A Different Kind of Adventure

We have been so pleased to have you join in our travels over the years.  This time we invite you to share in something different.  As much as friends and family have told us we should try a cruise, we never thought it to be something that we would enjoy; however, finding ourselves located just a bit over an hour from the port at Tampa, Deb started looking into some 'last minute' deals and found one that we could not refuse.

On the 8th of December, joined by our Frostproof neighbors Carol and Dick, we started a 5 night adventure aboard the Carnival Paradise, visiting Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

I could write for hours about this experience, but I'll simply summarize to say that it was much more than we ever would have expected and we will absolutely be doing it again.  We encountered some really nice folks in the passengers and crew and enjoyed way too much excellent food.  Photos

Some Florida Facts

Back in some of the earliest days of our RV adventures in 2007, we had our first encounter with some of Florida's freshwater springs, starting with Troy Springs.

We have since visited a number of other such springs, including several in the vicinity of Salt Springs where we spent the early part of November.  We have discovered that there are in excess of 900 of these springs in Florida, with some located offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and some producing a flow in excess of 65 million gallons of water per day.  It is also interesting to note that there are at least 14 "something Springs" towns in the state.

As we traveled South to our current location in Frostproof, passing lake after lake along the way, we wondered just how many lakes there might be, especially since there are several surrounding us here.  The answer is an astounding 30,000, give or take a few, ranging in size from what we might call a large pond, to the 730 square miles of Lake Okeechobee which is located not too far to our South.

Finally, another major feature of this area is mile upon mile of orange groves.  There are about 8,000 citrus growers in the state working 550,000 acres which include over 74 million orange trees.

A Frostproof Thanksgiving

Yesterday we were pleased to share a Thanksgiving dinner with other folks here at the Lakemont Ridge RV Park in Frostproof, FL.  With the many contributions by other guests as well as the staff and management of the park, we were able to enjoy a wide variety of foods, including some that we might not usually associate with this day.

We've only been here about two weeks at this point, but so far Frostproof has lived up to the name; however, it has been very wet and not quite the sunny Florida we usually expect. We'll see how the reputation holds up when Winter actually arrives.

Two amazing features of this area:  Orange groves that go on and on (for miles and to the horizon in some areas) and lakes of all shapes and sizes covering most of the area that is not populated by orange trees.

Just a few photos to share right now including (1) a trail that I attempted on our last day at Salt Springs, but I was defeated by swarms of mosquitos (2) a few shots of one of the local lakes and (3) a sunset we observed as we drove from Lake Wales to Frostproof on Thanksgiving Eve.  I would normally limit the number of sunset photos, but I was just so amazed by the vivid colors and unusual textures that I had to share more of them.  This is the photo link.

Silver Glen Springs

Today we invite you to join us on the trails at Silver Glen Springs.  Located just 12 or so miles to our SE, this first magnitude spring, with a flow of about 65 million gallons of water per day, flows eventually into Lake George, the second largest lake in Florida.

Hiking the trails of this area, the inspiration for the first chapter of M. K. Rawlings' 1938 classic "The Yearling", is as close to a jungle trek as we've ever experienced.  Compared with Salt Springs' walkways, retaining walls, etc., this area is maintained in pretty much a more natural state, with the exception of the nice trails, without which, it would be nearly impossible to explore the area.  As you view the photos, be assured that the colors at the spring are real and are the deepest blue-green we've ever seen in such waters.

Of particular note is the presence of Sand Boils which, over thousands of years, evolve into the springs we've been exploring.  I'm attaching some movie files to convey the activity at these boils and other photos of the semi-tropical scenery, not found in any other national forest in the continental U.S., can be found here.

Sand Boil 1

Sand Boil 2

Salt Springs and Ocklawaha

As reported in our recent blog entry, we are currently in Salt Springs, Florida, and today we are pleased to share some photos we've accumulated as we explore the area.

