Sunday February 17, 2008

Got up early this morning and got on the road by 5:45. This is the perfect day to travel - no weather worries and not too much traffic as we go through the major cities on our way home. We fairly flew up I-95 (staying at the speed limit as there were lots of police cars about) and made wonderful time. We got home at about 4:30 PM and Amy has dinner waiting for us. We spent the first few minutes in a hug-a-thon - it was so good to see everyone! Zoe was a little hesitant at first, but she started warming up to us by dinner time. We look forward to seeing everyone this weekend and giving lots more hugs! Well, this adventure is at an end, but I'm sure there will be more along the way. I have really enjoyed putting thoughts in the blog so may try to keep it up on a less rigorous schedule - we'll see. So bye to all for now . . . until our next adventure!

Saturday February 16, 2008

Our original plan was to visit with Ed and Bet and then drive down to Del Ray Beach to visit with our friends, Larry and Sandy. We talked with them yesterday and learned that Sandy's sister is very slowly recovering from heart surgery. They have been visiting her almost daily and are pretty worn out and stressed with all of the running around. As it doesn't seem like a good time for a visit - after all we are here 2 weeks earlier that we thought we would be, we decided we would head for home. As much as we are enjoying the warm weather and being away from winter, we miss home, the kids, and the grandkids. Our original plan was to crash the birthday party next weekend which the kids are having at our house - we thought we would just show up as the party was taking place, but since we are going to be home a week early, I guess we will let the cat out of the bag. So, kids, we will see you next weekend (are we invited?)!

We had breakfast with Ed and Betty this AM before we left - pecan waffles (yum!) and then after hugs all around got on the road. It was a little foggy when we got up this morning, but it didn't take long for the sun to burn it off. We had a lovely day for driving - warm and sunny - and we were listening to a John Sanford novel on the CD player. We only have 1 disc to go and neither Dave nor I are really sure who did it - the sign of a good mystery. We have stopped for the night in Fayetteville, NC and walked across the parking lot to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner. We will see how far we get tomorrow - we are anxious to get home, but can only spend so many hours per day in the car. It seems hard to believe that our winter journey is almost at an end - some parts of it seems like yesterday and others seem like they happened a lifetime ago.

Friday February 15, 2008

After breakfast this morning, we drove over to Ed's and we all climbed into Ed's car (Ed, Bet, Deb, Dave, and I). Ed took us on a lovely ride through Plant City where the trees grow over the road to make a canopy that is draped with Spanish moss - really quite lovely! We ended up at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park where we started our tour with a quiet boat ride up Pepper Creek. We then walked over to the underwater observatory where we watch the hundreds of fish in the spring. Next we went to the manatee educational program. The volunteer was in the water with the manatees - he had a hard time keeping his footing as the manatees kept nudging him to remind him to feed them more sweet potatoes! They were quite insistent and would not stop even after he showed them the empty bucket. They were quite funny as they have a large flexible upper lip (a rudimentary trunk? as they are related to elephants) which they used to pick up the sweet potatoes. All of the animals in the park are native to Florida except for a hippopotamus which was leftover from when the park was privately owned. The hippo was made an honorary citizen by the governor so he does reside there quite happily. He (Lucifer) was quite a sight - 6000+ pounds of hippo basking in the sun (makes one want to go on a crash diet before swimsuit season!). They also had bobcats, black bears and a Florida panther. There were hundreds of birds - flamingo and roseatte spoonbill (today's blog pictures), egret, blue heron, sandhill and whooping cranes, stilts, vultures, pelicans . . . most of these were free to come and go at will, but a few were in cages as rescue birds - especially raptors like eagles, falcons, and owls. Some of them are nursed back to health and others will remain in the park as they will never be well enough to go back to the wild. We thoroughly enjoyed the park and spent much of the day there. We went for lunch at a nearby restaurant - Margaritagrille - which is totally decorated with a patriotic flair - they even serve American fries on the menu! The lunch was delicious and then Ed took us for a bit of a circular route back to Bushnell. We came back and took a walk around the park, stopping to play a game of shuffleboard - Dave and I had never played, but we did okay. When we got back to the house, we played a game of hand and foot (Florida style) - same basic game, but slightly different rules - didn't make any difference as the girls won again (way to go, Betty!). We went back to the motel, but arrange to meet them for breakfast before we leave.

