Laredo

Hi Everyone,
We just arrived in Laredo, so haven't had time for photos yet. After we leave the library we will go to to the old downtown district, which is always my favorite in any city. It is very hot here, we are about 150 miles south of our last campsite. We are surrounded by cactus and, yes, the same little ants are around my rig. They are the smallest ants I have ever seen, but when they bite it is like having an ice pick through the skin. Then, the bites get itchy and when you rub them they burn and welt up. It makes sleeping uncomfortable.

Tomorrow we will cross the border into Mexico...there are 3 bridges you can cross over on. We plan to sit in a little cantina and enjoy some cervazas and do some shopping, or at least, some browsing. Neither Brenda nor I like to spend our money on souvenirs, which is good, as we are both poor. I figure I already have everything I need.

Hope this finds you all well and happy.

Lake Corpus Christi State Park

Today we moved to Corpus Christi Lake State Park. It is a beautiful park and our spot is right close to the lake so we have a great view. Lots of wildlife here. We saw an armadillo, many small deer and a family of javelinas(the wild pigs in the picture). The javelinas came within several yards of our motorhome and as you can see they let us get near enough for a picture. We drove into Mathis today to do some shopping and look around. Groceries are very cheap here, about half the price of home. Many of the houses are on blocks or stilts due to the severe floods that come after the heavy rains. Anna and I went for a walk around the park and while kneeling down to take a picture I got bitten by the same kind of tiny ants that attacked Anna a couple nights ago. They have a very ferocious bite for something so small. We were planning to go canoeing tomorrow but the state park ranger informed us that they only rent them out in the summer. No worries, we will find something adventurous to do.

Lake Corpus Christie State Park

Hi Everyone,
Brenda was to be guest blogger today, but we couldn't find a wifi signal, so couldn't use the laptop, so no picture today either.

We are at another beautiful state park and this one has wild pigs called javelinas. We took photos yesterday and will pass them on when able. We will be here two more days and then hopefully have a signal. You may not hear again until we move.

Corpus Christi

Brenda made it safely and her plane was right on time. Today we went to Corpus Christi and walked through old downtown and along the beach. We saw the USS Lexington, which is a huge aircraft carrier. We wanted to see the museum, but closed Mondays. Yes, we got lost, but did find our way home. Filled up my car gas tank at $1.99/gal....cost $14 to fill.

Today the morning was extremely windy and we were a bit afraid that the top of the MH would blow off as could hear it making strange noises. We took turns climbing to the roof and saw that air was getting in under the top and making the metal billow a bit, but I think it sounded worse than it was. Nothing I could do about it anyway.

We did a walk along the beach and Brenda was really surprised at how fine the sand is here. However, with the wind, it wasn't as warm as it hadbeen before her arrival.
This evening we are going to the Pelican Lounge to do my blog and check emails. Brenda will be guest blogger tomorrow.

Company Today

Sorry, I cut off her head!

Had a few problems lately. First, my MH door gave me locking problems. For a couple of days I had to enter/exit through the cab door. Then this couple from Calgary parked next to me and I asked for assistance. It was easily rectified, when you know how.

Secondly, I noticed my rear car tire was low when preparing to go do laundry. It was even lower when laundry was finished, so I went to the service station and pumped it up. Then I went to WalMart and had them check it. Sure enough it needed repair. No sense in taking a chance on the road.

Since things seem to happen in threes, I re-hooked my kaddie so no one will walk off with it.

Brenda is arriving at 6:32 pm tonight, so I will give myself lots of time to get to the airport. It is on the far side of Corpus Christi, so I will need lost time.

Had a good time at the Pelican on Friday night. The female singer was fantastic and when I left the place was packed.

Moved

Today I moved off the beach and into an RV space. I had to unhook my kaddie and it wasn't so hard after all. It is the re-hook that I am concerned about for safety sake. I decided to move as last night I was the only one spending the night on the beach and it was a bit spooky. I will sleep better tonight. Also, I don't like to leave my rig all alone to come into town.

I am now closer to the showers and have electricity for the fridge. It doesn't always work with the propane....keeps going off and has to be reset. I am still walking distance from the beach. The water temperature this time of year is 76.6F (average). Just perfect!

This is the Pelican Lounge where I come most days for the internet. I will come back tonight being Friday night. I didn't come the other night because of the storm.

