Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Friendly New Mexico


We have an old friend from Indiana -- Mary Jo -- that now lives in New Mexico with her husband, Dick. They have a lovely home surrounded by the pines and cliffs in the forest near Ramah. We were glad to have a chance to visit last weekend. Besides, MJ usually conjures up a plan for your visit. Her schemes might include a little trip, or a new restaurant, or some good food she whips together. Well, this time she did all that.
One of the "highpoints" of our visit was when MJ decided to offer to take us to the top of Mount Taylor. "I haven't been to the top yet and I would like to find the trail all the way up." Of course, our reply was, "Let's go for it." Oh, did I mention that we were using MJ's Dodge dually truck? She might want to come back with the horse trailer and needed to see what it was like. It was a beautiful day for a ride. We set out on the forest trail that seemed to take us to the towers that we could see across a few ridges. We worked our way up, winding and riding the trail, through some washed out sections and many large boulders. At several points we all considered turning around because it was hard to tell if the path we were taking would turn into a walking path or deadend without room for us to turn around.

Luckily, we chose a trail that led to the towers at the top, 10,440 feet. Spectacular, 360 degrees of mountains and valleys!!

Now, how to get back down? Our road up took too long. We saw a road that seemed to lead down the other side along the edge of the mountain. But we couldn't see for sure where it went.




Low and behold, there came a vehicle up that road. So we waited. Good, the driver had news about that road down. It was easy going. But he also wanted to know how we got up to this point. When we pointed to the trail we had used to get there he replied with surprise, "You did what? I thought that was a goat path." We laughed and got back in the truck. The other driver seemed a little puzzled when Mary Jo got into the driver's seat, with Jerry riding along in the back.


All I can say is that there were many beautiful views all along the route and , especially at the top of Mt. Taylor. And there were laughs and excitement all the way.

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Monday, September 22, 2008

Colorado's Huge Sandbox


Did you know there's a national park called "Great Sand Dunes" in southeastern Colorado? The tallest sand dunes in North America are formed here by a natural combination of the mountains, the sand, the wind and the water. We just learned about this unique spot a few months ago from RVer friends who passed along great photos and stories. So we made a path from Texas to Colorado while working our way to New Mexico. And here we are taking in another beautiful piece of the country.




We arrived at the park on Friday and luckily we were early, around noon, and were able to snatch one of the large enough campsites for Ferd. There are no electric or water hookups in the campground, but that doesn't seem to deter visitors. It filled quickly with families savoring the sunny days over this September weekend.

It's Sunday evening as I write this and all of a sudden there are many empty campsites. In fact, this afternoon we walked out our door to be greeted by five deer calmly nibbling on the bushes around our rig. They gave us a few glances and went on about their business. It was as if they had been waiting for the neighborhood to be evacuated.

But, back to the sand dunes, etc. It's difficult to capture the enormity of these dunes in the photos. The sand erodes from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the background, is moved by creeks and blown by the wind, all this in a cycle that deposits these towering sand mountains. People climb them, ski them and sled them. And the wind swiftly erases the foot prints and grooves left by humans and creates formations that look like giant whipped cream peaks or choppy waves. Well, I had to hike over at least a couple of these mounds. There was a swift wind blowing. But I did make it over a few dunes.

As would be expected, soon as we arrived Jerry learned about the 4wheel trails up into the mountains. We had a beautiful day yesterday following the Medano Pass trail. It starts out on several miles of deep sand, of course. Not long into the trail we came to a popular play area where folks were sledding on a very steep and high section of the dunes. Some even brought skis. There were many determined souls who dragged their sleds to the top for what looked like a fantastic ride down.

Our 22-mile trip over Medano Pass was a great ride too. The trail follows the route used by Zebulon Pike in 1806 and forged by the natives long before his explorations.

The elevation at the top of the pass is 10,040 feet. The views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the Wet Mountain Valley are spectacular. On the way up the pass there are nine crossings of Medano Creek. And all along the way there is an abundance of aspens, pines, sage and wildflowers.

It turned out to be a longer route than we thought by the time we came over the other side. But we soon consulted our trusty map and found another interesting "unpaved" road that cut back toward the park and was quite scenic itself. By the time we stopped for pizza at the All Gon Pizza Parlor in Fort Garland we were just about starved. What did I say about getting ourselves back on the diet?!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Come Fly With Me

Our travels over the last few days brought us once again through small towns and beautiful plains and grasslands. We rolled north on two-lane highway 83 through the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles, on our way to our stop at Liberal, Kansas. Something interesting usually happens on these types of trips. In one small town in Texas, Wellington, we noticed a campground along the highway and made a quick stop to take a look. It turns out this spot, now called the Collingsworth County Pioneer Park, alongside the Red River, is where Bonnie and Clyde kidnapped the local sheriff and chief of police of Wellington. Remember in the movie how they wrecked their car in the river and the Pritchard family (whose home is still there) reported them to the authorities? This legend still draws tourists. It was fun to chat with the camp hosts about this story and the local area. We'll have to come back some time.
About 150 miles up the road we pulled into the Seward county fairgrounds in Liberal, Kansas, to find our home for at least one night. This turned out to be a super park, full hookups and a quiet, safe spot for $10.00. Why not make it two nights?