Thursday February 14, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! We got up this morning and headed across the panhandle of Florida. It must have been cold when we first came out as there was quite a frost on the car. We have nothing of note to report on the drive except for the A-10 warthog (plane) which buzzed us on the highway. We heard it after we saw it - must have been practicing map of the land flying as it went over just 50 feet above us and was going so fast we heard it (loud) after we saw it go over. Scared the c..p out of us! We got to Bushnell about 2 and found Ed and Bet's house - Deb is here also and it was good to see them all. We had the five minute tour of the house and then went for a walk around the neighborhood and met some of their friends. Betty is doing very well after her major accident in the fall - she is walking without assistance and can go quite the distance - it really is a miracle! We came back and chatted for a while and then went out to dinner at a BBQ place (Sonny's) - delicious! It reminded us of the great BBQ we had when Amy was living in Kansas. Ed took us for a drive around the town and then we came back to the house and played a game of hand and foot. We are going back after breakfast tomorrow and will spend the day with them.

Wednesday February 13, 2008

We delayed our start this morning so that we would miss the commuter traffic into Houston - didn't seem to make much difference as we hit the traffic anyway. At one point we saw a HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lane and thought - oh, good - this will get us out of the traffic . . . WRONG! The HOV lanes here are a quicker way to get into downtown - not around it! After wandering around downtown Houston for a bit, we finally found our way to a highway going north and from there were able to connect back to the road we were on originally on the correct side of the outskirts. We fairly flew through the rest of Texas and Louisiana. We thought of the houses we worked on as we passed through Mississippi and were hoping that by now they were finished and occupied. We were amazed anew as we drove through Mobile at the size of the bay - it is huge! We finally stopped in Pensacola, FL for the night. We called Ed and Bet and let them know we will be with them tomorrow afternoon. We look forward to being out of the car and staying somewhere for more than one night. We saw an interesting license plate on our drive - DEDAK8BED What do you think? Mattress salesman or professional sleeper? As tomorrow is Valentine's day, we wish our family and friends a wonderful day - we will be thinking of you all!

Tuesday February 12, 2008

We got up this morning and took down the tent, stowed everything, and were on our way by 8 AM. We drove up through Marathon and then up to Fort Stockton to get on Route 10. There was a giant roadrunner statue in Fort Stockton - very cute. We traveled further down the road and came upon hundreds of wind turbines on top of several mesas - the last time we saw that many turbines was in 85 when we were out west with the kids. They are fascinating! We also saw quite a few long bed trucks - each of which was carrying one propeller of a turbine - they are really huge! We did not run into any traffic to speak of until we came to San Antonio - there was an accident and then some construction. We finally got through that and had smoother sailing as we went away from the city. We passed a large ranch by the side of the highway and there was a herd of buffalo grazing - very cool! We stopped for the night in Columbus, TX - both of us suffering from DB (dead butt)! We checked into a motel and walked the 3 blocks (it felt so good to walk for a change) to a restaurant for dinner - the only real meal we had today. We have a call in to my brother Ed to see if he will be home if we stop by to see him later in the week. We also called Larry and Sandy Levine and had a nice chat with them. We plan on stopping to see them earlier than we had planned. Well, time to relax for a bit - will try to blog again tomorrow, but one never knows if there is internet when we stop for the night.

Monday February 11, 2008

When we left the patio last night, it was almost dark. As we headed down to the campsites, a small gray fox crossed the road in front of us. We got into bed as it was starting to get chilly and read for a while before going to sleep.

