Here it is November 2nd already. Our travels keep us
pretty busy. When we are driving we normally try to keep our miles around 200
per day give or take 50 or so. A lot depends on our next location having a
place to stay either in an RV park or boondocking but we haven’t boondocked
much on this trip. Sara has done a fantastic job of getting us to our next
location and finding cheap places to stay with hookups so we haven’t needed to
boondock and we’ve still been able to keep our costs down.
When we are parked we are, on most days, heading off to explore
the area and sites around us. Another thing Sara does is finds nearby
attractions we all might want to go see. Come to think of it, if not for Sara
we might all be wandering around the southwest lost and confused! LOL!
So we left a really great RV park just outside Tombstone, AZ called
“Tombstone Territories RV Park” on Friday, October 21th and headed
to Deming, NM. While in Deming we drove over to Las Cruces, NM on Saturday
morning to go explore their Downtown Farmer’s Market. We really enjoyed checking
out all the booths and people walking their dogs. The only requirement for having
a booth is whatever your selling has to be home-grown or homemade. There were
some very unique and different items for sale.
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| Las Cruces Farmer's Market |
After leaving the market we
drove out to the White Sands Missile Range and the museum. The museum has a lot
of information on the Cold War era but the best part for me was seeing and
reading about all the different types of missiles from the first prototypes in
the 50’s up to and including the latest ones used during the Iraqi War.
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| Kathy standing next to a nuclear bomb |
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| Sara & Kathy posers! |
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| Not a UFO... Actually a flying target |
After strolling around the museum we decided to try the local cuisine.
We found a little restaurant in the area serving Mexican and went to try it
out. Mexican food in New Mexico is a bit different but still very tasty. Also a
lot spicier overall in my opinion.
Since I am such an avid NASCAR fan it was decided that we would
not travel on Sundays unless necessary so I can record the races while we are
out exploring or stay home and watch so Sunday was a day of relaxation. That
afternoon we went over to the St. Claire Winery to do a sample tasting. There
were a few we liked and they gave us a deal so we ended up bringing home 4
bottles between all of us. Ours is still waiting for happy hour to be opened.
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| Sampling wine at St. Claire Winery |
Monday morning it was time to get back on the road as we pointed
the rigs towards Van Horn, TX. We found the “Oasis RV Park” across the street
from Chuy’s Mexican Restaurant. The restaurants claim to fame is it now houses
all the memorabilia belonging to John Madden, the NFL Football star. It seems
Mr. Madden does not enjoy flying so he has an RV he and his associates take to
get to engagements. The story goes while
passing through the area one time he saw this little restaurant and stopped to
see what he thought. He loved the location and became a fan so he started
leaving personal items there for the restaurant to display.
As for the RV Park all I can say is I can’t rate it very highly.
All the buildings are painted pink, the spaces were just that. Tight spaces
with hookups but very little in the way of extras. The proprietor told the
girls she had homemade ice cream for sale but after checking the place out we
were a bit wary of buying the ice cream as great as it sounded and as warm as
the temperature was outside. Needless to say we decided to move on the next
day.
Tuesday dawned bright as we started out for Iraan (pronounced
Ira-an), TX. We drove off the freeway and passed quite a few oil rigs with the
heavy odor of crude oil in the air. Kathy and I were both hoping this was not
what we would be smelling the entire rest of the day but the odor soon dissipated
as we pulled into a very nice RV park where they had quite a few unused spots.
The place looked like it had only recently been opened. It had full hookups but
nothing else. The spaces were very wide and all pull-through. We only spent one
night but at $15 a night it was a great bargain.
Wednesday morning we awoke to bright sunshine and got back on
the road to our next destination, Ingram, TX. Sara found a beautiful RV Park called “Johnson
Creek RV Resort”. Full hookups, pull-thru’s loads of beautiful full trees,
grasslands, next to the river and for Michael it was love at first sight! They
had Shetland ponies and for years Michael has been telling us how he wants a
Shetland pony and a big dog as pets. We only got to stay there one night but I
think all 4 of us are ready to go spend more time in the area. It was a lot of
green close to the river and just gave you the feeling you didn’t want to
leave.
