Well – Thursday, March 25 we were headed to ‘historic’ Fredericksburg, TX in the Hill Country. What we were looking forward to the most was some greenery – grass, trees, flowers, anything other than DIRT and DUST! It was a long travel day (7 hours) with only a quick lunch stop at a roadside rest area where we quickly downed a GREAT pasta and chicken salad that Gary made.

We settled into our new RV park, spent about 2 hours trying to get the 2” layer of dust from Big Bend out of Magic and then headed to Main Street to get a glimpse of Fredericksburg. As Gary said, it is really strange to see all these long German names in the middle of Texas. So – why is Fredericksburg historical? The town was settled by immigrant families from Germany in 1846 and has more than 700 historical structures in the historic district and many on the National Register of Historic Places (you need to use ‘historic’ lots of times to describe this town – that’s why it is so historic:-)!)

Approximately 40% of all Texas peaches are grown in Fredericksburg and the surrounding county. Unfortunately, we are a little early as peach season typically runs mid to late May thru early August:-(

Perhaps the real import of the town is that it is the birthplace (we were in the house) of Fleet Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet during World War II. As such, it is also the home of the National Museum of the Pacific War operated by the Admiral Nimitz Foundation, the only institution in the continental US dedicated exclusively to telling the story of the Pacific Theater battles of WW II. This museum walks one chronologically through the various battles in the Pacific beginning with the lead-up to Pearl Harbor (including the reasons for the animosity of Japan to China and therefore the US who was supporting China) to dropping the bombs on Japan. This is done with various forms including combinations of audio and visual displays. The museum also includes displays of both Allied and Japanese aircraft, tanks, guns and other large artifacts made famous during the Pacific War campaigns. This is a fabulous exhibit and we were only sorry we did not allow more time to go thru it. When we come back, at least a full day will be devoted to this Museum.

Visiting these two museums/historical parks – it amazed both of us how little we recall of our own American history. Neither of us – even though we were both young adults – remember LBJ’s death or the fact that he was only 64 when he died – and only in his 50’s when in office (he just always seemed OLD). We were also surprised to see a bust of Eisenhower on the bookshelves behind LBJ’s desk! While Eisenhower was President, LBJ was Majority Leader of the Senate and Sam Rayburn (D) was Speaker of the House – which means we had a Republican President and a Democratic Congress. BUT, they actually worked together!! So much so, that LBJ had a great admiration for Eisenhower. Where is this civility today??????

Anyway – we have enjoyed this part of our trip immensely and are now looking for a couple of good (audio) books on these eras in history to listen to on the rest of our trip. If any one has any suggestions – please let us know?!?!

While in this area we also took a side trip to Gruene (pronounced ‘green’), Texas to take in more history and dance a spell. Gruene was also settled by German farmers in 1840 – these planting cotton. Cotton became the number one cash crop and Gruene grew – adding a cotton gin and a dance hall and saloon – Gruene Hall – which became the center of the community’s social life. In the early 1900’s the boll weevil and the Depression were too much for the town and most of the businesses went under – except for Gruene Hall which never closed – and is still open today! And, in fact, has helped to revive the town. AND, of course, that is why Gary and I went to check out Gruene – with our boots on and ready to do a little scootin’ – we danced a little two step (and waltz) and listened to Reckless Kelly. This morning was a little rough – as we aren’t made for 1AM nights any more. But, we were glad to have spun around such an old dance floor:-)

It is now Saturday, March 27, and we are moving on to the Austin area – still in the Hill Country – AND still appreciating the green and lack of dust!! Today will be a very slow day – as we are still recovering from our VERY late night.

Back soon – E & G

SO – Gary and I have discussed over the last couple of days what the title of this posting would be and came up with way toooooo many titles! There was –

QuarryVille

Never Know What You Will Find In the Middle of No Where

Don’t Judge a Town or National Park but It’s First Look

First Impressions Should NOT Be Lasting

Etc., Etc., Etc.

As we left our ‘parking lot’ camping space (which prepared us for any needed emergency stops in the WalMart parking lots) in the Guadalupe Mountains NP, we left the snow and 29 degree temperatures behind and headed for Big Bend NP in Texas and looked forward to having FULL hook-ups and internet access (as advertised!).

