April 19 to April 25, 2010

I am not uploading pics for our RV 2010 trip the same way I did in the past. Instead I linked this blog to Charlie's Picasa account where he is uploading our pics. Please double click on the RV 2010 slideshow. Some pics will come up immediately, then double click on the tab for 'Will's Gallery' in order to get to his albums.

Monday – April 19, 2010
We left Rustic Sands RV Park early and drove along the coast most of the day. Very pretty pure white sandy beaches. We went through the Gulf Islands National Seashore and Fort Pickens in Pensacola Beach. At Fort Pickens Joey was not allowed inside (such as it was), and we didn't go inside either. On a previous RV trip we took Toby all through Fort Morgan in Alabama, and this was the same kind of place...just ruins. Oh well, we climbed on part of the fort outside the gate and got a picture. We went to the Panama City Wal-Mart, and Joey was not allowed! The nerve! This is a bad day for dogs. We picked up some supplies including a dirt devil because we have been sleeping in sandy beds and the floor is a mess. Our wisk broom just wasn't doing the job. The first thing Joey does is jump on a bed when we go inside the camper. I also got a new water bowl for him. The metal one we had was rusting....so you know how damp everything has been. His new bowl is white with black tiger stripes. It is really a bowl for a cat, but he does not know that. We camped at the Big Lagoon State Park in Pensacola, a campground where we had stayed before. Again, Joey was not allowed on the boardwalk. He wanted to get an armadillo that was hanging out on the edge of our campsite, but no luck. The armadillo did not run so the torture went on and on. I thought Joey was going to slip his collar he was so freaked out. So he is going to have to wear his harness more often, though he does not like it. Charlie fixed a pasta dinner and we had to go inside early because it was very buggy. Don't remember all this dampness and bugs from last time. We need to get into some dry weather.

Tuesday – April 20, 2010
This morning we woke up to a small mess in our campsite. We had put all our stuff away, but left the dirt devil box with some trash in it on the bench of the picnic table. There was no food in it, but it was torn apart and there were little footprints all over our tablecloth...eeewww! Still buggy, so we bugged out. We wanted to cross Mobile Bay on the ferry but missed it, and didn't want to wait for the next one so we headed out to the interstate. The bicycles and chairs are secure on the back of the trailer, but they were really bouncing around. We got on I-10 at Loxley, Alabama, and all seemed to get steadier. Today we drove out of Florida and across Alabama and Mississippi and into Louisanna. Even though I sleep good at night I have been sleeping alot during the day while riding in the car. I couldn't keep my eyes open when we were going through Pensacola Beach yesterday, and I really didn't want to sleep then. It is a typical coastline with colorful beach houses in the dunes. Pretty. We stopped at another Passport America RV park called 'Maxey Care' in Morganza, LA. It is a new park and I thought it was nice since there was grass and gravel, not sand and stickers. We checked in using a kind of vending machine. They have nice facilities, and I got a shower behind a locked door. I always like that instead of locker room style. Behind the RV park is a big hill with very vocal cows wandering around. In front of the park is a 24 hour car/truck wash. We got a wash there. Across the street is a train track. At least three trains went through while we were there, and two woke us up. The train blasted it's whistle repeatedly, and it seemed like it was right in the campground. I like trains...but Charlie was not too happy. He drove many miles out of our way to get to this park because of the Passport America discount, and I guess he was disappointed. After a train went by, he said...”I sure can pick 'em'. Oh well....Sometimes we have days like that on these trips. But we did have a great dinner just down the road from the RV Park at “It's not your Mama's Cafe'. It was a rough looking place with a giant, stuffed, gape mouthed snapping turtle by the front door. Rustic and old timey, but we had wonderful fried oysters and onion rings. Joey came in with us too. I am supposed to be losing weight on this trip, but I am sure I must be going the other way. Well maybe we will do better soon, and I can still hope to at least break even. Our main problem with fixing meals is we are having to use a cooler in the back of the van. Our fridge is small and does not work unless we are plugged in, so we can't keep food in there. We just store stuff in it. If we don't get a different RV during this trip, we definitely will before we head out again. Charlie is enjoying having his Segway this trip. So far he has ridden it during our visits, and some of our friends and family have given it a try. He also rode it all over Manatee Springs. What we really need is a toy hauler....maybe not.