The first photos you will see were taken just near the edge of the campground at the Salt Springs where the water is a constant 72 degrees.  There is a very nicely constructed retaining wall and walkway that surrounds the area where the springs rise to the surface and while you would not know it from these photos, the waters are filled with people escaping the heat at other times of the year.

The next series of pictures begins with a shot of Deb and our neighbors at the RV park, Susan and Janet, along with Captain Erika aboard a pontoon boat as we begin a tour of a section of the Ocklawaha River that is located about 12 miles away from Salt Springs.  In a future blog, I hope to pass along some information that Erika shared with us about the history of the area, but for now, we hope you enjoy seeing some of the sites along the tour, including the birds, turtles and 'gators.  Just in case you are wondering about the last shot; we were too slow with the camera to capture a mother and two baby Black Bears that crossed the road in front of us as we were on the return trip from the river.

Click this link to see our photographs.

Salt Springs Recreation Area

From 01 to 15 November, 2014, we are located at the Salt Springs Recreation Area in the Ocala National Forest, about 30 miles East of Ocala, Florida.  The RV Park/Campground is just excellent with paved roads and sites, many mature trees and lots of room between sites.  The park is very well cared for by a friendly and helpful on-site crew.  At the moment, we have very few neighbors since the place is probably less than 10% occupied, but this is not the case in the high seasons (Summer and Winter) or on weekends.  Cities and towns of any size are 30 to 40 miles distant, depending on direction, and our connection to the outside world is tenuous.  We are fortunate to have a grocery store, hardware store, and a few (very small) eating establishments in town, but little more than that.  We're including a few photos of the park here and will have more to share as we explore the area.

2014 Visit to Eagle's Landing

For this last week of October, 2014, we're in a bittersweet visit to our old haunt in Holt, Florida.  In our first year of living in our RV, we spent our initial extended stay here in the Winter of 2007/2008 and returned for several Winter's stays in the following years.  It is great to see the park being so well cared for by Rob and Sue, but we miss our good friend Dick who we lost almost a year ago.

We're enjoying a very nice visit with Rob, Sue, their kids and Rob's parents and, of course, a trip to Wind Creek, another favorite haunt from previous years.  You can view a few current photos of the park here.

For the first half of November we will be at Salt Springs, FL, about 5-6 hours East of here, and we'll tell you all about that later.

A photo of Judie and Dick as we started our trip to Tunica, MS, at Christmas, 2009.

Today's blog is intended to bring everyone up to date on some photos that we were not able to process earlier in the month due to some limitations on our access to the internet.

Photo Collection One

These photos include some views from our stay at the base of the Center Hill Dam along the Caney Fork River in TN.

Photo Collection Two

This collection includes some shots from the end of our stay in TN, as well as:

Fort Pickens Road - Sand plowed after a storm

Views of the beach and Gulf of Mexico near Fort Pickens

The Blue Angels - an added benefit of staying near the fort

Downtown Pensacola

Another lovely Fort Pickens Sunset

If you missed any of our text blogs over this period, you can view them any time at our blog site.

Several Entries in One

15 OCT 2014

On Tuesday (14 OCT 2014) we made a trip from our current location at Fort Pickens, FL, to the Foley and Gulf Shores, AL, area to visit friends Barb, Wally, Sharon and Zak.  We first met Barb and Wally while staying at Eagle's Landing RV Park in Holt, FL, on our very first trip upon starting our nomadic life in 2007.  We have been in touch on a fairly regular basis ever since and usually manage to meet up with them at least once a year.  We enjoyed a nice "catch-up" visit.

On Monday night we experienced some of the worst weather conditions we've encountered in our trips to this area.  It is not unusual to have some very severe storms roll through this part of the Gulf Coast, and we've pretty much learned to expect it; however, this storm, in two major waves, had us rocking and rolling more than we've felt before.  The road from the campground to Pensacola Beach is only a few feet above the gulf waters in some locations and there was still a lot of water on the road when we headed to Alabama the next day and portions of the road had been plowed to remove some significant amounts of sand on about half of the 8 mile stretch.  We'll share some photos of this in some future posting.  Although there was no real flooding here in the campground, we could tell by the debris that surrounded our rig in the morning that there was at least a couple inches of water around us at some point during the night.

