Another Day in Big Bend

Purple Prickly Pear Cactus (Opuntia violaceae)

A Buck and Doe at the Visitor's Center

Bumpety, bump, bump!! That's what we experienced for two hours yesterday as we went down "Old Maverick Road". The map said unpaved, but didn't say it was a washboard! It was only 14 miles, but wow. The rest of the drives were beautiful as we wound around the canyons and saw the mountains. There were so many different colors and shapes. Tom kept taking pictures because he just wanted to remember them all. We were a little disappointed as we didn't see any animals except two deer at the lodge by the "window". We especially watched for javelinas as everyone said they are so plentiful. We'll keep a lookout! We're off on another adventure this morning.

Big Bend, TX

Cool Looking Mountain in Big BendTerlingua Town Sign

We're here! We arrived in the park about 11:00 am and spent some time at the visitor's center. The big thrill was getting my lifetime National Park pass for only $10.00. Being 62 has some good perks for sure. We've seen hundreds of blooming yuccas again, beautiful mountains and one deer on the road. Luckily, we saw him early enough to slow down and none of us was in any danger. We are now in Big Bend Motor Lodge and RV Park. It's pretty much the same as the park we were in last night. Dirt/gravel sites, a few trees, but we have cable, wifi and phone connection, so it's fine with us. We're not far from the park either. We'll be here for 3 nights. Although we've seen some of the park, we are excited to start out tomorrow without the 5th wheel and do some exploring. We'll keep you posted!

Marathon, Texas

Marathon RV Park

Here we are in the small town of Marathon. We traveled many miles through the desert without any sign of life, to get here. We are in an actual RV park with cable and wifi, but no phone connectivity. Tom is so happy to have good wifi connection. He'll be busy all evening. I'm happy to have cable, so we're both just in our own little worlds. Tomorrow we'll be going to Terlingua and use that as our base to see Big Bend National Park. This morning we stopped in Uvalde for breakfast at Ophelia's Family Restaurant. It didn't look like much, but Tom was overjoyed with the huevos rancheros. For those of you who are not familiar, those eggs with a kind of stewed tomato sauce on them, plus potatoes, beans and homemade tortillas. I ate breakfast tacos that were very good. That was the most exciting part of our day! We'll keep you posted on our adventure.

Carrizo Springs, TX

Yucca plants and Prickly Pear Catus

After a wonderful farewell dinner with our dear friends, Jack, Wilma, Val and Brian, we said our goodbyes and made our promises to see each other again in the, hopefully, near future. We enjoy these friends so much and have had fun the last months, going to see “Avatar”, a ballet folklorico, eating out, playing games, competing at Wii and even having a few dinners and happy hours. Of course, we can’t forget the Canadian sponsored dinner/dance in February. It was one of the highlights of our winter.
This morning we were up very early, before the alarm and finished our packing up to hit the road. We said our final goodbyes to our neighbors and were headed out by 8:00 am. We didn’t get far – just to the nearest Denny’s for breakfast. We had a coupon, so couldn’t waste it! By 9:00 am we were headed west and north on our way to Carrizo Springs for our first night. We saw some beautiful spring flowers along the way, hundreds of gorgeous yuccas in bloom, prickly pear cactus, and mesquite trees and bushes turning green. The weather was beautiful, a little windy, but not bad and the trip was mostly uneventful. Well, Tom did miss a turn so we had to go to Laredo and then head north and west again, but it was no big deal. We have plenty of time to enjoy the trip.
Now we’re sitting in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Carrizo Springs, TX, relaxing and preparing for a nice drive to Marathon tomorrow. By Tuesday early, we’ll be at Big Ben National Park. Yippee!

On the road again!

Once again, raring to hit the road, we gotta itch in our hitch!

Tomorrow morning bright and early, we'll be back on the road again. We're almost all ready to go, but there are always those last minute things to do. We're having a farewell dinner tonight at our friend's house, so no more cooking here. Lucky Tom, he gets the night off. The plan is to head for Big Bend National Park where we'll be getting a life time membership since Donna is now 62 so that's exciting. It's hard to leave our friends, but we know we'll keep in touch and see each other again someday. This last two weeks has been last lunches at our favorite places, last dinners and last card games with our friends. Suddenly we all realize the time is growing short, so everyone wants to get the last bit of fun in before we're on our way. Many of the activities have been stopped until next fall but there are still a lot of people in the park. If you're on the road, have safe travels and if you're already home, enjoy Easter.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

St. Paddy's Day at the Hemet Elks Club 2009

Hope you're all celebrating in a happy safe way! We're having some of our favorite friends over for a St. Patrick's dinner of corn beef and cabbage. We even decorated a little outside. So far the weather is beautiful and sunny so should be fun.

We've been busy with our usual activities and also are starting to get ready to hit the road on the 28th. We going to Big Bend, then Albuquerque, then on to Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon. From there, we'll go on to Ukiah, CA then to our summer destination in Portland about mid-May. Along the way we'll be visiting friends and family - especially our little granddaughter. She's anxious for us to get there so she can show us their new house. They are having a good time fixing things and painting, carpeting, etc. They're saving some projects for Grandpa Bubba and Grandma Donna too.

Spring has sprung here in the valley. There are so many flowers and the trees are starting to get their leaves. Before long, it'll be too warm here for us so we're leaving at just the right time.

We'll keep in touch.

March is here!

Tom and Donna with friend Valerie at the Cactus Club

Tom tells me it's time to update the blog again. We've still been having lots of fun. Tom finished his Vista computer class - said he learned a little. The weather is still on and off with cold and warm, so water aerobics has been sporadic. Donna is continuing with clogging. We learned an Irish Jig on Wednesday and it was fun. It's called "Dance on the Rainbow". My feet are beginning to do what my brain tells them to! I can't wait to teach Julia (my granddaughter) some easy steps. She thinks we'll do a "show". Right!
We have been able to get together with more of our friends and have lunch and play hot games of cards. That's always a hoot. Sunday evening we went to a performance of "Laughing Bird". It's a husband and wife team and they sing and play numerous instruments. It was very entertaining.
Wednesday we went to Mexico with Tim and Rosie. We had lunch and did a little shopping, but didn't really need much. It was a beautiful day though. Last evening we were treated to a great dinner at our neighbors. They had it to thank all the people who had helped them out while the husband had surgery on both knees. As you can see, we are continuing to have a great time whether the weather cooperates or not.
On a really good note, Tom's hand is pretty much healed up and we're hoping that's the end of the problem. Both our colds are long over-thank goodness. Spring will be here soon and we hope everyone is at least losing the snow if they are up north. We're seeing some greening and flowers. Take care!