Friday March 17, 2017-Lost Alaskan RV Park

Yesterday evening, a group of about 20 of us from the rally drove the 20 or so miles to the Marfa lights viewing area. We had driven past it a couple of days ago when we went to Terlingua, and thought it was a roadside rest area.

I did get a good photo of a beautiful sunet!

There were quite a few folks already there but there is plenty of parking space and we were soon set up with our lawn chairs on the elevated viewing area, waiting on the big show. We waited and waited, but the only thing we saw was some house lights and some sort of emergency vehicle flashing red lights that were way off in the distance. Bummer...

I hope to have some time to come back to check the lights again before we leave. I did some Wikipedia research and learned that the lights have been reported as ghost or mystery lights from an unknown source. Some scientific research decided that the lights were merely reflections of vehicle lights from nearby highway 67 between Presidio and Marfa. 

The first published account of the lights appeared in the July 1957 issue of Coronet magazine. In 1976, Elton Miles' Tales of the Big Bend included stories dating to the 19th century, and a photograph of the Marfa lights taken by a local rancher.

The earliest anecdote commonly cited for the observation of the Marfa Lights is that of the cowboy Robert Reed Ellison in March 1883. This was while he was herding cattle through the Paisano Pass southwest across the Marfa plain. The lights were next reported in 1885 by Joe and Anne Humphreys. Both stories appear in Cecilia Thompson's book History of Marfa and Presidio County, Texas 1535-1946.

Referring to the Marfa Lights View Park east of Marfa, James Bunnell states, "you might just see mysterious orbs of light suddenly appear above desert foliage. These balls of light may remain stationary as they pulse on and off with intensity varying from dim to almost blinding brilliance. Then again, these ghostly lights may dart across the desert...or perform splits and mergers. Light colors are usually yellow-orange but other hues, including green, blue and red are also seen. Marfa Mystery Lights (MLs) usually fly above desert vegetation but below background mesas.

Bunnell lists 34 Marfa lights sightings from 1945 through 2008. Monitoring stations were put in place starting in 2003. He has identified "an average of 9.5 MLs on 5.25 nights per year", but thinks the monitoring stations may only be finding half of the MLs in Mitchell Flat.

I suppose that since there have only been 34 sightings, we shouldn't feel too bad. Maybe next time.

So long.

Tuesday March 14, 2017-Lost Alaskan RV Park

Today we visited the Big Bend National Park the Big Bend Ranch State Park and the ruins and ghost town at Terlingua. Stella and I and two of our kids visited Big Bend waaay back in 1980 or 81, but we had forgotten how wild and beautiful this area is.

The national park covers 801,163 acres (324,219 ha).^[1] A variety of Cretaceous and Cenozoic fossil organisms exist in abundance, and the park has artifacts estimated to be 9000 years old. Historic buildings and landscapes offer graphic illustration of life along the international border in the 19th century.

For more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km), the Rio Grande/Río Bravo forms the boundary between Mexico and the United States, and Big Bend National Park administers approximately 118 miles (190 km) along that boundary. The park was named after the area, which is bounded by a large bend in the river, and Texas–Mexico border.

No, this is not a group of illegals but are visitors to the Big Bend Ranch State Park. I'm pretty certain that they all have permits allowing them to float the river. 

These are photos of the ruins of some houses found in the town of Terlingua. I didn't see or hear any ghosts but there were plenty of ruined homes and buildings. 

At one time, Terlingua was home to the Chisos Mountain Mining Co. the Terlingua Chili Cookoff, both of 'em. Yes, now there are two!

I read online that some vandals damaged some walls of one of the ruined homes, but I don't know how you could tell that they were damaged. You can see from the photos that they are in-fact ruins, but I don't doubt that some ne'er-do-wells did damage something. I hope the Sheriff's Office can catch these bad guys and only wish Judge Roy Bean was still around to find them guilty.

So long.

Monday March 13, 2017-Lost Alaskan RV Park

Today we drove up to the Fort Davis National Historic Site, where the old fort had been established in 1854. The fort site was dedicated as a National Historic site in 1960.

Hoping to protect the garrison from winter northers, Smith tucked the fort into a canyon flanked on three sides by sheer rock walls. From 1854 to 1891, Fort Davis was strategically located to protect emigrants, mail coaches, and freight wagons on the trans-Pecos portion of the San Antonio-El Paso Road and the Chihuahua Trail, and to control activities on the southern stem of the Great Comanche War Trail and Mescalero Apache war trails. 

Thanks to Wikipedia for the above information.

This is a description on the original layout if the fort.

As you can see the sheer rock walls surrounding one side of the fort.

