Travel day to Kerrville TX and German Dinner

Tuesday - Wednesday: November 7-8, 2012 

This was our site in Balmorhea TX.  Still desert.

We left Balmorhea TX around 10:00 for a 5 hour drive to Kerrville TX just outside of San Antonio TX.  This was a trip that took us back from the desert to real natural grass and trees, the kind that weren't planted.  The temperatures so far are the same just a tad more humid now.  It was really different to walk out of the RV on Wednesday Morning and smell fresh cut grass; it was like a summer day in the east.

The trip was the nice lazy type.  There was no wind and constant 75 – 80 degrees and no clouds.  The road was mostly flat and straight.   As the climate changed from desert to green the fuel prices also went down.  We now have diesel fuel well under $4 a gallon.  We filled up 200 miles from Kerrville for $3.89 a gallon.  In Kerrville we filled up again for $3.77 a gallon.  That is the cheapest fuel we have seen for 2 months.

A lot of nothing on the way.

Just starting to see some green now.

Cool hill.

We spent the first night watching the election returns.  It wasn't very exciting as it went about as I had expected.  But, I had hopes of a more exciting event with a different outcome.  Oh well, here we go again.

The Kerrville RV park is a rustic type place that we like.  It is right on the Guadalupe River and it has its own island for tent campers.  The trees are just now changing here to their fall colors which are something we thought we weren't going to see this year.  So Wednesday morning we took a walk over to the island and hiked the trails.  This area is right on the edge of the desert so there are still a lot of cactus mixed with cypress trees.  There were also a lot of red ant hills that weren't so great.

On the Island at the Kerrville RV Park.

RED ANTS!!

More color.

Still have lots of cactus.

View back at our site. We are in the center behind the white truck.

 

Guadalupe River.

Our site.

After the walk we went to get a propane tank filled and to wash the truck.  The town of Kerrville is very western in character.  Lots of non-chain BBQ restaurants with large smokers out front.  We didn't get to eat at one of these this time, maybe in Houston we will. Also, bars are mostly called saloons here.  We filled a 40 lbs propane tank for $16 here.  In California it cost $27 and in Phoenix it was $21.  The last time I filled one of the BBQ 20 lb in Oregon it was $18! The truck wash place had a hand held air dryer to use instead of the usual hand wiping we do.  We weren’t impressed with the hand dryer.  It was expensive and didn't do as good a job.  However it was a little bit easier than hand drying.

The camp host told us about the town of Fredericksburg a few miles away.  It is the hometown of Admiral Nimitz who was the commander of the Pacific fleet during WWII.  Fredericksburg has the only museum about the war in the Pacific.  I like WWII history but I am not much on the Pacific part of the war so we decided not to go, this time. 

Another interesting fact about Fredericksburg is that it was settled in the late 1800’s by German immigrants.  So the town has a very German feel to it and with lots of German restaurants.  Patty and I love German food so we just had to go and eat there.   

Fredericksburg is 25 miles north of Kerrville.  We got there just before 5:00 and were just going to walk around for a bit to take in the town.  To our surprise, this town is a go to town, a destination on its own.   The downtown has been largely preserved and is loaded with shops that sell unusual stuff along with South West and Texas items.  For example, there were clothing shops that sold items from various periods in time.  This is not costume stuff, nice and beautiful stuff!  Another small item but reader sunglasses that are styled  from the 60’s like Sinatra would wear.  Also many games both electronic and manual from the 50’s through the 70’s that are reproduction new.  The bad part was that most shops closed between 5 and 6 pm.  We really should have come at least 3 hours sooner.   If anybody is ever in the area, Fredericksburg is a great place to visit and it is just off of route 10.

We went to the restaurant Altdorf  and had a great German meal.  The food, service, and decor were excellent.  It was very comfortable evening at 70 degrees with low humidity.  It felt to us just like one of those perfect evenings in June back east. We ate outside in the Biergarten that had a dirt floor and barrel tables.  We both ordered the same thing which is usual for us.  We usually want the same thing but we choose to get different things, but not this time.  We got the Zweibel Schnitzel which is a fried breaded pork cutlet with onions, bacon, and brown gravy.  It also came with warm German potato salad, spiced noodles, and red cabbage.  It was so good!  It was a good thing we parked ¾ of a mile from the restaurant so we could walk off the food.

Fredericksburg has their Christmas lights up now.

The Altdorf Biergarten.

