On to Big Bend National Park, TX

December,15th........  Saturday morning found me rising early, full of energy. I felt good! Maybe its because the sun was shining... I walked the dogs, secured anything that needed it and headed for Fort Stockton 200 miles away. The speed limit on I-10 was 80 mph... 80 MPH!!! Who in the world needs to go so fast???

Well, I set my cruise at a reasonable 65 and only once in a while went 70. Love to hear that engine whine, haha! (memories....) I fueled up at Fort Stockton and headed on down 385 to Big Bend Nat'l Park. Early evening found me at Panther Junction about mid-way into the park.

I went inside the visitor's center and asked about camping. I could go SE to Rio Grande Village (33 mi) or SW to Cottonwood (20 mi). Speed limit was 45 most of the way. I choose to go SE, and so glad I did. I snapped a few photos on the way in as the land forms began changing. But the sun was sinking low and I had to make time to get there before dark. Why, I wonder, is it that I always seem to be chasing my tail?? This is not a race I am in.

I need to s-l-o-w  d-o-w-n.

 

 I got there just as the camp hosts were leaving for the evening.There were 2 campgrounds; a commercial one with all hookups,  and a national park campground, no amenities except faucet water and shower/restrooms. I was tired from driving 350 miles and could have slept good anywhere. I stayed at the nat'l park's campgrounds for $7/night with my senior discount. I got parked and took the dogs for a short run so they could do their business. 

We had a dark, peaceful night's sleep! The next day, I talked with the camp host as to sites to see. He gave me some great tips. So after freshening up and breakfast and doggie doo's, we were off! But not before I took a picture of this twisted tree trunk,

 and the vastly different trees with yellow foliage across the drive.

We headed out to Boquillas Canyon overlook, about 5 mi away.

This is the first time I have seen the Rio Grande River while standing on the ground. Just a ribbon of water, seperating two countries, very diverse in our customs and ways of life, yet so very similar, as people just wanting to provide a living for our families....

Here, Mexicans come from the town of Boquillas, MX,  across the border, (the river) and climb the steep incline to display their wares on these rocks in hopes someone will buy from them, enabling them to make a few dollars to feed their families. But the rules and laws of the BB Nat'l Park forbid it....

I would have liked to... but not willing to risk fines or other consequences.

Looking at the mountain escarpment that is on the other side if the river to the east. 

and some of the dessert plants



One last look at the river.... and.... opps? Look at that stone! What is that??

I did not see this til I was looking over my photos. Is this the real thing? Or did someone make this and set it there by itself. I may never know....

More photos to come of Big Bend parks.....

 

Fredericksburg and on to Luckenbach, TX

I left Potter Creek  mid-afternoon on Thursday the 13th and headed toward Fredericksburg, TX. I took a round-about way getting there and arrived just before dark. I went to the first RV park I saw, and was willing to pay the price just to get parked for the night as I could find no truck-stops there, or they would have been my first choice.
 I had a reason for wanting to stop in Fredericksburg; I wanted to go to *Luckenbach, TX* the next day, only 10 miles away. Fredericksburg has lots and lots of cute little shops and the streets were all decked out for Christmas season, but thats really not my kind a thing. Maybe if there had been someone to shop with, but then I'm not really a shopper. I'd rather if the weather was nice and I'd had the time, to set up on the street and do a painting of the shops along the avenue.
Anyway, my brother said if I got anywhere close to Luckenbach. I should go although there isn't much there, but there had been a country song written about it by Waylon Jennings (if I remember correctly...)
It had misted rain all day and was not a pleasant day for an outing, but I was this close and wasn't about to miss it. I walked the dogs in the muddy gravel parking lot, toweled them off the best I could, gave them a treat, told them to be good, and headed for .... I don't know what.

Post office and General Store.

Inside.... too bad they don't send mail from here anymore. I would think people would be glad to get a postcard or letter from Luckenbach, TX.

