Zion and Goblin Valley UPDATED 5/22

Zion and Goblin Valley

After leaving Las Vegas, we drove to St George, located in the southwest corner of Utah. As it turned out, there was an Ironman marathon the following day, and we were very lucky to get one of the last RV campsites in the area. The next day we were able to see the bicycle part of the race on our way to Zion National Park. 

Arriving at Zion, we parked our car and walked over to the shuttle bus, as private vehicles are not allowed, spring through fall, on the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive. There are 9 stops on the free shuttle bus, and you may get on and off the shuttle as often as you like. A round trip on the shuttle takes about 80 minutes, and is the easiest way to see some of the park's most beautiful sights. There are many hiking trails available of various ability levels. We were able to spot some people quite a distance away climbing sheer cliffs.

At the Zion Human History Museum we enjoyed a ranger-led program detailing the geological changes that have taken place, as well as some of the animals inhabiting the park. It is the Virgin River, which runs through Zion, which is the primary agent of erosion that continues to carve and shape Zion.  In some respects, this is like the Grand Canyon.

The following 6 photos were taken at Zion:

 

We drove 310 miles the next day and visited Goblin Valley State Park in Green River, Utah.

Here we are at a restaurant in Grand Junction, Colorado with our friends Dave and Jeanette Dearborn

2 photos Sue snapped from our RV as we approach the Colorado Rockies at over 11,000 feet

Another photo from Goblin Valley State Park

On our way to visit friends, we stopped at the Goblin Valley State Park, in Utah. Cowboys searching for cattle were among the first to discover secluded Goblin Valley. The cowboys were awed by the hundreds of intricately eroded "creatures". They remind one of stone gnomes in a desert playground.

These are hoodoos or hoodoo rocks, referred locally as "goblins". A hoodoo is a thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin. This area was sculpted by erosion due to wind and water from deposits laid 170 million years ago. The goblins show evidence of having once been near an ancient sea. 

We continued east to Grand Junction, Colorado, where we stopped for a couple of days to see our friends, Dave and Jeanette Dearborn.    One night we had dinner with them and some of their family, including son, d-i-l, and 1 year old baby grandson- Brent, Kourtni and Carson. Fun night as Carson kept us all entertained!

Traveling across the scenic Colorado Rockies on I 70 is a favorite route of ours, if not too much for the driver, then especially so for the passenger! The road climbs to over 11,000 feet above sea level. We put the RV in low gear and ascended slowly, slowly, up. As you can see from the photos, there was over a foot of snow remaining beside the highway when we went through May 11th. 

The next morning as we were preparing to leave our campsite in East Denver, KOA, we encountered a problem that would plague us for the next 5 days. As Steve was retracting the front slider, which is in the area of the kitchen, dinette and living room, it suddenly stopped working, about 8 inches from complete retraction. At the same time, our stablilizing jacks also quit. We spent 30 minutes trying to locate and fix the problem ourselves, without success. Next step was to call Tiffin, and rely on their expertise. Steve and Tiffin tried for almost an hour to isolate the problem, again without a happy outcome. As we couldn't travel this way, we let the KOA know of our dilemma, and they were wonderful! Although our site was already reserved by another RV for the night, they allowed us to stay there all day and then helped move us to an overflow area with a hookup, and didn't even charge us anything.

The next day we had a mobile mechanic spend an hour working on the problem. He was able to come up with a working diagnosis of a broken hydraulic pump, but didn't have the part to fix it. We had to wait 2 days until Today morning to call Tiffin and find a place on our route where they could ship the part and do the work. Although they didn't usually do so, they shipped parts before they inspected the RV. We got to Columbus, Ohio a few days later. It took 7 hours, and they stayed an hour after closing time, but we finally got our RV back in good working order, and headed to Dayton, Ohio for Steve's Ham Radio Convention. More on that in the next, and last installment.

One other part of our story...we just happened to camp in Greenfield, Indiana on our way to Columbus, the same town that Ben's friend from WPI is now located, her apartment just a few minutes away. We invited Jackie Fanning to join us for a cookout that night. She and her 2 cute rescue dogs came, and we had a really relaxing time, sitting outside on a warm evening in Indiana. We hope we sent some of this lovely weather we've been enjoying to NH, as you guys certainly need some!


Jay & Joanie letting Steve play with them.

Las Vegas

We arrived in Las Vegas on Sunday afternoon, and were met by bright sunshine, and temps in the high nineties. We stayed until Friday morning, and each day grew warmer, exceeding 100 degrees. It cooled off only to the mid 80s at night. But the very low desert humidity made it fairly tolerable....that is, up to 99 degrees.

