Boondocking on Padre Island National Seashore

Soft shelled Crab

Just picture this between two thick pieces of bread; it was covered with some sort of sauce that was not very edible. The soft shelled crab molts in May leaving the shell behind. Now my friend Peggy, a NOMAD from Alabama, loves these things! Me - I just miss my Dungeness crab!

Mustang Island Texas

We are now on Mustang Island. We arrived here from Corpus Christi via free ferry to Port Aransas which is the town on this island. It has been 70 degrees, clear skies and a little breezy.

I just yesterday returned my first meal! I ordered a soft shell crab sandwich - I had no idea that crab was fried and its body and legs were between the bread! That was enough for me. I tried to cut the legs off so I couldn't see them in the sandwich but that didn't work. So I just ate a piece of key lime pie! Guess I am not much of a southern guest!

Today we are heading to another of the 298 barrier reef islands that exist in the United States. It is called Padre Island and there we can dry camp right on the beach which we will do for two nights at least. We are camping within the Padre Island National Seashore and will attend walks and talks there.

One strange thing on the beach: caterpillars! Maybe from the dunes, but they are in the water, traveling back to the dune covered with sand, and each breeze rolls them back...short lifespan for these little critters.

We may stay here at a private park for a month...this rivals Tucson for a winter camping place.

Texas Hill Country

We have really enjoyed Texas! We love everyone saying, "How are you all?" In our RV camping area, there are many very wealthy gated communities. The women wear tight jeans, blingy belts, and cowboy boots! You see lots of silver jewelry or torquoise jewelry. Today we went to a bar for fried pickles - good! The hill country is beautiful with so many oak trees. Everyone here has been so friendly.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Park

This is the Texas White House where LBJ's family came for vacations while he was in the White House. Lady Bird lived here after his death until her death in 2007. Now it is being restored back to the way it was for tourists to see. We saw his office, the kitchen, dining room (where all the chairs have a different flower needlepoint on them) and the living room. By 2011, you will see their bedrooms and family room. A park ranger led us through the house...a CD was given to us to tour the ranch.

This was LBJ's aunt house and he purchased it from her.

This is LBJ's childhood house. His father was a senator in the Texas legislature; his mother was an educator and journalist. LBJ was a teacher early in his career and that is when he learned about the poverty of others.

San Antonio

Downtown San Antonio houses The Alamo. Only this building is left from that time of the battle. Mexico desired the city of San Antonio and Santa Anna sent troops here to capture the fort. Several women and children were being sheltered inside; very few troops were here. The leaders and all troops were killed including Captain Bowie and Davy Crockett. Later, the Texian troops did defeat Santa Anna's troops and Texas was declared a republic. The women were spared by the Mexican troops.

One Sunday morning, we journeyed to the River Walk in downtown San Antonio. Rufus walked with us on the 2 mile path on both sides of the Pecos River - shops, restaurants, pansies and beautiful green plants. The operator of one of the boats asked us what breed Rufus was!

This clearly is a photo Earl took! This is the canyon we hiked down into the Rio Grande River. It is smaller than it used to be because of the irrigation upstream.

Further down the river, we saw Mexican hombres on the other side. They spoke to us, "Hi amigo!" We spoke back. It scared us when we saw one on the U.S. side, but the park officials said they were gathering grass and shrubs for their goats and horses to eat in their white cloth bags Until 9/11, the town of Boquillas, Mexico and the U.S. were very friendly. Many Big Bend visitors used to go by canoe over to the town and have lunch/dinner and shop there. Now no one can cross into Mexico from here and of course vice versa! Without the tourist trade, the village is very, very poor now.

Hot Springs in Big Bend

We hiked to an old "resort" that is no longer in service! The store is on the left and some college kids are in the hot springs right next to the Rio Grande River. Many college students were in the park learning the science of the area. There were students from Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and California that we met.

Especially for Gayle: cactus in the Chichahuan Desert

These are some cactus that we've not seen in other of the deserts (Great Basin, Sonoran, or Mojave) so I wanted Gayle and all to see these! Top left: candelilla is called the wax plant and the wax conserves its moisture. Top right: rainbow cactus. Bottom left: lechuguilla is an indicator plant for this desert. Bottom right: leatherstem. Like ocotillo this produces leaves only after a rain.