We decided to take a day off from hiking today - our calves are still "mooing" and we badly need showers. We drove down to Rio Grande Village (the only shower facility in the whole park) and as we were showering, we threw in a load of laundry. We met a couple from Shipingsport (I believe I have that right), PA - he was a civilian who worked for the Army and she was a retired math teacher! We had a lovely chat with them and also an older couple from upstate NY. We were all chatting when 2 vans pulled up - filled with Elderhostel folks. They were stopping for a bathroom break. There was no one from CT, but one lady said her dad grew up in Norwich. We went back to camp and mucked out the car - it had been a while. Later in the afternoon, we visited with a woman who is going around the country for one year. She stops a various churches on her way and talks to the congregation about water for Africa - she is associated with World Church. When I went up to the restroom, I stopped at the bulletin board to check out the ranger talk for tonight - unfortunately, it was not at this site, but I noticed that the weather was for increasing cloudiness with a chance of rain and/or snow for later in the week. We decided that this would not be at all fun so we decided to head to FL a bit earlier than we had planned. We cooked dinner and then gave some of our leftover food to the lady from World Church and the rest to the camp host. We kept the snacks and water for our trip in the car. When we had sorted everything out, we asked our neighbor to join us for a chat. She is an interesting person. She is a retired gardner from the National Cathedral in DC and now lives in NH. At one time she owned a Great Pyrennes (I know that is spelled wrong) that she used to take to nursing homes as a therapy pet. We chatted until we all were starting to feel the chill and then said our goodbyes and went to bed.

Sunday February 10, 2008

Another day, another hike. Today we hiked the Lost Mine Trail - 5 miles and 1100 feet elevation change. The photos come from our hike today - the views were awesome. Legend has it that there was a hidden silver mines in the hills, but there is no evidence that this could be so. The good thing is that the trail out was uphill and the way back was down - so much easier! The weather was also more cooperative - slightly cloudy and a wonderful breeze. We were amazed to see a roadrunner near the top of the trail - somehow I thought they were just in the lower desert regions - obviously this is not so. We also saw several deer - two of them were fawns - very cute. We had a lovely chat at the top with a couple from Atlanta who have been gone since August. They spent a month in Death Valley and are just wandering around until they have to be home in March. Our calves are really getting toned with all the up and down hiking. We came back to camp in mid afternoon and read for awhile before dinner. We are now sitting on the patio and watching the sunset - a little different tonight as there are more clouds. They say there is a chance of rain tonight - if it rains, it will be the first time in the park. The folks that we met on the trail yesterday just came up on the patio - they are going in to dinner at the lodge behind us. We also saw our tent neighbor from this campground - he is treating himself to dinner here also. He has been gone all day and said he went into Presidio to grocery shop, wash his car, and do laundry. Here, that kind of thing takes all day as it is at least 2 hours to the nearest reasonable sized town and then 2 hours back. There are more tent campers in this park - because of the windy switch-back road to get here, the larger campers are not allowed - nor could they manage to get around the sharp curves - so we have tenters and small caravans.

Saturday February 9, 2008

The photo on the right was taken from the patio as the sun was setting last night while we were blogging. There is a notch in the mountains here called the window (hard to see in the photo as it was getting dark) and that is the hike we took after breakfast this morning. We hiked for 6 1/2 miles with an elevation of nearly 1000 feet (Dad finally figured out how to use the GPS) - unfortunately it was mostly downhill going and uphill coming back when it was hot, but it was a great hike and we enjoyed the views. Much of the trail was made by the CCC and we walked through some small treed areas. We were hoping to catch a glimpse of a mountain lion, but all we saw were white tailed deer and a multitude of birds. In the window itself, the stone is well rounded - there was a small creek running, but I am sure that during high water there would be an awesome waterfall. We didn't get too close to the edge because of the smoothness of the stone and the immense dropoff into nothingness, but we did climb up to a viewpoint above and got an awesome view of the desert below and the distant mountains in Mexico. We met a couple that we had seen before in the other campground and we sat together and shared a bench as we ate our granola bars and fruit. They are RVing full time - we didn't ask, but assume that they have no family ties. The photo on the left is of a century plant with a flower stalk from last year - it was all dried out and rattles when the wind is blowing. We got back to camp and decided to sit in the shade and read - did not want to wear ourselves out on the first day here. There are other days and other hikes. We didn't hear any wildlife last night and we miss our resident roadrunners although there are a couple of small birds who show up when we are doing food preparation - I'm sure they have been successful in the past in stealing some tidbits from people who have not been paying attention.

