Fredericksburg Texas

It was not so cold last night (only 40 degrees), but it was VERY windy. I thought for a while it was going to blow our trailer away. I was glad that we had electricity and heat. We have spent so many nights in the trailer reading, that we decided we had to try something different. It is not that I don't enjoy reading, but it was time for something else. So we played cribbage. It was great. Both Bob and I had a great time.

When I weighed myself this morning I realized that I have lost an additional four pounds since leaving Portland. I have no idea how that is happening. I am eating out at lunch almost every day and my favorite food is some kind of greasy sandwich. We are eating very well at night also. Last night it was baked chicken - the toaster oven is working very well. Also we have not been exercising like I would like. It is cold and windy (Have I mentioned that before) and I am not comfortable walking in the dark on unfamiliar roads. (Last night we camped just east of the line for Central time so the sun did not come up until 7 pm.) But I have not been eating any snacks and that may be making the difference. I have to be a little careful because some of my clothes are now so big that they are falling off unless I use a belt.

We got a fairly early start this morning and headed straight for Austin. (Didn't make it there, but more about that later.) As we drove we listened to books on tape. (Mike, we just started to listen to the one about the National Parks - very interesting. thanks.)

The drive itself was interesting. West Texas is not at all what I expected. It is almost as stark and barren as New Mexico. It is hilly, not mountainous. (It looks more like the hills in West Virginia than the ones in Oregon or New Mexico) There is some vegetation other than cactus and as we got further east the vegetation almost began to look like trees. As we drove I could see that we were coming down in altitude because there was more distance between the earth and the clouds. So Bob is breathing better. And yes there were clouds all day and the weather is till yucky. Along the drive, the road cut into some of these hills and you could see the cuts. It was all rocks and the strata was fascinating. You could see that over the years various different minerals had been present and created various colors. The colors and the thickness of the strata changed as we moved east.

While we were driving and watching the geology go by (I never studied geology but am now finding myself very interested in it) and listening to a book on tape (did I say that I tend to multi-task?), I was also reading about where we were going. Austin was going to be a push and we would not get there until 5 or 6 pm. I found a small town of Fredericksburg in the Texas visitor guide. It looks very interesting. It has a WWII museum of the Pacific battle and it has a bunch of wineries. So we stopped in one of the RV parks to see if they have room. We are in the overfill area and that means it is a little cheaper for us to stay here. We will stay for two nights because I want to see the museum and the wineries.

I do not have many pcitures because the weather has been so awful. It is now 39 degrees outside ande there is a strong wind and the rain is coming down like sharp little pinpricks. They tell us that the weather tomorrow will be much better - sunny and high in the 60's. That will be nice. Then I can add some more pictures.

Texas

Well, because of the difficulties that Bob had in breathing at the higher altitudes in New Mexico, we are heading for lower ground. We headed straight down I25 and then south and east on I10. The weather is not getting better. As we drove we watched the HUGE BLACK clouds. In New Mexico they were over the mountains and it was kind of interesting. Here in Texas, we drove right into them. We stopped at a KOA in Van Horn Texas. Nice enough for a KOA. It is VERY windy. I can only hope that the weather will get better soon.

When we crossed into Texas we stopped at the visitor center. OMG. A very nice man greeted us and gave us about 5 inches of literature. If we happened to mention that something interested us, we got a brochure and also other tangential info, like other sights in the area. So when we got to this KOA, we spent about an hour going through the literature and trying to decide where to go next. Texas does not seem to have a lot of state or national parks in the center of the state where we are. We thought about going to the Lady Bird municipal park, but the reviews on it were not great. (We have free wifi here so we have been looking at the campground reviews while going through the literature.) We are still thinking of going to Fredericksburg because it has some interesting sights. But we might decide to just go stay tonight at a rest area and then spend more days in San Antonio.

We decided to stop at the KOA because the weather is awful, we wanted the power so that we had heat, and we could use their free wifi. But, this is not my favorite place to stay.