While making our stop in the land of Oz we wanted to visit the Mid America Air Museum that we had heard much about and missed on previous trips through the state. It didn't dissappoint. If you are interested in history or aviation this is a place to see. There are over 100 aircraft on display of every possible type; civilian, war, experimental and homebuilt. There's a lot to see, including some interactive stuff.


The plane to the left is a B25, a stalwart in WWII. You can get up close to the interior of this fierce one. The pilot seats look like ten minutes would be as long as I'd want to sit in them.


Kansas is very proud of its contribution to aviation history and rightfully so. In the category of "Kansas facts you may or may not know" are:

-- Aviation leaders such as Cessna, Beech, Stearman (Boeing), Lear and Earhart were all Kansans.
-- Liberal was a huge WWII pilot training facility. 4500 B24 pilots were trained at the location that is now the museum.
-- 1 out of 3 aircraft produced in the world today is made in Kansas.



The museum leads you through aviation history, from the early 1900s to supersonic jets. The place is chocked full of information and unique flying machines.


Have you ever seen an actual drone up close.....Here's one at the museum.....
















Jerry's favorite in the museum was the Piper Aztec ... "Looks classy." Let's get one!












I saw some expressions that I enjoyed............What a happy looking fellow!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Navigating Northern Texas Byways

Today the sun is shining again in northern Texas. We were back on the state highways that we prefer to travel because we see so much more of the country than on interstates. We set out from Gainesville, Texas, without having breakfast, anxious to be on our way, enjoying the blue skies. We headed west on highway 82 with plans to stop for an early lunch at a rest stop. As we were commenting on the beautiful rolling countryside, I spotted a sign for a German meat market in Muenster, Texas, just 15 miles down the road. Well, say no more. These two German food lovers had to investigate.
As we neared the town we started noticing the signs of German heritage, the church steeple in the distance and business signs bearing names such as Hess, Flusche, Rohmer and, of course, the Fischer Meat Market, our new destination. It wasn't difficult to find Fischer's glockenspiel just two blocks off Main Street. We were able to park Ferd at the curb right across the street.

Once inside the market it was easy to see how popular the Fischer's meat products have remained since their opening in 1927. We found lots of friendly employees, scrumptious samples and hungry customers. Grandpa Fischer's original smoked sausage recipe is still in use. It took him all night, adding green hickory to the stove to process it perfectly. Today they have a state-of-the art smokehouse and the fire stays on by itself. But they sure do make a fine sausage.


Penny, a Fischer family member, gave us generous advice on sausages, steaks, cheese, plus special salad and sauces. Of course, before we left we had some of their German beers in our cart as well. Moving along, we quickly found a quiet rest stop on a hill with a nice view. Our lunch was a feast embarrassing to our low carb diet. How does this sound?: summer sausage, smoked pepper jack cheese, corned beef, German potato salad and sauer kraut seasoned with bacon. This morning's find was the type of unplanned event that adds the seasoning to our travels. So if you ever find yourself traveling in northwestern Texas on 82 and 287 between Gainesville and Wichita Falls, you may enjoy a short stop in this little town of 1600.

With smiles and full bellies, we continued our afternoon journey on highway 82 and 287 west. Little did we know we would encounter a few more unusual sites this day. You know, those type of scenes that you pass too quickly for photos, but they sure are fun to remember. First, as we were enjoying the herefords in the many rolling ranch pastures of the northern Texas scenery, what should appear but what looked like a camel. No, it wasn't a llama. A closer look confirmed there in front of us was definitely a herd of grazing camels. What next? We're taking it all in again when our eyes are drawn to what is an old cadillac convertible parked in someone's front yard right against the road. So what?! Well, this caddy contained two ladies in bikinis. There they were. Two manikins that is, posed on the back of this big green cadillac convertible as if they were in their own permanent parade. Oh the humor of Americans!


Topping off our afternoon of sitings, at our last rest stop for the day I spotted this sign. I guess you might expect to see snakes around here, but never have we seen this sign.
Do you think there might be some pet snakes?
Or maybe just snakes looking for pets.
We didn't see either one.



Now, we are comfortably situated in the Childress, Texas, WalMart . We shopped a little because it always seems there's something to be had when we stop at Wally World. But now we're content, sampling German beer and relaxing. So much for another day of Hurley Travels.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Waiting Out Hurricane Ike

The skies are turning more ominous by the minute and the flags are whipping faster. We've deposited ourselves in Gainesville, Tx, about 50 miles north of Ft. Worth, a location we deemed to be safe from hurricane Ike's rath. We would have gone further west but the torrential rains from a pacific coast storm, Lowell, were drenching that area a couple of days ago. Sooooo, here we are. We have the company of several other rvers at our park behind the Factory Outlet Shops. It's actually a very nice place, with full hookups.