Tomorrow we travel to Houston TX.  I have an appointment to get the oil changed in the truck in Houston on Friday morning.  It’s real hard to believe we have driven the truck 5,000 miles from Salt Lake City where it was done last time.  We have been 8,000 miles since we left NJ in August!  In 2 weeks we will be in Florida and then we will only  travel with the rig 2 times in the next 6 months.  We will be in Fort Lauderdale for 4 months, then near Tampa for 2 months and then Disney World for about 10 days before we start to move back up north.

Stay tuned!

Travel day Deming NM to Balmorhea TX

Monday: November 6, 2012 

We got started this morning at 9:30 am as we did yesterday.  The temperature was a little cold at 42 this morning!  We haven’t felt that since we were in Eastern Oregon in September.  The high today will be around 78 so we are still in shorts, damn it! 

Today we are going to lose an hour going east as we pass the time zone in Texas.  We have 275 miles to go today or about 5 hours. So with the time zone change it will be 4 pm when we arrive.  We like to be stopped by 2-3 if possible.

The ride was through Las Cruces NM, El Paso TX, to 150 miles south west to Balmorhea TX on Route I-10.  Balmorhea is just past the divide of Interstate 10 and 20.  10 goes to San Antonio and 20 goes to Dallas.   We are taking the most southern route you can take to Florida on Interstate 10.

We are staying at the Saddleback RV park just off I-10.  It is $10 for full 50 amp hook ups a night with Passport America.  You just can't beat that!  There is no cable, Wifi, or even local TV stations.  This is the first time we are using the satellite only for TV which is OK.  We like to get the local TV so we can see what is happening.  However, there is no locality to be local here.  It is real desolate here.  Maybe we can see a lot of stars tonight!

The trip had some interesting sites.  The mountains in Las Cruces were stunning.  They were a bright reddish orange this morning as we passed through.  Then the closeness of the Mexican border in El Paso was very different.  As we were passing through El Paso you could see that the houses on the right side of the highway were in slums.  Then as you looked closer you could see the fence close enough you could throw a ball across.  The houses were literally close enough to could yell over to the Mexicans on the other side.  Then there is the absolute stillness of West Texas.  There are places with no civilization as far as you can see and the same on the map, not even other roads.

Las Cruces New Mexico

Leaving New Mexico.  Short stay of 2 days!

Entering Texas.

Texas has 2 signs.  Everything is just bigger in Texas.

Just the other side of the railcars is the border fence.

Border fence in El Paso Texas.  I would have never though it would be that close!

All day we have been seeing NASCAR trucks hauling race cars to Phoenix for the race this weekend.  They just raced in Texas.  Also, note the scenery here.  No civilization for miles!

Just very cool overpass in Texas.  We saw these all over the west but this is the first picture.

Patty drove most of the way today.  We left the RV Park and needed to get fuel in the next few miles.  When we stopped for fuel, Patty took the wheel for the second time.  She did fine and would do better if I wasn't such a backseat driver.    

Patty as captain of the rig today.  I liked the view from out the window also.

Just want to add that it really changes temperature quickly in the desert.  The temperature at 5:00 was 78 and then the sun set here at about 5:30.  By 6:00 the temperature is already 68.  It is to go to 48 overnight with near 80 for the high tomorrow.  With 8% humidity it is down right cold at just 68 when I went out to start the grille!

Tomorrow we go back to our 2 night minimum stay routine.  We head for Kerryville TX just outside of San Antonio TX.   We will be there for the election fun that night on TV.  Patty and I already voted via absentee a few weeks ago.

Stay tuned!

Travel day Casa Grande AZ to Deming NM

Sunday: November 4 , 2012 

We got started this morning at 9:30 am.  We found out that AZ doesn’t do daylight savings time so the time in AZ and New Mexico where we are going is now the same.  I really didn't know this until I got up and checked the internet this morning to see what time it was here in AZ and in NM.  This makes a big difference as we are moving 300 miles today and an hour time difference just makes it later in the day when we arrive at our next stop.

We got to the New Mexico border and stopped for fuel.  We went through 3 different terrain changes in just 200 miles.  First, in the Casa Grande area it is the tall cactus.  Next came the extreme rocks near the border with New Mexico.  Then the short palm tree/bushes.  Lastly, just sand and dust in Deming New Mexico where we are spending the night. We found an Escapees resort for just $14/night plus electric.

We just got fuel at the New Mexico Border and after turning around to leave I took this picture of our rig.

