April 11-12 Roswell and the Aliens

On Friday and Saturday we stayed at the Red Barn Campground in Roswell. This was a small family owned park with only a couple of traveler’s spaces. Most of the sites were in use by long termers. The lady that checked us in was very friendly and explained their honor system. Since she didn’t stay in the office all of the time, if you needed to wash clothes or buy snacks, you just did your laundry or choose your snacks. Then wrote down what you did on a yellow note and put the note and the money in a box. We thought it was a very nice way to do business. Very clean facilities with a bumper pool table and TV to enjoy while we waited for the wash to finish. Even though we have the washer/dryer in the rig occasionally it’s nice to do it in 1 or 2 big loads.

Roswell is known for being the “Alien Capital of the World”. We visited the International UFO Museum and Research Center. There are many exhibits, (bring your glasses…lots of reading) that explains the events of July 1947.

The town has many alien themed shops and restaurants and the museum even has an alien festival each year.

http://www.roswellufomuseum.com/

Living Desert Zoo and Gardens Carlsbad,NM

Before leaving Brantley Lake State Park this morning we drove back into Carlsbad to spend a couple of hours at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park. This is a small park with a self guided walking trail through the exhibits. The exhibits change as you move through different types of terrain. We also saw animals, birds and reptiles.

One of the park's highlights are the endangered gray wolves. The Living Desert participates in the American Zoo and Aquarium Association’s Mexican gray wolf Species Survival Program, exchanging wolves with other zoos to help ensure their survival. They had 3 living on site (that we saw).
They also have a greenhouse called “Succulents of the World”. It was beautiful. Full of all kinds of cactus. We were lucky to see some of them blooming.
Overall, well worth the time and $5.00 admission fee.
http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/PRD/LivingDesert.htm

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

We spent Thursday at Carlsbad Caverns. The caverns are located under the Chiluahuan Desert. There are miles and miles of caverns under New Mexico.
We spent a couple of hours hiking through 1 cavern called the Big Room.

If you watch the slide show you'll see 1 visitor that we took pains to avoid.
You'll also see several of the formations named by the cavers that have explored the caverns for many years. 1 picture shows the original wire ladder that was used to explore the lower cave. Look closely so you also see the old man in the rock.

The Big Room is shaped like a cross and the self-guided tour follows around the walls of the room. There are lights spaced to high-light the most impressive rock features. But, overall it is quite dark and visitors are encouraged to speak softly.

Crossing West Texas into New Mexico

On Monday we left all the deer behind at Medina Lake and took off across the vast desert of west Texas. We stopped for the night at Fort Stockton. The park was pretty nice considering it is in the desert and therefore had some dust. They had a sign posted "Is the wind always this bad? No, sometimes it's worse." They didn't lie.



They have their own restaurant called the Roadrunner Cafe. We enjoyed both dinner (Mesquite BBQ pork ribs) and breakfast before pulling out to continue to New Mexico.
Having been told there were roadrunners on the property we looked for them. No luck. We saw and heard many birds, but none were the roadrunner. We did see this one in downtown Fort Stockton. It doesn't move too fast.



Along I-10 we came across a windmill field. Note the "old" style windmill next to the farm house, and in the distance the new wind turbines. HUGH!!!





Things were going pretty good until we started seeing signs that said "DETOUR". Ahead was a bridge with some kind of problem. All rigs over 11,000 lbs had to detour around. OK..no problem..76 miles later we had seen more of west Texas and entered New Mexico via a very bumpy road. Straight but BUMPY!!!



Along the way the detour took us through Kermit Texas. And guess what. They have Kermit painted on their water tower. Cute.



We were delighted to find the Wal Mart in Carlsbad and just stop for a while. We needed to rest up before deciding where to spend the night. We had thought I-10 coming through Louisiana was bad but this little road beat it out for sure.
Gary even asked if he could sue the state of Texas for the lose of the fillings in his teeth as he was sure they were popping out.

After resting a bit and watching the multitude of motor homes pull into the WM parking lot, we decided to get out of town. We called the Brantley Lake State Park which is located about 12 miles up the road. They had space so we took off. This State Park is located on the top of a hill overlooking the lake. Awesome views of the surrounding desert. I don't think the pictures do it justice.
We stayed there for a couple of days.






Our Home at the Lake.



The Brantley Lake Dam.



The Lake.



Santa-Rita (Purple) Prickly Pear Cactus



Roadrunner.

And the Wheels go Round and Round

Yes, the wheels still roll and we rolled out of Rustic Cove on Tuesday. By the time we got everything put away, and I vacuumed the inside of the house to get rid of some more of Rustic Cove's sand it was almost noon before we left.



