What Are We Going to Do Here?

February 25 - 27
Beaumont, TX

On our way to Beaumont Debbie and I wondered what there might be to see and do there. As it turned out we could have allowed a few more days here.

We pulled into Braunig Lake RV park early afternoon to a traffic jam in the long two lane entrance! There were 3 or 4 fifth wheels down the outside lane and one in the inside lane leaving just enough room for us to get in off the road. Another fifth wheel arrived behind us and stayed out in road. Before Debbie got out of our RV the fifth wheel in front moved so I pulled up to the end of the driveway, about 3 RV length and stopped. As we got out I noticed the fifth wheel behind us had just pull in enough to get off the road, not up to our RV, and way closer to the office than us. They beat us into the office but since I was in front of them they couldn't go anywhere, so I wondered why they were trying to beat us. When we came out the fifth wheels in the out side lane had moved. An RV was trying to pull into the out side lane but the me-first's fifth wheel was kinda blocking that lane because he didn't pull up. Ops! The RV scraped the corner of the fifth wheel! As we left for our site they were all out looking at the minor damage.

This campground has cement roads and sites with grass seperating the sites. Very nice.


Our patio was actually at our front door. I think thats a first. They also offered breakfast in the morning but we didn't get down to partake.


One site over a couple of guys had a tub of crawdads and were getting a big pot of water ready. They invited us over but we went out for dinner and missed their crawdad feast.

The next day we drove up about 30 miles to the Big Thicket Visitor Center. We learned alot about the local wildlife in the area looking at the displays.


We returned in the afternoon and visited The Edison Museum. It was located in the first sub-station built in the area, now not operating.


And the Energy Museum. It furnished a lot of information on the discovery of oil in the area and the refining process.


The display contained the original well drilling rig use on the first well. the two mannequins told the story of how the well came to be.


We ate dinner out at Papadeaux. It was really good, Debbie had a Tilapia something and I tried the Salmon. The portions were huge and we took half home from lunch tomorrow.

Midland, TX

February 20-22

It was another windy day when we anchored in the Midland RV park. The site was extra wide and a pull through but it was packed dirt. Glad it wasn't raining. The wind blew so hard that night that the awnings on top of the slide outs were flapping and making so much noise we couldn't sleep so about 2am Debbie and I decided to get up out of bed and pull in the slide outs.

The next morning a 5'er was pulling out and it was pulling a one-wheel trailer with a motorcycle on it. This is the same set up that a friend and co-worker was thinking about when he retired, but he built a huge house over looking Lake Oroville in California instead.

Saturday morning we connected with Frank and Shirley, my Aunt and Uncle. They came by our motorhome for a tour and we had a short visit and then they treated us to breakfast at IHOP. After breakfast we returned to our rig and were going to go over to Frank and Shirley's home for dinner later. Unfortunately I began to start feeling sick with what I think was the beginning of a kidney stone moving and we had to cancel. We had to leave the next morning for San Antonio and since it was our longest driving day we didn't try to get back together.


After drinking a lot of water and a couple of days I am feeling pretty good again.

The Alamo and Riverwalk

February 22 - 25
San Antonio, TX

We arrived at Braunig Lake RV Park located a short distance south of San Antonio, TX late in afternoon. The weather was mild, around 68 degrees, and again windy. Monday we loafed around in the morning and then went out for a late lunch and some shopping. Where else, WalMart.

On Tuesday we drove to The Alamo. Debbie is walking into a side gate.


Inside the gate this vine covered walkway led to the front of The Alamo.


Inside the Alamo were several displays containing artifacts found at the Alamo site.

The grounds around the Alamo are planted with lawn, shrubs and trees and are enclosed by a stone wall. We enjoyed a walk through it.

After The Alamo we walked over to the Rivercenter Mall which sits right on the Riverwalk.

Riverwalk is a beautiful area centered around the San Antonio River. There are sidewalks on each side of the river and restaurants and some shops boarder the other side of the sidewalks. There are no railing along the river side of the sidewalks.

Small boats operate up and down the river ferrying tourist. The Riverwalk is below street level and each street has stair access down. There are also bridges that allow you to cross to the other side.

Almost all of the thousands of restaurants have outside dinning tables.


We walked a mile or so along the river and at some points had to squeeze through other tourists being careful not to fall in the river. The temperature climbed to 83 degrees but the wind kept it nice. It was lunch time all of the outdoor tables were full. We had a late breakfast so that was fine.

There were six missions established along the river to the south and we left Riverwalk and headed toward Mission San Jose. The Missions were walled to protect against Indian attacks, both Apache and Cherokee. Here is the walk to the main gate. On the right is a domed bastion which had small bore cannon holes at the bottom and rifle holes along the top. From these bastions the wall could be defended.


Just inside the gate, the stone church building came into view.

Stone arches still survive where the living quarters for the church staff once existed. A stone well in the foreground.


This Mission's baroque decoration on the front served as visual assistance in communicationd the concepts of Christianity to the natives. The Hearts, Crosses, Shells, etc. all had symbolic meanings.

