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2024/04/02. Trip to see Solar Eclipse and Texas Coast at Galveston Island, Mustang Island, South Padre Island and on to Kartchner Caverns State Park.

Tuesday after Easter, we find ourselves wisely packing for our upcoming journey. You Know! The last minute panic, "what should I pack"!!!!! Locking the door to the house I hear " did you bring your camera"? I humbly went back in for the camera.

We spent the next day at Picacho, AZ. at the KOA campground. We visited the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument near Coolidge, AZ.. It is a four story building built by the "Ancient Peoples of The Sonoran Desert" back in the 1100 to 1400's CE era. (The cover was built in 1933 to protect the ruins!) They had a web of ditches across the valley to water crops. With various small villages throughout the valley.

We went to the town of Casa Grande. They have an outdoor Neon sign district. Unfortunately, most of the signs were off the buildings for repairs.

The next day was a long drive to Las Cruces, NM. This KOA is on a hillside with nice views of the valley, an adventure to back the trailer into it's camping site. After dinner we were discussing our next day. It was a short travel day to nowhere special, Balmorhea, TX. as our overnight stop. We realized we were near White Sands National Park, just twenty some miles out of our way.

In the morning, we were off to White Sands for our impromptu side trip! Shortly out of town, I noticed that in our excitement, we forgot to buy fuel! We made it to the visitors center, but the impending trip to find fuel was foremost on our minds, so we drove on. We made it to Alamogordo with ten miles of fuel to spare. Refueled and reinvigorated, we went back to White Sands NP. It was worth the trip. We headed up the road past miles of white sand dunes. At first they were covered with plant life, but that thinned out further into the park.

We finally trekked our way down to Saddleback Mountain RV Park/Gas Station/Convenience Store/Steakhouse/Bar in Balmorhea. It was $20. for full hookups and a pull through site. We had a Steak with baked potato and corn at the bar. The next morning, it was on to Rio Guadalupe Resort. It's located in the Texas Hill Country outside of New Braunfels ,TX.. Our Goal, to see the total solar eclipse!

At Rio Guadalupe Resort, we met up with my son, daughter-in-law and grand kids. We all came to see the total solar eclipse. The resort is on a lazy river named Rio Guadalupe. There are large shade trees throughout the RV area. The larger RV sites leave you with a feeling of easy-going, not in your neighbor's business space. The cabins, while not new, were well taken care of, and had large decks overlooking the riverbank. Hours of entertainment were had by all! Nearby, was the Old West town of Gruene, with some period shops and restaurants. Including a unique toy store and Fickles Pickles.

A must-see is the Natural Bridge Cave and the Natural Bridge Zoo. The cave had a kids play area with age appropriate zip lines for hours of fun. At the zoo, the giraffes were more than happy to accept fresh veggies from you! We took a tour with a naturalist guide who drives you on a golf cart through the enclosures. Feeding some of the animals, not all of them.

The solar eclipse.....We ended up with some cloudy blurry pictures. The clouds moved in that morning. We got peeks of the sun through the clouds. We did get to observe nature reacting to the darkness. Actually, it was very entertaining to see what happens at nightfall. All in all it was a great week.

On to Galveston Island, Mustang Island, South Padre Island and Kartchner Caverns State Park

On to Galveston Island we went. Toward Houston then south to the Island, and Sandpiper RV Resort. It used to be a motel. Quote: "The Sandpiper Motel was a Galveston landmark for 45 years at Stewart Beach and Ferry road. The Sandpiper RV Resort at the same location is proud to be re-invented and reborn 2 years after Hurricane Ike." It was mostly destroyed by a hurricane so they replaced the wreckage with an RV park.

We spent a week there. Visiting the downtown area, and taking a self guided tour through the old section of the city where many of the old trees that were destroyed by a hurricane were carved into sculptures. Before air conditioning, this was the getaway place for Houston's well to do. Many homes were huge. We visited the HGTV famous Cordray Drug Store, which is an ice cream shop. YUM! We went to the Moody Gardens Rainforest Pyramid. It's a huge pyramid shaped glass enclosure with a rainforest inside.

Further west on the island is the newer section. Very much like a subdivision, some tract style homes. The houses are more modern mostly built on stilts.

We also had opportunity to catch up with family. My nephew and his family live in Baytown and my sister and brother in law came in for the week, too.

The week came to an end. It was time to say goodbye to family . We headed westward along the Texas coast to Mustang Island, staying at Pioneer Beach RV Resort just south of Port Aransas, TX. We spent two days here, checking out the beach and the little beach town that is Port Aransas. The beaches are wide and, you can drive on the beaches unless specifically restricted. Consequently, Sunbathing on the beach requires you to bring along K-rails, the tall ones, so you don't get driven over!

...And don't forget to visit Rockport Texas

Um.. because there's a big chair to get your picture taken in? Jus gotta dig the hat hair!

It's a town on the mainland that is a tourist town but has more going for it than beach balls, bathing suits, and beer! The shops reflect the artist community that is strong, and other industry that keeps it alive.

Where to next? Why South Padre Island of course. It was the southern most RV park I could find on the coastline before the Mexico border.