It's Really Called Window Rock - Big Bend

We are in the mountain area of Big Bend park with pinyon pines and juniper. Rain that falls goes through this "window" and then must be piped back up 1800' to the Lodge and restaurant here. Such an expansive park!

Balance Rock

In the desert part of Big Bend, we walked for 1.2 miles and then climbed up boulders to this scene! Fun!

Stillwell Ranch and Campground near Big Bend

Welcome to Stillwell Ranch! My photo of the store did not come out! Hallie Stillwell married Roy in 1916 and they ranched this land until her death in 1997. One time she tried to get a calf to drink milk from the mother cow; but the mother cow drunk on wet sotol cactus! Her adventures are in the book "I'll Gather My Geese." This was a wonderful read.

On the right is W.T., Hallie's daughter's husband. He helps run the store and checked us in-84 years old. Note the towels to his right! Farm hands come here to shower - $3.00 if you don't need a towel, $4 if you need one of those towels on the shelf!

W.T. went to Las Vegas with Hallie's daughter, she got him drunk, and two days later discovered they were married.

Our patio cover was made from ocotillo branches. The photo looks much better than it did! We absolutely loved this place! In the gift shop, I bought some prickly pear soap and an Apache tear stone.

Texas/New Mexico

Guadalupe Mountains National Park is in Texas - we'd never heard of it! But had to cross it off our list of National Parks!! It is a ocean reef so filled with fossils/limestone. The Guadalupe Mountain is the tallest peak in Texas (8,700 feet). Then we drove North to New Mexico to go through the Carlsbad Caverns. So different from the Lava Caves as it is a limestone cave with stalactites (c for ceiling) and stalagmites (g for ground). The big room is as large as 16 football fields and no photo is going to do it justice at all! There were "fairylands" of popcorn like stalagmites...draperies of stalactites...we took a guided tour through the King's Palace and then went on a self-guided hike through the Big Room. That took all morning. Compared to our small lava caves in northern California, this was just so large and expansive and so beautiful!

The Haunted Silverware Drawer!

Tucson Geocaching (Last time)

The last day of our geocaching in Tucson. We are ready to find them in Rapid City this summer! At Guadalupe Mountains National Park, they have "earth" caches where you find the box and learn more about the area!

Traveling to Las Cruces, New Mexico

Traveling from Tucson to Las Cruces made for some interesting road signs. "Dust storms may exist here for 15 miles." "Do not stop on the highway lanes." "Visibility may be zero." "Report drunk drivers by calling D.M.I. (#364)."

We saw several "Americanos" buses carrying passengers from Mexico to Tucson. We passed the Continental Divide which surprised us! Beautiful jagged mountains here in Las Cruces. It is at a higher elevation than Tucson so colder but a very cared for town.

We are heading to Carlsbad Caverns and Guadalupe Mountains National Park tomorrow to spend several days. We will travel through El Paso to get there. Then on to either the hill country of Texas or San Antonio - we have to get started planning the rest of our trip until Rapid City.

That's all for now!

Geocaching at Brown Mountain, Tucson

Shahela saw a weird colored "thing" covered by rocks and said, "I've found it!" However, Poppa said, "You are 17 feet from the coordinates and it CAN"T be there!" Sure enough it was and Poppa helped her open the ammo box. After hiking for .6 miles the wrong direction, we hiked over a mile to this cache. One tough hiker Shahela is!

We hiked up Brown Mountain to this cache. It was the best we've opened. The box had many wonderful Las Vegas items such as beads, postcards of Las Vegas and all.

Howard and Jody with us geocaching!

This shows the danger of geocaching. Jody fell as we were climbing uphill but was undaunted!! She found the second cache but got bloodied in the process! It's all about the hunt! Howard found the first geocache that day. Earl and I found none!

Shahela - December, 2009

All I want for Christmas is more play doh! She used some Christmas money for more sets!!! We journeyed to the Pima Air and Space Museum, took a tram tour and more about that later!

Christmas in a Fifth Wheel

Decorating in a fifth wheel is easy! Just take the scroll saw and make some ornaments. Then Earl made a sleigh to hold the peppermint candy and you must have chili lights, especially the first year. These were found by my new friend, Denise, at a yard sale!!!