The old dress-maker's form, and all kinds of old-timey products, probably used by our moms and grand-mamas.

As I understand it, this fellow, Hondo, started this establishment at least, if not the whole "town".

Here is his obituary. (Sorry so fuzzy)

A tribute to the independant spirit of the Texans.....

On the back left side is an attached room, called a beer joint.

I didn't go in there. As I said before, the only good use of the stuff, at least for me, is to kill slugs with! I KNOW what beer does to them!!

I opted instead to go to the "Feed Lot"

where I got this instead...

A bratwurst sandwich with saurkraut (yummy!) and their special brand of "curly fries", which was probably almost as bad for me, but I didnt eat all the fries.

They also have a community building with a stage and all, I suppose for country bands to come in and play or for square dances, celebrations and the like. There was a band coming in that evening but I figured I'd just get back to my little home-on-wheels. It was cold and damp.... and besides, its just not my type of atmosphere.

AND..... when I saw these, I knew it was time to be leaving!

EEWWWW... big ole red ants!!

Doncha know, everything's bigger in Texas?!

 

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After leaving Luchenbach, I drove on over rt 290 to Junction.

I did not want to stay in that expensive, muddy rv park a second night. I stopped at Junction N. Llano River RV. These nice people gave me a 20% discount because it was late and I was leaving first thing on the morning. They were super-nice and came out to make sure I had my electric hooked up and everything I needed. The grounds were much better taken care of than the last place, even though it was also gravel.

 

Here is something that made me laugh out loud. Maybe it will give you a chuckle as well.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Have a wonderful day!!

Tiny Home Atmoshere

Just thought you might like to see some of my "creature comforts".

 

These plants sit on my dinette table when I am at a campsite, otherwise they ride in the sink or a cardboard box while on the move. The one in the middle has 3 plants in it; a rope plant, a philodendren, and a hen and chicks plant, They are all starts from my friend Debbie in Kentucky where I used to live. She gave them to me this fall on my way through.

The larger pot holds 2 plants; of which I am not sure the names, but one resembles a staghorn fern without the "stag" part, and the other is a spiney thing  which reminds me of the game "Connects" (click to view larger image.) and is from another Kentucky friend, Wendy, with whom I also worked. Both these girls are special to me and I am so proud to have a living plant from both of them!
 

The water bowl is actually where my little Beta fish, "Moby Dick", lives. I changed his water the other day and he is happily blowing a bubble nest. He has made the journey quite well since the beginning. The lid has a light in the cover, and an opening for a bit of philedendron to live with its roots in the water. 

See him in there?Isn't he pretty?

These minor 'creature comforts' bring a smile to my face and makes my little RV feel like home.

 

Other comforts, such as of the nutritional kind are......

This awesome mueslix mix from a Menonite bulk foods store. I keep it in a ziplock freezer bag, and use 1/2 cup cereal to 1/2 cup water in a microwavable bowl, on high for 2 min. It is made of oatmeal, a couple other grains (no corn), flax, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, raisins, dates, and almonds. It doesn't even need honey to sweeten. Absolutely yummy!!

 

Oh, and did I ever show you my bread-maker?? Another yard-sale find. Yes, its actually my old 3 qt crock-pot, which has a roasting rack for meat (bottom left) but also has this nifty little can in which to bake a loaf of bread. Yeh, I agree.... quite a find :)

 

So yesterday I also made some bread using the below ingredients.

Dry yeast mixed with almost a cup water and 2 tsp honey set to "work", 3 1/2 cups of 7-grain bread mix, and some of my home-dehydrated shredded zucchini.

Mix all and knead into a smooth ball

Let rise once, then let the air out (punch down) and put in the can, letting it rise again.

"Bake" in the crockpot on high till done. Mine took almost 3 hrs.

Finished product.... a little dense but oh so flavorful! I can remedy next time I bake it

 

I get the crust!!!



Still at Potter Creek.....