George, Steve, Bill and Nikki were on hand to help us out and wish us safe travels. We waved to Phyllis and Daryl as we pulled out of the park. See you next year guys!!!

We took rural roads to Medina Lake and didn't see any real traffic until we got near San Antonio. Only 1 small busy area before we turned away from town toward Medina Lake. The Lake is about 35 miles from San Antonio. The water level is very low because of the drought in the area. The boat ramp isn't usable as it ends at a concert cliff. Yipes!! Bad for the fishermen.



The preserve is very pretty. Everything is going green even with the lack of rain. The deer in the park are thriving. There must be a few hundred of them around. Even as I write this I can see one or two walking by outside my window. We also have rabbits, squirrels, cardinals, and doves as neighbors.



Can you see the deer in the woods?




Yesterday after I worked for a bit in the morning, we drove up to Boerne. There are many shops in the downtown business area that looked pretty busy for a Wednesday afternoon. We had a pretty good BBQ pork sandwich at Fritze's BBQ. Afterward we drove on up to Kerrville. This is busy town on the Guadalupe River. We went down to the river park and let Miss Ellie run around for a bit.






This area of Texas is called the Hill Country. And it is...lots of tree covered hills. Very pretty as the wildflowers and trees are starting to bloom.

This is our Last week at Rustic Cove.

This is our last week at Rustic Cove. Gary worked his last day on Thursday. On Friday morning we did something we've wanted to do for months. We finally went kayaking. We arrived at Captain Ron's Watercraft Rental at about 11:00am.
They were ready for us with 2 new Redfish kayaks. We put on the life vests with whistles attached. Wearing our Rustic Cove hats and sunglasses we took off..or I should say paddled off. We did pretty good. I was very pleased with our adventure. We paddled around the bay, went under a bridge to the other bay and just enjoyed the beautiful weather. The birds were flying and fish were jumping. We stayed out about and hour and a half. Not too bad for a couple of out of shape old folks. If you're in the area and want to rent water craft we definitely recommend Captain Ron's. The staff was very helpful. They explained everything very well.
http://westofkeywest.net/index.html

I had lunch with some other ladies at their restaurant, West of Key West on Tuesday and the food was excellent.

I'll have some pictures once I get the film developed from the disposable waterproof camera I took with us.

Last night we had dinner with our wonderful neighbors Bill and Nicki Sage. We've really enjoyed getting to know them and plan to stop by their home in California when we're in the area this summer.



Today we had lunch with Molly and Bob Piner. They are fellow Class 0f 07 Escapees. We went to the Big Fisherman restaurant and enjoyed renewing our friendship. They are heading home to Virgina. We hope to see them again next fall at the Ohio Gypsy Journal Rally. Molly has a great blog where she shares their travels.
http://www.moonriverandwe.blogspot.com/

Tomorrow and Monday we pack..on Tuesday we're moving to Medina Lake near San Antonio. We plan to stay there for about a week and see some of the sights in the area. Love to you all..Deb

Jenn and Mark come to Texas

Last Friday Jenn and Mark flew Continental to Texas. We were excited and happy they arrived safe and sound. The rain had also arrived along with them. It rained all day on Saturday and for some of Sunday too.

On Saturday we drove up to Goliad Texas. This small town was having their first for the year Market Day. Unfortunately the rain caused most of the vendors to head out early. We stopped at a small pizza restaurant for lunch. It was nice being together even though the trip was pretty much a washout. Gary worked on Sunday. Jenn and Mark went to the Maritime Museum in Rockport. We enjoyed a roast beef dinner when they got home to the cabin.


On Monday, we went to the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay. This WWI aircraft carrier has been dry docked in Corpus Cristi and is open for self guided tours. We got our exercise for the day as we climbed up and down stairs in the ship. It was pretty amazing and somewhat sobering to learn about this ship and it's many roles through out it's active lifetime.



To quote their website:
"Commissioned in 1943, LEXINGTON served longer and set more records than any carrier in U.S. Naval history. Decommissioned in 1991, the 910-foot, 16-deck, 33,000-ton aircraft carrier now serves as an important historical repository and museum. Because of the historical significance of the USS LEXINGTON, the ship is maintained as a tribute to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and as a memorial to the people who died serving the US, in the defense of freedom, especially in World War II. Displays, ceremonies, and other programs emphasize the heroism and sacrifice of those who have served the nation in the Navy and the Marine Corps."