What to do?! We've watched the Ike coverage extensively on TV and are listening to our weather radio for the local area. Did you all see Geraldo's splash? He's okay, so it was quite hilarious. If you haven't seen it, here's a link to the utube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wF6z333SEI&feature=related

And here's a link to one of the Dallas/Ft. Worth stations for local hurricane Ike updates:

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/kristine-kahaneks-4pm-hurricane-ike-update/135822787


Now all there is to do is wait for the storm to pass through east Dallas, skirting us. The wind is blowing a little more now. The rain is intermittent. We have our Internet connection, adequate food and a supply of Merlot. What more could we need???

Hope everyone is staying dry this weekend.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Love Bugs ??

Well we did it. We are now Texas residents. There was a pause between hurricane weather, Gustav and Ike, so we came south again to stay at the Escapees park in Livingston and take care of our business.

Wait just a minute though. These last few days weren't exactly easy going. But not for the reason you might expect. Registering and inspecting vehicles, obtaining drivers' licenses and registering to vote, all went very smoothly. We found helpful people everywhere. While we were at it we even braved a Verizon store visit and added a second phone to our plan. Smooth sailing on that too. (By the way, we found there is a $59.99 deal for two lines, 450 minutes. If you are in the area and need help, the sales people at the Cleveland, TX, store are fantastic.)

But, seriously, the nightmare in this past week has been the invasion of the "love bugs." This was anything but a loving experience. It's a miniature version of "The Birds." These are swarming, repulsive creatures that coat the front of your vehicle with extremely sticky matter that can damage the finish and clog the radiator. We ran into them on Highway 59 heading south from Nacogdoches to Livingston. In about a 50 mile stretch they battered the front of Ferd so that it was getting difficult to see. Every vehicle coming toward us on the highway looked as though it was coated by a king-sized pepper grinder. When you step out the door they are busily buzzing in pairs, surrounding you. The only remotely positive feature about them is that they seem so exhausted from their mating that they move very slowly. They are easy to smash when you have to eliminate the ones inside your home.

Here's the info I found on the Internet about them: Soon after rainy periods in the spring and especially in the fall in the wooded Upper Coast counties of Texas, "lovebugs ' emerge as adults and mate in swarms around roads and buildings. These insects are actually flies (Diptera) of the family Bibionidae, having the scientific name, Plecia nearctica Hardy. The common name "lovebug" has been given to these black colored, orange-backed flies because they are most often seen flying around in mating pairs.


We haven't been to this area of Texas in late summer so we weren't aware that these nasty bugs sometimes emerge after a heavy rainy season. The only way to avoid them seems to stay inside and do not travel during the hours of approximately 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Warmth seems to draw them out. The locals are saying this is the worst they have seen them. Just our luck!

But so much for the Hitchcock experience, we finished our business and scooted out of the area as soon as possible. Besides, hurricane Ike is on the way to southeast Texas. It's time to move northwest toward northern New Mexico or southern Colorado for a while.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Hanging Out In Texas

While we were spending a little time in Paris, Texas, we did our usual poking around for interesting features. Historical sites usually attract us, so when we learned that John Chisum was buried here we went looking for the memorial to the man who forged the cattle trail from Texas to Kansas. Well we found the grave, secluded in a not-so-nice section of town. But we soon learned that this cattle baron was not the Chisholm who the old west had memorialized. His family had considerable land and herds and were often confused with the other Chisholm.

Anyway, as we were driving away from the grave we noticed the entrance to the local cemetery. Our literature talked about the huge size of the cemetery, 44,000 graves, and made note of one unique grave. So why not drive through, just since we were in the neighborhood. There's not much chance we'd find this one grave but we'll take a look. Low and behold as we drove down the lane, there was the Babcock name that we were looking for.


Mr. Babcock died in 1888. He has a 15-20 ft. monument that is slightly impressive. That's not unusual on its own. But wait,
look closely at the statue of Jesus on the top of the monument.


You'll notice that he is wearing cowboy boots.
That was a first for us!




Since we were taking a spot at the civic center in Paris, we thought it best to move on. We have moved to a nice Corps of Engineers park, Lavonia Lake, just east of Dallas. Gustav brought us clouds and strong winds today. We are rockin, but feel safe and sound. This will be our location until Sunday when it should be nicer down south and we will go back to Livingston to get new drivers licenses and registration. For the time being, the price is right here, with our Golden Age Pass it's $9.00. Also, we have a strong internet connection and a nice view of the lake. That will satisfy us for a few days.