Moving Day Tomorrow and Bump in Night Update

Location: San Angelo State Park (el. 2,000 ft); San Angelo, Texas

(all pictures taken with Nokia Lumia 929 cell phone)
(click pictures to enlarge)

I stayed put today and watched the weather most of the day. The cold front came through this area sometime early this morning and helped push the heavy rain off to the east. The front did this with gusts of wind in the 20 to 30 mph range. That is fine with me because Liberty has handled that much wind force and more in the past. It's about 6:00 pm now and both the wind and rain has stopped. The radar shows heavy rain still in the eastern half of Texas, but I think that it may be moving on into the Gulf of Mexico by noon tomorrow (fingers crossed). 

My plan is to hitch up early tomorrow morning and be on the road by about 8:00 am. I'll be heading towards Galveston, but not sure how far I'll go towards getting there. A lot will depend on the weather, which I'll be able to track on my cell phone as I'm driving. I have a couple places that I can stop along the way if the weather doesn't continue to move on as fast as I hope. Except for the first 100 miles, I will be on Interstate highways. I need to stay off of the secondary roads due to the increased potential for flooding. If the weather cooperates, I hope to stop tomorrow at Stephen F. Austin State Park near Sealy, Texas. I stayed there about a year ago and it is a nice park. I called them today to see if they were flooded or thought they may flood and was informed that they were good. I didn't make reservations because I'm not 100% sure I'll make it there before having to stop. It will be a long haul of about 370 miles but since I've been sitting for a few days, it will be a nice change to have wheels rolling again and seeing new things. 

It should be an interesting trip as I chase the cold front to the east and keep an eye out for the remnants of Hurricane Patricia coming up from the south. I'll also be aware of any flooding.

Update on the bump in the night: 
I asked the park rangers if they had received any reports like mine and they said No. I also asked my neighbor campers about anything similar happening and they said No. Most looked at me kind of "cockeyed" as if I had been drinking or something. I decided not to ask anyone else such questions. However, I did check for any tracks, hair, blood around Liberty and also to see if she had any dents. I did not see anything out of the ordinary. I'm beginning to think I may have imagined the whole thing. I guess it would be better to think I imagined it than to think something big enough to shake Liberty, but not leave any sign, is wandering around out there at night. Oh well, what is, is, and what ain't, ain't. 

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

Stay Put or Risk Going Into The Belly of the Beast????

Location: San Angelo State Park (el. 2,000 ft); San Angelo, Texas

(all pictures taken with Nokia Lumia 929 cell phone)
(click pictures to enlarge)

Today was suppose to be moving day but I extended my stay here one more day due to predicted bad weather along my planned route. Looking at the weather forecast now, I'm debating on whether to extend another day or pull out tomorrow. 

San Angelo is about 200 miles west of Austin/San Antonio and 500 miles from my next main destination which is Galveston, Texas. Standing in the way are strong thunderstorms being fed by moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile, Hurricane Patricia, the strongest hurricane to ever exist in the western hemisphere, is about to collide with the Pacific coast of Old Mexico. Whatever is left after that collision is expected to cross Old Mexico and enter Texas. The path that it takes will be saturated with rain and storms as the worn out hurricane will continue to suck moisture from the Pacific Ocean and dump it along its path. To make matters worse, there is a cold front entering Texas from the northwest. This cold front will eventually sweep all the rain off to the east. The big question is where will this cold front from the northwest meet up with the remnants of Patricia. That meeting should produce some mighty big storms and I don't want to be anywhere close. Right now, that intersection is predicted to occur sometime tomorrow around the San Antonio area.

Liberty is sitting on a nice hill, to protect against flash flooding, with a hard surface campsite, so we won't get stuck in the mud. She has a full tank of fresh water and half empty waste tanks, so if the heavy storms hit here, we should be fine.   

My decision, to stay or go, will be made tomorrow morning. I will keep a close eye on the weather forecasts with hopes of falling in behind the cold front as it sweeps the storms away to the east. I have done this several times in my travels and it has worked pretty good, most of the time. 