11 OCT 2014

After over night stops in Montgomery and Atmore, AL, on our way South, we are now nestled in  at Fort Pickens, just to the West of Pensacola Beach, Florida. The day of our arrival was spent  mostly in some cleaning of the rig, inside and out, and getting set up for the two weeks we will  spend here at one of our favorite spots.  On our first full day here, Sunday, we got to enjoy a  nearly perfect day at the beach on the Gulf of Mexico with the emerald green waters and temps  in the surf that were nearly as warm as the air in the middle 80s range.  At the moment we are  encountering a larger than usual number of other folks on the beach and in the RV park, but it  was the weekend and there is also some sort of school break going on, including Columbus D ay.  We expect that over the next few days the numbers will dwindle and we will return to the  usual sparse numbers of other folks that we've come to appreciate in our other visits here over  the years.

01 OCT 2014

Greetings from TN.
Deb and I arrived at the Long Branch Recreation area, Center Hill Dam, near Lancaster, TN, on October 1st.  This note is just to let everyone know that we are on the road and we will be resuming blogs about our travels soon; however, for the next week, we must travel several miles for any phone or internet service and communications will be very limited.  We look forward to exploring the area and will tell you all about it next week.  In the meantime, you can email or leave phone messages and we will get them when we are in an AT&T service area.

Knoebels 2014

Continuing a tradition started in 2008, Deb and I were joined by Grandkids Elizabeth and Ben for our annual trip to Knoebels Amusement Park in Elysburg, PA.  This year we enjoyed the company of some extended family for another nearly perfect day at the park.  Liz, Ben and I were thrilled to get a long-awaited ride on Flying Turns, a coaster that has been under construction since 2006 which finally opened at the end of last year's season.  Find some photos here.

Washington D.C.

Continuing with our trip to D.C. - These next photos were taken as we toured the city on the "Big Bus" which I would recommend highly to anyone planning to visit the area.  It is convenient, stops at many of the points of interest along the way, and it is possible to take as much time as one likes at each location before boarding the bus again to continue the loop.

You are probably familiar with most of the sites along this journey, but feel free to inquire if there is anything that you do not recognize.  Please excuse the multiple (sometimes many) views of the same location, but I enjoyed capturing the various available perspectives and was unable to limit the ones I wanted to share.  Deb, Linda and I were all very much impressed with most of what we saw, especially the memorials.

Oh, I should mention that there are 90 or so photos and you might want to view them in multiple sessions.

Arlington National Cemetery

In the middle of July, Deb, her sister Linda and I took a trip to Washington, D.C.  Our primary objectives were visits to Arlington and the Vietnam War Memorial.  We stayed two nights at a hotel that is located just 16 miles or so from the National Mall area and it was a relatively easy commute into the city, much easier than we've encountered on some earlier travels through the area.

We spent the first afternoon exploring the cemetery and were fortunate to be on a good schedule to be able to witness the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which was quite moving and amazing to watch.  We also were able to tour Arlington House (former residence of Gen. Robert E. Lee) which sits high above the cemetery and provides an impressive view of the mall area.
Photos from this part of the adventure can be found here and the rest of the trip will be covered in another blog entry when I've had a chance to upload the rest of the photos. 

From Crossville, TN

Since our last report, we took some extra rest time in OK, crossed AR, diverted a bit into MS for 2 nights as we waited for some weather to pass us, and have now traveled more than half way across TN.  Not much to share in photos this time, since we are mostly on the move with an intent to be in PA in two to three days.  We did spend some time in Tunica where we confirmed that Harrah's is indeed closing.  This includes 3 hotels, the casino, the RV park, golf course, shooting range, etc.  We've visited this property a number of times over the years and it really is sad to see this, especially for most of the employees since there are few options available to them in this area.