On Monday we met up with our friends, and the women in the group saw Menopause The Musical that afternoon. Cindy Williams of Laverne & Shirley fame was the narrator and had occasional stage time. She is just shy of 70 years old, and hasn't really changed a great deal in the 44 years since she first hit it big in the movie American Graffiti, playing Ron Howard's girlfriend. Menopause The Musical is a comedy about 4 women of a certain age, and was great fun. Afterwards, we met up with everyone for a buffet dinner, and ate far too much, as we did every evening that week.

The following night we saw the Righteous Brothers. Bill Medley, the original surviving member was  getting over a sinus infection. Bucky Heard, who took over Bobby Hatfield's role after his death, was really suffering from the flu that night, and spent only about half of the show time on stage. Everyone's favorites were Unchained Melody, and You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin', which they did well. They tried very hard, but their combined illnesses did affect their singing. Still, we enjoyed it. Just don't know how much more we would have enjoyed it if they weren't both sick!

The third show we saw was the ventriloquist Terry Fator. He is also a singer, comedian, and celebrity impressionist, and uses 15 different puppets in his act. In 2007 he won the show America's Got Talent. The keyboardist in the band was originally from Concord, New Hampshire, and we had the chance to speak to him briefly. During the pre-show, Fator told the audience that one woman (blonde?) once told him she was aware the puppets could all sing well, but she didn't realize that he could sing, too!

On our last morning before we left we went back into a casino and placed bets for a few family and friends on a Roulette game. Sorry guys, bad news.....we played 8 games and lost every time! Well, that's all we're gonna talk about, and no photos this time. You know what they say, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas"!

Definitely.

Arizona

After dropping Bethany off at the airport very early Sunday morning (sniff, sniff), we drove on to Arizona to a KOA RV park near the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest.

The following day
we went to the Petrified Forest National Park in Navajo and Apache counties in Northeastern Arizona. It's known as high desert country, with an elevation of 5,400 feet. This piece of America's heritage was set aside in 1906 to protect, and make available for public enjoyment, one of the largest petrified wood deposits in the world. We drove the entire 28 mile long park road from one end to another, making frequent stops along the way. We started at the Painted Desert Visitor Center where we viewed a park film and browsed in the gift shop. 

There were many spectacular views of the Painted Desert from several overlooks in this area. As we were gazing at the colorful geology, I thought how wonderful it would be to take a high school classroom on a field trip to actually see this phenomenon.  With all the many different layers of silt forming the tall mountains, one can get an idea of the forces at work that created this. An ancient huge lake basin once covered this area, and there are lower (older) layers of lake-related deposits of silt, sand, and clay. The upper (younger) layers contain ash and lava from volcanoes, and all of these layers are of different colors. About 60 million years ago, tectonic movements of the Earth's crust began to uplift the Colorado Plateau, of which the Painted Desert is part. Eventually parts of the plateau rose to 10,000 feet above sea level. 

          

Next we see some typical types of succulent plants found in the area, this one in bloom.

Here is more of the varied landscapes that see as you drive through in the National Park.

Here is a photo of the rock formation that depicts the summer solstice. The sun's ray comes through the crack on the left rock until it gets to a mark on the right rock. Think The Temple of Doom movie.

This is a piece of petrified log that was laying by the side of the road.  

We saw ancestral Puebloan homes dating back to 1250 AD, and petroglyphs along a loop trail we walked. The petroglyphs - images, symbols or designs carved into rock- are thought to be between 650 and 2,000 years old. One of the petroglyphs can pinpoint the summer solstice each year, a very important date to know for planting purposes in a very short growing season.

The Petrified Forest is known for its fossils, especially fallen trees that lived in the Late Triassic Period, about 225 million years ago.  All the organic materials have been replaced with minerals, mostly quartz, while retaining the original structure of the trees. This makes for a stunning view, especially when the sun is shinning brightly.The KOA RV park we stayed at for the week in Williams, AZ was lovely, with lots of tall pines and plenty of room between sites. 

The following day we drove to Meteor Crater, located about 35 miles east of Flagstaff.  50,000 years ago a meteor estimated to have been about 150 feet across, and weighing several hundred thousand tons, struck the rocky plain with an explosive force greater than 20 million tons of TNT.  