Have a good weekend y'all.

Storm

Hi

It was a dark and stormy night.....yes, it was. Last night the wind shook my MH and it was rather scary. Nothing fell out of the cupboards so I figured I would survive. Sleep came late.
This morning I went to use the showers and was talking to a woman there. Her and her husband had slept in a tent on the beach. She said there was sand everywhere and they didn't sleep at all. I can't imagine being in a tent on the beach last night. They are renting a condo for tonight. She said after last night they deserve some spoiling.

This morning I thought I should move my MH as there were dunes around it from the wind. I got stuck. Just then the rangers came by and with a chain they pulled me out. As they were doing so a fellow in his truck stopped and said to the rangers, "Look familiar?" They had pulled him out yesterday.

I stopped at the ranger station to get a weather forecast. The wind is supposed to die down but today will be a little cooler than it has been. That doesn't hurt my feelings at all.

My girlfriend from Vancouver is coming on Sunday to spend some time with me. I am so excited! We will follow the coast down to Brownsville.

Until tomorrow.....

Padre Island

Hi Guys and Gals,

This is a photo of a store here on the island. It is really cool.

Had a hard time sleeping last night because of the sound of the surf. It sounded like a stormy night, which it wasn't. The humidity is so high it was like trying to sleep in a tub of water. Forget about curling your hair. My MH will be full of sand for awhile.

There are free beaches to stay on here on the island, but they have no rangers. I spoke with a ranger on the beach today and told him I was traveling alone. He said the rangers would keep an eye on me for safety sake. They patrol the beach until 5 pm and then a policeman cruises all night. He advised me to stay away from the free beaches as there is some riff-raff there and no rules. In the state parks there is no public consumption or display of alcohol. Also, they have showers and dumpsites. This park even has a place to do vehicle maintenance.

The sun was beautiful shining off the waves this morning. I went for a long walk on the beach. The sand is lovely, hardly any shells or debris. I love the ocean; I think I was meant to live by the sea. Tonight a cold front is moving in with winds of 40 mph. The ranger said I would be OK as I am parked behind the dunes.

Tomorrow I will go into Corpus Christie and get lost. It is 227,000 pop. wise, but with my little car I'll be OK.

Mustang Island

Hey Everyone,

I MADE IT! Here I am on Mustang Island, Gulf of Mexico! I am parked right on the beach. It is $8/night to park on the beach and $16/night to park with hook-ups. The hook-up sites are almost on top of each other, but on the beach there is mega-space.

The park ranger tried to discourage me from parking on the beach as people have gotten stuck there in the past. She asked me if I had ever driven in snow, because she said it is like that. I don't think she has ever driven in snow, because sand is not like snow. There are other trailers parked on the beach. I said I would give it two days and then if satisfied, will stay for another 12 days. I believe you are only allowed 2 wks. If my Echo is washed out to sea, then I'll wish I had listened to the ranger. Does AMA rescue vehicles washed out to sea? High tide is around 1 a.m. There are sharks here as well.

Tomorrow I will explore the island and take some photos. I am so excited to be here.

I had a bit of a time finding an internet signal, but I am at the Pelican Lounge, in the corner and it works fine.

Choke Canyon

Hi Y'all

Met some ladies from Ohio today who are traveling together. They told me they had just seen wild pigs here...I haven't seen any. I did see 14 egrets on the lake. I also some some black birds that have a really strange cry. There are quite a few bird watchers here. One fellow has a tripod and camera and I see him in various places taking photos of the birds.

I think there are fireflys here..not sure, but I see these lights go off and on in the darkness. It wouldn't be fire sparks as there is a fire ban on here due to the excessive dryness.

I seem to have a resident cricket in my MH, but I can't find him/her anywhere. He is really quite annoying. He is over the bathroom 'cause everytime I slam the bathroom door he stops for a few seconds.

Yesterday I was in the laundry room of the BassInn, close to the modem, to get a signal for my computer. The manager said most people get a bettersignal in the laundry room. Even so, it would weaken and strengthen, and so I was with/without a signal. He said I could come back today. He asked me if I would check the schedule for the Redskins, so I wrote down all the info until the end of November. They are just a young couple; his name is Gabriel. I told him I had a daughter named Gabrielle, and he said they just named their third child Gabriella Rose. That's pretty, huh?

