Visiting Texas’ Gift to the Nation

It was time to take a break from our house remodeling and go rest for a while.  We turned our sights on Big Bend National Park, a good 2 days drive from Sweeny, but we turned it into a week’s drive.  We took some time to revisit some of our favorite state parks that included:  Lake Corpus Christi, Choke Canyon, Garner and Davis Mountains.  Seems that I forgot that nowadays, even in the middle of the week, we were scampering to get a reservation for a night.  And sure enough, hardly any Texas license plates in these parks.  So glad all of America is coming to enjoy! We also planned the trip so we could go eat at Kings Inn in Riviera, where we ran into our old neighbor from Boling, Jim Williams!  You never know! While we were at Choke Canyon, we had dinner with good friends Audie and Donna Hutson. Audie and I graduated together. Ron and Audie worked together at Amoco when we were first married.

Beautiful green jay!

Lots of birds at Choke Canyon

Had to take a road trip and enjoy lunch at Kings Inn in Riviera, served family style.

Ft. Davis

Sunset at Davis Mountains

I did know that you needed to make reservations in Big Bend for this time of the year, which I did many months ago.  We’re staying in Terlingua at the Big Bend RVResort and Adventure.  Having a residential refrigerator means using a generator for a week wasn’t the smartest idea. So here we are and it isn’t too bad at all. Especially given the fact that during the day you’re not sitting in the campground, but out exploring.

Weather forecasts early in the week were predicting a very good chance of rain on Wednesday and Thursday. We decided to do our first long jeep drive on Monday while we knew the back roads would be ok.  We were up and on the road before sunrise, as the best place to see a sunrise in Big Bend is at Santa Elena Canyon.  Luckily we’re so far west that sunrise is 7:15 to 7:30 ish.  We made it!

From Santa Elena we drove over to the Castolon Visitor Center where we eventually found the River Road West, a 27.5 mile drive over 4 wheel drive roads.  This road pretty much follows the Rio Grande River.  Did you know that the Rio Grande River originates near South Fork, Colorado?  Anyway, the level is very low at the moment.  Maybe just a couple feet deep in some areas.  We had to put the jeep in 4-wheel drive once, so not too bad.

The sun is just hitting Santa Elena Canyon!

Sunrise

Santa Elena Canyon

Beautiful to watch the sun progress across the canyon.

Views along the way

Can't lose our lobster red jeep.

So many plants and colors in the Big Bend.

The Rio Grande. Yes - that's Mexico.

Looking at the moon and stars before the sun comes up.

Beautiful sunrise at Santa Elena Canyon

Check out the moon!

Another great sunrise picture.  So warm!

We then intersected with the River Road East road, making a stop at the Mariscal Mine.  From 1900 to 1943 this mine produced 1,400 seventy-six pound flasks of mercury – about a quarter of the total produced in the US!  If you use your imagination you can get a feeling for the work of these early pioneers and their contributions to Big Bend’s huge human history. 

Now that's an old car!

Mariscal Mine

This road is about 22 miles long, making for about an 8 hour road trip on some rough and rocky backroads.  Then you have to remember how far you drive back to exit the park near Terlingua.  But wow!  Beautiful scenery!

Tuesday found us taking a road trip over to Lajitas and then to Big Bend Ranch State Park.  There’s a paved road that follows the river over to Presidio.  Back in 2010 we spent New Years Eve in our truck camper, out in the middle of nowhere, and then camped on the banks of the Rio Grande.  The drive was beautiful and the bluebonnets here are outstanding!

Spring is coming!

There's that Rio Grande river, dividing 2 countries

Beautiful bluebonnets here!

So I learned from Ranger Jenny - if the bloom is red it's a signal to the pollinators like bees that it's already been pollinated.

We also stopped in Terlingua, the ghost town and cemetery where so many of the grave sites included beer bottles and cans. Hmmm.......

Wednesday it was cloudy and cool, had a few light rain showers.  We decided to drive over to Rio Grande Village and stop off at Chisos Basin.  You can’t be the view of the Window.