On the lighter side, here are a few pictures from around the area.

A dam along the Concho River which flows through San Angelo. There were a couple of fishermen catching catfish and using Oscar Meyer hotdogs as bait. They told me it had to be Oscar Meyer as other brands would not work. I told them I remembered using cheese for catfish when I was fishing several decades ago. Neither had heard of that, but said they would try it one day. 

"The Pearl of the Conchos"
A statue of a mermaid as she offers a pearl to visitors. The fresh water mussels in the Concho River and its tributaries produce pearls of various colors. I can understand the pearl part, but a mermaid this far inland is a little strange.

Storms are brewing or as my mother used to say,,,,
"A cloud is coming up."

The sun found a hole in the clouds before it set

This is the Mesquite tree outside my door. I have grown to like them. Each one has its own characteristics of twisted trunks and limbs. 

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

Moving Day and A Bump in the Night

Location: San Angelo State Park (el. 2,000 ft); San Angelo, Texas

(all pictures taken with Nokia Lumia 929 cell phone)
(click picture to enlarge)

Before leaving Amarillo, I found a nice RV museum located inside one of the RV dealerships. It seems to be the personal collection of the owner and some of his friends. The price was right (free) and I had some time so I went inside. There were several vintage RV's and motorcycles. It was good to wander around through the past. I took several pictures, but due to the small space of the museum, only a few turned out.

I liked the motorcycle but I also liked
the old metal flyswatter on the left.
I remember those, do you?

This old Airstream was hanging in the air
so I couldn't see inside. The list of places
on the left are of the Airstream Caravans
that were done to prove the worth of the
Airstream RV. I wasn't able to confirm
if this one actually took part in those caravans,
but if it did, that's a good one to have.

This picture gives an idea of the layout
of the place. The RV bus is from the
Robin WIlliams movie

  

Sunrise over Oasis RV Park

Amarillo surprised me. I wasn't expecting such a nice place that had so many good vibrations. I will add it to my list of "good vib places". There's a lesson to be learned in there somewhere.

I pulled out of Amarillo early with a 325 mile tow ahead of me. I violated my "rule of 2's" but it was OK, this time. What is the "rule of 2's"? It's "travel no more than 200 miles per day, get to the campground by 2:00 and stay at least 2 days." Well, I definitely blew the 200 mile and 2:00 part, but will be staying here for 3 days to make up for it. Here is, San Angelo State Park. I chose it because it is along the way to where I'm going, which is the Galveston area. There are a couple things to see here, but not sure if I will be able to do them due to bad weather being predicted for this area over the next few days. I left Amarillo before the rains hit there and dodged some pretty bad looking thunder-busters as I passed through Lubbock. I would like to see this place get some rain to help break the drought they are in, but maybe not heavy rain while I'm here. 

Typical landscape in the Texas Panhandle. I passed miles and miles of cultivated fields on both sides of the highway. This is in stark contrast to the many fields that are laying fallow in several of the southern states. 

This was the only tree for many miles. I would imagine everyone has been protecting it for a long time.

It's not a good picture, but those are bales of cotton in the distance. I passed mile after mile of cotton fields. All were in different stages of harvesting. I hadn't realized this part of Texas was such a large cotton producer.

As the land started changing from farm land to cattle range, wind farms started showing up. 

This is what a lot of the area looks like around here. Hilly and dry.

The boat ramp in the park indicates the low water level of the lake due to the drought. Based on the dam, I would estimate it to be about 20 feet low, at least.

This is my campsite for the next few days. 

Oh, I almost forgot "the bump in the night". Last night as I was turning in, something bumped Liberty. The bump was big enough to shake her and me.  I've been living in Liberty for 2 years now and I can tell when something isn't normal. This was not normal. There are only a few other campers in this campground and it would be out of the ordinary for any of them to be wandering around someone else's campsite at 10:00 pm. I thought it may have been an animal rubbing against the landing gear but still not sure. I waited to see if another bump would occur and when one didn't, I went on to sleep. Maybe tonight I will leave some of the outside lights on. I'll check for tracks or signs outside after making this post and maybe a second cup of coffee.