The weather has been fantastic. I stay in the shade during the day or wear a big hat...like my hat? One of these days I will get a thermometer and actually know what the temp. is. I know it is over 80F everyday. The nights aren't as cool as they were in N.M., but still cool enough to sleep most nights.

I'm not far from Corpus Christie; should be there in a week or so I would think. I'm not sure what camping will be like there as some of the devastation from the last hurricane has not been totally cleaned up yet. I guess it is wait-and-see.

Choke Canyon SP

Howdy,

I am at Choke Canyon State Park (Calliham), 11 miles from Three Rivers. I will be here for three days. This park is on a lake. Once again, no pull-throughs, so I just asked the first gentleman who walked by and he backed my unit up for me. I give these guys lots of praise and they say if I need anything else,just ask. The foliage just gets lusher with palm trees added. There are butterflies everywhere; of all colours. Since being in Texas the crickets and cicadas are extremely loud at night. They seem to stop their song just before dawn and the quiet wakes me.

As you can see I have a bigger hat to ward off the sun. I drove into town shortly after arriving and made it back just before sunset. I haven't driven at night since leaving home. I have presbyopia (old eye). There are so many deer and elk on the road, plus smaller animals like raccoon and armadillo. There is an abundance of roadkill. The stores cater to hunters and even the grocery stores sell hunting supplies.

The towns around here are small and groceries are expensive compared to the larger centres. I hardly ever eat in restaurants, I prefer to buy and prepare for myself. I don't do much cooking, just eat raw food. I get tired of restaurant food really fast.

The hwy I took to get out of Kerrville was very narrow, with lots of twists and hairpin turns. There were a lot of motorcycles on the road and I had to keep pulling over to let them pass. There were double solid lines for about 20 miles. I was sure glad to get off that hwy.

Finding an internet signal is difficult and I am at a lodge about 5 miles from camp. This campsite is rather far from any town...11 miles either way and not much in town either. It is farther than I like to be.

Kerrville Again

Well, here I am attempting to plan a route around San Antonio. I could take hwy 10 to San Antonio and then ring road 410 around the major part of the city. However, something tells me the ring road is many lanes, lots of traffic, and from the map I know there are many exits. Knowing me, I could get lost. I concentrate so much on the traffic that I don't see a damn thing of anything else when in a big city.

Or, I could take hwy 173 and completely bypass San Antonio and later get onto hwy 37 to Corpus Christie. If I decide on that route, there are no state campgrounds but there is a WalMart in Hondo; pop. 8,000. I checked on the internet. Wish me luck everyone!

Yesterday began cloudy and then in the afternoon the sky turned a deep blue and the sun was hot. I went for a long walk on the trails and it was kind of spooky as there is just a small walking lane enclosed by trees on both sides. Very pretty, but isolating. I also checked out the city and it is fairly easy to find my way around. Some cities I seem to get lost in, no matter how many times I travel the roads, but this one is easy.

It was pretty crisp this morning making it hard to get out out bed, but the sky is blue so it will be a nice day. I am close to 2 second hand stores so will check them out for reading material. Some of the other campers and I exchange books. Saw a gas station this morning advertising gas at $2.84/gal. Wonderful!

Kerrville, Tx

One of those days. Went to the library to use msn and couldn't get on for some reason, so went to a parking lot and was on for about 5 min. and then lost the connection. Since it is rush hour I decided to come back to camp and try later. This park is very similar to the last one; deer everywhere. I checked out the showers and there are no curtains on the stalls. I don't know about that! I suppose one has to consider that you will probably never meet these people again so...

Even though it is raining here it is still very warm. I will be leaving here on Saturday, which is really dumb, as I have to go around San Antonio, and the traffic could be bad. After being at the last park for a week I rather feel like I've left my friends behind. Yesterday morning the ranger came to my little home and asked if all had gone well during my stay and we discussed the park here in Kerrville. I think park ranger or hostess would be a great job. You get to meet so many people and the environment is so beautiful.

While highway driving I saw all these black things floating in the air. They looked like big pieces of soot. I finally realized that they were monarch butterflies, thousands of them. Migrating, I guess.

Next day....I found a little coffee shop that has wifi. They only sell sweets and beverages, so I could get fat these next three days. It is chilly this am. I put jeans on today; first time in a long time.

