Big Bend Day 1

We left Seminole Canyon State Park about 9:00 and had an easy drive with little traffic.  We saw more Border Patrol than anything else.

 We stopped just before getting to Big Bend to eat lunch,

arriving at Big Bend about 2:00.

We still had a 60 mile drive to the campground.  since the speed limit was 45 mph, that would take a little while.

This is the tunnel just before we got to the campground.  As long as Jim stayed in the middle, it was easy going.

We arrived at Rio Grande Village RV Park which is basically just a parking lot, but there are trees on both sides of it, so we have a nice shady backyard.

This is our view from the side.  We are lucky in that we are in the last site so we have no one on that side and can look out to see the mountains and trees.

We went for a walk nearby and who knew there was irrigation here.

Farmers were here in the 1920s and 30s setting up irrigation systems using the Rio Grande River. The systems they built are still here and working providing water to the trees, making a little oasis in the desert.

This is another view we saw of the mountains.

We continued on the path and spotted a walking stick on the side,

then, as we looked closer, we saw paintings on stone along with prices.  These are placed on paths by Mexican Nationals in hopes that Americans will purchase and leave money in containers they place by them.  There are signs on every trail telling you it is against the law to purchase and if caught you could have items confiscated.

On our way back, we saw this bird. I haven't identified it yet, possibly a female Vermilion Flycatcher?

Also, we noticed this sign and

were able to see this Black Hawk.

 It's great to be settled in one place for a few days.  We have no internet or cell phone signal here, but there is free wifi at the park store. Hopefully, I can keep things updated.

And We're Off!

I decided I had gotten so far behind with events that happened this last month, I would just start with now.  We spent the last few weeks saying so long to our friends and family.  Those are always so hard, but we know we will be back in a few months.

Our plans were to leave Tuesday after Easter, but we just didn't get everything done, then we were going to leave Wednesday and bad weather rolled into the area with winds, rain and hail.  We decided to stay one more day.

So, today, we were off!

Our first stop is Seminole Canyon State Park just past Comstock, Texas on Hwy 90.  We had a great noneventful drive, but it was a long one (245 miles).  We got to the park about 4, checked in and went to our site.  It's pretty desolate out here.  There's probably about 10 sites taken.

Jim had some things to do in the rig, so I took a walk to check out the park.

There is a hiking trail not too far from the campsites, so I walked down there to check it out.  On the way, I snapped this cactus beginning to bloom.

I headed out on the trail spotting a little rabbit that was too quick for me to catch a picture as well as a lizard.  I got about a half mile down the road, then remembered this was where we saw the border patrol the last time we were here.  I decided I didn't want to take a chance in running into anyone so I turned back around.

Mexico is just on the other side where the hills are.

Tomorrow, we have a little over 200 miles to get to Big Bend.  This is the first time either of us have ever been which seems strange since we have lived in Texas pretty much all our lives, so we're looking forward to exploring a new place!

Time To Catch Up

Wow, almost two months have gone by without posting! I have to get back in the habit of writing.  Since we have been settled in one spot, it just seems like there is nothing to write about. However, that's not really true.

We have spent time with our kids and grandkids.

Jim has been helping our son in law out in his construction business and I have enjoyed doing whatever I want to do! :)

I have met some other rving ladies in San Antonio for lunch a couple of times.  It has really been fun to get to know everyone and I have enjoyed our many conversations about rvs and traveling.

Lunch at Cheddar's

We have made some modifications to our fifth wheel. Adding wooden blinds has been the biggest change.  Jim made the wooden box valances to fit over them and we really like the way it turned out.

We also (I guess I should say Jim also,  all I did was pick everything out, he did all the work) added tile to our backsplash to give the kitchen a little touch of home.

We liked the way it turned out, we removed the headboard behind the bed and added tile there.

We're also planning our journeys for when we leave here the first of April.  We're planning on going west through Big Bend, Tucson, make a stop in Phoenix to have our graphics redone, Las Vegas and into California going to Yosemite and then meandering up the western coastline up to Bellingham and then begin our trip back to Texas arriving back in November.  Of course, as rvers say all plans are in jello.

We have enjoyed getting together with our friends Bob and Susan from Travelbug Susan.  They have introduced us to Volksmarching and we have enjoyed several wonderful walks.  We have done two in San Antonio and it was great revisiting places I haven't been to for many years.

We also did one in San Marcos and then later took the glass bottom boat tour.

We had tried to meet up in Austin last week, but our refrigerator went out.  Now that is fixed and this weekend we were able to go on the Volksmarch I had really been looking forward to.  It was in Johnson City at the Benini Sculpture Garden.  We had passed this longhorn sculpture many times between Johnson City and Fredericksburg, but had no idea what treasure was awaiting down the road.

Upon arrival, I signed in for our 10K walk (hope I make it).  It was a beautiful, cool morning.

The dirt road meandered around the ranch with sculptures popping up everywhere you looked.  It was like a little surprise everywhere you turned.  Just about every piece inspired some kind of conversation.

 We continued our walk looking at the artwork surrounding us.  I think you could go on this walk several times and always see something different.  We would sometime backtrack down a trail and I would see something I had missed the first time up.

We came to the hill climbing to the top where the residence was located. What a climb!

However, once we came to the top, we were greeted with these wonderful vista views.

 We checked in at the top and walked around, then made our way back down going out of the ranch and walking the other 5K on ranch roads outside the ranch.

 After the walk, we went inside the gallery to take a peak at the are there.

 Next, we headed to The Kountry Cupboard for lunch, before heading out to the Johnson Ranch to tour  the ranch house and the living history farm.


We arrived at the ranch, check in at the headquarters getting our cd to tour the ranch and Susan and I stamped our passport books.  Our first stop was the Sauer Beckmann Living History Farm.

We really got excited when we saw this mama with her little piggies, they were only 5 days old!

 There were chickens, sheep, and this turkey too!  We enjoyed hearing about life on the farm from the docent there who went through all the food that would be made from the milk from that day.

 We quickly drove through the rest of the ranch wanting to make the last tour at the Johnson ranch house at 4:30.  We made it and were able to go through the house that has been brought back in time to recreate the way it looked when Lyndon B. Johnson was there during his presidency.

 After we left the ranch and were heading back to drop off Bob and Susan, Bob mentioned Dairy Queen.  We all thought that sounded great! So, after getting their car, we all headed over to DQ.  We were enjoying our blizzards when Susan saw something and began to grab her camera.  We turned around and saw this, is it a car, a motorcycle, or a plane?

A policeman had pulled him over.  Susan, in reporter mode, goes outside and asks the policeman what's happening.  He tells her he didn't see a license plate (he did see it after he had stopped them).  We had a wonderful time watching what transpired. The policeman had his picture taken with the vehicle. A small crowd gathered several times. One of the Dairy Queen employees went out to get her picture taken with the car. My husband then went out to have a conversation with the owner finding out he has been stopped many times by police not knowing if this vehicle was street legal.  The owner said it can reach speeds of 165 mph and once was stopped by police in New Mexico going 125 mph.  Who knew you could be so entertained at a Dairy Queen?  What a wonderful end to a great day!