Wednesday – April 21, 2010
We drove 490 miles today through wide open country to my cousin's ranch near Karnes City, Texas. On the way we stopped in Nixon, TX for a nice meal at El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant. Joey joined us at the table in his stroller. We arrived at Jeanne's an hour later, and parked in our spot under the hangin tree. It is good to see Jeanne and John again and look forward to a relaxing visit. Our timing is good because they have had a lot of rain here and the dirt roads in and out of here were all bogged down last weekend. All is dry now, and the place looks good with wild flowers everywhere. It is such a nice quiet place out here.

Thursday – April 22, 2010
I caught up on our laundry and we have been visiting most of the day. Charlie and I went to the store and left our boy with Jeanne. While we were gone Joey got out the door and kept on running, giving Jeanne a scare. He stopped at her truck and jumped all around it as if he thought we were in it. That is the only thing that saved him. There are a few big critters in the area that could mean the end of him. I enjoy hearing the coyotes at night, but I don't really want any one of us to meet one. We had steaks on the grill and chicken for Charlie. It was all good. Never even got to the ice cream for dessert, we ate so well. Jeanne told us about her photography project that relates to our own family history.

Friday – April 23, 2010
It is overcast here and a little windy but not too hot. I have been walking Joey a lot and doing my notes today. Charlie has been doing some housekeeping on the RV and van. Jeanne and John had to make an unexpected trip into San Antonio so we are hanging out making ourselves at home. Went to dinner at a local mexican restaurant, one of three in a row in tiny Karnes City. Most of the restaurants we see are mexican, and all the ones we have tried are good. We went to this one last year, and Charlie wanted to go again. He likes to stick with what he knows is good. We took Joey too, and Jeanne got a kick out of that. I was a little worried we would all get kicked out and Jeanne would be banned for life, but we got away with it. We had ice cream when we got back and headed back to our RV and to bed early.

Saturday – April 24, 2010
We took a two and one-half mile walk this morning down Jeanne's practically private road. It is an unpaved county road but hardly anyone travels on it. We did not see a vehicle on our walk to a huge live oak tree and back again. Actually Charlie and I took turns on the Segway, so we cheated a little bit. More than half way through Joey wanted to be carried, so I did that for awhile. Very pretty wildflowers, and I think Charlie got some good pics. We saw a long horn whose horns twisted around and around, and seemed to go on forever. Jeanne says that type of long horn had become rare but they are bringing them back. I had never seen one, but I would love to see more of them. I hope Charlie got a good picture, he didn't come too close to us. We saw hog trails and turkey tracks too. We had to say goodbye to Jeanne, and it was hard to do. We took Rt 37 to San Antonio and then west on 90. We hit some kind of bugs that covered the whole windshield. It was one sudden splat, and we never knew what they were. It was a mess driving the rest of the 220 miles to Del Rio though! After some misguidance from the Garmin looking for Three Rivers Campground, we gave up and stayed instead at Governor's Landing on Amistad Lake. It is part of the National Park Service, Amistad National Recreation Area. It was our first night without electricity, but there was potable water. We are very close to the Mexican border. Our campsite overlooked the lake and there was a jetty of flat rocks, wildflowers, and cactus that we explored. After we set up and had dinner, some of the people in the other campsites left because they were only having a cookout. So we moved to another site to get away from some noisy neighbors. Joey and I rode in the trailer while we moved. That was fun... During the night some guys pulled in and went fishing for a couple of hours and then left making a racket. Joey didn't complain much, Charlie did though. It got very cool and windy during the night so we closed the windows on one side of the camper. Otherwise it was a very comfortable night.

Sunday – April 25, 2010
When we got up this morning we could see police car after police car headed across the bridge and then stopping at the other end to the west where we were planning to go. There was a huge accident involving at least one tractor trailer, and a couple of hours later, the road was still not cleared. So we drove north on Rt 277. We went through an imigration checkpoint and got by the border patrol and their dogs. We intended to take Rt 189 west but it was closed due to high water. So we continued north to I-10. We want to go to Langtry to see Judge Roy Bean's place, but we were worried we were not going to be able to get there from here! Finally, Charlie found a road going south, no route number, but we should be able to get there. The road led us to the Sonora Caverns and RV Park. Very cool. So here we are and it is a very quiet place. We are in the tent section since we are small enough, and it is great because of the shade over here. So we really like our little camper tonight. We have electricity, water, and bugs (oh no, not again). There are peacocks here too. A very nice store with gems and other rocks. I like to look at them, but they are not something I would buy. I caught up with some of my reading tonight and Charlie was able to get on the internet by sitting on the porch of the store. I will try to upload these notes in the morning and do some reading, and Charlie will take the cavern tour. I don't think he has any new pics uploaded yet. Will do as soon as he can. More later....