Friday February 8, 2008

Well, we did a lot in Alpine yesterday. We left Mc Donald's and went to the laundromat where we washed and dried our clothes. We then went to the library resale store where we dropped off several books that we finished in the past week. From there we went to a hardware store and Dave picked up a compressor to fill our mattress after we move. Our last stop was to the grocery store where we filled our cooler and got a few more dry goods. We drove back to camp and got there just at dark. We had a quick dinner and walked to the ampitheater to catch the ranger talk on Dinosaurs and Fossils of Big Bend. The ranger giving the talk was excellent - very energetic and animated. We really enjoyed the talk. We got back to our site and read for a short time before going to sleep.

We heard both the donkeys and the coyotes last night! Got up to a chilly morning (33), but it soon warmed up as the sun came over the mountains. We had breakfast and then set about breaking camp. When we had everything in the car we went up to the camp store and jumped in the shower. It felt so good to get clean! We then drove out the Chisos Basin. The campground is exactly as you would think - in a basin surrounded by beautiful mountains. We set up the tent and then of course, we had trouble with the mattress. The compressor that Dave bought in Alpine had several holes in the hose so of course we couldn't get air into the mattress. (I was about ready to go back to the thin mats on the ground). Finally, we tried the adapter that goes to the car from the new pump that Bean's sent us (that didn't fit the mattress) - it worked like a charm! By the time we got the camp put to rights, it was time to make dinner. We had a chicken and rice dish with mushrooms and almonds, broccoli for a veggie - came out great. We now are at the Basin patio (chilly, but not too bad). The two photos at the top of the blog were taken from our new tent site. The one on the left is our view when we sit at the picnic table - great view for dining. The other is the view from the front of our tent - also very easy on the eyes. We look forward to doing the hikes in this area - should be spectacular scenery. I'm not sure what the night sounds will be here - the warnings here are for bear and mountain lion as opposed to coyote and javelina in Rio Grande. Unfortunately, we have already heard the ranger program for tonight so we will either read or catch a movie on the computer.

Thursday February 7, 2008

We had to move our tent yesterday as they were beginning the irrigation in our section. We had been camped on the grass, but had to move up to the gravel pad. We are glad we moved as we most certainly would have been floating by this morning. We had french toast for breakfast and said goodbye to our young neighbors - their tour is heading to San Antonio. We decided to go into Alpine for more supplies and to do laundry. We are sitting now in the local Mc Donald's where we have been filling in the past several blogs. We will try to reach the kids a little later after doing the laundry and head back to camp hopefully before dark. We will probably move to Chisos Basin tomorrow as we feel we have done all of the hikes we can do in this area of the park. We will see how the weather is in the Basin - it is supposed to be not as cold at night, but also not as hot during the day. We haven't posted any photos this time as it takes so long, but hope to get some on again as soon as we can. It should be a bit easier at the Basin where they do have the internet access at the patio.

Wednesday February 6, 2008

Had eggs and toast for breakfast this morning and then went for a walk at Dugout Wells. They had a lovely nature trail there and we enjoyed seeing the various types of cacti. We saw a small bird with gray breast - not sure what it's name is - but it catches insects and skewers the ones it is not going to eat right way on the spines of the cacti and then eats them later - quite inventive! We then went to take a hike at Grapevine Hills - we never did find the trailhead after driving many miles down a dirt road - so we set out on our own to make a path. We climbed to the top of a hill and were rewarded with marvelous views of the surrounding area. We had a few thorns and scratches to attend to when we got back to the car, but it was worth it. We had pasta for dinner and chatted with the Ameritreks kids again for a while before going to bed. The camp host delivered our package from Beans this morning, but we discovered it was not the right part - did not fit our bed. We called Beans again and they said to call back tomorrow as they were going to contact the manufacturer.