I drove around Kerrville this morning and there is not much that is really different. I am probably getting used to the landscape. The photo is the Kerrville Museum.

Kerrville, Texas

Hi Everyone,
I am in Kerrville, which is only 57 miles from where I was this morning. No picture today as this library does not have wifi, so I can't use my laptop. It is raining today which the locals are happy about. This park is a city park (used to be a state park) and I haven't had time to do any exploring yet. I had to get to the library and pay a bill that I forgot to do yesterday, and time is running out.

More tomorrow, after I have time to run about taking photos. I will be here until Saturday.

Almost time to leave...

Sounds like you all had a good Thanksgiving. A lot of campers came into the park last night as they had a bow and arrow deer hunt today. This one fellow was telling me that when you get a permit to hunt deer you are allowed 5 deer. There is such an abundance of them here. This photo was taken really close to my lawn chair.

This afternoon I went to a short class on snakes. The park warden had a baby rattlesnake and a coral snake. The coral snake is the most dangerous of the two, as its venom is the most lethal. It doesn't have fangs like the rattler, instead it has to chew through your skin. Most snakes will avoid you, if possible, but sometimes people step on the baby snakes and then get bitten. The venom of a baby rattler is as potent as that of an adult. Other than the grass, the most common place to find the snakes is under the picnic tables. That is because people drop food, the mice go to eat the food, and the snakes feed on the mice. However, no one in this park has ever been bitten. What a relief!

I've seen quite a few armadillo here; one live one and many road kill. The common trees seem to be oak, pecan, mesquite and cedar. The locals say it is too dry for this time of year.

Tonight is my last night at the park, so today I am doing laundry and mailing out postcards and buying a few groceries. It is good to see that the price of gas has fallen. I'm not too sure where I will head next. I will figure that out tonight. I am only about 100 miles from San Antonio, but it is a city of about 1,120,000 people and I prefer to miss the bigger centers. I will have to find a way around it. It's been good to sit and rest awhile, but I am getting bored, so time to be "on the road again", as Willie would say.

South Llano State Park

I did something for the first time yesterday; I unrolled my awning. There was never a need before as either I was at WalMart, where you can't set up, or I had a shelter that I could sit in to escape the sun. Now the test will be to get it rolled back up again and secured so that it doesn't roll down while I'm driving. Since I will be here for a week, it is nice to have the shade. It also helps to keep the MH cool.

Tonight is a class on owls, so I think I will take that in. The poster says to bring a flashlight so you can find your way back. I will use my flashlight to check for snakes on the way back. The ranger station has a huge, stuffed rattlesnake on display, so I take that as a warning!

The nights are cool here, around 40F, but the days are hot. It is nice for sleeping. I attempted to take a long walk during the heat of the day, but had to turn around and wait until just before sunset. It is strange here; there is no twilight. At 6 pm it gets dark, immediately. Also, the constellations are in the wrong place.

This evening the park will fill up as there is a wild turkey watch planned and also Monday is Columbus day, which makes for a long weekend. It is fortunate I came when I did as people were reserving sites for the weekend.

The shower was just the right temperature. I usually like to use my own shower and just dump if I have to, but with the kaddie I would have to bother the host to back me into my site again, so am using the public facilities as much as possible.

Not much new and there won't be until I am on the move again on Wednesday. I will miss having Thanksgiving with my family. The library will be closed for the long weekend, so I'll have no internet connection. So......HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL! and have some stuffing for me (my favorite part of the meal), and an extra piece of pumpkin pie. There are wild turkeys all around me, but they won't fit in my oven!

Junction, Texas

Hi Ya'll

Yesterday I drove far too long; six and a half hours. It was a long way from state park to state park, with no WalMart in between. This park, South Llano River State Park, is the prettiest park so far. It is a wildlife refuge and is full of wild turkeys and deer. When I say deer, I mean herds of them around your campsite. It is heavily treed with oak and the campsites are far from each other. When you park at a RV park, you are spitting distance from your neighbour and you are fortunate if you see a tree on the property and it is at least double the price of a state park. I avoid those if possible.

When I arrived I asked the camp hostess for a pull-through since I am towing my car. She said you need to back into all the sites. I told her that I really didn't want to unhook my car kaddie, but guess I would have to. She said her husband was a trucker for 47 years and he could back it in for me without unhooking the kaddie. He was smooth. One attempt and it was perfectly parked. Those truckers do have enviable skills.

