Fall 2023: Texas, were we come!

 

Thursday, 10/19:  209 miles, Pueblo South/Colorado City KOA, Pueblo, CO

Before leaving this morning, Judy and I took Parker for one more walk around the lake at the KOA.  We were packed and on the road about 9:30.

The drive was I-25 all the way today.  The section through downtown Denver was congested, but doable.  We had magnificent views of the Rocky Mountains off to the west.  Do to the terrible bridge collapse Tuesday there was a road closure on the northbound lane of the interstate north of Pueblo.  A coal train collapsed a bridge crossing I-25, but the southbound lane reopened yesterday.  It looked like the northbound would reopen soon.

Photo from Colorado Public Radio.

Photo from Colorado Public Radio.

Photo from Colorado Public Radio.

East side of the Rocky Mountains.

Downtown Fort Collins.

Site E-13.

The view from our site.

Sunset over the mountains from the camper.

Friday, 10/20:  215 miles, Corral RV Park, Dalhart, TX

I-25 south to US 87 east to Dalhart.

It was a beautiful drive south today across the dry plains of eastern Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.

This park is great for a night or two stop over.  Most of the sites are for seasonal residents.  The overnight sites are pull throughs and easy to access.  There is very little grass in the campground. 

From the screenshot below, the irrigation circles look like checkers on a board.  It seems that Dalhart is the center of center pivot irrigation systems.  The small circles are about 160 acres while the larger circles can cover 220 plus acres.  The wells to supply these circles average 600 feet deep, and can go as deep as 1300 feet. Water issues are already starting to cause conflict.  In the near future, farmers may be limited by how much water they can pump from their own wells.  Others argue that underground water is a common resource and is not limited to property lines.

The economy of Dalhart is obviously agriculture.  Everywhere there were tractor trailers hauling grain and livestock.  Grain elevators, railroads, farm machinery dealers dotted the landscape.  Railroad spurs and trains were common.  A little research found that the primary crops of Texas are cotton, corn, feed grains (sorghum, milo, etc.), rice and wheat.  Wheat is at its peak in June-July, while corn and cotton are harvested slightly later (August-December).  Dalhart  seemed like a busy farming town.

Saturday, 10/21:  263 miles, Rocking A RV Park, Vernon TX

US 287 all the way, except for the bypass around Amarillo.

The drive today took us by Amarillo.  All morning I kept humming to myself the George Strait country song, "Amarillo by Morning"  Here is a YouTube video of Strait singing it live at the Houston Astrodome.  

The song relates the tale of a lonely rodeo cowboy traveling from city to city trying to make a living.  One line goes "I ain't rich, but what I've got is mine".

Site 44.

A little warm when we checked in.

This campground is a former KOA.  It is a nice stop.  It is open with a lot of lawn and places to walk the dogs.  Many residents are either seasonal or permanent, a theme we are seeing more and more on this trip.  Next door, within walking distance is a Walmart, and Tractor Supply is across the street.  Several work trucks parked at the campsites had the logo Mortenson on the door panels, which is a large contracting company that among other things, install solar farms.  We have seen hundreds of wind towers and several HUGE solar farms in this part of Texas.  The pivot irrigation of north Texas have given way to wind towers and range land.  And we are starting to see more oil wells too.

Sunday, 10/22:  250 miles, North Crest RV Park, Waco, Texas

The drive down US 287 and I-35 today wasn't as scenic as our other drives in Texas.  The highways were busy, including the drive through the center of Fort Worth, and 2 accident slow downs on I-35 that cost us about 40 minutes.  I recently installed a new rear camera system for the camper  (OK, son Cory climbed the ladder for me) to let me see what's behind me.  Here's the view of a traffic backup, and the GPS plot for the slowdown.

The North Crest RV Park is very nice.  There is a lot of highway noise, which does not bother us.  The sites were extremely large with shade, concrete pads and plenty of room to park.  There was lots of grass and trees (a first since leaving western Oregon) and a ton of room to walk the dogs.  Emily and her Dad own and run this park.  They are wonderful people to visit with, and we hope to come back for a longer stay next year.

Site 142.

Monday, 10/23:  194 miles, Lakeview RV Resort, Houston, Tx

Site 146.

The resort is located on the SW side of Houston, 
just off the I-610 Beltway.  This is not a rural park by any means.

We were here last April.   It is a huge, but immaculate park.  There are many long term residents, but the sites are neat and tidy, and it's about a 20 minute drive to Pamela and Clyde's home.

I think the girl talk was boring Parker.

Monday afternoon Pamela stopped over to visit and then we all joined Clyde at the Liberty Kitchen and Oysterette.    I had lobster fettuccine and Judy had red fish.  Both excellent meals.   I brought half of mine home.

Tuesday we joined Pamela and Clyde about 4:00 at their house for dinner.

The girls being silly.

