Trip #113 (44): Far West Texas: Big Bend, Marfa, Ft. Clark, Corpus Christi, San Antonio & Peter
Tuesday, Mar. 16 – Left a BEAUTIFUL cool Santa Fe to head to Roswell area. Drove via 285 south into the monster wind-sand storm, especially bad down in Roswell. Arrived about 3:30 and walked around town a bit for some alien shopping, but SO windy. Several people without masks, yay, and some stores didn't care if you wore one or not, and some required it. Camped about 12 miles out of town at Bottomless Lake State Park, great waterfront campsite but SO windy I preferred to stay in. ridiculous out there.
Wednesday, Mar. 17 – No corned beef for us, just a short drive on a *perfect* day to Guadalupe Mountains National Park, but alas, place was packed and no room for us to stay. So we moved on after stopping in Van Horn to make some calls ahead. What do you know, he parked right in front of the big Hotel El Capitan, so of course I had to tour and shop the 1930s gem. It was very cool. So, we moved on to Marfa; almost went to Alpine, but Marfa came first. And with my new education, I learned Marfa has the sister Hotel to Capitan, the Hotel El Paisan, also built by Trost. Equally cool, and Liz Taylor and Rock Hudson and James Dean hung out there while making Giant.. Got a spot, full hookups for $30 just a few blocks from the downtown-courthouse area, great location actually, but what a shithole, as B called it. Next door was the $50 Cosmic-something, you can rent a trailer, tent, yurt, teepee, and do yoga. We were good at the shithole. Basically a dusty parking lot. Lucky to get it too--the first two places we tried were full. Forgot it is Spring Break. First thing we did was jump on the bikes and ride around town and then out to the Airstream Yacht Club campground, which I stumbled upon while looking for places. Cool idea but about a mile or so out of town, each has its own carport. That place was also packed. Now with daylights saving time the days go quick so hotdogs were our late dinner.
Thursday, Mar. 18 – Intrigued by our bike tour of the town, this morning I did some googling of what's happening and got some good tips of what to do from a blog done by a store here called Wrong. yep, Wrong. Since it was 48 degrees no bikes were ridden but we went back to town, saw the hotel (famous for hosting the actors from the making of the 1956 film Giant), climbed up the courthouse to get the 4th floor view, and drove around to discover some other spots. Quite an interesting place. Apparently there a lot of art installations and galleries around town but we didn't have time for all that. Next time. It was time to move on for two nights 20 miles up the road in Fort Davis State Park. This time we have reservations so no worries. Did a short CCC hike after going back to town for groceries at a crappy little grocery store, Porters, but better than nothing. Had a great steak dinner and now I am typing this. Kinda pooped today, hoping for more energy tomorrow. No internet so can't binge on my crabbers into the wee hours!
Friday, Mar. 19 – Big day out was to tour the Fort Davis area, which we did, and brought our bikes to town to ride around and get the up close and personal view of Fort Davis. Did a tour of their courthouse like Marfa, no one seems to mind, in fact the only guy we saw introduced himself as the county judge, so I guess it was OK. Stopped for lunch at the Drugstore restaurant, about the most hopping on the old street, tried to shop but so much old gross crap, we didn't do much there. Talked to one shop owner about covid, he said he got it, lost his sense of taste, could barely walk 10 feet, but now he is fine. Said 4 people in town have died of it, one being a 92 yr old woman getting transfusing, so they chalked it up to coved, said he. Did the spread for dinner later, after sitting outside for a while.I had put out some seed and water for the birds, but what came in was javelinas! Three big ones — they slurped up the seed and the water, and one kept coming back. They smell like skunks; in fact, I had been sitting outside, picked up my crap and on my walk to the trailer I smelled what I thought was WEED, and accused the neighbors of toking up, until I looked out the window. hahahaa Big mistake, guess I should have read the literature about not doing that. The park does that and they do go to that feeder area and lick it all up.
Saturday, Mar. 20 – Drove to Big Bend, not the most exciting drive. Stopped in Alpine to shop, WTF all they have in far west Texas is that shitty Porters. ugh. The one in Alpine was bigger but still a crap selection. South of Alpine was very pretty, reminded me a lot of the outskirts of south and east Durango. Took Highway 118 down, lots of ranches for sale, got more desolate the further south we went. We are in the Rio Grand campground, #58, like boondocking, but with loud, squealing little girls next door. really annoying. So good time to start the generator and run the air!!!! yeah!! Cooked ribs in the dutch oven, coals went cool too soon, so took longer to cook, no matter, the old guy who will be in our spot next stopped by. Also an airstream guy over the the other CG, he puts out surveillance cameras, and talked a lot, but said to watch for him and is story on My Dog Saved my Life. (He was camping in Alaska when he caught a grizzly family on his cameras). Anyway, Bill said those ribs were the worst he EVER had. wow. Not a good place to start. Tomorrow it's Porters chick, uh oh. Tired from heat, went to bed super early, like 9:30. Bad idea…
high 85 at Big Bend.