I decided to stay an extra few days because of the cold snap coming in. No sense being out on the road having to use up my propane for heat when I could have electric hook-up here and could get caught up on some painting. (been having too much fun and not tending to business...)

Miss Izzy and Curley Joe were in agreement, so it was unanimous!

Meanwhile the deer have been coming back and I got some pretty good photos today, I thought.
I happened to see this buck passing as I was sitting at my table painting. This photo was taken through the window.

They were crossing in back of my rig, so I went quietly out the door with my camera.

There were several of them....

I just kept snapping pictures

Three in the photo below. Can you see them?

This brave buck walked right toward me...

Then more followed. Wow! Three bucks plus a few does!

I zoomed in a little on this one

Then he turned and they started to leave. I shot the next photo so quickly that It came out dark with the eyes of the deers glowing. Had to lighten it to post. 

Here is the best-looking doe I have seen since being here. 

Then they were off, looking for food elsewhere. They did not find much here to their liking.

 It has been a beautiful day after an extremely cold night.

This is tonight's gorgeous sunset. I feel so very blessed to be able be out here in all this wonder!

Good-night all!

What are Your Thoughts on This?

Boon-docking Rally in Quartzite, AZ

http://www.rv-dreams.com/boondocking-rally.html

 

 

Ever been to one? Any kind of RV rally? Says its for beginners as well as seasoned RVers, that you will have access to learning boondocking tips from other RVers. Just not sure I could handle being around so many other people I don't know. I have a tendancy to get overwhelmed, except if some of you all were going, someone I knew through the blog-world. Any of you planning on going?

Just comtemplating.....

But I'm basically a loner

 

Planning on being in AZ anyway...

Canyon Lake - Potter Creek Park-COE

Part of the 8,230-acre lake with 80 miles of shoreline.I found this by putting the coordinants in my Garmin GPS. Love Garmin! It's a GPS for dummies, er, it was a wise investment for me.

Anyway this is looking toward the lake from down below my campspot.

Below, the campsites of the left loop. Nothing for shade except for the roofed picnic shelters, which I guess is ok.

Far across this field is the right loop down closer to the water.

The fur-pals and I took a long walk across this field this morning and they got their sniffing, running, pottying time in.

Of course I had to watch out for holes like these, about the size of the first half of my shoe.

They were all over that field.

At least the dogs tired out before I did this time ;-)

(The down side of this campground is the little burrs that are all over. They had to be combed out of the dog's fur everytime I took them outside. So if you visit here be prepared if you have dogs.)

Back to the camp we went, where I had parked near some trees on the back side, which is the west.

The cement pads are pretty level and backing in was not a problem.

As I had electric hook-up, last night and today were crock-pot days.

(except that, reading "Traveling with John" made me realise I was eating like I was still up north in the cold) Well, got to fix what I have , no matter the temps. So here's my dried bean, lentil, veggie, polish sausage hearty soup.

...and my cooked apples because I had left home with a peck of good northern apples and some I had left are starting to wither, so I cut up the worst ones. Still good, mind you. I can have these with pancakes or make a biscuit topper, or just plain eat them; there are many ways to use these.

I carry a 3 qt and a 1 1/2 qt crock-pots with me.

Thats what I do when I get to a place with electric is cook up enough for several days. It saves my propane for boondocking and I don't have to eat at Burger King.

 

Opps! I downloaded the wrong picture of the deer.... just a minute....

There, that one is better.....

This is right in back of my RV. They are not scared at all. There is a ban on feeding them now, in fact a huge fine if you do, because of over-population. They hope to eliminate 130 deer this year because they have been eating off the trees for lack of proper grazing per number of deer. It seems that way in alot of places.

I am kicking myself tonight because there was a beautiful sunset and I forgot to carry my phone with me when I walked the dogs. And I leave tomorrow to head west....

Got to plan my route. Have a wonderful evening and may the Lord keep you all safe.