Several interesting aspects to the trip here. We got stopped again by the border patrol while on I-10. I think that makes 25 times in three weeks. It is still the case that we pull up, they look at us, ask if we are US citizens and then wave us on. But waiting in line for all of the other cars when this is happening on an interstate is difficult. Bob says it is "pissy" I say it is just time consuming for us.

While we were going through El Paso, the Mexican border was so close. As we were driving I saw many very sad looking houses scattered on a hillside just to our right. I thought what a poor town El Paso is. Then I realized that those houses were in Mexico. They did not look like they had power or running water. They had not been painted, probably ever. Then you looked to our left and saw the houses of El Paso and they were what you would expect for middle class America. (El Paso is much larger than I thought.)

Finally, one interesting item. On the interstate while we were in New Mexico there were almost no roadside businesses at all. The minute we crossed the border into Texas, we were in an area with hundreds and hundreds of businesses. It was a stark contrast. It started at mile 0 of I-10 in Texas. Bob says it has to do with the business climate in New Mexico. Whatever, it was startling to see so many businesses after having seen so few for so many days.

I have to go now because Bob tells me that he is worried about the wind and wants to do more to stabilize the trailer. Bye for now.

We are taking a weekend.

Bob was getting tired of traveling and sightseeing, so we are doing nothing today. We went into town and bought some stuff that we need to make a few small repairs. We have spent some time thinking about where to go next. Mostly we have just relaxed. This is a very nice campground and pretty quiet. It went down to 25 degrees last night, but it is up to 65 now. The sun was shining but there are now clouds coming in. The weather has not been kind to us on this trek.

So I have spent some time thinking about my reaction to this trip so far. First, it is great to be with my husband and just talking and experiencing things together. We have seen some wonderful sights and have met some very nice people. It is a nice way to spend some time. The trip so far has made me think about what is important to me. I am finding that I do not particularly want to see the things in the cities. Mostly I want to see the landscape. I don't know if that will be true as we get further east, but it certainly is true for here.

I am also finding that I am relaxing and just enjoying life. Several times I have found myself impatient about something and was able to talk myself into letting things be and waiting. It is life changing for me if I can do this. Right now Bob is caulking the sink so that it won't leak into the cupboard below and I am getting ready to wash some windows. Then I think a whole bunch of reading is in order. Maybe I will also take a walk. Nice to have a weekend. Thanks for the suggestion Stef.

We are now in New Mexico

Ok. So here is the update. We learned that staying at RV parks is not our favorite way to travel. We were not only smaller than all of the other trailers, we were so much smaller that the next largest was at least 2 or 3 times larger than we were. Many people stopped by and told us that they thought our trailer was cute, but they did not know how they could get by. Well, the reason we can get by is that we usually have a lot of our stuff on the outside of the trailer and it is not possible to do this in trailer parks. We have decided that we prefer to stay in state campgrounds. They are not only cheaper, but they are more what we like.

We visited Kartchner Caverns in Arizona. OMG. It was truly amazing. It will be one of the highlights of our trip. We learned about the geology of this area and got to see live and growing stalactictes. It was awesome. There was a very nice campground outside of the caverns and if we ever come back to this area I would prefer to camp in that campground rather than in the RV park.

In the afternoon we went to the Chiricahua National Monument. This was a recommendation from one of the women doing her laundry in the RV park. (This is a very good way to get recommendations - just start talking to people.) This was an awesome sight. The rocks from the volcanoes were huge and beautiful and I cannot recreate this in pictures, but I took many many. There was a short walk around the site, and Bob was not able to take the walk because he kept running out of breath, so I took many pictures. This was a very worthwhile trip. I now have a much better understanding of the formation of Arizona - and New Mexico.