On the Move

Today is Thursday, May 8, 2014 and we are taking a break from our current travels at Catfish Round-Up and RV Park in Seminole, OK.  Over the last few days we have driven across Arizona, New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and a bit more than half of Oklahoma.  We're expecting to be in PA by sometime in the third week of May.

In the last week before leaving Parker, AZ, we enjoyed a nice visit with Tracy and Jeff including a short jaunt to Havasu Landing, CA, and we later joined them for a day in 'Vegas as they prepared to return to Alaska.

We've not had the best of luck with internet connections since we've been on the road, but wanted to share our trip photos as best we can to give you a sense of what you are missing.  We're not able to provide captions and some photos are impacted by bugs on the windshield, high winds, dust in the air, unsteady photographer, etc.  Some side trips included Window Rock and Church Rock.  We have been in some really nasty winds, blowing dirt more than we have ever experienced.  Photos are at this link.

Parker, Arizona

The town of Parker, AZ, lies entirely within reservation land belonging to the Colorado River Indian Tribes.  This is a link to some information about the town.  Pay particular attention to the average temperature and precipitation information.  On Saturday, I think we experienced the April rain quota which, by my estimate, appeared to be about 5 to 10 drops per square inch; just enough to turn our already very dirty car into a very, very ugly, dirty car.

Parker is a town of surprisingly broad streets and mostly very nicely kept buildings, but, like so many other places these days, there are many shops, etc., that are unoccupied due to the state of the economy.  This link will take you to a few photos from around town.

April Sky Views

 

Photo from  Space.com

We hope you had a chance to view some part of the "Blood Moon" on the 14th.  There is another great night sky event coming up on the 23rd, a meteor shower that will be visible toward the East after dark.  If the weather is not being cooperative in your area, there should also be some visible on the nights before and after.

Our photos for this time include more shots of our current location in Parker, AZ, and some from a short trip we took across Parker Dam and South along the Colorado River on the California side.

Quartzsite

Quartzsite, not Quartzite the metamorphic rock, is a small town in La Paz County, Arizona, that straddles Interstate 10.  Ever since the start of our RV travels, we've heard tales of this town and since we are presently situated just an hour's travel away, we decided it was time to see it for ourselves.

Quartzsite has achieved a position in RV Lore for a number of reasons.  In the Winter, the average temperature is in the 60's/70's, it has become the site of one of the country's largest RV Expositions, it hosts nine major gem shows and at least 15 swap meets and attracts about 1.5 million visitors each year, mostly in January and February (the average temp is 100+ in the Summer).  Folks stay in their RVs at a whole host of parks, campgrounds and resorts located in the town as well as many, many acres of BLM land that surround the town and facilities range from full hookups (elec., water, sewer, cable TV, WiFi) to absolutely nothing but some sand to park on.

I know there lots of folks who find this to be an ideal way to spend their Winter, but Deb and I very quickly decided (even before we got there) that the extent of our interest was our quick drive through the area in our car.

For our photos, click here.
For more information, click here.
Why the camels?  Click here.

At Pirates Den

As indicated in our previous blog, a few days ago we moved from Davis Camp to our new home for a month at Pirates Den which is located on the Colorado River at a beautiful spot just a few miles to the South of Parker Dam and an equally short distance to the North of the town of Parker.

At this point we've done very little in terms of exploring the area other than a few 'essential' locations including the 3 local grocery stores.  Otherwise, we've been occupied with taking care of some tasks such as cleaning, laundry and the like, but we also managed a nice walk along the river and into the neighboring county park.  We also started to give our rig a much needed bath, but quickly discovered that the spotting caused by the local water was worse than the dirt and we've thus put that project on hold for now.

There are just a few photos to view this time, but you can expect something a bit more interesting with our next publication.

Some Side Trips North and South

A Dust Storm Engulfs the Area

Over the last week, we ventured out to some more distant areas from our current location in Bullhead City.  We traveled North through some high desert through such places as CalNevAri, Searchlight and a little place called Las Vegas.  We then crossed the Colorado River via the new bridge near Hoover Dam (the road formerly crossed the dam itself) before heading South on the AZ side, returning back to base via Kingman, AZ.