The campground at Rio Grande Village has a really nice nature trail that we walked up.  Great views!  We also made a stop at Boquillas Canyon.  No – we didn’t venture over to Mexico.  Very pretty views!

The Window

The clouds made the mountains even more beautiful!

Spring is coming!

A view from the nature trail.

Well......I wonder who comes back and forth illegally here. We could hear a lot of noise on the river bank.

That evening we were so lucky to have a dinner guest!  Ranger Jenny Swab, who we had the privilege of working with 2 years ago at Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park.  She’s a wonderful ranger, full of lots of knowledge and information, and just a fun person to visit with.

Me and Jenny having a toast in our motorhome!

Thursday was another cloudy and cold day.  We decided to do another Jeep ride over Old Ore Road.  This drive took about 5 hours. Just beautiful!  But there were a few times where you had to stop, get it and see how to travel over the rocky ledges.  Guess that keeps you from getting too bored on these kind of drives.  But how else can you really explore a park like this?  According to the map it was only 24 miles.  Sure seemed further!  After all, there are over 800,000 acres to explore here!  I will have to say that we have gained a few more South Texas pin stripes on the Jeep!  But it’s all good!

I love the colors and diversity of vegetation here!

And the geology!

Friday found us driving out to see Balanced Rock.  Now the literature says an easy trail BUT the last quarter mile looks like a goat trail.  Unfortunately due to my ankle problems, I sent Ron on ahead with the camera.  It was beautiful scenery.

The Balanced Rock - up a goat trail.

Whoops - Ron caught me on my cell phone while I waited for him.  Yep there are 3 bars of Verizon in the Big Bend wilds!

We closed out our time here driving the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive.  It’s a smooth road ha!  We decided to leave a day early so we could make a fast trip to Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  We haven’t been here since the year 2000! 

Sam Nail Ranch

Believe it or not, the windmill is still pumping. And the pecan and fig trees are still alive.

The Ocatillo are about to bust out with their red blooms!  One of my favorite desert plants.

Mule Ears

Just beautiful typical scenery of the Big Bend

So this is the reason I stayed behind on the hike to Balanced Rock....it's a goat trail. And after 5 foot surgeries, I have a phobia when it comes to these kind of trails. Ugh......

Next up we will be headed to Arizona to meet up with volunteer friends Jim and Randa. Then I figure it will be a quick trip home to see how the cabinets are coming along in our house!  Stay tuned!

What a Year It Was!!!!

How did the year 2019 end for us?  Pretty much a blur, involving every realm of emotion it seems. 

So to go back in history, we did end up leaving our spot at Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Reserve due to an evacuation from Hurricane Dorian on September 3.  We traveled on a route that took us south and inland through South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia, then Louisiana and home to our hometown of Sweeny on September 6. Whew!  We were able to mooch dock at Ron’s brother Don’s house.  Funny thing is with all of the RV parks in the area (and I mean there are a LOT), we were unable to find a spot for a few days here and there.  (And I’ll come back to this subject shortly.)

In the meantime, we enjoyed family time which included birthday dinners for my daughter Amy and also her husband James.  Ron went to fish camp with his brother.  Believe it or not, I got a call from my old job wanting to know if I’d like to come out for about a month to help with a PC rollout. And get this – they needed me to drive the contractors around to all of those hidden locations in the refinery and I wouldn’t even have to lift a finger to help them, and it paid pretty darn good. So I said yes, I believe I could be an Uber driver for a month.  

Spent a weekend with granddaughter Lucy at Splashway for Halloween.

Ron's catch from fish camp.

Took grandson Aiden to Sweeny's homecoming football game.

Aiden hunting with his bow and arrow.

Aiden and Lucy walking his heifers getting them ready for the county fair.