Sunday, Mar. 21 – Bad night sleeping, went to bed too early (cuz it was hot) and was awake for about 3 hours between 2am and 5am. Once firing on all cylinders we did a short bike ride around the campground and found a road to see the Rio Grande. Gonna be another hot one so did the mountain drive in the Chisos Mtns to the lodge and small campground. It was at least bit cooler there, so we did about a mile on the Windows Trail. That was enough. Warm… Came back about 3:00, no wifi is working the area store or visitor center, so can't check on much, but think we will cut out a day early, too hot and not much to do here. Got back to the trailer and now our side behind us is getting the flooding irrigation so the tent people are really in for it. It's right up to the back of the trailer already. Also it's 90 degrees. WHAAAAT?? Generator and a/c are on as I type this. What a life-saver. Too bad because it's nice and quiet here this afternoon, and the birds are back since the little screamers are gone. Keep seeing a vermillion flycatcher and a ladderback, yellow headed woodpecker, cool. Never saw yeller before on a woody. Actually went to bed with the windows open last night, great breeze, but by 1am it got cold and that's when all hell-wide awake happened. Was about 45 overnight. After all that heat, weird. After running the air for a bit and watching the end of the Cane Mutiny, we decided to walk over to the nature trail along the Rio Grande, behind a row of campground, but upon our approach we noticed several park ranger and border patrol trucks all over, plus a medical rescue.The story she gave us was that someone had heat exhaustion, but we think it's more like someone washed up or it was a recovery. We may never know, but sure was a LOT of attention, and border patrol… One more thing before dinner, we drove over to Boquillos Crossing, where you used to be able to raft over to the Mexican town but of course not anymore. Lots of trails here too are closed due to Covid, makes no sense. Drove over to the canyon area and then drove back and made Porters chicken. Not bad, at like animals were were so hungry, no lunch today, except for bill's ice cream samwich at the lodge area and pumpkin seeds and pretzels. Just as Sister Wives came on and all the trailer windows were open, some night creature started up with a very loud sound… sounded like a police whistle. on and on and on he went. Gotta find out what that was. SO loud. owl? frog? LOUD.
Monday, Mar. 22 – Decided to leave Big Bend a day early, 2 nights instead of 3. Well, at just $8 a night, what the heck. Nothing else to do here and this place doesn't do a lot for me. Prepared for another cold night … and nuttin'. It was actually a very nice 59 this am. weird weather here, after 95 in the late afternoon. awful. So, we drove north out of park on the road to Marathon, another long, boring desert drive, so glad to leave it behind. Reminds me too much of the Baja. I guess it's the Chihuahuan Desert; Sonoran is much prettier, IMO. So just as we reached Marathon we could see the dust storm ahead, blowing like a mofo, but thankfully it was coming from the west and could push us east. REALLY strong winds. We are heading for Del Rio. Along the way we stopped to make a change of plans: move San Antonio reservations to the weekend to give us time to get to Corpus Christi and back. So drive drive drive, seeing border patrol here and there, drive drive, drive, no signal, can't surf, drive drive drive. It was raining as we reached Del Rio, but having checked Campendium as soon as getting a signal, I fought hard to go another 30 miles east to the town of Brackettville, as I found an interesting campground with a fort in that town. What a GREAT FIND! Small town, but home of Fort Clark Springs, site of an old stone built in the 1850s and now inhabited by residents! Huge grounds, so much history so little time. Took a drive around the fort as well as neighborhood across the highway, saw the courthouse, didn't climb it. Their only grocery is the Lowes. Before we left I saw a kitty across the driveway and called her over. Soon she was in the trailer, no meowing, no climbing, no begging, just lonely. When we got back from the drive there she was. She lives on the porch of the office so they take good care of her, she was either an escapee or abandoned three years ago. So after dinner, we walked her home… then walked toward the road, saw 6 deer crossing the street, or trying to, scared them all back. Then we were attacked by 3 neighbor yorkies… owners came running. good thing, we are on the busy street. well, busy enough. Wandered around the live oak grove next door where you could see foundations or roads, someone said it was site of married housing on the fort. more roads off to the back through the trees, so cool. We should come back, but it's so far…. Topped off the night by stopping at the rec room, one guy was in there so made Bill come with me, turned out to be our neighbor, he has been coming here for years, is staying for 3 months and volunteers so knows a lot of the history. Talked for about an hour, let in the kitty, learned a lot and got home about 10pm. Watched the neighborhood road zoom meeting and went to bed after 11. Slept good! Moderate weather here, was 44 in the am. Just for research, found one officer's quarters for sale online, $300k for 3300 sq ft original stone house redone in 2019. Such a deal, in possible 118 degree summers. ughhhhh
Tuesday, March 23 – Kitty was waiting for us in the morning, let her in a few times, packed up and headed out toward Corpus Christi. I would definitely visit this place again. Took Farm Roads east, first stopping in quite larger Uvalde for the biggest Walmart I think I've ever seen, huge. Finally some good produce! Nice weather, tho it would go as high as 88 the further east we went and went from ranching to oil production. Was going to stay a night at Choke Canyon but they had their campgrounds closed because there is no water, probably from the big Feb Freeze. So we had a quick lunch there and moved on to Corpus Christi, using I-35. First drive in busy traffic, been nice not having to do that, but it was fine. Got to the shoreline and I smelled the sulpher-like smell of Fla mangroves, or in this case, the gulf. Had to decide between boondocking on the beach to the south on Padre Island, or heading north to Mustang Island and getting full hookups at IB Magee County park at the north end at Port Aransas. Not a tough decision… #53. So this park is along a shipping port channel, on the gulf, which is roaring and loud, and a busy little town with, yes, restaurants!!! Perfect for bike riding too, good and Texas flat. Stayed in and cooked the first night, wanted to enjoy that fresh produce, but did a short walk to the water, where I was ready to go as soon as I reached it (hahahaaa), and to see truck and cars driving down the beach. Good strong signal here at least.