Carlsbad, NM

February 17-20

We arrived at Carlsbad RV Tuesday afternoon. The campground was all unpaved and very dusty. It was so unimpressive I forgot to take any pictures. The next day we drove up to Roswell. First stop the visitor center. It's located in the lobby of the city's convention center. As we drove into the lot it was full! As it turned out we pick the day of a State Senator's wife's funeral. We found the last space in the 500 space parking lot. As it turns out the visitors center was closed because of the funeral. As we were walking back to the car we saw the Carlsbad Museum and Art Center across the way. We decided to visit and it was great. Inside was a recreation of Robert Goddard's work shop. He was the inventor of the first rocket using liquid fuel. On the way back to our car the funeral was breaking up and I walked through the crowd of black suits in my shorts and colorful Hawaiian shirt.

On Thursday it was off to the Caverns. I had been through the cave about fifty years ago but it was Debbie's first time. At the visitor center we watched a presentation and



learned all about how the cave was formed and found. It was then time to take the self-guided tour down the natural entrance.

Seating at the Entrance Used to Watch the Bats Flight Out of the Cave

We walked down the center of the seating and then continued on down the serpentine trail into the cave.

The Natural Entrance

La Posta de la Mesilla

About a mile or so down the road from our RV park in Las Cruces, NM is an old area call la Mesilla. We drove down to look around. We found this non-descript adobe building.


This is the sign on the side of the building.


And this is the hallway from the front door to the restaurant.

We both had an early dinner. We both had the combination plate. The salsa with the chips was the kind that isn't hot at first and then burns like crazy. As I was eating the dinner my mouth kept getting hotter and hotter. The combo included a tamale and it turned out that it was the source of the heat.

White Sands

We left the John P Strapp Air and Space Park armed with new knowledge of rocket history. Now we were anxious to to visit White Sands National Monument and the White Sands Missile Range we had pass on the way.

Debbie Walks to the White Sands National Monument Visitors Center

After a slide show and a look around we drove out to the sand dunes. Here some children slide down the snow bank, I mean sand bank.


Here is a view of the white sand dunes.


After our visit here we headed to the Missile Range Museum. We drove about five miles to the base entrance. There were several cars backed up and the first driver was out and had about 7 or 8 military MPs and Security officers standing around. We parked in the parking lot intending to go to the security office to get a pass. As I started walking one of the security people met me and guess what the security office is closed. What! Oh, it's Presidents Day. Darn. Well maybe next time.

Las Cruces, NM

Last Sunday we arrived at Hacienda RV Resort in Las Cruces, NM. This is by far one of the nicest RV parks we have stayed in. The staff was the friendliest we have encountered as well. The park office is an adobe style building

which houses the office, gift shop, lounge, and breakfast room. A large spa is located outside to the rear of the building.

Gift Shop

Lounge

Breakfast

Our Site

The park has a free breakfast every morning and it wasn't bad. A lot better than some motels we have stayed at.

On Monday we drove up to Alamogordo to the John P Strapp Air and Space Park. On the way we passed White Sands National Monument and the White Sands Missile Range which has a museum in the Air Force Base that is open to the public. We saved both for the trip back. The John P Strapp Air and Space Park is located high above Alamogordo in a beautiful new building. The building contains four floors of rocket and space history and exhibits.

In front of the building are displayed several rockets and other associated items.


One of the items is the rusted hulk of a German V2 rocket. This V2 was liberated after the war and brought back to White Sands for testing. I was surprised to see the rocket was built around two heavy steel I beam in the center. One of the German rocket scientist who was also liberated was being questions on Germany's rocket design and said "Why don't you look at your own Dr. Robert Goddard's work, that's where we got our designs." Dr. Goddard launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket on March 16, 1926. The V2 was very similar to Goddard's rockets in design.

German V2

Nike Missile

Carlsbad, NM

We blew in to Carlsbad, NM Tuesday afternoon. The wind was BLOWING like crazy. We stopped at the Guadalupe NP Visitor Center on the way. The ranger there said that gusts were expected to reach up to 70 mph this afternoon! They showed us a picture of a motorhome on it's side that blew over in their parking lot while it was stopped!!!

Meanwhile back in Mexico
After our dinner and festivities the waiters started making Mexican Coffee. They poured different liquors in the pot. It was set on fire and poured back and forth which made fire fall into the pot.

Last Night in Mexico

There are only a few traffic signal lights in Puerto Penasco. Here is a short video of the pedestrian signal. I only caught it at the end. The little guy starts out very slowly and speeds up.



The tour leaders had a last night party and also recognized two birthdays and one anniversary. Debbie received roses.




We also had a pinata and I was selected to take a swing or two.


All the waiters who are normally running around like crazy all stopped to watch so the Pinata thing must be a big deal down here.


Later they made Mexican Coffee which was very interesting and I have a video of it that I'll post next time.

We are now safely tuck in at Hacienda RV resort in Las Cruces, New Mexico, space 142. You can see the rear of the Horizon.

We left Green Valley around 9am and arrived at 3pm, 7 hours on the road. This is a very upscale RV park and even has complementary breakfast. Will have more about this area later but first I have to catch up with our last day in Mexico.

We has to get organized for a group picture. Ed directed the photo shoot. Because of the large group we had to do two pictures. There were 29 RV in the tour so about 58 people to get into the pictures.


After the picture there was a kite flying contest. You can see three kites in this picture.


After flying kites Debbie and I went back one last time into the town. Guess what Debbie spotted. A fabric store. Of course we stopped and Debbie went inside to check it out but came back empty handed.

We found a perfect work of art high up on a rickety structure and without hesitation they retrieved it for us.