The result of this was a crater 700 feet deep and over 4000 feet across that was carved into this once-flat rocky plain. It's very impressive to stand at the edge of the crater and look down. Do you remember the movie Starman, released in 1984? Part of it was filmed at the crater. Although there has been some erosion by wind, heat and water over the years, the crater walls have only been slightly naturally modified. Inside the Meteor Crater Discovery Center is an exhibit and film, both very interesting and well presented.

We spent one full day in Sedona, a desert town near Flagstaff that's surrounded by red-rock buttes, steep canyon walls, and pine forests. It's noted for its New Age shops, spas, and art galleries. We enjoyed browsing through the shops on a beautiful, warm and sunny day.

Since we were so close to the Grand Canyon, we decided to go back, our second time there. The Grand canyon is a natural formation distinguished by layered bands of red rock, revealing millions of years of geological history.  It averages about 10 miles across and a mile deep along its 277 mile length. Much of the area is a national park, with the Colorado River and its white-water rapids flowing through. We got excellent advice from some nearby campers from Rhode Island. They said the best way to do Grand Canyon is to get there by 7:30 am and beat the crowds, and they were right! Close parking, shuttle buses only partially filled, and no crowds suited us just fine. So we awoke at 5:00 am, packed the car with water and snacks, and we were done and ready to leave the park by 2:00 pm. When we got back to our RV we had plenty of time for a nap before meeting our new friends from RI for dinner!

The Colorado River just visible at the bottom of the canyon

Colorado River visible in middle of picture

On our last night at the RV site, the temps, which had been chilly for a few days, were expected to drop to 23 degrees. Oh, No!! Having already been schooled in the disaster of having our water system freeze, we were naturally apprehensive. We drove 26 miles (at 75 mph, the fastest the old man has ever driven) to Flagstaff to get to the nearest Home Depot before they closed. We probably woke up our friend Bob Jackman in New London, (3 hours ahead of us) although he graciously denies it. With his advice, we purchased what we needed to keep our water pump, fresh water supply and hoses warm. We kept our inside faucets on a very slow drip all night, and got up every couple of hours to check that they were still dripping. The next morning dawned with no freezing problems of our RV! Yay!!

We packed up and left the area, heading for Las Vegas, where the temps were predicted to be in the 90's all week. The warm weather sounds pretty good to us at this time.

New Mexico

Hi y’all, Bethany here subbing in for Mom. I was able to get this week off from work and flew down to Midland, TX last Friday. Mom and Dad picked me up from the airport and we drove straight to the RV campsite. Once I was inside the RV, I was amazed by how spacious it is! It’s easily four times bigger than where I’m staying right now. I just have a single room in a former convent in Boston, with a shared kitchen and bathrooms down the hall. Here, there’s a master bedroom with a washer/dryer, a living room/guestroom with a half bath, a full kitchen, and even a fireplace! What luxury I’ve been living in this week!

I’m glad that I got to see a bit of west Texas, but man there’s really not a lot to see. It was just oil fracking for miles in every direction and completely flat. We didn’t stay long, but instead woke up bright and early Saturday morning and drove to Carlsbad, NM. I got to help Dad with the process of emptying the grey and black water, unhooking the water hose, unplugging the electricity, and hitching up Greenie, our Kia Soul, to the back of the RV.

Almost immediately after crossing over the border in New Mexico, the topography became more interesting. The ground was no longer completely flat, but instead had an almost bubbly appearance, like sand dunes covered in desert bushes. We passed through a few very small towns, the type where if you blink you’ve missed it. In between the towns there’s nothing. It was either a little village or empty space with some fracking every so often. Once we got to Carlsbad, we started seeing more familiar businesses, with mountains off in the distance. We parked the RV, hooked up to the power and water, and then drove to Carlsbad Caverns before the engine had completely cooled. 

The drive there took us through some beautiful mountains. We kept on climbing until we got to the top of one of the larger peaks, only to take an elevator down 750 feet to the caverns themselves. I still forget whether it’s the stalagmites or stalactites that hang from the ceiling. Inside the caverns, there’s a loop that brings you around to the different rooms. These caverns are huge, and the loop is over a mile long. There are still passages being discovered and passages that are not open to the public. Scientists who have explored them believe there are organisms within which may be able to cure types of cancer. We thoroughly enjoyed walking around the caverns, but did not enjoy waiting an hour and forty-five minutes in line for the elevator back up to the surface. We were relieved when we finally got back to the campsite that the KOA delivered a barbecue dinner right to our door and we didn’t have to cook or do dishes! We slept well that night.

