Rhonda and Jim's Travel Blog: February 2015

Watching the weather Monday night we got a little concern. The focast had snow and it showed it

Dipping down below Alpine. The next morning it didn't seem so bad. In these two photo they are

south of Alpine. It looks a little dicey, there is ice all over the plants on the side of the road.

Headed out of the desert the creosote bushes are being replaced by mountain cedar.

On the drive into Fredericksburg the Live Oaks are showing up. There are a lot of dead lLive Oaks.

They are suffering from oak wilt. Soit is sad to see them suffering. We have watched this happening

For many years.

So Wednesday and Thursday found me under the weather. Riding was not very appealing to me.

So Jim and I set out to do some projects around the trailer. This is our first long outing in the 5th wheel so Ideas and little Things keep popping onto our list. Plus the wind was awful. 25 to 30 mph. Talked us right out of riding. Friday we did stuff. One project was to hang some things. In a trailer you have to think real hard where something may go. The water color of an Airstream, Mike and Judy Pluto gave us. We first started looking at them and eventually fell in love with our Tesla 5th wheel instead.

Above is a hubcap we picked up at the Śtarlight Restaurant in Terligua. A lady named Callie paints

Hubcaps. You will find them in different places around Big Bend. We chose this one. It was small and with the heart and wings it was perfect for an anniversary gift to ourselves. February 14th was our 29th. So now with a heart for love and wings for travel it has a home with us.

The KOA camp has all kinds of animals around. These chickens are always walking about.

There are also long horns in a field in back and much to Doogie's attention there are cats everywhere.

We have to stay ahead of him so he doesn't go on a cat rampage.

We met Jackie and Simon, who were tent camping here. They are from Cantebury England.

They are on a year's trip around the U.S. They have been together for 15 years. They actually met in New Zealand. Jackie was traveling around the world at the time and Simon as well. They teamed up and continued on. We invited them for dinner the night before. It was fun to hear their adventures.

This morning they are headed to San Antonio. They will be hoteling it for a bit. Which is great because the weather is going to be quite cold for the coming week.

It's Saturday and we are out on our bikes. The roads are familiar to us. We have been coming

to the hill country since the early 80's. Where we are staying let's us easily ride to Luckenbach.

Over the years we have taken many photos of the post office there. Everyone who goes there, it is mandatory to do that. Instead I thought a photo of the school would prove to be more interesting.

There is a historical marker in front of it as well. Many may not see it. It is not in the town. Rather it is on a road across the way marked Luckenbach/Caincity.

All right an old barn. It has a great view behind it as well.

These have to be the biggest goats I have ever seen. Almost all of them were white with brown

Sunday finds us headed into San Antonio. A good friend David Pensak has opened a restaurant.

His original one is in Austin. It has an interesting name Tacos and Tequila.

We have never seen so many Tequilas in one place. They even have them on tap.

Sunday there is a brunch buffet. This place was so busy. It was fun to watch.

This is Friday not a day of riding this week . The streets are slick and icy. The steps of the trailer are scary. These two photos are pictures of the tress outside our window. We did go to a movie this evening. We saw "Focus".

This one lone icicle is hanging for the trailer hitch.

Out our side window we usually see a beautiful field. Right now it is cold and gloomy.

We are trying to decide to go back home for a few days then come back down for Hell Week

Which starts the14th of the March. The weather is much the same back home as it is here so it is hard to decide what to do. We have moved to Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park that has RV camping as well. We like it. It is more open with less trees. There is a massive field adjacent to the park that will be a Dog Park soon, Yahoo! There are hiking trails here as well. Unfortunately they are really muddy right now.

We've had a hard time getting away from cold weather on this trip. That was one of the plans for this inaugural adventure in our 5th wheel. It has been a learning experience for us however and that is a good thing. So on to the next month and we see how things go.

It's Sunday and we are off on another mountain biking adventure. These wide open gravel roads are my cup of tea. However even on some parts it is not an easy hustle.

Jim had to regroup for a moment on this little popper.

Out here in the desert you wonder how people made a living. This board tells the story of the plant Canelilla, which was used in lip balm and chewing gum. Science and technology eventually took over.

So that small industry died away. I will say when you see the homes scattered among the landscape

You can't help but wonder how people make it out here now,

This is some of the plant called Canelilla.

There is a whole lot of stop and just taking in the world out here.

This trail is wide and flat. The others out there do get extremely technical.

As you ride some of these trails there are sign post for other trails. This one points the way to east and west Contrabando trails. I know that the west goes way the heck out west. When we ride the road.

About 8 miles out of Lajitas there will be a sign similar to this one for the west Contrabando trail.

Believe me that trail is not a straight line.

As we were headed out this morning a group of riders on road bikes went by. One of the fellows slowed down to meet up with us. The group was from the Midland/Odessa Cycling Club and were out for the weekend to do some long road miles. Bill was his name he invited us to meet up with them

At the pool at the Lajitas resort for lunch. If we were back by 11:30-noon.

Well, by golly we met up with them. We met a bunch of nice people. There is a climb west out of town

Headed to Presido Which is about a 10% plus climb that goes up for way too long. Jim and I had done it years ago on the tandem. Talking with the few people we found that most of them did not attempt it.