We left the RV park and Arizona and headed for New Mexico. Our plan was to go to Columbus New Mexico and stay at the Pancho Villo state park. But the winds were very strong on the way there. There was a sandstorm so bad that they actually had shuttle vehicles to lead us through. When we got to the park we learned that the bathrooms were closed except on weekends (in order to save money). The combination of the winds and the bathrooms discouraged us from staying there - although it did look like a nice park. We left and drove into Deming - about 50 miles away. We decided that we did not want to just park the trailer. We wanted to camp and enjoy the outdoors. All of the RV parks there were narrow sites and we would have had to just stay in the trailer. We decided to keep looking. We headed toward Silver City. On the way we found a nice rest area and almost stayed there. But we decided to try the state park a few miles away called the City of Rocks. I was so gald that we did. It was gorgeous!!! It got very cold that night and we had no electricity and had to get by on our batteries, but it was worth it. In the morning we got up and took some walks. The elevation was about 5000 ft. and that made it very hard for Bob to breathe. If that had not been the case we would have stayed there for a couple of days. But we took our walks and then moved on. The rangers there were very helpful in directing us to other parks.

We drove to Silver City. This is a very artsy city with a history of mining and the home of Billy the Kid. Many mines in the area. There was a small and cute museum and many shops with "ART" noted on the sidewalk. There were local artists and some very lovely pieces, but more than we wanted to pay. On the other hand, we got a good recommendation for lunch and had the best Mexican food that I have had in a long time.

We left Silver City and drove over some very high and windy mountains and got to Truth or Consequences New Mexico. At the recommedation of the ranger at City of Rocks, we are staying at Elephant Butte state park. This is a very large park right on the Rio Grande river. (Did you know that the Rio Grande was in New Mexico? I did not.) It is a very nice park and allows us to put our stuff outside the way we like. We went into town to buy groceries and our only option was either a very small and expensive local market or WalMart. Yuck. We just could not go into Walmart.

We will stay here for a few days and then move on - looking for more good recommendations. this is great!!!!!

Benson Arizona

Wow.
So much has happened in the last two days. We spent the last days at Agua Caliente in very strong winds. We couldn't even sit outside. And it was starting to get colder. So we thought that we would do better moving east. Wrong! But more about that later. Yesterday morning we were all packed up and ready to leave by 8 am. But it was a stop and start leaving. First Bob realized that he did not have his hearing aids in. So we stoppped and opened the trailer and took out the hearing aids. Then I couldn't remember if I had secured everything, so we stopped again so that I could check. Then I couldn't remember if I had closed the vent on the top of the trailer. In all, we had to stop five times and open the trailer to make sure that everything was secured.

We did have an unusual challenge on this leg of the trip. From Sunday night at sundown to Monday night at sundown, it was my brother's yahrzeit (the anniversay of his death). We are supposed to light a memorial candle and keep it lit for 24 hours. We lit it at Agua Caliente and then carried it with us in the truck's cup container until we stopped for the night, then in the trailer. That was a true challenge.

Driving through California and then into Arizona I realized that there is really a lot to see in the desert, but it takes quite a while to realize what you are seeing. At first it all looks the same. It takes a while to realize that there are major differences in the cacti and in the ground and in the mountain. (The mountains in Arizona are lower but more rugged looking than the ones in California. The cactus is also lower and there is lots more of it. The ground seems to have a lot fewer rocks.) I will never really like it, but I can learn to appreciate it. I was also impressed by how fertile it is when water is added. The Imperial Valley was incredibly green in spots and then really barren in other spots. It all depended on the water.

One of the things that surpised both Bob and I were the number of times that we have gone through Border Patrol checkpoints. Nine during this week. They take one look at us, ask if we are US citizens and then pass us through. But lots of them. Undoubtedly this is because we were so close to the Mexican border. At times we could see into Mexico from I-8.

We drove through Yuma and did not see anything but RV parks - lots and lots of theml We tried to find the Arizona Tourist office, but could not. The most interesting thing about Yuma was a large billboard with a big picture of George W. Bush that said "Miss Me Yet?" Hmmm. Not me.