On Tuesday we headed out bright and early to San Antonio. First stop was Denny's where we and everyone else in San A eat breakfast. CROWDED!!. Lots of folks around enjoying St Pat's Day and Spring Break. After fueling up, we went to the Riverwalk. We got tickets and took the boat ride down the river. Once again the tour guide was great. Shared interesting history of the river, the area and the buildings we saw. After lunch we went over to the Alamo. The rest of San Antonio (the one's not at Denny's) were there. With the St Pat's festivities and Spring Break there was a long line to go into the Alamo. So, we only toured the gardens and took a very quick trip through the gift shop. Jenn and Mark enjoyed a horse drawn carriage ride around the downtown area.




Scenes from the Riverwalk.



Wednesday was Mark's Birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK.

Mark spent the day doing exactly what he wanted. Vegging out..resting and watching TV. Jenn and I did a little bit of shopping (or looking as we didn't buy anything). Gary worked. We had a good dinner together.

On Thursday we went back to Corpus Cristi to the Texas Aquarium. We spent several hours touring around. We watched a couple of shows. One showcasing their birds and other exotic animals. The other was a dolphin show. Three dolphins and their trainers showed off there many tricks. The weather was perfect. Warm and breezy.



On Friday we went back up to Goliad. Goliad is one of the oldest municipalities in Texas. In 1749, the Spanish government transferred Mission Espiritu Santo and its royal protector, Presidio La Bahia, to the site of a small Aranama Indian village, which they named Santa Dorotea.
This mission served the Aranama, Tamique, and their allies for 110 years, longer than any other Spanish colonial mission in Texas.
A small villa grew up around the walls of the presidio, and was called La Bahia. This area was occupied by the Spanish until 1821, when Mexico won its independence from Spain. The name of the town was officially changed to Goliad in 1829.
Goliad is a phonetic anagram of Hidalgo, the name of the priest who became a hero during the Mexican Revolution. Mexican soldiers occupied Presidio La Bahia from 1821 to 1825.
The first great cattle ranch in Texas is said to have its beginnings at Mission Espiritu Santo. Along with its sister, Mission Nuestra Senora del Rosario, Mission Espiritu Santo possessed the largest longhorn herds in the state, at times owning more than 40,000 head.


We started our visit with lunch at the Empresario Restaurant. This very old building is located right on the square across from their beautiful courthouse.



After lunch we visited the Mission Espíritu Santo State Historic Site at Goliad State Park. We toured the beautiful reconstructed Franciscan Mission. It was the home of the largest ranching operation in Texas in the 18th century. We enjoyed the serenity of the Spanish colonial church and viewed exhibits that explore the history and daily life of the missionaries and Indian converts - including some of the original artifacts they used. The ranger on duty was very knowledgeable and seemed to love to share his knowledge.




Nearby was the Presidio La Bahia.
Presidio La Bahía is located one mile south of Goliad, Texas on U.S. Highway 183. Presidio La Bahia was established at this location in 1749. It has been owned by the Catholic Church since 1853 and is currently operated by the Catholic Diocese of Victoria, Texas. We viewed exhibits and imagined life at the fort. Originally built in 1749 to protect the Mission and the frontier, it later played a major role in the Texas Revolution. Here, Colonel Fannin and his ill-fated men were held prior to being executed at Santa Anna's order, an act of infamy later recalled at the Battle of San Jacinto with the cry, "Remember Goliad! Remember the Alamo!"
You can learn more about the site at
http://www.presidiolabahia.org/index.html



On our way back to Rustic Cove, we saw some longhorn cattle and stopped to take pictures.

Alls Quiet in Rockport

The past few weeks have been pretty quiet. Working, eating, sleeping, walking Ellie and taking a few local sight seeing trips.
Last Monday Gary injured his back and has really been suffering with the pain. He spent most of the week moving from the bed, the couch or the floor. Lying flat was the only place he found any relief from the pain. This week has been some better. He went back to work on Monday, spending most of his time there sitting on a stool or lying on the floor. At least he was able to do some work while there. He is still experiencing a lot of pain but it is definitely better. Hopefully time and rest will heal him soon.

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Rockport Maritime Museum. This small museum displays everything re: boats from a knots exhibit to retired coast guard life boats. Fishing (pleasure and commercial), off shore drilling, sunken ships and treasure are just some of the exhibits. We enjoyed a couple of hours learning about boating on the Coastal Bend. We battled the wind to walk around the outside of the building. This gave good views overlooking the bay and harbor.



