Sea to shining sea Part 3

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Feb 8

A very long drive from Alamogordo, NM to Marathon, TX…about 6 hours across miles and miles of winter desert landscape, rather bleak! Very crowded freeway through the metropolitan El Paso area. Rob was in the wrong lane when the freeway split and we ended up on a frontage road. Figuring Rob knew what he was doing, Stan followed right along. Fortunately, along with my trustee Google map program, I was able to steer the parade right back on the freeway. Otherwise, that route would have taken us to Ciudad Juarez in Mexico. Not good with guns in our coach.  We didn’t want to do a Sgt. Tahmooressi.

Evening is a time to relax, get together for a glass of wine and a bite of dinner. Tonight, as we were leaving Stan and Jerre’s I managed to miss a step and land squarely on my knee. Cuts and bruises, scrapes and a lot of soreness, but I don’t think I caused any serious damage.

Feb 9

Marathon is the gateway to Big Bend NP. Rob and I had been there before so opted to stay in camp. The sore knee helped make that decision. Stan and Jerre went to the Park; Rob and Gerri went in search of Vermilion Flycatchers at a local park. No Vermilions, but we did see a couple of Yellow Rumped Warblers. It’s still early for birding. Migration is several weeks away yet.

The park is on the site of an Army Post that was established in the late 1800’s. Its mission was to protect and improve regional military communications, control a strategic water supply and support the development of the Southern Pacific Railway. An abundant spring in the camp had been a major landmark on the Comanche Trail where raiding parties watered their war ponies before heading south to Mexico. Troopers from the post were dispatched to patrol remote crossings of the Rio Grande to discourage border raids.

  

These pictures around Big Bend are courtesy of Jerre Glasgow. 

Rio Grande with Mexico on the other side. No fence on our side. No wonder it's easy to cross into the U.S.
Stan and Jerre tell us they saw no Border Control Agents

Typical landscape in the Park

Feb 10

Bright and early we hit the road for the long 6 hour trek to Kerrville, Texas and the Buckhorn RV Resort. This is a very large park on the edge of town. Kerrville is a big town with lots of traffic that we wanted to avoid. Jerre knew of a fun place nearby called Luckenbach, not really a town, more like a spot in the road. We put that on our agenda for the following afternoon. After a long day of driving no one wanted to do anything except relax. It was a good time to do laundry. One downside to traveling in a motor home is no maid service!

Feb 11

The next morning we were up early, although we weren’t leaving for Luckenbach until late afternoon. I had showered and was putting lotion on my legs when my hip popped out of the socket for the second time in a month. Not much to do about it, but call the paramedics. Luckily I had my robe on! Rob had managed to move me to the bed and the paramedics were able to get me onto a backboard. Fortunately, the hospital in Kerrville is a regional medical center. The ER doc, Lisa Hoff, was able to put me back together after about an hour or so that seemed like days.   

Once the hip was restored to its normal position I was just sore but didn’t want to miss the afternoon trip.  So…back in camp, we loaded up and headed to Luckenbach. There are many large ranches in the area, but we saw no sign of any type of town. The attraction is a collection of a few buildings set amongst big oak trees, that provide backdrop for “musicians”. Luckenbach was first established as a trading post, trading with Comanche as well as locals in the community. Population was at a high of 492 in 1904, but was a virtual ghost town by 1960. The town was offered for sale and was purchased in 1970 for $30,000. Today there is general store/saloon and a dance hall. Well known country music stars have performed here in the past. Today the musicians are primarily local guitarists who play for several hours for tips while visitors come and go. Beer and wine are available, nothing hard which suits us just fine.

David Harris, our picker for the afternoon. Sorry I can't turn it around.

Feb 12

The plan today was to leave for three days in Galveston, however…

Back when we were in Temecula (the start of this adventure) Stan had a little mishap resulting in a cranky step. It finally got to the point of going out, but not going in without brute force applied by Rob. That sort of made Stan and Jerre our captives.  So Stan set about finding a place to have it fixed. Texas Custom Coach was recommended by some fellow motor homing friends who live in Texas. TCC is just before Houston and along our route to Galveston. Thinking parts might need to be ordered we made plans to bypass Galveston and stay closer to TCC. Unfortunately, the part that is needed is no longer manufactured thus requiring the purchase of a whole new step.  No sense in waiting in TCC so we found a spot in Columbus for the night. TCC inspected Stan’s step and found a couple of teeth missing from a gear. After some cleaning and greasing Stan was back in business with a “sometimes” working step. We’re holding our breath since the gear wasn’t fixed.  Rob finds it kinda fun to have his captives.  I guess it gives him a sense of purpose.  I don’t understand this, must be a male thing.

Tomorrow we leave for Duson, Louisiana and Mardi Gras!  We have a few extra days having lost our 3 day stop in Galvaston so will be visiting Stan’s relatives in next door Lafayette.