In the meantime, being a nostalgic person, I decided to drive by the house I grew up and low and behold, there was a For Sale sign in the yard.  My dad built this house in 1950, sold it to Coach Dupler in 1977 after my mother died, where this family lived in it for the next 44 years.  Well, I talked Ron into going and looking at it.  Long story short:  What a great opportunity, what a great vision we had for fixing it up, and also what a great place to park the motorhome. It’s nice and small, nice small yard – something that will be much easier to lock the door and travel away from than our little farm was. Here's a before shot of what the house looks like.

The house, before we got started on it.

And here’s an after shot after we have poured more concrete, tore off the old siding and replaced it with smart board and painted it. It took 6 weeks to decide on a color. Whew!  I think it’s looking good. Still need to add shutters and a new front door. And landscape!

The house with new siding, enclosed garage, more concrete, new paint. The carport is getting turned into a She Shed in the back yard.

We weren’t looking to buy property. However, we were looking at hanging around Sweeny a lot more. Ron’s mom turned 91 and was requiring more help and we were definitely wanting to be near her. Our kiddos and grandkids are close by, as well as family and friends.  I noticed at my mother-in-law’s house that something was wrong.  You see she has an awesome green thumb and every fall she had several Christmas cactuses that flourished and bloomed.  When we got there, one plant had nearly died while the other looked sad and forlorn. A week after we celebrated mom’s 91^st birthday, we came the next morning to find that she had passed away peacefully in her sleep.  I now have her Christmas cactus and will do my best to cheer it up!

Celebrating mom's 91st birthday at K-2 Restaurant in Bay City

The boys and their mom at her birthday lunch.

She gave me one last cooking lesson and that was how to make strudel.

Maybe they weren't the prettiest, but they were the most delicious!

Some of the grandkids on Thanksgiving day

Grandma, Matthew and Liz at Thanksgiving

So things have been extremely busy.  Ron is happy with doing all the remodeling work on the old house. We’ve had a lot of emotional moments these past few months.  We were able to enjoy our grandson show his heifers at the county fair. We’ve been on a few close by camping trips, competed in the Flatonia Cziliespiel, and gone dancing at a very old recently opened historic dance hall – the Hye Hall near Stonewall, Texas.  We enjoyed a wonderful family Thanksgiving, not knowing at the time it would be our last one with our Mom.  And Christmas and New Years has come and gone. We celebrated at Matagorda on the beach. And we’re starting the new year out at Coleto Creek Reservoir, one of our favorite spots to camp when the girls were young, and we’ll end this little road trip at Brazos Bend State Park visiting with our dear old friends who we have volunteered with in past years. Here are a few more pictures to help illustrate what we've been doing these past few months.

Aiden is proud of his heifers. He placed second with Liberty.

And first with Faith

What a handsome young man!

Ron engineering how to remove the unattractive carport to the back yard and making it into a She Shed.

My new She Shed!  And by the way, where you see all this dirt back here - it was covered with vines and all kinds of stuff.

 

Adding the smart board siding

Moving back my piano!  It takes up the whole dining room!

Ron and daughter Liz dancing at a wedding

Me and my girls!

Living room with a Christmas tree and sheet rock gone, looking through the enclosed garage into a future utility room.

Always time for an ugly Christmas sweater party!

And an invitation to the Brazos Bend State Park Christmas party!

Aiden helping us paint in the house.

Lucy helping me cook Christmas Eve dinner

Maggie enjoying her Shiner beer!

Christmas morning!

These kiddos have our heart!

Happy New Years Eve sunset at Matagorda

And to answer the question that is burning in your mind:  Does buying a house mean you’re not going to travel? Absolutely not.  It’s just a place to park and it will make a wonderful home when down the road we realize we need to slow down and put roots down again.  Not sure where our travel plans will take us in 2020. I know in February we’re headed to Big Bend National Park, but we’re going to take a road trip and visit some Texas state parks on the way. We also plan to take the grandkids on a road trip to the Grand Canyon, Utah and Colorado. And who knows – if there’s a super bloom happening in the deserts out west, we might just get in our bus and travel on out to see!