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



  

The Hippies Did It ---- Cadillac Ranch

Location: Oasis RV Park (el. 3,800 ft); Amarillo, Texas

(all pictures taken with Nokia Lumia 929 Cell Phone)
(click pictures to enlarge)

They are located along what used to be Route 66, now I-40, and have been there since 1974, wow, 41 years. There are 10 of them about 700 feet into a farmers field. You can park alongside the interstate frontage road and enter through the gate. The gate allows one person to walk through at a time and is self-closing. Hmmm,,, keeping something in or out?.  

The pink sign to the left reads,,"This isn't a national park, so don't litter".

Getting closer

Buried cars????

The property is/was owned by the local billionaire Stanley Marsh 3. The "3" was his idea since he thought III or "the third" was pretentious. Being a little goofy himself, he brought in some Hippies from San Francisco that called themselves The Ant Farm. He asked them to make an interesting art structure that would be around for a long time. They definitely completed their goal because it has survived for more than 4 decades and visited daily. The Hippies bought junked Cadillac cars from junk yards around the area. Supposedly none cost more than $200.00. They buried them nose down in a line. They range from a 1949 Club Sedan to a 1963 Sedan de Ville. It is suppose to be a memorial to the "tail fin". It wasn't long after they finished that visitors started painting graffiti on the cars. That was OK with Marsh and the Hippies. They liked the idea of visitors participating in the art project. I have passed this place about 6 times since I've been here and each time there are at least a dozen people around.    

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

2nd Largest Canyon in the U.S.

Location: Oasis RV Park (el. 3,800 ft); Amarillo, Texas

(all pictures taken with Nokia Lumia 929 cell phone)
(click pictures to enlarge)

When I left Louisiana a couple of weeks ago, my destination was Palo Duro Canyon. I wanted to see the second largest canyon in the United States. Since there is a state park that covers a portion of the canyon, I planned to camp there. After the zero cell service at Caprock Canyon, I knew it would be the same thing at Palo Duro so I decided to find a campground in Amarillo and make a day trip to Palo Duro. It worked out well. I found a nice campground on the west end of Amarillo with concrete pads so I could inspect the underside of Liberty and still be close enough for the day trip. I also have cable TV so I was able to see the New Orleans Saints beat the Falcons last night. 

Campsite at Oasis RV Park, Amarillo

Palo Duro Canyon was privately owned until the 1930's. It was home to the giant JA Ranch with was managed by the legendary cattleman, Charles Goodnight. Thousands of head of Longhorns, owned by the JA Ranch, roamed free in the canyon for decades. It was very difficult to round up the cattle to sell when they were mixed in with the mesquite and other vegetation. Once barbed wire became common place, natural boundaries such as the canyon was no longer needed. Eventually the longhorns were cross-bred with other types of beef cattle to make a better stock. The State of Texas bought parts of the canyon in the 1930's and turned it into a state park. The Civilian Conservation Corp help with the development of the park. Today there is a long road system in the canyon where you can see most everything. If you want to get a more close up view, there are trails to walk but I decided against it. I just wasn't in mood for some reason.

This is the road leading to the canyon. It is surprising that such flat land ends in such a large canyon.

First view of the canyon from on top

The road to the bottom

The road in the bottom of the canyon

More views from the bottom

Looking up at the canyon top and the skies

Lots of plane traffic over such an isolated location.

Bright red sandstones

A nice view of a part of the canyon system

Nice outcroppings on layered sandstone

A panoramic view of the canyon.

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

Bison on Parade at Caprock Canyon State Park

Location: Caprock Canyon State Park (el. 2,600 ft); Quitaque, Texas

(all pictures taken with Nokia Lumia 929 Cell Phone)
(click picture to enlarge)

I pulled into Caprock Canyon State Park about 1:00 pm on Monday with plans to be here a couple of days but immediately changed my mind. There was no reliable cell phone signal or wi-fi connection anywhere in the park. It was strange in that one minute my phone would have a very strong signal and then absolutely nothing. That on again/off again was very frustrating. Reading the brochure the park gives out at the time of checking in, it said, "In case of emergency, call 911." I thought that was funny since there was no cell phone signal. A year ago it wouldn't have bothered me to stay here a couple days and be off the cell grid but my situation has changed and I feel the need to be available all the time. So my plan was to explore as much of the park that afternoon as I could and move on the next day. 