When I woke up Easter morning, Mom told me that I had just missed the Easter Bunny. Apparently he had just come and left me a package of Russell Stover chocolate covered marshmallow eggs, my favorite! Naturally, I didn’t get them all to myself, though. 

When we had first gotten to the KOA, we had been told that one of the best sites in the Carlsbad area was Sitting Bull Falls, so that’s where we decided to spend Easter. We drove to Lincoln National Forest, the “land of many uses,” passing many bulls and cows grazing in the area right along the road, without any fences. Since I had landed in Midland I hadn’t seen a whole lot of water. Going to the falls and dipping my feet in the water was heaven, especially since it was in the 90s. I didn’t leave them in the water for long though. The water was spring fed, even the water at the top of the falls, so it was quite chilly.

Monday was our day to relax a bit. We needed to wait until the mail arrived with the replacement credit cards before we could pack up and head off to our next location. Luckily, they arrived before 11, so we quickly threw the RV together (Mom stopped to vacuum) and drove up to Ruidoso. The road to Ruidoso was mostly flat for most of the way, but a steady incline. As we approached the town, the mountains got higher and higher and we felt more like we were in the Rockies. I’m not sure if these mountains are officially part of the range or not, but being from NH, it felt very comforting to be nestled between the hills and not surrounded by the desert on all sides. Ruidoso was mainly just a place to rest our heads for the night on the way to Albuquerque, but it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. 

Monday night, Mom was feeling tired, so while she rested in the RV, Dad and I went to go check out the town. The Inn of the Mountain Gods is a resort and casino not far from the hotel. Mostly we wanted to check out the buffet. I’ll give it a 6 or 7, though the rest of the resort seemed wonderful. We did make a point of wandering around the mostly deserted casino. What can you expect on a Monday in April? We ended up chatting with the five guys guarding the craps table, where I was taught the very basics. When you roll the dice, 2, 3, or 12 are immediate losses. 7 and 11 are immediate wins. Any other number is what you’re betting on. If you don’t roll that number again before you roll a 7, you’ve lost that bet. Standing around the table, there are likely to be other people betting on the same number as you, so the energy around a craps table often gets really high, with people cheering each other on and rooting for them to roll a specific number.

When we woke up on Tuesday, we drove to Albuquerque. This drive took us through Lincoln, Billy the Kid country. We continued west, crossing through the Valley of Fires, in Carrizozo. If you look on a map of New Mexico, you will see a strip of black ground, which is basalt lava. It’s fascinating to see rock so solid that looks almost liquid still. After arriving at the KOA in Albuquerque, we were starving. The lady at the front desk recommended we go to a nearby diner called Owl Cafe. The food was delicious and I got to try chicken fried steak for the first time. 

Dad was tired from such a long drive with the RV through the mountains and up to Albuquerque, so he wanted to take a break from driving on Wednesday. We decided to head into Old Town and see the different shops. One of the first stops along the street there, Four Corner Pottery Jewelry, had beautiful jewelry and we enjoyed talking to the wonderful saleswoman, Donna. While she showed my Mom some of the different pieces, Dad and I walked over to a little guitar shop, where the guitars were all made on site. We meandered further around the little neighborhood until we were hungry and decided to find a nice Mexican restaurant for lunch. We walked a block out of Old Town to Monica’s El Portal. There I got to try carne adovado, a specialty of New Mexico, and also sopapillas. They’re like fried dough and are served warm with honey on the side. Absolutely delicious, especially when used to soothe your tongue because carne adovado is a little spicier than you can handle. After lunch we wandered back up to Four Corner Jewelry and Pottery because Donna had shown Mom this beautiful necklace and wanted to Dad to see it. Dad was walking a bit ahead of us because we had gotten distracted in another store, but when we caught up to him, we found him sitting on a bench outside Four Corner talking to Donna. Apparently, she had seen him coming, and had said, “Don’t I know you?” and had pulled him into the shop to show him the necklace Mom had fallen in love with earlier in the day. Once she and I joined him in the shop and she tried it on, we both agreed that she shines in it, especially when she wears the matching earrings. I can’t wait to see the different ways she wears her new presents. 