Isla Blanca RV Park is run by Cameron County, TX. It is on the southern most tip of South Padre Island with water on three sides. Near the RV park is Dirty AL's restaurant. The fish was so good, we ate there twice. Looking across the channel, you could make out the SpaceX launch tower. Then there is the statue of the Padre over looking the entrance to the channel and the blimp! It's remote controlled with a lot of cameras on it. They are watching for smuggling activity.

Looking up the island (NE) you can see the condo and apartment towers along the beach. Some restaurants, grocery store, and other businesses. Go far enough and you run out of road and end up at the county beaches. ( yes, entry fee). You can drive up the beach for miles. they give you trash bags and offer to pay you for each full bag. Sadly, there was more than enough trash left behind. From coolers, cans, bottles, string, rope, chunks of plastic sheet. Even a refrigerator door!

The next day we drove to Brownsville and around South Bay to Boca Chica Beach. SpaceX is on both sides of Texas Rt4. No place to pull off for pictures. The SpaceX security patrol frowns upon it. They sometimes close the road to move rockets from one side to the other. The area is closed to the public during launch days.

On to Mustang Island

We woke up to cloudy skies and a lot of high wind. We toyed with the thought of staying put. But the weather report started talking about rain and Hail. Airstreams are a lot of things, but they are not hail friendly, nor hail tolerant. It was time to GO! Out of Brownsville we headed north on state and county roads for I-35. fortunately, the wind was mostly at our backs, fairly driveable and Texas state roads are good. As we drove up I-35 the winds lessened We stopped for the night in Cotulla, TX. at a Love's RV Stop. Which is a truck stop with a few Full Hook up RV sites for over nighters like us. The sites are flat concrete w/ new working hookups. It was partly cloudy with a light breeze. There was a fair amount of race car / motorcycle traffic until midnight, then it quieted down.

In the morning, the wind and clouds had caught up to us. The rain and hail had pummeled South Padre Island and Brownsville and it was headed our way. So off we went wind at our heels, up I-35 to San Antonio to Pick up I-10. That would take us straight north then eventually turn NNW.

Except we didn't. We started up I-35, at Dilley we took a left turn, heading up TX117 It took us north instead of north east. Anything to get away from the wind. It took us through the town of Uvalde ,TX. It's a small town in America like so many other small towns. Driving through you realize what happened in Uvalde can happen anywhere. From there we went up TX55 through the Texas hill country. With the hills, sometimes the wind was there and sometimes it met us on the other side of the hill. It was very gusty. We picked up US277 to I-10 and headed westbound (which is actually NNW at this point) and spent the night in Ozona, TX.

Next morning we headed westbound on I-10 ( which is north at this point) heading out of hill country and into the West Texas desert. The winds were gustier with more of a crosswind and more wrestling with the steering wheel.

We drove to Tornillo ,TX., just south of El Paso. to a little place called Hideaway Lakes RV. It is two made made lakes in the middle of acres of almond trees. They have two spots with 50 amp electric, a dump station, a water hose to fill your tank, and very nice people to greet you. I think it was a private fishing club at one time, but not sure. The place is serene, with trees, birds and waterfowl. A real respite from the blasting we received on the road!. Basically, you're parked out in the dirt next to a lake and a pole with an electric receptacle. The road/driveway to Hideaway Lakes well, it's dirt with a collapsed barbed wire fence on either side. Drive in the center, slowly.

We had a night sky full of stars and a gentle breeze. I was sure we had outrun the storm.

In the morning, we are back on I-10, the winds are in the 25 mph range with gusts to 35 mph. You know arm wrestling weather! Otis (our truck's name) looked like a doggie with a big oversized wagging tail (Beastie, our Airstream). Driving through El Paso and Las Cruces, heading westbound up and over the Continental Divide. Fortunately, the Gusty wind stayed on the east side of the divide. The worst of the wind was over! Down past Lordsburg, to Benson, AZ, we ended up at Kartchner Caverns State Park where we stayed two nights.

Kartchner Caverns was found by amateur cavers, who eventually told the owner of the property. The owner worked for the state, contacted the governor who turned it into a state park to conserve the cave system. Details can be found at Kartchner Caverns on the internet. The caves are amazing as they have not been destroyed by souvenir seekers.

Bats! Yes bats come here seasonally and use part of the cave system as a nursery. Consequently, some of the rooms in the caves are closed off at that time. The colors are amazing and the structures and formations are big and complete. It is worth the trip.

A day off from the steering wheel and the diversion of the caves was refreshing. After two nights, we headed off again, destination Yuma Lakes RV Resort. The drive was uneventful. We unhooked and went hunting for dinner in Downtown Yuma.

We found River City Grill, a tastefully eclectic place. The food was great, a mix of Mediterranean, Asian, Caribbean foods. It was a pleasant upgrade from the standard chain restaurant fare.

In the morning, we hooked up and headed west on I-8. Into California to CA111 and headed north past the Salton Sea to home territory. Our first camping trip of the year was done, all that was left was the housecleaning and laundry.

Sights were set for the next adventure! Port Canaveral Bound!!

Whether or not to weather the storm

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