As we headed down the road on a Sunday morning, Elizabeth was quite happy driving along passing only about a dozen cars all morning on the state roads that led us down the way. All of a sudden we passed this ‘bus stop’ (at least that is what it looked like) on the side of the road in the middle of no where that was a “Prada” stop. Yes – that is what it said – “PRADA”!! In the middle of no where in Texas?!?!? (Turns out this was an artist installation that proved so popular it is still there).

Not too much further down the road was this ‘thing’ – again in the middle of no where! Gary and I were back and forth – is it a plane – no a blimp – a balloon – a blimp tethered. Finally an answer – it was a tethered blimp that is a US Air Force tethered aerostat radar station!! All we could think of was – perhaps our son-in-law’s station in Lemoore, CA was not so bad – after all he could be in this middle of no where!!

We continued on this state route in the middle of no where – and reached the town of Marfa, TX where we decided we might be prudent to fill up the fuel tank. While Gary was taking care of the fuel – Elizabeth was looking at all the ‘street’ signs – one of which was the sign to the right to the Paisano Hotel, which was used as the base camp by the director, George Stevens, of “Giant” during its filming. Maybe this was something to go check out – which we did – and found a beautiful, old hotel with wonderful tile detail that truly made this a building to see and admire.

This led us to a wonderful, bohemian sort of place for breakfast/lunch. A very local place that we would have never found, much less go into, without the recommendation – and it was very good.

Finally, we decided it was time for us to continue our trek to Big Bend NP and our new camp/home for the next few days with all the amenities we had missed during the past few days:-)???? I must say that one BIG thing we have learned on this trip is – Never Judge a Town or NP by Your FIRST Look or Impression!!!!

Here we were in the metroplex of Study Butte/Terlingua in all its glory – the western entrance to Big Bend NP. Like so many towns we are familiar with, these two little towns were founded at the turn of the 20th century as mining towns and grew together when the Park came into being.

– And our new and improved (???) campground – Gary calls it “The Quarry”!

We do have all the hook ups as promised – BUT, the wi-fi is in the cafe. Not quite as efficient as access in Magic:-( After getting set at ‘camp’ we did our usual ‘tour of the town’ and headed to the National Park entrance to get info.

On the way back we checked out a little of the town and booked a river raft trip for the next day. We also stopped at a little General Store to check it out and to see if they might have a coffee pot for Gary to replace the one that ‘died’ a couple of days ago (Gary gets really grouchy without his 12 cups of coffee in the morning – and NO he can’t use the espresso machine for this!). What a GREAT little place. Anything and everything you could want – and it doesn’t break the bank to buy things there. We found just the coffee pot Gary was looking for, ice cream sandwiches and nutty bars for our afternoon snack AND MOST IMPORTANT – home made tortillas:-) We took those back to Magic and had them with some of that red chili con carne from Mesilla – VERY HAPPY CAMPERS despite the quarry.

Monday, March 22 – A river raft trip on the Rio Grande or Rio Bravo del Norte in Mexico. The middle of the Rio Grande is the border between the United States and Mexico – for those who have forgotten. So, as we paddled down the river we were in both countries at the same time – and back and forth between the two. We also stopped and took a hike into a beautiful canyon on the other side of the river – therefore we were in Mexico. All of this is done without our passports! However, we were assured that the river rafters have an agreement with the Border Patrol on what will and won’t be done. Guess so – as we are still here and not in a Mexican – or American – jail for going across the border without our passport.

When you are in an area such as this, though, with our towns on one side of the river and Mexican towns on the other, you get a real different view of how to maintain (or not) our borders. Especially when for years citizens of both countries have crossed the river at will to eat or buy goods and then returned. All very innocently and without a desire to stay. A difficult situation for sure.

Of course our river guide – Rebecca – gave us sooooo much local information about the flora and animal life as well as much information on the geology of the area. Most of the animal life along the river consisted of birds. AND – for our birder friends – we were fortunate enough to see the rare double breasted mattress thrasher:-) Rebecca also armed us with information on places to eat and hikes to take so we were enlightened and ready for our next couple of days by the end of the raft trip.

After the trip we NEEDED our afternoon ice cream break — so back to the General Store — then home to get ready for dinner. As we learned at the General Store that Monday is 2-4-1 burger night at the Starlight Theater!! Julie and Mike – you would have loved it:-) Not only did you get your burgers BUT there was also live entertainment and a full bar. What more could you ask for?!?!