Campsite. Lots of different spiders around.

Typical road and view in the park

This is a panoramic picture from the cell phone. This type of landscape needs it.

Red Rock outcroppings

Erosion has been working overtime

Some cactus with blooms or fruit. It was growing right on the side of the road.

I was able to walk a short trail that led to a nice outcropping with a great view.

Rugged Landscape

I hitched up Tuesday morning with plans to go to campground in Amarillo. I have been camping in the country for a while and the change to city-life will be nice. 

On my way out of the park, I was behind a man and woman on motorcycles who had camped a few sites away from me. They suddenly came to a stop and I saw the reason why. Bison were crossing the road. This park is the home of the Official Texas State Bison Herd and was one of the reasons I came to this park. The beginning of the herd was put together by Charles Goodnight back in the late 1800's at the nagging  encouragement of his wife. With the isolation of this herd, they remain direct descendants from the vast herds that used to roam the Great Plains.

The motorcyclists wisely stopped a ways back because who knows how many motorcycles the bison have seen. I eased forward to act as a buffer for the motorcycles and to try to hurry the bison along.

I heard the big one that was looking at me clearly say, "Hey partner, we have the right-of-way here". I said, OK.

It appeared to be at least a half dozen spring calves so the herd is doing well. Just about the time the first group cleared the road, the second group came out of the woods.

There were some big animals walking slow.

The one on the right stopped and looked at me as I was taking the pictures. The one directly behind him must have been his wife cause she prompted him to keep moving.  

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

Last Walk in Copper Break SP (mostly pictures)

Location: Copper Break State Park (el. 1,500 ft.); Quanah, Texas

(all pictures taken with Nokia Lumia 929 Cell phone)
(click picture to enlarge)

2nd post today....:)

Even though the temperature spiked out at near 98 degrees today, a nice breeze was blowing and the humidity was low. I found a couple of nice trails to hike walk on that lead to some pretty views of the area. When I checked in to the park, the rangers said rattlesnakes were still roaming around and to be especially watchful on warm and sunny days. I remembered that warning, but went on the walk anyhow. I gathered up a bottle of water and my walking stick. The stick is used to walk with but also to make noise and shake the bushes to let any critters know that I'm around. I bought the stick almost a year ago when I was staying in the Davis Mountain State Park. It has proven itself to be sturdy and solid. Good purchase.

The main walk was on the Bull Canyon Trail and a second smaller one was on a short overlook trail. Both trails were well maintained and easily followed with no snakes encountered. It was a very nice, leisurely walk with plenty of sights and sounds to keep my attention. 

Water, check.
Walking stick, check.
Short loop, check.

Bull Canyon

More Bull Canyon

Last picture of Bull Canyon

This is the only flower in the entire walk. It was on the side of the trail so I took its picture. I'm not sure what the name of it is. It is similar to a Black Eyed Susan or Daisy but I'm pretty sure it isn't one of those.

I took this picture to try to capture something on the bottom side of that top horizontal limb in the middle of the picture. There were about 6 globs of tree sap and the sun was shining through them at just the right angle to cause a fantastic glow. It was great. Just one of those things that we never expect but that lighten our day. It's like the old saying,,,, "If you don't go out to see what you can see, you won't be able to see it." 

This was the wide part of the trail. Other places were much narrower.

This is from the "overlook trail". You could see very far in the distance. 

Last of the overlook trail pictures. 

It was a good walk on a pretty day. There are times when I don't feel like taking such a walk but just about every walk turns out enjoyable. Sometimes I have to just tell myself,,,,,,,Go! Most of the time I don't reply and just comply.

Like I said in the post from this morning. Tomorrow is moving day. 

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