These are the short palm tree/bushes.  Patty calls them Yucca.  I'm not sure about that.....

Lots of sand and dust.

30 miles of blowing dust warnings!!

Watched the weather on the news and a very deep jet stream is bringing cold weather right behind us.  It showed a big circle of warm weather where we are now moving east to where we are going over the next week.  We still can't believe the good luck we are having with the weather.

Tomorrow we are tentatively planning to stay just one night again in Balmorhea, TX about 300 miles from here.  We don’t need to stay just one night but there is nothing in Balmorhea, TX we really want to do and we want the extra time for later in our trip to Florida.

Stay tuned!

Casa Grande Ruins and Bike ride

Saturday: November 3 , 2012 

We started the day with an hour bike tour of the RV Park.  Patty is really very happy with her new bike.  She is much closer to the ground and she can put both feet on the ground when stopped making her safer.  Also, for now, I think I will keep mine.  It’s no problem putting it in the back of the truck up near the cab.  I have it secured with a bungee so it won't get into the 5^th wheel hitch.  Now all is good on the bike front J

After the bike tour we took a sightseeing adventure to see the Casa Grande ruins.  The ruins are actually a national park.  The ruins are of a small city with a large building that was constructed around 1400 by the local Indians.  The building is made of adobe which is somewhat like mud so it is amazing that it is still standing after 600 years.  The ruins national park was the first archaeological site in the national park system.

We spent about an hour there as it is impressive that it is still standing, barely.  The site is sort of a long way from anything.  It’s about 15 miles off of highway 10 in the town of Coolidge.   So we have learned a new Trivial Pursuit answer to the question “What Arizona town is the Casa Grande ruins in A. Casa Grande AZ or B. Coolidge AZ?” ”Alex, the answer is, Coolidge AZ!

The current roof was added in 1932.

There are lots of supports holding the ruins together now.

A desert dragonfly.  Not too bad for a phone camera.

I also got a prize for myself while we were out.  I have been thinking that there is a better way to connect to RV park cable than threading on the connectors each time on each end of the cable.  I have never seen this but I envisioned a connector that is threaded on one end and has a push on connection on the other end.  I could just screw the threaded part into the cable and then just push on the connection at the RV and at the park end.  This would save me at least 3 minutes and…most important… AGGRAVATION!

I have been looking for a connector like this for the past couple of weeks at everywhere, except Radio Shack.  Lo and behold, in the middle of the Sonora desert is a f...ing Radio Shack!  This Radio Shack is a combination video store, furniture store and, beauty shop.  All that mattered is that they had exactly what I wanted and for $1.80 each.  How happy am I now!

We finished the day with BBQ chicken and a dip in the pool and hot tub again.

Tomorrow we head further east to Deming New Mexico.  We are going to move quickly for the next 2 stops of 300 miles each.  We are passing up some stuff we would otherwise like to see for another trip in the future.  We want to stay a little while in New Orleans and also go back to our minimum 2-3 night stays.  We feel we need to add some cushion in for later in our trip to Florida.

Stay tuned!

AZ State Fair, Bike, RV Warranty, and.. Headed East..

Wednesday – Friday: October 31- November 2 , 2012 

Wednesday we are at the Phoenix Metro RV Park just inside Phoenix AZ on Highway 17.  It’s another 55+ park with a pool and hot tub spa.  We will be here until Friday when we are hoping the RV warranty work will be done and then we will finally start heading east.

Our site in the Phoenix Metro RV Park.

These 55+ parks are all over the place here in the south west.  I never really knew why people would want to retire anywhere without an ocean or at least a big body of water.  We now know why, it’s the dry heat.  We have been in the desert south west now for 3 weeks and every day the weather is mostly the same.  It’s clear blue skies all day starting off crisp in the morning with temps ranging from 55 overnight to 85 in the day time.  You can be outside all day without really being hot.  We also know that we are here in the part of the year that has some of the best weather.  It gets really hot in the summer and the range is 65 daytime with 45 overnights in the winter.  But still there is no humidity, snow, or major storms.   Also, the area is within 3 hours of LA, Vegas, Phoenix, and Mexico.  We have so far decided that we will winter somewhere here next year to see what that is like.

