean mindset.  I loved it.  Loved that I could just walk and walk and walk if I had the opportunity.  I would imagine we will return to this place again and continue our explorations.

We waited for several days for the winds to lessen enough to launch our kayaks, and on our last day in Corpus Christi were rewarded with a calm not so chilly morning.  There was a bit of fog to accompany us as we drove once again across the bay toward Mustang Island and turned north toward Aransas Pass.

We read about the Mustang Island Paddling Trail, where there are several launch sites, and official markers for the trail.  Being inexperienced in this area, it seemed like a good idea to try a marked route. 

The trails are on the bay side of Mustang Island, in brackish water that has a very silty, muddy bottom, dotted with islands and inlets.  If you have ever tried to navigate in a completely flat landscape filled with water, you can imagine how challenging it was to figure out where we were.  I didn’t have the official GPS with me, just a good printed map of the trails, and the google earth imagery.

Sure am glad I also had the phone GPS.  In spite of my reasonably good navigation skills, I had no clue where we were on the map without turning on the phone and trying to figure out where that blue dot was!  It was fun, not too windy, and there were enough birds around to keep things interesting.  I was quite delighted to finally find the route marker number 11, and then number 10.  We had completely missed the rest of them. 

It isn’t a difficult place to keep track of where you need to go, it just is a bit tricky avoiding lagoons that might dead end into mud without an outlet.  We probably paddled a short five miles or so, in water that wasn’t the least bit exciting and very very shallow in many places.  Still, it was good to get out in the kayaks for a morning at least and experience a bit of Texas water.

As mentioned in the previous post, we topped off our morning kayak with our fabulous afternoon with Erin and Mui.  It was a great way to spend our last day in this area that was brand new to us until now. I especially enjoyed trying to photograph all the birds.  As they say, the best equipment in the world still needs the photographer.  In spite of Deanna’s great lens, I have a long way to go before I get those shots of their eyes in perfect focus.  I’ll keep trying.

Next:  Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge and a visit with Judy