Thursday Dad was ready to drive again, so we drove up to Taos and Taos Pueblo. The closer we got, the more beautiful the landscape became as we climbed further into the rockies. Taos is a beautiful little city, where most of the buildings are in a sort of adobe-inspired style. When we got to Taos Pueblo, we got to see more traditional adobe buildings. Taos Pueblo is one of the 19 pueblos of New Mexico, still has over 50 people who live there full-time, and is over a thousand years old. The buildings themselves have been modernized slightly in that they now have some windows and doors, but it’s not possible to add plumbing or electricity. Originally, the only door was a hole in the roof. Our tour guide in the pueblo was a girl in her fourth year of college who had grown up living in the pueblo. She told us that their language is passed down orally, not written down. However, she and many of her peers still strongly wish to carry on the culture of their heritage, so they make sure to learn everything they can, so that they can eventually pass it on to their children. 

Friday we drove north again, this time driving east of the mountains which overlook Albuquerque, taking a road known as the Turquoise Trail which took us up through Madrid (emphasis on first syllable, like in Berlin, NH). This route was again stunning, but unfortunately along the road, a car passed us and kicked up a stone which cracked our windshield. When we reached Santa Fe, we scheduled a repair for Saturday, and went to Red Lobster. Dad had mentioned a few times that he was looking for a belt buckle set, similar to one he had seen in Cody, Wyoming. He had seen an ad for a shop off the Turquoise Trail, Mortensen Silver and Saddles, that we decided to check out. When we pulled up to the shop, we were greeted by a very friendly doorman named Sully who wouldn’t let us pass without giving him a scratch behind the ears. While I was busy giving him a belly rub, Mom and Dad walked into the shop, letting Sully’s friend Pepper out who wanted a belly rub as well. I eventually joined Mom and Dad in the shop where they make custom saddles in addition to belts. They were just about done deciding on the one they wanted, so I sat down with Pepper to make sure I’d get my fill of puppy love. 

When we were done in there, we got ready to drive back to Albuquerque. I had been looking at the different routes that we could take back. We’d taken i25 twice the day before and the Turquoise Trail that morning, so I wanted to see if I couldn’t find a new adventure for us. Well, I did. I had a found a road that wound around behind Sandia Peak, east of Albuquerque, but I had neglected to check on the condition of the road. We made poor Greenie take us down a class 6 road for a few miles until it finally got so bad that we had no choice, but to turn around. We’re lucky that crack in the windshield didn’t spread!

Today is Saturday and is my last full day here. After we got Greenie’s windshield fixed, we drove over to the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. We saw the exhibits outlining the development of the atomic bomb in the 1940s and talking about the cold war. I found it most interesting to read about an event and then turn to Mom and Dad and ask, “Do you remember this?” and hearing their perspective. 

Now I’m sitting here on the couch in the RV as the wind blows around us. It’s been so wonderful to have this week with both of my parents to visit a state I’ve never been to and meet new people. From the men guarding the craps table, to a man selling blue corn fry bread in the Taos pueblo, to the guy building a saddle, this trip has been colored by striking up conversation with complete strangers and learning about something they are experts in. These conversations are invaluable to me and I will never forget them. Tomorrow morning I fly back to Boston, and it’s back to business as usual. I know, however, that I will never stop traveling and I will never stop searching for new stories. As Mom told me the other night, “It has gone by so fast, and it has been so much fun.”

Hill Country/San Antonio

Hi, you'all! We said goodbye to Dick & Linda in Harlingen, TX., and drove north to see our friends Dori & Clyde Kimball in Hondo, Texas, located in the picturesque Hill Country. Dori was our real estate agent in New London, NH, and actually found the house we have lived in since 1998. As the 4 of us ate dinner outside that first night, we did our best to catch up with each other. Later, as it grew dark, we continued to chat as we sat around a warm fire pit, with their family dog trying out everyone's lap.

The next day we drove into Bandera, had lunch with Dori, visited her new real estate office, and did a little shopping. Bandera, TX is the Cowboy Capital of the World, and it is not uncommon to see a cowboy on his horse during the weekend. After the Civil War, the town had become the primary southern terminus of the Great Western Cattle Trail, which ran north to Dodge City, Kansas, (remember the TV show Gunsmoke?) into Nebraska, and, for a time, clear on up to Deadwood, South Dakota.

On Saturday we drove through the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park, in Stonewall, the birth place and final resting place of LBJ and his wife, Ladybird. The ranch is 1570 acres in area, and was known as the "Texas White House" during LBJ's administration. On permanent display at the ranch is a JetStar plane in a hangar, with a mile long airstrip, built after LBJ acquired the ranch in 1951. Interesting, Air Force One never landed at the ranch because it was too heavy for the runway. LBJ would fly from Washington to either San Antonio or Austin, and then make the short hop to the ranch by helicopter or car. Also seen on the ranch are his parent's and grandparent's homes, and a one-room school house LBJ briefly attended. This working ranch with it's many cattle, green lawns and white fences is in impeccable condition.

