Souvenirs From The Road: 2015

June 9, 2015 - Bluewater Lake State Park, New Mexico

Sunrise at 5:45. Makes for a very beautiful, enjoyable morning. Lots of birds and rabbits here. The desert flowers are all blooming. Aiden doesn't want to wake up. Off by 8, heading northwest. And praying for good and happy travels today.

Arrived here around 3:30. Nice state park. Not many choices for electric sites. We are in site 2.

No truck issues. Yay! Seems as though the hurricane in the Pacific will be giving us some rain over the next few days. Oh well. Cooked ribs, had a campfire and made s'mores. A good day.

June 8, 2015 - Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Brantley Lakes State Park, New Mexico

Well, spent 4 1/2 hours in Pecos, Texas at the Chevy Dealership and finally leaving at 1:30. Whew! The problem was a sensor on the front right hub, which they replaced. Now the trailer brakes work fine! Crossed into New Mexico and mountain time an hour later. There is so much traffic - all related to the oil boom out here.

At the caverns, we walked the Big Room tour. So pretty! We figured it has been about 25 years since we have been here.

Well, it feels as though we are really being put to the test! When we got ready to leave, the truck wouldn't start. What now..... It does pay off to have OnStar and a truck cell phone. Got in touch with a mechanic in Carlsbad, who suggested it was vapor locked. And it was.

So on our way again. We had a reservation at Bottomless Lakes state park, but it was getting late. We got a good site instead at Brantley Lakes. Cooked burgers, did a little hiking, and Aiden enjoyed a really good playground.

Praying tomorrow will be an awesome, safe day to our next stop!

(Sites 18 & 19 are good reservable sites.)

The gang at Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Like, really......What NOW!!!!?????

Sunset at Brantley Lake, New Mexico.

June 7, 2015 - Balmorhea State Park, TX

Leaving So. Llano River state park at 10:30 after a big breakfast! Westward Ho! Arrived at Balmorhea about 2:30. Man oh man! The people! Everybody wants to go swimming! So, we got camp set up and went swimming. This water sure is cold! Balmorhea is known as the world's largest spring fed swimming pool. Fun to swim with the fish! There is a lot to see around here - enjoyed our walk. Kinda cloudy, which means we probably won't see the stars tonight.

June 6, 2015 - Sweet Little Boy, Oh the Places You Will Go!

On this short two week vacation, we are traveling with Amy and Aiden in our new Solitude 5ver. It is going to be wonderful as we get to share new places with our grandson and enjoy our daughter as well.

We left the farm around 8 this Saturday morning as this is a day of blessings. At 9, Aiden had his closing ceremony for t-ball. At 10, Ron and I are in Victoria for our nephew Jacob's ordination as a priest in the Catholic church. We are honored, humbled and proud.

We all met up after the ceremonies and are headed out to So. Llano River State Park, hoping to get there in time for a swim. I think God wants to bring us close again as a family. Coming into San Antonio, we lost the trailer brakes on the truck. Amy found a dealership whose service dept. was open on a Saturday afternoon. We drove up and it was an "all hands on deck" effort to get us going. They didn't even charge us. So that was an hour detour. Right before getting to the park, the brakes went out again. Boo.

Anyway we saw God's blessings through deer, armadillo and a great river. Beautiful stars. And a great place to lay our heads for the night. So happy to have Aiden and Amy with us.