On our way –

As you might guess, a mighty river like the Rio Grande has carved many canyons along its course. Each has its own character – all beautiful in their own way.

Boquillas Canyon gave us our first REAL view of the ‘closeness’ of America to Mexico. (On our raft trip we were in a canyon with very high walls on the Mexican side – so there was no interaction with Mexican locals.) As we drove out to the mouth of the canyon and the trail head we saw small Mexican villages just the other side of the river. Keep in mind – all of this area is NP on the US side so no development and Protected Area on the Mexico side so there is little development. At view points and along the trails there was ‘merchandise’ for the Americans to buy left by the Mexicans who had come across the river on horse. You took what you wanted, left your cash and they came back to collect the money and restock. We saw them come back and forth – and some even approached us. We only assume they did watch for Border Patrol and stayed away when they saw them.

When we started down the trail into Boquillas Canyon, we saw another little ‘camp’ that appeared to be more Mexican Nationals as there were many little ‘merchandise displays’ along this trail. When we got to the bottom of the trail and down along the river we saw a Border Patrol with what appeared to be one of the Mexican Nationals who had come across on his horse. They talked for a few minutes as we were walking in their direction. As we got close, the Border Patrol led the Mexican Nat. away and kept saying to him “tell them its OK”. Again, assuming the Border Patrol was having the Mexican radio (with a VERY sophisticated radio) to the rest of the ‘camp’ on the other side of the river that he was OK – not knowing for sure what that might mean?!?! I must admit, Gary and I were both sad if he was being arrested. Clearly, these men do NOT come over here and stay. Anyway, we continued on our hike and on the return we learned that ALL our assumptions were wrong – and once again – DON’T ASSUME!! On the way back we saw a couple of Mexican Nat’s going down the middle of the river. Of course, Gary noted that their canoe was full of photo equipment and the man walking was coming our way with additional equipment. I had to talk to him, as I was concerned that if he was on our side he might get arrested as the man before him. Turns out the camp on the other side of the river was about 50 people there to do a film for Mexican tourism – and the man I was talking to was leading the group. They were going into the canyon to get the beauty of the canyon. As he said “there is so much beauty in Mexico, but right now all anyone hears about are all the drug murders”. We also asked about the man we had seen earlier and learned that he came over to talk to the Border Patrol to attempt to get more boats for their equipment! And, we saw him coming back down the path as we reached the end. So – all was good – and this made this little hike VERY interesting.

After this excitement, we were ready for our afternoon ice cream, and then drove to our next destination – the Chisos Basin. The Chisos Basin is 5400’ in elevation and is surrounded by the highest peaks in the park – the highest of which is 7300’. This area was much more to our liking – NOT a sand box!!

After checking out the Visitor Center here (and getting another stamp in our NP Passport), we took a short little loop trail of about 2 miles. The most impressive view here was to look to “The Window”, which is a V between mountains that provides a wonderful view of the Santa Elena area.

This had provided a pretty full day. So, we stopped by Magic to pick up our ‘drinks’ (byob at the restaurant) and we were off to a little Mexican food restaurant about 14 miles north of town – Tivo’s. ‘Mother’ does all the cooking and ‘Son’ waits on the tables. Needless to say, we had another fantastic Mexican food dinner with some of the hottest red chili we have ever had. Even Gary’s forehead was in a sweat!!

After dinner, we were having a lovely evening sitting outside watching basketball when wind gusts came up that just about knocked us off our chairs. We made a mad dash inside and closed the slides. This morning we had dust and grit an inch thick EVERYWHERE!!

Despite the fact that we are not enamored with all the desert and sand here, we did have another hike we wanted to do in the Chisos Mountains. So, we postponed our departure from Big Bend by a day to hike the Lost Mine Trail in the Chisos area. On our drive in to the trail head, we came upon a family/herd of Javelinas having breakfast by the side of the road. Then when we got to the trail head, we had an escort of a couple of mule deer.

This little mule deer didn’t mind sharing the trail

The Lost Mine Trail took us up 1100’ in about 2.5 miles to a ridge across from the Casa Grande (the Big House), which is the tallest point in the Big Bend NP. Great hike and GREAT views.

After this hike we needed some time sitting – so we took a drive to the third area of the park – the Santa Elena Canyon area. Another beautiful canyon with sheer rock walls.

We were glad we stayed – but are now ready to head to some GREEN!!! (We truly hope.)

