The long ride across Texas

Our trip across Texas heading to Big Bend National Park.  Arrows are where we stopped for the night(s)

Our ultimate short term destination is Big Bend National Park on the other side of

Texas. Big, big Texas!  It will involve several long days of driving, but a necessary evil. Short of flying, you have to drive.

If it wasn’t for this blog I would drive Norm crazy with my boredom, so thanks to all my readers for encouraging me to continue blogging! 

Thursday, May 4^th 2017





Doesn't this guy read signs?  No trucks in left lane.  Jeez... he really squeezed us in as he went by.  Thank goodness Norm was driving!



t was a very, very long day driving Interstate 10 through swamp land and bayou’s, with the road “thumping” every few seconds, and the fierce winds blowing us all over.  The motorhome weighs nearly 32,000 lbs so it takes quite a bit of wind to blow us around.

 

Hidden Lake RV Park in Beaumont, Texas

We finally arrived in Beaumont, Texas at Hidden Lake RV Park.  We were worried it might be loud with nearby trains and traffic, but it was remarkably ( and thankfully ) quiet. This park was wonderful and probably newly built. Since we didn’t want to bother hooking up the sewer for one night, we took advantage of their incredible shower facilities. 

There were 3 or 4 separate bathrooms with seldom seen locking doors which I found very comforting. The floors and shower were so clean you could eat off them and had plenty of hot water, of which I probably used more than my fair share pampering myself.   

Friday, May 5^th 2017

I don't think it's legal in most states for a car to tow a car towing a car.

As we headed out we dreaded another day like yesterday, but thankfully both the roads and the wind had smoothed out.  We stopped for the night at Brauning Lake RV Park in Elmendorf, Texas just south of San Antonio.  Sitting just beside the highway we asked for a site set back from the highway roar. This park is “ok” and served its purpose.  Sites were level and since they tried to put the RV’s in every-other site, we had enough room. Other-wise we would have been so tight we could not have put out our much-needed awning.

Now THIS is traveling in a BIG way!

After scrubbing an enormous amount of love-bugs off the front, we thought about where we will be the for the next week and if there would be any place to get some needed groceries.  A little research determined that if I wanted to shop for vegetables in a small country store, then I had better go get some here.

Some people are into clothing, jewelry, or perhaps shoes. They will stop at every opportunity to purchase a new item for their closets.  Not me.  I am into grocery stores. I love to poke around looking at unusual foods and spices. Groceries are also a “consumable” so they,re most always a need. 

What an incredible surprise when I walked into this HEB grocery store, my "Rodeo Drive" of a shopping experience!

I parked the car and entered this gigantic building expecting something similar to Tin Can Pam’s or perhaps Save A lot.   Passing through the doors of HEB  my jaw dropped! Oh my God! FRESH VEGETABLES! This store, part of the chain HEB (which I had never heard of ) was the Rodeo Drive of grocery shopping!  It was HUGE!! I spent over an hour (could have spent 2 ) roaming the isles yet being so disciplined not to buy anything that was not on my list. ( Well, almost. )

Since I had a grass-fed beef pot roast simmering in the crockpot all day, dinner was ready when I got back.  We ate then took a walk to check out the diesel station next door for accessibility and price.  Another score! We will get our fuel there in the morning.

Saturday, May 6^th 2017

Facing another long day of driving we headed out an hour earlier than typical for us. Our goal is to arrive at Seminole Canyon State Park in Comstock, Texas in time to take the guided tour down into the Canyon to see the ancient Indian petroglyphs at 3pm.

Seminole Canyon State Park, Texas

Arriving around 1:30 we got our first experience with the heat of southern Texas! Wow! The sun was so intense, and the temperatures were up in the 90’s.  I wasn’t convinced I could tolerate the heat while hiking down several hundred steps into the canyon, but I was hoping the high winds would make it tolerable. Norm has a much higher threshold for heat, perhaps because he sweats so much.  My body just doesn’t cool as well, and the older I get the worse it is.  That’s why we get out of Florida to the cooler climes in the summer.  This trip to Texas was a way to kill some time for the snow in the mountains to melt a little.

Ancient rock art explained by park ranger

The guided tour was quite pleasant, and a great way to work our leg muscles for the first time.  Living in Florida, a “flat” state makes it so much harder for us to hike the mountains in the summers.  It takes us about a month to get reasonably fit. The intense heat made it all the more difficult, but we did it!

Sculpture by Texas artist outside the Visitor Center. I took this picture as the sun rose.