Later we took a really nice country drive on the famous 13 mile Willow City Loop, on the lookout for Bluebonnets and other wild flowers. We saw some, but unfortunately the season had peaked a week earlier. There were other wild flowers, notably Indian Paintbrush, Mexican Poppies and Winecups. We learned that any fences painted with purple posts on the top seriously meant THEY SHOOT TRESPASSERS! We didn't stop. At another point there were  Cowboy and Cowgirl boots on the wooden fence posts for as far as the eye can see. Nice touch!

That same day we also visited Fredericksburg, TX. The town is notable as the home of Texas German, a dialect spoken by the first generations of German settlers who initially refused to learn English. We enjoyed lunch in a German restaurant and did some shopping, and Steve found his Cowboy Hat, LBJ style!

On Sunday (Palm Sunday) Dori and I went to Cowboy Church in a large converted barn. I fit in with my jeans, suede jacket, and of course, my Cowgirl Hat! A full band played for about 20 minutes, very harmonic and enthusiastic, successfully getting the whole congregation joining in. Then the pastor got up and spoke for 40 minutes in his cowboy getup. Very enjoyable. Dori told me that on Christmas Eve they parade animals, including camels, from one end to the other. Sounds like fun!

Steve and Clyde met us after church. On the way they drove by some ranches that raised exotic animals....zebras, Black Buck (a type of African Antelope),  emu, and others. Some of these exotic animals are hunted, for a price. Afterwards, Steve and I drove to San Antonio. We toured the Alamo, (Remember the Alamo)? The Alamo had been the scene of a siege on March 6, 1836, between Mexican General Santa Ana's 1,500 troops and the 250 volunteer defenders. Among the Alamo volunteers, who defended the garrison to the last man were Jim Bowie, renowned knife fighter, and Davy Crockett, famed frontiersman and former Tennessee congressman. One volunteer, Robert E. Cochran, came from New Hampshire.

Afterwards we walked to the San Antonio River Walk, where we took in a narrated history on the River Boat Tour. The cruise was 35 minutes long and covered one and a half miles. Our captain kept up a monologue about the history and growth of the riverwalk. The 1968 San Antonio's World's Fair brought about many changes, and today San Antonio is the country's 7th largest city.

The next day we said goodbye to Dori & Clyde, and drove to San Angelo, TX. While parked there, we got an unfortunate email from our local bank. Our Visa cards had been hacked!  The culprits were caught trying to charge $500.00 on it at Walmart. Still, we had to arrange for new cards to be sent to us, which is a little difficult to do when you are on the road. We managed to figure out where we would be on the day the cards would arrive, the bank mailed them, and it all worked out, eventually.

We are sooooo excited to have our daughter Bethany join us for 9 days later this week. We will pick her up at the Midland/Odesssa Airport and then drive onto New Mexico. See you next week!

Rio Grande Valley

The next part of our trip takes place in the Rio Grande Valley, an area located in the southernmost tip of South Texas. We drove about 300 miles south to Harlingen, Texas, and set up camp at a very nice and friendly RV site. On the East Coast, we refer to those who leave the cold to spend the winter in Florida (or other warm places) as "Snow Birds".  In the west, many folks flock to southern Texas to stay toasty, and they are commonly called "Winter Texans".  Most of these seasonal renters at the RV site had already left for their northern homes a few days before we arrived, but several of those who remained came over to our RV to made sure we were all set. The office was closed on Sundays, the day we arrived, (which we were aware of from our phone call when making our reservations) and it was a little confusing as to exactly where we should park. Many sites had permament motor homes parked on them, with patios, plantings and covered foundations. But thanks to these kind residents, we soon got squared away, and called our friends, New Hampshire transplants, who now lived just down the road.

Dick and Linda DesRosiers left Manchester, NH in 2004. They absolutely love it down here, and set out to show us everything they could during the 3 days we had allotted ourselves to stay. That night they invited us to have dinner at their home. Over dinner we talked on and on, trying to catch up on each other's lives. It was almost time to leave when the strangest thing happened, something they had never seen in all their time in Harlingen. It hailed! all of us rushed out to bring some potted plants inside. Now at this time I'm thinking about the hail we just experienced a couple of days ago, and I'm hoping and praying that it's not going to stalk us on this trip. Spooky!