Tuesday February 5, 2008

It was warm last night - in the 70's. We kept the tent flaps open until the middle of the night when it started to cool down. Woke up this morning to howling winds - 45 to 50 mph. We went out to put extra stakes on the tent. We ate a cold breakfast in the screen porch as it was too windy to light the stove. We stuck around this morning until the wind abated and then went for a walk to the camp store. Dave is working on carving a spoon so we stayed in camp today. We took several turns around the campground chatting with different folks we met along the way. We had Hawaiin chicken for dinner - it was good. A group of 14 young people pulled in next to us. They are traveling across the US with a program called Ameritreks. Most are college graduates taking a break before getting jobs. They were from England, Denmark, Germany, and Korea. They will spend two days here and then head for San Antonio, New Orleans, Memphis, DC, and finally NYC. We went into the tent after a while and watched a movie on the laptop.

Monday February 4, 2008

We slept like babies - the bed is great! Woke up briefly three times with the howling of coyotes, but they didn't keep us up. After breakfast, we drove to the camp store for a hot shower ($1.50 for 5 minutes - not bad) and it felt great. Drove out to Boquillas Canyon and walked the trail over the ridge and down to the river. Met a singing Mexican named Victor who was serenading us from the other side (Eii, yii, yii, yii). We put a couple of dollars in his bucket - we felt safe doing this as he was not selling anything. As we came back up the trail, we saw another Mexican crossing the river. Victor said not to worry, it was his friend, Manuel, coming to pick up the tips - quite illegal for him to be on this side of the river, but I suppose the chances of getting caught are slim in such a remote area. We came back to camp for lunch - took a rest in the shade of the tent - and then we were ready for another walkabout. We drove to the trailhead for Hot Springs. This was used as a health spa from 1909 to 1916 when they were forced to close due to border unrest from the Mexican Revolution. It reopened in 1927 and the owner built a motor court and general store which also served as a US Post Office. The owners sold the property to the state of Texas in 1942 and eventually it was given to the National Park Service. There were a few petroglyphs and pictographs on the cliffs, but they were in poor shape. There were also large nests in the cliffs (looked like hornet nests on steroids) - we assume they belong to a type of swallow. The hot springs are adjacent to the Rio Grande. I took off socks and shoes and waded for a bit in the 105 degree water - too hot outside to truly enjoy - would be fab ulous on a cold day. Met us with our tent neighbors there (there are only 3 tents in the whole campground - all the rest are RVs). They are from northern Arizona. We invited them for a dinner of burgers and Greek salad - they brought steamed cabbage and Dove chocolates for dessert. Had a lovely time chatting with them until about 9:30. They will be leaving for Chisos Basin tomorrow.

Sunday February 3, 2008

Slept a little better last night, but the mattress is still not blown up as it should be. Our next door neighbors, Rob and Karen from Ontario had a compressor which we thought might work. We dragged the mattress back to the rest room and hooked up the compressor to the mattress using duct tape to hold the hose onto the intake valve . . . and it worked! The mattress blew up completely! Thank you, Rob and Karen! Rob is a physics teacher and Karen is a meditation instructor - we exchanged email addresses and hope that they will come to visit Mystic some time. We called called Beans and they are sending a replacement pump, but for now we are okay. We took the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive today and stopped to hike a few of the walks along the way. We stopped at the Sam Nail Ranch - built in 1916 - which was an adobe house. The people were self-sufficient with milk cows, chickens, hogs, a vegetable garden and fruit orchard, windmills to carry water from the dug wells for ranch use and irrigation. We stopped at Blue Creek Ranch where the house still stands - built of natural stone - plastered walls - located in the bottom of a wide canyon. There was even a circular corral left made of upright sticks and small trees. Our next hike was the Burro Mesa Pouroff - this trail led to a lovely box canyon. Along the way there were several pouroffs or dry waterfalls which have carved smooth troughs into the stone. During the rainy season, this must be an awesome sight. We drove on to Castelon where a few old houses and a store remain. The store is still in business and is run by the park service. Until the border closed in 2002, Mexicans came across to purchase items here. Now they have to travel 160 miles on bad roads to get to the nearest town from their small village across the river. We finished our drive at the Santa Elena Canyon - lovely views. Drove back and stopped at Chisos Basin. They have wifi on their patio so we blogged Friday and Saturday there. They also have an outdoor TV. Because it was Super Bowl Sunday, there was quite a crowd - we finally left without finishing the blog for today as we felt people were looking for seats for the game and it was getting quite chilly. We have been having true desert temps - 20's and 30's at night and quite hot during the day (got to 92 today!). We saw three mule deer on our way back to the parking lot and then when we got on the road and were headed back to camp we saw four javelinas next to the road - they look like wild pigs, but they are really peccaries. Back at camp we walked to the ampitheater to see a program on snakes of the Big Bend.