They all agreed with me, that is one Big Ass Hill. I will have to go out and get a photo.

We had talked about going to Presidio only about 50 miles west to pick up some stuff. We hadn't been there in years, so we drove there instead of heading east to Study Butte which is a whole lot closer.

FM170 is written as one of the most scenic routes in America. It also makes 50 miles seem like forever.

The landscape is constantly changing.

After some shopping in Presidio we headed back. There is a turn out for this trailhead and an overlook.

Where balancing rocks and Hoo Doos are.Hoo Doos are tall skinny spires of rock that protrude from the bottom of arid basins.

The Rio Grand snakes along the way to our right.

Today is Monday and we spent the day washing the 5th wheel. It was one dirty home. We watched people leave and come in to the park. It's fun to meet people and find out about them and where they are from and especially find out how long they have been RVing and many RV tips.

Jim wants a steak for dinner. Couldn't find anything available in the local store. So to the Starlight we go. This drive is a climb fro Lajitas to Terligua where the Starlight is. This photo does not do it justice. The drop into this basin is as dramatic a the mountains that surround it.

At the Starlight we settle in at Jim's favorite location in any resturant, The "Bar". Here we meet Gerald who is 80 years Young and his buddy John. They meet at the Starlight on Monday evenings. He had great stories. His evening is short, John is in the process of making sure he gets home before it gets dark. Because it gets really dark here.

Oh, and Kathy owns the bar. She keeps it running smooth and knows everybody that comes in.

I can say that because once she got our names we belonged to her as well.

The Starlight back in the day way a true theater. At one time there was a fire and the roof read burned.

So entertainment was literally held under the starlight in the evening.

In the back of the resturant there is a stage. All set for the evening's entertainment.

It's Monday morning and Jim is out with Doogie and I for a walk into Quiet Canyon

These huge mounds are like piles of crusty silt called Benzite. Kinda mushy soft on dog paws.

Doogie is chasing Jim up and down the hill.

Diggity doesn't do long walks anymore. He is better at taking in every nuance of smells and making sure he marks them along the way. He now doesn't waste his energy standing when laying down is much more efficient. Especially when done in a nice warm sun.

Along the way there are lots of small yellow flowers growing randomly in the rocks

Tuesday we washed the trailer it was pretty dirty and dusty from my our trip from South Padre Island

To Big Bend. The rest of the afternoon we just relaxed and read.

Road Runners show up at anytime. The cool thing is they run a little then stop as if they want to make sure you see them. Especially if you want to take a photo. This one was passing through our campsite.

Paula and Joe were neighbors, they've packed up their home and are headed out to Balmorhea State Park west of Fort Stockton. They are from East Texas and working their way back.They named Doogie "Jailbreak". They watched him do a 180 on the steps into the trailer and head their way. Doogie is becoming a pretty good camp dog. Joe and Paula was always his first stop out the trailer.

Well, they were his first stop. We have a bunch of gopher hole mounds in our space. Most have been abandoned. Doogie found a new hole behind the trailer. He has spent most of the day digging his way to China in search of that dasterly gopher.

Wednesday finds us back on the bike. An easy ride was the order of the day. What is known as a gravel road ride.

The different outcroppings are facinating. The color of this area is sharp contrast to the mountains around it.

Little patches of flowers are all over the area. Adding beautiful color to the rocks and cactus.

This is the only photo where I was ahead of Jim. We went off on some more technical trails.

I wound up having a pretty good spill. Lost my confidence for a bit. I was glad when we got back on the gravel road.

Back in 1994 when the festival was a race series the trail you see on the mountain Is the one Max Miley crashes on gets up and finishes second. The interesting thing is he didn't remember crashing

We woke up to a rainy Wednesday morning. Boy does it get muddy here. The Pluto's arrived last night. We decided we have all day to ride so we decide to wait a bit.

We're off and this is Judy and Erin riding with us. So far the trail is a wide gravely road.

The mountains here are long and the clouds blend in with them.

Mike is 6' and this Yucca measures out to 18'!

Here comes Laura and Dan. Dan spent the first 10 years of his life here. His father was a park ranger.

This was our destination. Below a park ranger geologist is giving a talk on the Mercury Mine and how they processed it out of the cinnabar rock.

Below is the old mine. The say if you drop a rock down the shaft it takes 17 seconds before

You hear it hit bottom.

Thursday morning and the clouds are real low and slowly sliding out.

The sunrise below was actually off to the left of the slow moving clouds.

The nighttime finds us around the fire and a long bearded Mike Long who owns Desert Sports joins us. Here he is with Theresa and Barry.

Flowers are popping up after the rains

We have stopped by Desert Sports and the pup above is Piper. Roland the fellow in the photo below rescued her. She is very timid and the shop is a great place for her to get comfortable with people and other dogs.

Sunday finds us headed into Big Bend National Park to ride Old Ore Road.

Finding a "yield sign" put in the middle of nowhere really seemed silly.there wasn't a thing around.

Jim and I thought since Old Ore Road was described as a gravel road we would take the fatty tire bikes. Was not our best choice. We let air out of the tires for even better traction. Jim was a little too aggressive on his tires, so Mike helped him put more in. It is s long way out and back then a long drive back to camp.

Wow just another sunset!