So, Wednesday Patty’s new folding bike arrives at our friends (Paul and Sue) RV Park.  We made arrangements with them to have dinner at a halfway point (we are 12 miles apart) and get the bike.  We met them at the Texas Roadhouse in Peoria just off of 101 west after we had some minor difficulty with going to different restaurants.  Seems there are several Texas Roadhouses in Peoria.  We had not been in a Texas Roadhouse for many, many years.  The food and company were excellent.  For those who have not been there the rolls are extremely addicting.  We talked and shared over dinner and drinks about our adventures and experiences from our travels.  We have all done a lot of stuff in just a few months!  We ended the evening with getting the bike into our truck and then with hugs, handshakes and “see you down the road”.

Thursday we slept in till 9 am without even trying! I started the day by putting Patty’s folding bike together.  It was real easy, only needed to put air in the tires and to tighten a few items and it was ready in an hour.  Patty and I rode around the park for a while for her to get a feel for the new bike.  She likes the bike as she is lower to the ground and she can sit up on it instead of bent over on the old mountain bike. 

Patty's first ride on her new bike.

Cool art near our site we saw while biking.

Real life stuff.  Still need to do laundry.

After riding the bikes we did laundry and hung at the pool.  Then at 4 pm we went to the Arizona State fair.  If anyone wants to go to a great state fair, go to this one, it’s huge and with great weather.  This fair has more rides that a lot of the amusement parks have.  It has 3 Ferris wheels, a log flume ride, and a bungee jump just to name a few.  The fair has so much food and tons of shopping and the shopping is not just crap stuff either. 

This is the Arizona State fair mascot.

Thought this was just cool.

The ferris wheel we rode.

Fair pic taken from the ferris wheel.

I think this is the tallest drop ride I have seen.

We got new king size memory foam pillows and an engraved wooded sign with our names for the front of the RV when parked.  Patty also got some more warm weather clothes as we both have gotten rid of a lot of clothes in the past couple of weeks.  We rode the largest of the Ferris wheels at 150 feet high.  We both pigged out with mass quantities of south west fair food.  I had a sausage corn dog first.  Then later, we both got a foot long sausage with jalapeno peppers and onions sandwich.  The sausage, peppers, and onions were all cooking on a real wood fire.  Damn did it smell good!  We were stuffed and couldn't eat all of the sandwiches.   It was another great day!

Yummy!

Our new sign.

Now for Friday and to get the warranty work complete so we can head east.  The RV shop opens at 8:30 am so we decided to be there by 8:15 and be there when they open.  We got up at 6:30 and were on the highway 17 going north by 8 am.  It is only 10 miles to Anthem RV so we were there and had dropped the RV before 8:30, yea us!  Anthem had just opened when we walked in and right on the desk was an unopened box from Dometic with the AC part.  We were in business now as all of the parts were there; the ladder, the AC blower motor, and the closet hardware.

The hot air balloon just floated over Highway 17 as we went to the RV shop.

We were hoping that the work would be done by noon and then we could get to Benson AZ 3 hours away.  We went for breakfast, both got haircuts, stocked up on wine, and then filled up the truck with fuel by noon.  Still, no call from Anthem RV about completion.  Patty called Anthem RV and left a message for them to call us with an update.

Couldn't believe this, christmas tree already!  This was in the store where we got wine.

While we waited, we pulled into the shade at an outlet mall and took a nap in the truck for an hour.  It’s now about 1:30 so I get out the computer and Patty on her smart phone and we start to look for closer RV parks for tonight.  We decided on a Passport America Park in Casa Grande AZ about 80 miles away at $21 a night with full hookups.  This will at least get us out of the Phoenix metro area and headed in the right direction.

Then at the outlet mall they were putting up this real tall christmas tree.

Anthem finally calls a little after 2 to say the work is done.  We are there in 10 minutes!  I got a chance to see the warranty bill that was billed back to Forrest River.  Wow!  The bill without parts was just under $1,800.  We got hitched up and were on the road by 2:50.  Unfortunately it was now going to be the start of rush hour going through Phoenix.  Traffic was much like the east coast but didn’t go as far out of town as in the NY metro area.

We arrived at our new RV Park, Sundance 1, around 5 Pm.  The office closes at 3 pm so we had to call the camp host who got us all taken care of and into a nice pull through site.  We set up, had a pork chop dinner on the grille and then went to relax in the spa and pool.  Life is great!

Our site in Casa Grande.

This is where the facilities are.  Looks like the south west.

Tomorrow we are planning to bike around the 657 site park, plan where we go next, and sight see a bit.  We will continue our travel east on Sunday.

Stay tuned!