Off to the Hill Country tomorrow. More later – E&G

Well – the last two days have been dedicated to two of this country’s many National Parks (NP’s) and has been quite interesting – in many respects.

Friday, March 19th, we headed to Guadalupe Mountains National Park which is about 130 miles east of El Paso, about 50 miles west of Carlsbad, is actually in Texas but borders New Mexico – AND there is NOTHING else around! The only RV “park” any where around is the one in the NP trail head parking lot – has NO hook-ups (meaning no water, electricity or sewer!) – and is available on a first come first serve basis. Knowing all of this, we headed here anyway with full fresh water and propane tanks, empty black and grey water tanks and plenty of food! We did plan an early arrival hoping we would be one of the first to arrive on a Friday afternoon so we could get a spot to park. Luckily (I think) we were. Wally, our camp host, was over to greet us immediately and to point out the campground registration ‘bucket’ where Gary had to leave his Sr. Pass information and $8 for our camp spot for the next two nights!! Yes, I did say $8 for the two nights. Of course the amenities (no water, electricity or sewer) were reflective of the $4/night fee. Nevertheless – Gary loves the fact that his Sr. Pass is getting such deals and getting us into all the NP’s FREE!! We LOVE being SR’s:-))

After set-up (which did NOT take long since we had nothing to hook-up:-(), we did our usual trek to the Visitor Center to get the lay of the land. With fists full of maps and literature and advice from the Rangers, we selected our hike for the afternoon – Devil’s Hall Trail. This was abut 2.5 miles (5 miles round-trip) into Pine Springs Canyon and a natural rock staircase.

We came upon a Ranger on the hike and learned that we were to have wind gusts up to 60 miles an hour during the night and 30% possibility of snow! SO – when we returned to Magic our evening went like this:

Gary BBQ’d a flank steak outside (doesn’t use any electricity or propane) while I quickly fixed corn on the cob and rice inside (using propane only). The wind was already buffeting Magic around – so ALL the ‘slides’ came in and we ate at the small kitchen table by candle light (no electricity). As soon as the dishes were done, we retreated to the bed (remember all slides were in) and watched March Madness from there in the dark. We had a GREAT evening:-)!!

This morning we DID wake up to SNOW (we only thought we left that behind in Park City!)!!

Our destination today was Carlsbad Caverns NP (another stamp in our NP Passport:-)), a spectacular cave system that achieved ‘World Heritage Site’ status in 1995. We descended through the Natural Entrance, which took us down about 800 feet in one mile. On this walk we saw such notables as Devil’s Spring, Whale’s Mouth and Iceberg Rock. This then brought us to the “Big Room” where we saw the Lion’s Tail, Hall of Giants, Bottomless Pit and Rock of Ages (which was NOT Gary!). Hard to believe anything this HUGE is all underground. We also had to keep reminding ourselves that we were in a natural wonder and NOT a Disneyland ride!?!?!

One more stop on the way back to our ‘camp ground’ – the Pinery. Yet another Butterfield Trail stagecoach station at the foot of the Guadalupe Mountains.

Tomorrow on our way to Big Bend NP in the southwest corner of Texas. We DO have reservations at an RV Park there that has FULL hook-ups:-)!!

More in a few days – E & G

Well – we spent this week in “The Wild West” having a blast and re-learning about where we both grew up!

Monday we left Phoenix and headed south for Tombstone with a ‘lunch stop’ at the DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun. In many ways DeGrazia’s vision of what he wanted to do in creating his art, bringing it to the public and developing his property outside of Tucson reminds me of Frank Lloyd Wright and his visions for his architecture and Taliesin West. While both selected properties in the foothills of their respective towns (far from development) back in the early 50’s – both are now encircled by development. The gallery, DeGrazia’s art and his story were all quite interesting.

After one slight little mishap (we managed to get Magic on a two lane road with no exit – oops – just a little traffic tie-up while we turned THE BUS around) we arrived at our next camping spot in ‘Historic Tombstone’. We had such a good time – the Shoot Out at the OK Corral – pics with Doc Holladay – Boot Hill Cemetery – the largest rose bush in the world – what more could anyone ask for. Oh yes – the day before St. Patrick’s Day we had lunch at Nellie Cashman’s Restaurant. Nellie Cashman came to America from Ireland at the age of 5 in the 1850‘s with her mother. By 1880 she had made her way to Tombstone, via San Francisco, where she started a restaurant to feed the miners. She was called the Angel of Tombstone – as she never let a man go hungry. She also started the hospital there. When she heard of new mine strikes as far away as Alaska – she was on her way. We can’t wait to see if she shows up on our Alaska trip this summer?!?!