The next day was sunny, in the 90's, and the 4 of us drove the 30 miles to the Mexican border. With passports safely in our possession we parked on the American side, and walked across the bridge to Nuevo Progreso, dropping 2 quarters in the turnstile. We immediately knew "we were not in Kansas anymore."

As we made our way out to the walkway, we passed by heavily armed Policia Federal agents. Beggars were pushing baseball caps through the bridge walls, wailing in Spanish for handouts. We walked on towards the crowded streets. Vendors were on the street side of the sidewalk, selling all kinds of goods, none with prices listed. They were pretty aggressive in their sales approach, calling out their wares, pushing items at us and making it somewhat difficult to get by, touching us on the arm at times, and doing their best to get our attention.

Even more interesting were the shops on the other side of the sidewalk. Outside of the many doctor's offices, dental clinics and pharmacies were paid employees dressed in scrubs, hawking these services.
These were walk-in facilities, and our friends have used them to save mucho dinero. While dental procedures might cost $800.00 in the US, it may cost as little as $150.00 in Mexico. The pharmacies were also eye openers. One can purchase 90 days worth of a prescription med for a fraction of what the same med is sold for in the US. One doesn't even need to show a prescription, but they do ask to see a driver's license.

We enjoyed a nice Mexican lunch, and then the women left to go to a salon to get their nails done. A pedicure cost $11.00 dollars, a manicure $8.00. Add the customary $1.00 tip, and you were (cheaply) on your way!

On our way back to the US, we dropped 1 quarter this time into the turnstile, and showed our passports to the US Customs. No one asked to see our purchases or receipts, or asked us questions. Each visitor is allowed $400.00 worth of duty free goods for personal use every 30 days.

The following day, also sunny and in the 90's, we went birding for a while, something neither of us had ever done. Among the birds we saw were bright red Cardinals, vivid yellow Orioles, Mourning Doves and a large hen-sized bird called a Chachalaca (cha-cha-la-ca). They were feeding on orange and apple halves nailed down on feeders.

After lunch we went to the Museum of South Texas History in Edinburg, Texas. It features exhibits on the history of the Rio Grande Valley, as well as the rest of South Texas and Northern Mexico. One exhibit we were interested in was of a map that showed how much of Texas had once been under water.  Our friends confirmed this by telling us they occasionally dig up shells at their home when they till their gardens.

Our last day was supposed to be a beach day on South Padre Island, but it was much too windy and the beaches were flying red flags. We did take off our shoes and waded up to our ankles, just to say "Why yes, we have been in the Gulf!" Later on we sat on benches away from the blowing sand and soaked up the rays while our feet dried. We went to a different place for birding this day, and walked the boardwalk near a wetlands. There we saw a flock of wading Roseate Spoonbills, a large white bird with brilliant pink and red on its wings, and a beak that looks like, well, like a spoon, sort of.  It's apparently useful for sweeping side to side in the water, creating mini-whirlpools that pull up small prey from the muddy bottoms of shallow ponds.  Among the other birds we recognized were Egrets, Herons and red-winged Blackbirds. There was also a butterfly garden where we found a shady bench to relax and watch the fluttering visitors. Lastly, we ended our day with a stop at Sea Turtle Inc. Their mission is to rescue, rehabilitate, and release injured sea turtles, educate the public, and assist with conservation efforts for all marine turtle species. Our friends are volunteer members of this organization, and walk the beaches during nesting season patrolling for fresh mama turtle tracks. These may lead to sand pits where the turtle eggs have been deposited and covered with sand. They then carefully relocate the nests to a safe, enclosed location, free from predators. The primary sea turtle that nests on these beaches is the Kemp's ridley.

We really enjoyed our time in Harlingen, but now it was time to say goodbye to our friends.  We needed to get ready for our next day's travel to Bandera, Texas, about 300 miles northwest. Our photos are already posted, so we'll catch y'all in a few days.

Steve & Sue Geenbaum

Preliminaries

March 9 - March 31, 2017

We finally got the RV back from the repair facility.... 6 months is a long time to wait for a relatively simple repair to be completed!  Steve spent the last couple of weeks badgering the company to get the RV finished so we could leave on our trip on time.  Well, after going to get it 3 times we finally got it home.  They said it was ready... only as we were loading our supplies we didn't have heat nor a blower for the front window heat and air conditioning.  Giving up on the RV service company, we went to a local repair business with a good reputation, and we hoped that this time it would be charmed. We were supposed to leave on our trip March 15th to Texas and beyond.  But this didn't happen. Not only was our RV not fixed, Mother Nature picked that very week to begin the winter season in earnest, with 2 feet of snow falling the day before our hoped for departure. I guess we were not fated to leave on the Ides of March.... et tu Brute?