Wednesday was cultural  experience day.  We dropped the truck off at a  Chevrolet dealer for an oil change.  Pamela and Clyde picked us up and we went to visit a Hindu temple and learned  about the Hindu religion.  From the Temple's website:  

"BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Houston is the first traditional Hindu Mandir of its kind in North America. It's a haven for spirituality and a place of paramount peace. It is also a center vibrant with social, cultural, and spiritual activities. The Mandir was inaugurated in July of 2004 after only 18 months of construction time utilizing 1.3 million volunteer hours. The Mandir is comprised of 2 types of stone (exterior Turkish Limestone and interior Italian marble). More than 33,000 individual pieces were carved by hand in India, shipped to the USA and assembled in Stafford, TX like a giant 3-D puzzle. People come to experience living Hinduism and the peace and tranquility that the sacred Mandir and Murtis provide."

After that, they took us to a Middle Eastern grocery store where we discovered all kinds of new food. We even bought some fresh, hot Iraqi bread right off the line.   For lunch we went next door and tried some middle eastern food, which was very good. We brought leftovers home with us and will be dinner tonight.  We stopped to pick the truck up and were back to the camper by 1:00.

Hum, what to buy????

Fresh bread coming off the bakery line.

Pamela and Clyde came to the camper for dinner Friday.  Judy and I made a white bean seafood chowder with shrimp and salmon.  We had a lovely evening playing with the dogs and finally said our goodbyes until we visit next April.  

Parker had to get dirty one last time.  

Tomorrow we continue our northeast homeward travels with a stop on the Mississippi River.

Fall 2023: Next up, Fort Collins, Colorado.

Thursday 10/12:  219 miles,  Heyburn Riverside RV Park, Heyburn, Idaho

 This is a small municipal park operated by the city of Heyburn.  The sites are large, paved and off parking space for your vehicle.  It is located on the Snake River with a beautiful paved walkway along the river.

Tractor trailer loads of harvested potatoes in line to be processed.

Friday, 10/13:  258 miles, Fort Bridger RV Camp, Fort Bridger, WY.

I-84 to I-80.

Fort Bridger RV Camp.  We were about the only ones there.

Sunrise and frost on the ground.

Saturday, 10/14:  183 miles, Rollins KOA, Rollins, WY

This morning I went to get diesel in nearby Mountain View, and what a view!!

Interstate 80 all the way.

An annular solar eclipse is today, and about 60% coverage of the sun is expected in our area.  As fate would have it, after a crystal clear morning, the skies started to cloud up.  I did get a photo through the clouds as we were packing up.  Judy got a photo as we were driving showing how the skies darkened and looked gloomy.  Then, as quickly as it darkened, the skies were bright again as the moon passed by the sun.

Site 35 at a very windy Rawlins, Wyoming.

Sunday, 10/15:  191 miles, Lakeside KOA, Fort Collins, Colorado

I-80 to I-25 to CR 70 to N, Taft Road.

Site 89.

After traveling for 2 days across Wyoming earlier this week, and seeing this really strange white ground cover that we have not seen before on this trip, we have landed at the KOA in Fort Collins, Colorado to sunny and 75 weather.  In fact, the weather forecast for the entire time here was for sunny and high 70's to low 80's.

This KOA is one of our absolute favorite RV parks.  While the sites are not fancy, they are generally large and spacious.  What makes this park a favorite, is the small lake that is part of the campground.  You can't find a prettier trail than the one circling the lake, and you can't beat it for dog walking.  On top of that, Fort Collins is an amazing place to visit with an assortment of craft breweries, including New Belgium, and its Fat Tire beer. 

Monday was a shopping day at Sam's Club to restock the fridge.   We went to our friends Betsy and Stan's home for dinner.  It's been 4 years since we have seen them, the conversation flew by like it was yesterday.  Betsy graduated from Gouverneur HS a year before me.  In fact we had so much fun, I completely forgot to take our group photo.  But, Betsy and Stan are coming to Gouverneur next summer to spend a week at Sylvia Lake with Betsy's sisters,  so we will get to catch up again.

Tuesday my sister Mary Ann, her husband Eric and their friend Lynn drove up from Denver to spend the day with us.  They brought along another old schoolmate of Eric's, Mark.  It was beautiful weather so we sat outside on the patio and chatted.  On a walk around the lake Judy's glasses fell out of her shirt pocket.  We searched for half an hour, when Mark became the hero of the day and found them.  To celebrate, we all went to Glacier Ice Cream and indulged.  There Mary Ann's daughter and grand-daughter joined us.  For dinner the crew went to Sweetwater Brewing.  Jen's husband Dave joined us.  Visiting with Jen and Dave, we discovered that we were both going to be in San Antonio next April for the eclipse.  We dined on the outside patio of the brewery.  It was a fun day, but we were exhausted by the time we got back to the camper.

Wednesday we did some last minute grocery shopping.  Judy's cousin Denise was planning to visit us at the campground, but she had to cancel because she tested positive for Covid.  We got caught up on naps, laundry, and dog walking

Tomorrow we start our way to Houston.  Stay tuned, and be well.