Wednesday, Mar. 24 – Woke up to solid fog, until 10am. 100% humidity. Yeah, I do love my Santa Fe. Did this for a lifetime, just don't get the attraction to … wind, humidity and waves and sand and a giant mosquito that sneaked in. Not sure what today will hold, bikes I hope, and probably some rain. Took a loop drive around the Corpus Christi Bay which started with a ride on the ferry across the port jetty to Aransas Pass. Stopped for chocolate beignets at Popeyes. Tasty but not N’awleans. Some nice homes on the ocean drive and ended up at a dead end at the Naval Base, whoops. From there, went to the smallish, not very impressive South Texas Botanical Gardens. However, most of the outdoor plants were cut down or dead from the freeze, but She thought the orchid house was great. It was. Headed back to the campground with a stop at the local Mexican restaurant La Playa. Bill had great shrimp and Sheila had bland enchiladas. Took a drive on the beach in the fog and then home for the night. (Not sure which evening or morning it was, but with the windows open the screens were soaked and dripping with condensation, water, humidity, so so gross. Bill wiped it down with a rag.)
Thursday, Mar. 25 – Woke to clear “air” — no fog! I can see! However, dark clouds had gathered, then the wind whipped up for a quick little storm, but fortunately it was a short one and everything cleared and warmed up. Spent the morning cleaning kitchen drawer contents while we waited for the wind to settle down, then we went out to some local shit shops, the place is so small it didn’t take long. Came back and took off on bikes, still a little windy and getting warmer, but fine for bikes; we were heading for a wetlands area when we passed the local History Museum so of course I made him stop! Cute little place, the docent was so excited to have visitors and had to show us everything, including the Farley boat makers that made wooden boats here since the 20’s or so, and still have a site on Avenue C. So that was our next stop to see that, which we did. We also learned that the thing to do back in the 1930s was to pull a scale off a tarpon you caught, and sign it and the Tarpon Inn hotel would nail them to the walls. TONS of them there, of course I had to do the quick little lobby tour. That was pretty cool. Had dinner at Grumbles at Fishermans Wharf, and as we left I looked up to see the bluest sky I have ever seen. Really unusual blue. Perfect weather today, really made a difference. For a while Didn’t think we would get out to ride bikes. and BTW, they have the best curbs here, all rounded out so you can ride up and over them at any point, no bumps. Drove out to the beach for a bit then went to a new restaurant called Grumbles. Good fish sandwich and green fried tomatoes.
Friday, Mar. 26 – Finally another nice day but breezy, and time to move on. Packed up and hit the road by taking truck & trailer on the ferry to avoid CC traffic. Saved a lot of time, it was great. Seems a lot of RVs, etc use that. They even gave us two lanes, right up front. Pretty cool way to go. Shortish drive to San Antonio, arrived around 1:30 pm and got set up. Cute tiny private campground, Yanawana Camp, with only 5 spaces. Very excited hosts couldn’t wait to pull out maps and show us the ropes. We are in the south part of town, by an interstate and a not so great hood (hence the locked gate; sounds like a lot of things get stolen around here from what they said, both are San Antonio natives.) Temps are warmer here, but went on a 6 mile RT bike ride late in the day to Espado Mission right around the corner and also Cassin Lake at the end of the trail. It was 88 degrees and yes, it felt like it. Came back and ate in since we were tuckered out. But that was the plan all along, don’t know what is around here and I bet it’s a ride to find anything good. Nights get to about 65 degrees. Windows open the first night. We are in the “Northern Cardinal” spot, on the end closest to the hosts house, so I get a good view of the bird feeder, featuring several Red Cardinals! Gabby, the owner, was surprised we didn’t see “the wild dogs”, she says the strays are all over and have killed two of her cats. She also said a feral hog once showed up, guess that was before the fence.