Saturday February 2, 2008

We both woke up this morning a bit weary and sore from our weird sleeping arrangement and vowed to remedy it today. We dragged the mattress out of the tent and hauled it down to the restroom where we plugged it in to charge it. We stayed around camp most of the day - just took a short hike behind our site to the Rio Grande (about 1/4 of a mile). We saw a few grebes on an inlet and some turtles sunning themselves. The river here is very shallow and someone could easily cross into Mexico or vice versa here although of course it is illegal to cross here so we stayed on our side. There were a few places along the path where Mexicans left wares to purchase - rocks, braided bracelets, walking sticks, metal wire shaped scorpions - and a jar to put the money in if you were to buy. However, since the fine for purchasing goods from illegals is $5000, we were not tempted. We got back to camp and had a dinner of garlic shrimp and rice and then tried the mattress again. This time it filled up about 1/3 of the way after charging all day. We decided we would call Bean's in the morning as there is obviously something wrong with the pump. We went down to the local Ranger Station and watch a movie on the Big Bend - it was very good, but the room was small and it was hot in there. The temperature during the day was 80. It does get down into the 30's at night though, so we are thankful for our flannel sheets and comforter. We read for a while and then fell asleep only to be awaken by the loud braying of wild burros. We haven't seen any yet, but have saw their scat on our walk.

Friday February 1, 2008

The first shot is the view from our tent and the second is of our resident roadrunner.

After our showers this morning, we went down to the Alpine Food Basket and loaded up on produce and meat. We filled the cooler and then went back to the motel and packed the rest of our gear around the cooler. After having breakfast, we headed out for Big Bend. We finally got to the entrance gate and then it was another 30 miles to the Ranger Station. We stopped in for a break and then drove for another 20 miles to the Rio Grande Campground. We finally got our site picked out and set about getting the tent up. It was a bit slow as this was our first time with the new test, but we did manage to get it up and staked out. We then got the inflatable mattress out and this is where we really got into a mess! Apparently, we were supposed to charge the battery for 12 hours before the first use. Well, we went to Plan B which was to us the power in the car with a converter. This worked just so - so. The bed blew up about a quarter of the way and then just stopped. We just couldn't get it to take on more air. We gave up on the bed and got the rest of the gear stowed. We had some onlookers as we were setting up - a roadrunner, a coyote who wandered through the site, a woodpecker just over our heads and a rabbit. We had dinner of lime chicken (left over from last night's dinner) and rice with veggies. We then walked down to the ampitheater for the ranger program. It was quite good - all about the Texas Rangers in this area. When we left the ampitheater, we somehow took a wrong turn and ended up walking around for a while in the dark - we did have a flashlight, but there are no streetlights or anything to focus on. We finally saw a few lights in the distance which were caused by lights on in RV's. We have no idea how we got so turned around, but it was good to see our tent. When we got into bed, the fun began - there was so little air in the mattress that our heads and feet were in the air and our butts just a inch off the ground. Whenever one of us turned over, the other got seasick! We had some good laughs and then finally got so tired we just fell asleep. We woke up several times in the night to hear the coyotes howling - what a primeval sound.