Saturday night we had another pot luck supper for Valentine's Day. We went and Gary managed pretty good. We took over one of our chairs and a pillow and stayed for a couple of hours. Long enough to enjoy our steak dinner. We've met some very nice folk here. Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Arkansas and Texas. Most are "snow birds". They still have a stick and brick house back in the cold weather areas. I don't believe there is another Winter Texan from North Carolina in town. At least we haven't found any yet.

I've been working in my tent stained glass shop. I took a few classes with an artist in Corpus Cristi to remind myself of all of the steps. It went pretty well and now I'm back on my own. I finished a small panel with a sailboat during the classes. I finished a small fan panel that can be used as a night light here at home. Now I'm working on a 15"x15" panel of an Iris. I'm also working on a small cardinal sun catcher for my Mom. She loves birds and collects figurines and other "bird" memorabilia. It's going pretty well. I've only cut myself (tiny nicks) a couple of times. I should be able to finish all of these before we leave Rockport next month.

January in Rockport

We enjoyed our weekend in San Antonio a few weeks ago. We visited the Alamo Shrine, the Menger Hotel, walked the RiverWalk, shopped in Market Square and enjoyed a comedy show at the River Center Comedy Club. We also took a river boat tour on the San Antonio river thru the downtown area.
It was a busy three days. We stayed at a LaQuinta Inn near downtown. It was a pretty nice hotel that was very welcoming of all of us. Including Miss Ellie. She did really well and was a very good hotel guest. We were invited to return whenever we wish. :)
I've set up three slide shows of the pictures I took.
The Alamo..The Menger Hotel and it's Thunder Box Art Exhibit...and other pictures of San Antonio. I hope you enjoy them.






http://www.thunderboxroad.com/

Happy Birthday Jennifer

Today is our daughter Jennifer's birthday. HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY JEN. We love you and wish you a life of wonder and joy.

Alls Quiet in Rustic Cove

It's been a quiet week. Gary and I both worked as usual. On Tuesday a tractor trailer load of sod was delivered to the park. Our next door neighbor and I spent the afternoon on Wednesday laying sod out on the sand/dirt around our rigs. There wasn't enough to put completely around the rigs but we put a nice buffer along side the concrete patios. This is already helping decrease the sand and dirt getting into the house. Now we just have to water it every day and watch and wait for it to take hold and grow.
Today we drove about 2 1/2 hours to San Antonio. We checked into the LaQuinta Inn downtown and plan to stay here until Monday. This is the first time we've stayed in a hotel since we started full-timing in 07. Nice but I already miss my own bed. The great thing about the Inn is that they allow dogs. And don't charge an extra fee or have breed or weight restrictions. Our room is very nice. Large with a couch, recliner and desk along with a king sized bed. About twice the space we have in our rig overall. But as they say..there's no place like home.
After resting for a bit, we left Ellie in the room (much to her dismay) and caught the bus to the RiverWalk. The San Antonio River Walk is quite the entertainment destination for the city. Hotels, restaurants and shops line the banks of the river.
http://www.thesanantonioriverwalk.com/photos/index.asp
This weekend they are having the Michelob ULTRA River Walk Mud Festival. This festival is held each year the weekend after the river area is drained for cleaning. We were a "little" worried that we'd only see mud but without even knowing it we managed to arrive after the river area had been refilled. Right as we got off the bus at the walk we saw a barge with the newly crowned Mud King and Queen. I didn't have my camera with me so I took a picture with my cell phone. I'm actually surprised the picture came out as good as this. We walked around and admired the crafts being displayed at the festival. Lots of really nice jewelry. We ended up at the River Center Mall and had dinner at their food court. Gary had pizza and I enjoyed a three salad platter from Luciano's Ristorate Italiano. Yummy. We eat on a patio overlooking the river. Very nice!!!
We're going back in the day light and also plan to go to the Alamo. I'll have more pictures next time. Love to you all. Good night.. Deb

Happy New Year

We celebrated the New Year Eve at the first annual Rustic Cove New Year's Eve Bonfire Bash. One of the guys that works for the park dug a fire pit that was at least 15 feet across. At about 3pm in the afternoon a fire was started. It was a LARGE fire. Very impressive. We all brought various goodies to share and a good time was had by all. There was fireworks and when midnight came we went into the TV room and watched the ball drop in New York. After more fireworks we went back to the house for a good nights sleep.

New Years Day was very quiet. Everyone recovering from partying the night before.
Gary and I are blessed to be enjoying our present lifestyle. We are very appreciative of this time. We're looking forward to a good new year and wish the best for all.

May you have a safe, prosperous and happy new year. Go 2009...Love, Deb