The ruined walls behind the house would have contained the kitchen, which was separate from the main house because of fire danger.

This two story building was one of the officer's quarters. We noticed in one of the other officer's quarter buildings that the two quarters were separated by a hallway that ran completely through the building, called a "dog trot" in a conventional house.

This was Lieutenant's and Officer's Row. Each house could house two officers.

Fort Davis is important in understanding the presence of African Americans in the West and in the frontier military because the 24th and 25th U.S. Infantry regiments and the 9th and 10th U.S. Cavalry regiments, all-black regiments (known as the buffalo soldiers), which were established after the Civil War, were stationed at the post. Lt. Col. Wesley Merritt led Troops C, F, H, and I of the 9th Cavalry in reoccupying the fort on 29 June 1867.^[2]:19 They rebuilt the fort, using limestone and adobe, outside the canyon walls.

This is one of the enlisted men's barracks that has been outfitted with uniforms, weapons and various military gear and equipment that was commonly used during the time. Everything has been covered with plastic due to the replacement of the roof recently.

 Notice the wooden slats to support  mattress that was about 1" thick. 

If you're ever in this area, this is an attraction that you don't want to miss. It is not hard to imagine what it was like back in the late 1800's and the hardships that these men and some with their families went through. Enlisted men made $13 a month and if their wives went to work at the fort, she could earn $5-$10 per month. Keep in mind that these brave men protected the area for that much money and today, fast food workers flipping burgers demand $15 per hour! Enough rant...

So long.

Friday March 10, 2017-Moving Day-Quail Springs RV Park to Lost Alaskan RV Park, Alpine TX

We stayed an extra day in Uvalde on Thursday to explore the area but didn't get much accomplished. We went to visit Fort Inge, the site of an old army fort from many years ago but when we arrived, the fort and museum was closed. The roads to the fort were dirt and pretty bad and the area around the entrance was very  neglected and overgrown but we were bummed about driving all the way out there to find it closed.

We did find a very nice restaurant at the airport in Uvalde called the Hangar 6 Air Cafe. A very helpful waitress helped us decide what we wanted to order and the food was very good. Our friend George S. had recommended a place called the Oasis Outback but we learned that it is only open for lunch and we wanted to eat supper. It was very good and we would advise you to try it, especially if you like airplanes and watching them take off and land. One interesting thing that we noticed was that the ceiling fans have blades that look like actual propellers from an airplane! 

This morning we were up and ready to go by 8:45. Today was a great day for a drive. It started out cloudy and overcast and we ran through a short rain, but it was more like a mist and didn't last very long. Our trucks and trailers are so filthy that it won't matter.

We arrived about 3, after what seemed to be a looooong drive. I guess it was a combination of no traffic and limited scenery to look at but we were tired upon arrival. We really made pretty good time.

As soon as we arrived, some of our Heartland friends that are already here came by. It was good to see them and after a short visit, we kept on working on getting set up. We had one little boo-boo when we were escorted to the wrong site. The gentleman doing escort duty today apparently misunderstood what site we were to go to and took us to #14 instead of #4. We soon got it straightened out and were soon set up. Everything worked as advertised and after having a park crew to trim a couple of tree limbs so they wouldn't rub on the trailer, we were set!

More friends came by for short visits during the afternoon. The weather is just about perfect here, with cool temps in the evening. It was warm this afternoon when in the sun, but once I got into the shade, all was well. We are looking forward to many others to arrive and I'm sure that we'll have a great time.

So long.

Wednesday March 8, 2017-Moving Day-Cottonwood RV Park to Quail Springs RV Park, Uvalde TX

A bit of follow up before talking about our trip to Uvalde. We went to eat with Ted and Donna on Sunday to Cheddar's. As usual, the food was great but the wait to get into the restaurant was bad. As I've grown older, the less likely it is that I will wait to get into a restaurant, but I've learned that Cheddar's is worth it. We had a nice time visiting with Ted and Donna but were glad that we had this time together.

On Monday, Dave and Nancy and us went to PF Chang for lunch. We had all been wanting to visit one of these and were glad we did. The food was fresh and spicy and we all enjoyed ourselves. We will go back to this one!

Tuesday the four of us went to Gonzales Burgers in Donna, to get in one more great burger. We love the huge burgers and each couple always split one burger and still have plenty to eat. This time, the girls decided that we would also split one order of fries and onion rings and it worked out perfectly. We all had plenty of fries, so it was a good decision.

Now to today. We were up and moving by 7AM but with the work we both did last night, things went very smoothly. We actually pulled right on time of 9 o'clock. We stopped at the office and dropped off our final rent check along with payment for our electrical usage for the time we have been here.