Saturday, Mar. 27 – Was supposed to be rainy today but only overcast. Took a 12 mile bike ride north on the trail. Really is a great trail, even with art installations along the way, probably because these 4 missions are all part of a Unesco site. Took showers before heading out for a ride to see the north part of town. Went right up the middle of it all, ugh the humanity. Many visitors around the Riverwalk area so we skipped that; did it before. Temps rising to above 90 today. The town is busy everywhere. Stopped at a nursery which was very busy with people replacing all their dead, frozen plants. Went to the Pearl Brewery area which is a new site of apartments, restaurants, and shops. Long lines, people with overheated dogs everywhere—no thanks, at 90 degrees. Then went Nichas for Mexican food at 3 pm and it was packed. Good food…but obviously no one in this town stays home when it’s 90°! Came back to the trailer for AC and Mexican siesta. All night. Forgot to go look at the full moon. Last day here.
Sunday, Mar. 28 – Woke to major winds at 3am, remembering that the awning was out. Woke Bill to fix that! Morning then continued with a rainstorm before we head out. Man, this Texas weather covers the gamut for sure. Should be better later, I think this is a front moving through. Left San Antonio for Georgetown, going straight up I-35, and wow, plenty of traffic the entire way up. No breaks in the shops, was expecting some ranches but they are not there, but all my favorite chain stores are, including In’ n Out Burger, where we stopped for lunch. Austin didn’t disappoint with its traffic, solid but moving. Made it to Jim Hogg Park by about 2pm, we have booked one night for our chance to meet Bill’s “little brother” Peter, and his wife Leonora. Once we settled into our down-slanting spot #117, we gave them a call and they came over to pick us up (they live about 10 minute away). Filmed the big first meeting! There is some resemblance, except with height! Went over to their house, a brand new beautiful place just 2 years old, met the four dogs, they were very excited for company but kept jumping on the couch we got them in trouble a lot. After checking out her orchids too, we went for a drive to the town plaza and to dinner at Mas Fajitas! Good place. They brought us back about 8pm, good time, hope to see them again! Cool nights here, the day was about 73, finally, cooler, drier air. Jim Hogg is a nice park, but saving exploring this and the town for another time. Moving on to Waco momentarily…
Monday, Mar. 29 – Today we want to see the Magnolia Silos in Waco, so headed on up I-35 some more. Still busy but not as bad as south by Austin, etc. Hit major construction on the interstate in Waco, glad to get off that one. Navigated our way to the Silos right in the middle of the downtown, took one look at the line around the building on the corner to get in the bakery and said, no thanks. Kept going, even though the weather was a perfect 72 if you had to stand in the sun. But we didn’t, so we didn’t. Waco looks like a cute downtown to visit, sometime we will have to stay closer and find a way in. Moving on now to the west on Highway 6 we got back into the much nicer farming countryside with green! Another place to keep in mind is funky Hico, looks like another cute place, has some trailers you can rent and several possibly funky RV parks. Long day of driving, continued on past Amarillo to Sweetwater, where we found an army corp of engineers campground by a lake. Turned out we were on the dam end so couldn’t see anything, but again, for $15 it was fine for one night. Was windy when we arrived, but by midnight it got SUPER windy, windy enough that it blew the Dish thing off the propane tanks and I thought I was hearing it blowing around out there so I woke bill to check it out. He was thrilled. But it did happen and he had to find it.
Tuesday, Mar. 30 – Today we drove two hours to Lubbock for lunch with Rick and Ann. Perfect 64 degree weather in Lubbock. Got there about 1pm to meet at Cheddars. It was great catching up! Been several years. Our last stop before getting home will be Portales, at the exciting ol’ Oasis Campground. Got to town to buy some peanuts, etc. then took the bikes to the campus to ride around. That didn’t take long, the roads are horrible so it was a short ride. That heavy lunch means no dinner required. Arrived to Portales early enough to find the Peanut Store, then took the bikes over to the campus to ride around; the roads were horrible so didn’t go far. This place needs some financial attention from Queen Grisham, with some fixing up maybe they would get more students. Quiet night at the trailer, can’t remember, but I do remember the Dish blew over so we couldn’t get a signal.
Wednesday, Mar. 31 – Got home faster than I thought it would be, came up 285 way. Let the laundry begin…
RIP:George Segal, Boulder shootings-10 dead. Jessica Walter, Larry McMurtry, G Gordon Liddy
