It has been a while since my last blog entry so I will try and give a quick synopsis of where we have been after leaving Austin.
First stop San Antonio where my Uncle Art and cousins Kyle and Lynette live. Friday night Uncle Art took us all out to a local dinner where I had some very good chicken fried steak and Cherri had some Tilapia it was a short evening but it was good visiting. The next morning I called Uncle Art and arranged for them all to come out to the campground and we could fry up some burgers on the grill. With that arrangement made we got on the bus to tour the River Walk area. I was here one other time back in 1975 when I graduated from Air Force boot camp but really did not have much time to enjoy the river walk. First thing we did was to take the boat cruise, for $16 you can't beat the deal to get a feel for what is on the river walk. Lunch was at Joe's crab shack, pricy but what isn't. The highlight was the Alamo, I like that history stuff.
Leaving San Antonio the next morning and heading for Big Bend National Park. We divided the trip up into really two nights with the first night just outside Del Rio at a National Park campground and then the second night just before entering the Big Bend NP I had read about the Stilwater Ranch so I thought it was worth checking out. OK, I was wrong. The Stillwater ranch may have some history there but the campground was overpriced at $20 even though it included electrical hookup. The camping area was a dirt patch no picnic tables, no shade the only good point was no neighbors this time of year. I would recommend that if anyone is in the area to continue on into the park. For $8 a night you don't have hookups but lots of shade trees and a picnic table. There is also lots of backcountry camping available if you have a smaller trailer, van, pick-up camper or tenting.
Picture of Stillwater Ranch
Highlight of Big Bend has to be the hot springs. When we arrived at the springs we were greeted by 35 7th graders from Austin on a school trip, that is 35 students and about 10 more teachers and parents. We sat off to the side to wait while another couple stomped back to the parking lot all upset. Within a few minutes one of the leaders came over and told us that they would be getting out in a few minutes and within ten minutes we had the place to ourselves. Temperature at the entrance point is about 130 degrees but about mid pool it was a very comfortable temperature
Moving north (what other direction could we possibly go at this point) heading for Fort Davis National Monument. Fort Davis was one of the stops along the wagon train west, it's mission to keep the road open for the settlers. Much of the fort has gone to ruins, they only restored buildings that were 70% intact. This was well worth the stop.
That night we stayed at the Lawrence E. Wood Picnic Area about 15 miles away what a beautiful setting but we were at almost 6000 feet so the morning was a little cool.
On to Guadalupe Mountains NP on April 5th.... the campground here is a parking lot transformed into an RV parking lot for camping. Normally I wouldn't stay here but there are only six RV's including ours and I was able to get a corner space looking at the mountains. Not bad for $8.00 oh yea, no hookups, dry camp only.
The next morning we visited Carlsbad Caverns which was free with the National Park pass that I purchased last year but it cost $12 to board the dogs while we toured the caverns. A couple pictures will better describe the caverns.
What trip to New Mexico would be complete without a stop in Roswell, NM the home of the space craft crash in 1947. Personally I believe that a crash did happen after all there HAS to be somebody smarter than us humans out there!
On Easter Sunday we went through White Sands National Monument, probably would have spent more time there but the park was filled with locals out for the day having an Easter picnic. That evening we drove up to Cherry Creek campground which is about an hour south of the Gila Cliff Dwellings. The campground was a little tight for my trailer later I read that there is a 17' restriction so I was only 9' too long. This is one of those times I wished I had a little smaller trailer.
The next morning we drove to Gila Cliff Dwellings, these caves were occupied approximately 700 years ago. It is a shame that most of the caves were vandalized first during the time of the Indian wars then by looters before the National Parks was able to step in and protect the dwellings.
On April 9th we visited Chiricalnua National Monument, there is some great hiking to be done here, I have to come back someday when I can hike it. After a drive through of the park and some lunch we drove down to the Silverado Ranch near Douglas. Star Belle is the owner of the ranch who is in her upper 80's and confined to a wheelchair due to MS. She opens up the ranch to boondockers and only asks for either $10 a day or help out with a few chores on the ranch. After talking to Star Belle we found out that she really needed some grooming services for her dogs, one dog in particular really needed a cutting down so Cherri volunteered to groom her dog and trip the nails on another dog. This turned out to be quite a undertaking. The next morning while I was filling our water tank I noticed a roll of blue masking tape that was being used to try (stressing the word try) and stop a leak in a garden hose that was being used to fill a fountain so while the tank was filling I cut off all the tape and lacking a female hose fitting I re-tapped the hose using some duct tape. She had also told us that we could use her wifi if we wanted but did not tell us that it had not been setup yet so I set that up for her too before we left.
The Silverado Ranch is an interesting place and has potential but will require a considerable amount of money, labor and construction equipment to make it happen. Until that happens her doors are open to those that would like to stop in and camp for a few days.
Friday the 13th we are in Phoenix, AZ to visit my Aunt and her family some of which I have not seen since I was in high school.
Saturday (today) was spent taking care of some maintenance issues, groceries, laundry typing this blog and a little time spent in the parks hot tub. I would like to say that I will keep up on the blog a bit more but it is difficult some days it is hard to find cell reception so finding a wifi spot is next to impossible.