When we got to Tucson it was pouring!!!! - and it was rush hour traffic. Bob and I decided that we would stop at a Holiday Inn Express, but it was $100 a night. Not worth it. So we drove another five miles to Benson Arizona and we are parked in an RV Resort. It is not camping - it is parking the vehicle. We hooked up the power, walked a block to a great restaurant, and came back and went to bed.

Last night the temperature went down to 33 degrees. I think it is warmer in Portland. We are south, but we are at 3500 feel elevation. During the day today it got up to the mid 50's and was very sunny, but it was very cold last night.

Today we went to Bisbee Arizona, where we went to a great museum that talked about copper mining in Arizona and life in the desert in the early 1900's. It is a town that is surviving on tourism, but it is nicely done. I say that because we then went to Tombstone. Too too touristy for me. Nothing really but shops selling overpriced stuff that is not even local. They put on fake shows of the gunfight at the OK corral. Bob and I were both bored.

We then just started driving, not sure what to see next. We saw a sign to Colossal Cave Monument Park and went there. We took a tour of a HUGE cave (65 feet underground). That was definitely worth seeing. The paths, the handrails and the lights were put in place in the 30's by the CCC. What a good way to spend federal money.

We are now in the social room of this RV Resort. There are three very noisy tables of people (all over 65 years old) playing poker. Interesting. but not camping.

Pictures of the desert

I am just figuring out how to download pictures. I tried to get these on the last blog but couldn't. Here are pictures of the desert, including Bob hiking and our scooters.

Southern California

This is a different part of southern California. It is desert. It is dry and generally hot, although it has been windy and a little cool yesterday and today. Our campsite is great and we have met some very nice people. They have also given us some good tips on what to see next. The volunteers even brought us free camfire wood for a few nights. (The closest store is about 50 miles away.)

The campsite has no cell phone or internet coverage so it is hard to connect with people, but I suppose that it is nice as a start to be isolated. We are currently about 10 miles down the road from our campground at a private campgroud that has a laundry area - yes it is time to do laundry. They have free wifi so it seemed time to update my blog.

The drive here from Oregon and the Bay Area was long and tiring and it is good that we have just stopped for a week to make sure that everything works. (We are really spoiled in Oregon that we do not have the kind of traffic that they have in LA.) We spent one day on the scooters riding around, but there is not much here within scooter distance. We also spent one day driving to the Salton Sea. We actually drove all the way around - it took two hours. It was vey interesting because there was lots of green and crops on one side of the road but very dry and arid on the other side. Of course it is all due to irrigation. The irrigation canal was right next to the road. As far as we could tell there was lots of oranges, dates and grapes growing there. There were also lots of refrigerated trucks on the road to pick up and deliver all of the crops. But it was a nice easy drive.

At my insistance we turned off the road at a place called Bombay Beach - sounded good? Well it was very depressing. A very small area filled with old dilapidated trailers and shacks. Very poor. Apparently there had been a beach there at some point, but the beach now had a sign that it was closed.

Our campground has a regular pool and a therapy pool. We have spent some time in both - although a lot more in the therapy pool. The therapy pool is about 102 degrees and apparently (according to the sign) contains many minerals. Bob says that it does make his back feel better. I just plain enjoy it.

I have been pretty diligent about doing exercise and have even lost another pound. There are some great hiles to take. As we drive around or walk around I see more and more in the desert. People kept telling me that there was a lot to see - but it takes some time to get over the feel that this is barren and there is nothing to see. There are many off road hikes and campsites along the road.

Last night the wind came up pretty strong so we pulled in everything that could get hurt by the wind and even had dinner inside Fanny (the trailer) because it was so windy. This morning it is cloudy but the sky is clearning and it is getting warmer.

The next few days will be more sitting, reading and swimming. Then on to Arizona.