While in Tombstone, we took a quick trip to Bisbee to check out the old Copper Queen Hotel (opened in 1902) and the Lavender Open Pit Mine (produced most of Bisbee’s 8 Billion pounds of copper!).

From Tombstone to Las Cruces we passed through land that was Mexico instead of USA prior to the Gadsden Purchase in 1853, was part of the Butterfield Stage Line and also existed due to the railroad – no wonder there were lots of ‘ghost towns’!!!

The history of Las Cruces and the surrounding area is VERY interesting. This area was inhabited for thousands of years by the ancient Native Americans called the Mogollon, who left their record for us etched in rocks and canyon walls. Later – in 1598 – Don Juan de Onate, on behalf of the King of Spain, led men from Mexico through the Pass that is now El Paso to what is now Santa Fe on the route that is now known as El Camino Real or the royal road. (I did say 1598 – the Pilgrims founded Plymouth Rock in 1620!!!) So – as you might think – this was the first major European colonization of North America. Sorry Pilgrims:-(

The land around Las Cruces remained a part of Mexico until 1854 when the Gadsden Purchase annexed land in (now) southern New Mexico into America at a cost of about $10 million. This provided a reliable route to the west coast avoiding the mountains to the north. In 1858 the Butterfield Overland Mail and Stage Line set up its regional headquarters in Mesilla, the largest town in the southern part of the New Mexico Territory (Las Cruces and El Paso were tiny towns with only a couple hundred residents!). In 1861 Mesilla was declared the capital of the New Mexico and Arizona Territories.

Mesilla was the center of activity during the late 1800’s. Like Tombstone, it was a stage stop – and had its outlaws. In fact, Billy the Kid ‘hung out’ here just as he did in Tombstone. Shortly after Billy the Kid testified about the shoot out at the OK Corral (he was there but not involved in the actual shoot out), he returned to Mesilla, was involved in his own shooting incident, tried in the courthouse on the Mesilla Plaza and sentenced to hang.

So – our activities in Mesilla included checking out the Historic Plaza, the building that housed the courthouse, the building that housed the Butterfield Stage Line Office/Stop and the Basilica (rebuilt in 1907).

Can you imagine 2800 miles on a stage coach? We’ll take the Magic Bus any day.

Basilica of San Albino

I must add that the building that housed the Butterfield Stage Line Office is now La Posta Restaurant serving the BEST Mexican food we have ever had!!! And that is saying a lot, since I was raised on Los Compadres in Phoenix. It was soooooo good that we had three out of three meals there (dinner, lunch and dinner) – the only place we ate the whole time we were in Mesilla!! Their red chili con carne and flan were out of this world!!:))

Between lunch and dinner at La Posta today, we did manage a trip out of town – to the White Sand Missile Range Museum & Missile Park (WSMR) and to the White Sands National Monument. It is pretty interesting to see where our armed forces (and their contractors) actually test all those missiles. And, Gary got to reminisce as he saw that old MACE Missile that he spent so much time guarding in Okinawa!!

White Sands NM is someplace we had both heard much about but neither had ever visited. Seeing all that white sand – and not an ocean in sight – was quite interesting. We also took a Sunset Stroll with a Park Ranger which was very informative – and beautiful.

Just having FUN!!

SO – We did have a wonderful couple of days in Lemoore with the Hengsteler clan. The best part was the babysitting:-) We enjoyed walks, swings and slides with Haley and Joseph and Elizabeth did some baking – mmmmm – good cookies! We will let the pictures tell the story –

After a brief stop in Santa Clarita to see Eloise and Tom, we were on our way to Phoenix to spend time with the BAD group (sister Barb, brother-in-law Andrew and niece Deme), Mother Dorthy and even saw cousins Vern and Betty. Activities included the Scottsdale Arts Festival (with a great concert) and a spring training ball game. Here are the sights –

Deme becoming part of the sculpture.

Fun in the sun with Elizabeth, Deme & Barb

Monday morning it was time to ‘pack up’ and head to Tombstone, AZ! We are having a blast and will write more on this when we have a MUCH better connection. See ya all again soon –

Elizabeth & Gary