It was a lousy day for traveling, with rain on us much of way. It actually began just as we pulled out but became heavier as we drove west. Another thing that made the trip bad was that we went through many small towns and they all had at least two traffic lights, some more than that. And the Highway Patrol certainly has a huge presence down here. Most of the first part of the trip runs near the Rio Grande river, so I suppose the number of State Troopers was to combat the influx of illegal aliens. We also saw two of the DPS gunboats that are used to patrol the river. They were probably being moved to a new location because they were being trailered and the boats had been stripped of all weaponry. I suppose they could be two new boats being delivered. I just don't know...

We made good time with light traffic. Both of the trucks and trailers are filthy from road grime, but it is senseless to clean them up until we arrive in Alpine. We arrived here at the Quail Springs RV Resort right on time at 3 o'clock. This is a very nice park located right in the middle of town. It seems to be very well kept and the only complaint that we had was the number of trees that interfere with TV reception. I got mine to work by sitting my antenna near the adjoining site, but there is no one in the site right now. Holding my breath that no one comes in and asks me to move it.

We're staying here for a couple of nights to explore a new area. Alpine and the first rally of the season will come on Friday.

So long.

Friday March 3, 2017-Cottonwood RV Park

We were up and in Mexico this morning before 10 for my final appointment with my dentist, Dr. Eduardo Flores. He has done a good job on my dental work and I returned this morning to have the new denture realigned to fit even better. After having my last 7 teeth pulled, my mouth and jaw was very sore for a week or so, but now it has been two weeks and my gums feel much better. 

I went in and Mary, one of Dr. Flores' assistants, took care of me. She made new impressions of my mouth, making me do different facial movements-swallowing, pursing my lips like I was kissing, sucking on a straw, etc. so that the lab could reshape it to fit even better. 

We took a couple of hours off to get something to eat-quite an operation with no lower teeth in my mouth- but we went to our favorite restaurant, Rene's, where I had a Mexican omelette. Of course it was delicious and soft enough to eat, so I had a nice tasty meal. We went and did a little shopping and just piddled around until the time came for us to return to Dr. Flores' office. I didn't have to wait long until I was called in. The office had been packed this morning when we arrived with walk-in's and some of the same folks were still there waiting for service. My teeth now fit even better and I didn't even need any further adjustments. 

We went over to see our friends Mike and Linda at their park, Ranchero Village in nearby Weslaco. This is a nice large RV park and much closer to Mexico than our place in Mission. Mike and Linda had some other visitors, Jim and Betty, that we also knew. We met all of them while park hosting at Inks Lake, so it was good to catch up with all. Mike and Linda had dropped by Inks Lake while we were there and were our next door neighbors for their short stay but Jim and Betty have moved on to other state parks. Sad.

We had a nice visit before having to get back home to check on Tramp. Tramp had gone to see the Vet a day or so ago and was given a clean bill of health. His shots are up to date and they found nothing wrong with him except he has gained a couple of pounds and needs to lose it. Sound familiar? 

We stopped and picked up hamburgers for supper, since we hadn't eaten since noon. The burgers were also a test for my "new" teeth and they did just fine. I can bite again!! Don't laugh, it's somewhat of a milestone for me right now.

So long.

Monday February 27, 2017-Cottonwood RV Park

What a nice day it was today. The weather has been warmer than normal this year in the valley and we have been enjoying it. Today the temps were in the upper 80's with clear skies.

Today is Stella's birthday and she had a very nice day. We found a new Chinese restaurant nearby called Kurai Chinese and Sushi so we went there with a large group of friends to celebrate her birthday. We rode with David and Donna, Dave and Nancy took their own truck and we met Ted and Donna & Mike and Linda at the restaurant. The place is very new and we found it delightful. We had a very attentive waiter that took care of everyones need for drink refills and even brought ice cream and other desserts to the table for us. They had a somewhat limited menu but the food was fresh and delicious. 

We had a nice time visiting at the table after the meal, and we all enjoyed our time together. It was good to catch up with friends.

We came back home to relax but later in the evening we got together at Dave and Nancy's place for birthday cake and ice cream. What a perfect way to end Stella's birthday than a delicious birthday cake and Blue Bell ice cream (thank you David)! 

We sat outside in the breeze, chatting and munching on the goodies for awhile before turning in. Sadly, David and Donna will be leaving in a couple of days and we'll miss them. We'll see them again at the upcoming Louisiana HOC rally in Kinder LA. and then they will travel to Alaska for the summer. Good luck on your trip!

So long.