Wednesday, January 21, 2015

1st Birthday of the Blog and Moving Day to Falcon Lake SP

Location: Falcon Lake State Park; Falcon Heights, Texas

(click pictures to enlarge)

The blog is one year and two days old. I started it about 3 months before I retired so I wouldn't have to work the kinks out while on the road. I chose Blogger as the work platform because it is a google product. Although I don't agree with some of their philosophies, they do have a good blog platform that has been around a while. It also helped that it was easy to learn, which was good for a slow witted person like me. 

Surprisingly, there have been almost 18,000 pageviews since I started the blog. The first pageview and comment was by Pat Sanchez. We were still working together at that time, so maybe she felt obligated. :). I enjoy writing the blog and posting about the things I see and do. Someone else that worked with me before I retired told me she liked the blog because she was able to see things through my eyes that she knew she never would be able to see. A blog is different than reading a book or looking at pictures. A blog becomes more personal and it's different for each reader.  

There have been pageviews from a couple dozen countries around the world. Obviously, the U.S. has the most pageviews but it was surprising to see that the Ukraine was in 2nd place with 660. The next five, in order, are France, Germany, Turkey, Russia and Canada. It is sad though that there hasn't been any comments from the foreign countries, maybe they aren't real people. 

I arrived at Falcon State Park about 1:30 this afternoon after a 160 mile tow. The weather was nice with a temperature in the upper 60's and overcast. Traffic was extremely light. There were places where I didn't see another vehicle or driveway for 10 miles or more. The most vehicles I saw were either State Troopers or Border Patrol Agents. They were mostly on US 83 which parallels the border. I have been in 3rd world foreign countries with dictators in charge that had less police presence than I saw today. I'm not sure if that was normal or not. One of the other campers said there was a shooting yesterday in a campground down the road. Maybe it was due to that.
The road was long and straight with very little traffic. This is the typical landscape in this area.



This will be out home for the next 7 days. They are tight little pull thrus, but will be OK. I'll have to run the sewer line under Liberty to get to the outlet.



After getting set up, I drove down to the lake. The structure in the distance on the left is apparently the gates for the dam. I'll drive over there tomorrow. I started to drive there today, but I still had something in the truck that I hadn't put in the RV yet. 

Another view of the lake. Old Mexico is on the other side

Last view of the lake

About an hour before sundown, I took a walk on one of the nature trails.

Around in this location is where I started hearing a pack of coyotes or wild dogs. They were tearing it up for a while. I was judging, by hearing, if they were getting closer or not. 

They were nice enough to put some benches along the way. That way the wild animals wouldn't have to deal with a moving target.

I did see an interesting bloom on this tree/plant. I'm not sure what plant it is but in doing a little research, the bloom looks like those on a Joshua Tree but I don't think they grow in this area. If anyone knows what it is, please post a comment.


While out on the walk, I thought I would check my phone to see if I was close to one of the Geocaches in the park. Sure enough there was one about 1/2 mile up the trail. There was also a warning on the Geocache web site that said,,,,,"This park is active in border traffic, please stay on the trails". It would have been nice to read that BEFORE I'm out on the trails, uh? It was an easy find on the side of the trail. I forgot to take a picture of the inside. I signed the log and left a business card. It was a good walk.


It's a short blog tonight, but wanted to let everyone know that I made the move without ending up in the ditch somewhere. 

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road.

8 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks Barney. You are the second one who says Yucca plant. I recognized the green leaves because my mother used it to treat sunburns but I have never seen one bloom. Thanks again.

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  2. There is a small laundry at the recreation hall. They also have some neat events there. The butterfly garden has been very good in the past. A small grocery store is in Falcon Heights. I usually go to Zapata and use Riverview Grocery for my shopping. Las Rincon de los angles restaurant in Zapata has excellent Mexican food.

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  3. Still enjoying your travels. I wonder whether it would be helpful for other readers to know the general location where you are. I'm a Texan but even I am not completely sure where you are..Del Rio? Laredo? OK, I know I could look it up, but .. I just asked my hubby and he told me--says that you are in an area that has historically been a very dangerous place BUT has good fishing.. Tough call LOL. Anyway, wonder whether there is any way to add a map so we could literally follow your path. That would be really cool.

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    1. Hello Cat,
      Thanks for the comment. You must be reading my mind because I have been thinking the same thing for a few days. Look for a new Page tab on one of the upcoming posts. Let me know if it is ok or not.
      It is suppose to be great fishing around here, sadly, I haven't been fishing since I was a teenager.

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    2. Historically speaking I have been traveling that area for fifty years without a moments trouble and have met lots of nice folks.

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    3. I have heard some of the bad stories and warnings about this place in the past, but it is like everywhere else I wander, you have to keep a "situational awareness" about yourself. With the amount of police presence I've seen around here the bad guys would be foolish to try anything.

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