Parts needed to be ordered, and there were delays due to all the snow in the East.  4 days later the part had come in, the repair was completed, and we planned to leave. We turned on the heat in the RV to warm it up, and left it in our friend's driveway overnight. Disaster struck! Apparently the originally mentioned RV repair facility thought it was a good idea to fill our water tank for us, but neglected to tell us about it. Overnight temps were below zero, daytime highs in the teens, and early the next day our friend Bob Jackman called to inform us we had water leaking under the RV.

After multiple phone calls from Steve without a return call, he finally just drove the RV back to the original repair facility. They were very apologetic, but the water in the tank had frozen solid  and the damage was done. They repaired the leaking valve, and said the rest looked good. But Sue was feeling very pessimistic, and was sure the entire water system was compromised. Unfortunately, her prediction proved to be correct. On the road, we had to stop 2 more times for repairs for leaks, the last one in the yucky black water line. A technician admitted to us that we could probably expect continued leaks, unless the entire system was replaced. And even the parts just to fix the present leak would not be in for 5 days.

So, that day we sold our Forrest River 3, and bought a new Tiffin Allegro Open Road, a 37 footer. We love it! New features include a bath and a half, central vac, fireplace, recliner, very comfortable master bedroom mattress, large Queen sized pull out sofa, passenger seat foot stool, power mirrors, full sized refrigerator with freezer, washer/dryer, 4 television sets (neither of us watch much TV!) and loads of storage space. And a very acceptable deal. We transferred all our stuff from one RV into another, and spent the first night right on the RV site we purchased it in Knoxville, TN. Our trip really began Sunday, March 25th, as we carefully pulled out of the lot.

Anxious to make up for lost time, we needed to cut back on some planned stops. We spent a couple of nights in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and drove through the (free) Vicksburg National Military Park, using a smartphone app as our auto tour guide. This park preserves the site of the American Civil War Battle of Vicksburg, waged from May 18 to July 4, 1863.  Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's armies eventually won this stronghold on the Mississippi River, the Confederacy was effectively split in half, and the river was opened to Northern traffic along its entire length.

Our next stop was in Lafayette, Louisiana. We stayed here 3 nights, caught our breaths, and caught up on chores. We LOVE our new W/D!  Did 4 loads of laundry, without leaving the RV. Ran the vac,  and did grocery shopping. We organized and reorganized, and then frantically searched for where we might have put something. A game without ending, although we wish it would! At least 10 times a day Steve is back looking for one of his 4 sets of keys.

It wasn't all work, though. We spent a very pleasant afternoon touring the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve, and learned of the Acadians, descendants of the original French settlers in the northeastern region of North America, including present-day Cape Breton, where we visited last summer. In 1764 approximately 11,500 Acadians were expelled, many of them to eventually settle in Louisiana. They are the ancestors of present-day Cajuns.

We also walked around  Vermilionville, a living history museum and folklike park, situated on a 23 acre site on the banks of the Bayou Vermilion. It includes 7 restored homes from the period 1765 to 1890, and has local artisans that provide demonstrations on crafts performed during this period.

We ate at a Cajun restaurant, and Sue loved their Gumbo, especially the seafood version. Steve enjoyed Hush Puppies and Shrimp Etouffee. And okay, if we're honest, we'll admit we went back there another night and tried Crawfish, Catfish, and more Gumbo!

We had severe thunderstorms one night, with hail the size of marbles and.... a tornado watch. Apparently a tornado warning is much worse, but anything with the word tornado preceding it scares the bejesus out of Sue, sitting ducks as we are in a RV. Steve went right to sleep, while Sue sat glued to the local weather reports, watching the scary bright red colors on the weather map get closer and closer. She laid out her sneakers, rain jacket, purse, cellphone and charger near the door, and estimated how fast we (she!) could sprint in the downpour and hail to the cinderblock laundry building at the other end of the campground if necessary. Or perhaps she just roll up into a fetal position and pray? Fortunately, we never had to find out, and the really good news was there were no dents on either our new RV or the new KIA we are towing on this trip. Sue thought we had survived the worst of it. That is until the next morning when she was talking to the owner of the KOA (Kampers of America). The owner told us we had nothing to worry about, the really bad storms are in Texas in the spring, with hail the size of grapefruits. Huh.

Guess where we're headed to next.