Some parks have rangers and some have host/hostess. Some lock the gates at night and some don't. Some have posted rules a mile long and some don't. You never really know until you get there. I bought a Texas State Park Pass which gives me a discount at all the sites. I don't need electricity and water, but had no choice at this campground, all sites are serviced. It is so beautiful here that I think I will stay a week.

This part of Texas is not so desert like. There is some kind of tree (shrub) on the sides of the hills and completely covering the ground. While driving, every once in awhile, I would smell something sweet, like blossoms, but couldn't see any blossoms. It must have been one of the shrubs.

Oh, by the way, yesterday, at Balmorhea, I was longing for some reading material. I checked around for used books and finally tried the library. The librarian said to help myself and gave me a bag to fill. She said next time I am passing through to drop some books off. Since I doubted I would be passing through again I left a donation. How cool is that?

Observatory

Today I went to the McDonald Observatory outside of Ft. Davis, Texas and saw the largest telescope mirror in the world at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope. I took the guided tour which lasted 2 and a half hours. The observatory is part of the University of Texas. It was very interesting and extremely windy way up there. I am glad that my policy is to never buy a jacket unless it has a hood. To say it was bad hair day would be to understate the wind. It took me an hour and a half to drive there...up hill all the way, but the route was very scenic and I stopped several times on the way back to take photos. I saw real trees; first time in a long time.

Last evening I went to "The Cutest Little Restaurant in Balmorhea", which is really the name of the restaurant. A man sitting at the table behind mine struck up a conversation, and being that I had to keep turning my head to answer him, I asked him to join me at my table. He was a Texan, who was a truck driver, and had been through most of Canada. I enjoyed our visit. All restaurants in both New Mexico and the one I ate at last night offer tacos with refried beans and rice.

After supper I drove around Balmoreah. It is an under-privileged little town consisting of mostly Spanish speaking people. In a way it reminded me of the Dominican Republic. At least a quarter of the homes advertised themselves as restaurants. Signs on the vehicles were obviously hand painted.There was supposed to be country and gospel singing along with cowboy poets, but because of the rain it was cancelled. Not to dispair, however, as the event is to last 3 evenings so I will try again this evening. Town is 4 miles from my campsite. I asked the waiter if Icould get internet at the restaurant and he said no; not even the library had internet. This morning I stopped at the ranger station and discovered I could get a signal at the picnic bench outside of their office.

It is another gorgeous day.

Balmorhea, Texas

Friends are like thighs...always sticking together. LOL. Read that on a poster at the gift shop.

I am at Balmorhea State Park in Texas. Getting here was an adventure in itself. Hwy 54 was a nicely paved road, but the new sign was "Watch for water on Hwy". It should have read, "Watch for lake on Hwy". It was raining when I left Carlsbad Caverns this morning. Hwy 54 has dips that collect the water. Two of the dips were particularly deep. I didn't realize how deep the first one was until I drove through it and the front windshield was covered in a sheet of water. When approaching the second one there was a half-ton truck coming towards me, so I thought I would let him go first and just watch to see how deep the water was. IT WAS DEEP, but he made it through so I took my chances and made it as well. Those were the two worse spots.

I turned from Hwy 54 to Hwy 10, which I was supposed to do. But somehow I ended up on I-20. I didn't takeany exits or see an exit I should have taken, but that's what happened. I finally turned off I-20 at a service station and there was a sign pointing the way to Balmorhea. I had to go an extra 24 miles, but was thankful I made it. It was a long day of driving.

I no sooner got myself arranged here, and it began to pour buckets and buckets. I hope it washes my vehicles because they are pretty sad looking from the "water on hwy".

Thank you for the encouraging emails~yes, you know who you are. When writing a blog you of course don't know if anyone is reading it until you get comments on the blog or emails. I am actually surprised that there are people out there following my travels. Who'd a thunk it!

Carlsbad Caverns2

Good morning all. This is the view from the caverns visitors centre. It is beautiful. This morning I drove up there again and just stopped at the overlook points. The vegetation here is varied, with many different types of cacti and succulents.