Thursday we were on our way to San Antonio, TX. This was one of
the destinations we had all been looking forward to. In his military days
Michael had been stationed in the area and spent some time in San Antonio. One
of his goals this trip was to take Sara down to the Gulf of Mexico so she could
step foot into the water. Michael had taken Sara to the East Coast and Sara was
able to step into the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. He also wanted to show us
the sights of downtown San Antonio as well as the Alamo.
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| The Alamo Church |
Friday we got up early and headed to town. First was the Alamo.
We were impressed with the church and the history but disappointed when I
stepped into the building marked “museum”. We never found the museum but did
find a decent size gift shop in its place. Not really what we would have liked
to find. Michael is very knowledgeable in history and he was able to help fill
in the gaps for us to understand the history of the Alamo and what transpired
to bring it to where it is today. After the Alamo we walked a few blocks to
find the “River Walk”.
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| “Southerleigh Fried Snapper Throats” |
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| The beginning of our water taxi ride |
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| Michael & the girls waiting for a taxi |
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| Looking down the canal |
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| Hanging fish art under the freeway bridge |
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| End of the line at the brewery |
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| Proceeding thru the locks |
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| Cute couple! Julia... I'm smiling! |
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| Even saw Captain Jack Sparrow |
The River Walk for those of you who have never been is
an amazing collection of stores, eateries, bars and outdoor activities located
on both sides of the river which has been created like the canals of Venice,
Italy. Instead of canal boats they have motorized water taxi’s that take you up
and down the river and around town all day long picking you up or dropping you
off most anywhere you like. We headed up river to see what was along the shore
on both sides with our final destination being what we thought to be a brewery.
Our “brewery” turned out to be the name of the entire area but we did manage to
find a brewery in the area to taste the local cuisine and drink a beer or two.
Now I’m not one for eating a lot of fish but the “Southerleigh Fried Snapper
Throats” served with Sweet Pepper and Celery Root Remoulade was calling me. The
dish arrived and I started wondering what I’d gotten myself into. I don’t see
myself ordering that same dish again but the flavor was light and savory. We
left the brewery and made our way back down the river via water taxi again. The
ride is very relaxing as you go through area of residential and business before
proceeding through the locks that allow for differences in elevation. Then you
are back in the heart of downtown. It is a beautiful ride! We didn’t get to
take it at night but from all the overhanging trees strewn with lights and the
electric atmosphere of all the night spots I’m sure it is even better.
The next day Michael drove us all down to Chorpus Christi, TX to
see the Gulf of Mexico, get our feet wet and spend some time at the beach.
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| Michael & Sara wading in the Gulf of Mexico |
The
water was very warm compared to the Pacific. We spent some time catching hermit
crabs and had a drink at the bar on the beach before heading home to enjoy
pizza from the take out place across from where we were camped.
Sunday, the 30th, was spent relaxing, watching NASCAR
and Kathy doing the laundry. We left on Monday and made our way to the “Safari
Mobile Home Park” in League City, TX just outside Houston, TX but more
importantly just 4 miles from the “Johnson Space Center”.
Tuesday morning we rose to humid warm weather with the hint of a
thunderstorm looming and drove over to the space center to check it out. We
were there just after opening and it was really never too crowded all day long.
We took the tram tour of the center built like a college campus when it was
first created. It was originally a huge ranch with pastures for the Longhorn
Steers that still exist today before being donated to the college that
eventually donated land to be used as the space center. We saw the first ever
Tracking and Control room, the Space Station training room, the Saturn V rocket
and a Boing 737 with the Space Shuttle Atlantis attached. There are many movies
explaining the past, present and future of different missions along with many
of the past spaceships that took astronauts to space from the Mercury to the Gemini
to the Apollo capsules. We spent the entire day but did not see all we wanted
to see. Next time is the behind-the-scenes tour which we tried to get on this
time but they were already booked full. Just one more reason to return this way
some day.
Tomorrow, Thursday the 3rd, we head for Lafayette, LA and swamp tours! Looking forward to seafood and alligators!
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| Space Shuttle attached to Boeing 737 |
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Kathy in front of the Mercury capsule
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