Yesterday I had to drive 20 miles to Carlsbad to pick up groceries. It is off season here, so they have little to choose from. There is road work going on just about everywhere I travel. I feel sorry for those poor people working all day in this hot sun; especially working with tar and the like. I couldn't do it, I know that for sure.

Today I think I will visit some of the gift shops...just to look. I haven't bought any souvenirs. I just finished downsizing before I left Alberta and figure I have my photos for memories.

My girlfriend, Brenda, is considering flying down and staying with me for 10 days! That would be so cool!

I have been looking at maps for a week now trying to decide where to go next. I think a month in Texas would be about right and I would really like to go to Tennessee, but have do some research on the weather there this time of year. The last thing I want is to travel in snow and have my water freeze up.

Hope you are all well and happy!

Carlsbad Caverns

Where was I today? I was 754 feet below ground in the Carlsbad Caverns. An elevator took us down and took 1 min. to get there. IT WAS INCREDIBLE! I took the self-guided tour, which is about one and a half miles long. The tour was of the Big Room. The Big Room is approx. 600,000 sq. ft. or the size of 6 football fields. I don't know what the height would be...very high and very low. One section was the Bottomless Pit. The formations are indescribable. I took 80 photos but it was impossible to record the size of the cavern because of the darkness. There were lights to highlight certain formations, but basically it was dark in there. This is a good time of year to be here. It was steady today, but in the summer months, I'll bet it is packed. It was only $6 to get in. If I had come this far just to see the caverns it would have been worth it.

At 6:15 I went to see the bat cave and the bats leave the cave. Over 1/2 million 3-tailed bats left the cave. There is an amphitheatre that you watch from. It takes approx. 4 hours for the cave to empty. I didn't stay the full 4 hrs. as darkness fell. Again, incredible. They eat approx. two and a half tons of insects a night. You could see, hear them and smell them. We were not allowed to take photos and all electronic devices had to be turned off. We were also cautioned to be very quiet. The bats migrate south about the middle of October.

I was happy to leave the Brantley State Park campground. It seems wherever I go there is a "Dave". Those of you who know where I live in Red Deer, may remember my neighbor, Dave. The parking stalls in the park were quite distant from each other compared to most campgrounds. But, at the stall next t:o mine was "Dave". He had a makeshift campsite, with tarps everywhere.He also had two big chained dogs that barked at everyone who walked by and he was constantly yelling "shut up" to the dogs. Last night while trying to sleep I could hear this booming noise and didn't know where it was coming from. It sounded like it was coming from under my MH, so at 1:30 am I went outside to check. It was "Dave", playing his music. Quiet time in the parks is from10 pm to 7 am., but he just disregarded that rule. I made ear-plugs out of kleenex and finally got some sleep. Also, the bugs were really bad and at night the lake smelled like sewer.

I was visiting with this young woman at the bat cave. She works for a company that makes the equipment that allows cable to come into your home. I forget the name. I was telling her that I have a SPOT. She said that since they came out they have saved 200 lives. Good to know. For those of you who don't know, SPOT is a satellite personal tracker. It has 4 buttons...on/off, OK, HELP and 911. You clip it onto your belt. When you register the SPOT, you list who you want to get emails or text messages. Once a day I press OK and those people get a message via email saying Anna is OK and it gives my coordinates. They can track me on google maps as well. We have an agreement that HELP means I broke down on the road and have no cell phone signal, so call AMA and give them my coordinates. If I press the 911 button my coordinates are given to the nearest police station. It cost $100/yr for the satellite subscription. It is good for people traveling alone, mountain climbing, or whatever.

I am staying 3 nights at White's City Resort the closest campsite to the caverns. I only travelled about 38 miles today. That's plenty.

Where should I go from here? Any suggestions?

Living Desert Zoo, NM

Today I decided to take in the zoo. There was much to see and read. For instance, I discovered that most rattlesnakes come out at night to feed...so much for my "before bed smoke". When the sun goes down it is very dark in my campsite. I wear my hat light when I need to go out for some fresh air and check the ground around my RV steps carefully before venturing to put my foot down. There are also multiple types of tarantulas, which they claim are quite harmless. It is about a mile and 1/4 walk to see the whole z00. I felt sorry for the black bear; wonder if he was hotter than I was.

Tonight is my last night at Brantley Lake Park, which I am thankful for as the flies are driving me crazy.