In the slide show, you will next see some photos of more views along the Laughlin side of the river, then on Saturday we were off to a short revisit to Oatman (remember the burros?) before heading South along a remote and desolate stretch of Route 66 (hard to believe that this was once a primary highway to Los Angeles).  We continued on to Parker, AZ, for a preview of our next extended stay.

As usual, there are some captions to the lower left of photos in this collection.

Davis from the NV Side and Lake Havasu City

We finally sought out the road that approaches Davis Dam from the Nevada side of the Colorado River and were treated to a visit to parts of the Lake Meade Recreation area that dot the West side of the Colorado just to the North of Laughlin.  There are some very nice, mostly day use, pavillions and other facilities scattered along several miles heading toward the dam and some of the nicest sites provided for camp hosts that we have ever seen.  Deb got into a conversation with one of the hosts and learned enough that we would absolutely consider hosting here if we should ever decide to visit this area again.

About 70 miles to our South along Arizona 95 is Lake Havasu City, new home of the 1831 London Bridge.  The city is much more extensive and cosmopolitan than we ever expected, with a wide range of housing options and probably more commercial enterprises than any other city between Las Vegas and Phoenix.  The bridge connects to an island in the lake that is mostly dedicated to recreational activities and there is a ferry available (for $2 round trip) to Havasu Landing on the California side where there is much more in recreation opportunities, including a small, but nice casino.

Our photos from both adventures can be found here.

Boat Ride and Chula Vista

There are a number of boat rides available here, at reasonable rates, on the Colorado River between Bullhead City, AZ, and Laughlin, NV.  We decided to take one that includes an approach to Davis Dam and a cruise all along the row of casinos that line the river on the Nevada side.  Unfortunately, the water level was too high to allow passage under the Laughlin bridge; however, we were still treated with all the information and descriptions of what we missed on that part of the ride.  There is also a free "water taxi" available from a free parking lot on the AZ side to one of the casinos on the NV side, but we're not quite sure why people choose to do that, except, perhaps for the free boat ride.

The next day, Deb and I traveled 350 miles to Chula Vista, CA (just North of the Mexico border at Tijuana), for a visit and a great meal with dear friends Sue and Dick who we had not seen since our first year of RVing in 2007.  The trip took us through the San Bernadino Mountains and outlying cities that encompass the LA area.  On the return trip, we paralleled the border with Mexico along Interstate 8 before heading North from El Centro along some 2 lane roads through Blythe and Needles, enjoying some excellent scenery along the way:  mountains, desert, farming and the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area.  While traveling here in the West, we've grown accustomed to seeing elevation postings like 4000 feet and more and less, but along this route we were amused to see one that said Elevation Sea Level.

Please see the captions associated with these photos for some additional notes.

Davis Dam and Lake Mohave

The Mohave County Park where we are currently residing, Davis Camp, takes its name from Davis Dam which was completed in the early 50's and is located just to the North of the last sites in the park.  The power plant of the dam includes 5 generating units that are capable of producing 255 megawatts of power or 2 billion kilowatt-hours annually.

Lake Mohave, behind the dam, is part of Lake Mead National Recreation Area.  It encompasses 44 square miles and extends 67 miles toward Hoover Dam to the North.

A recent afternoon excursion to the area by Deb, Mary, Bill and myself included some excellent views of the dam and the lake area which are represented in these photos and captions that are included at the lower left of each picture include some additional information.

A Visit to Oatman, AZ

Oatman is located just to the South and East of Fort Mohave, Arizona.  It is what remains of a mining town that nearly evaporated when Interstate 40 bypassed this small community that is positioned along US Route 66.  Today it is primarily a tourist attraction, largely due to the wild burros that wander the streets of the town.  Burros can be spotted in many locations around this area, but here they are in greater numbers and the entire Main Street of Oatman is dedicated to shops and eateries that are based on a burro theme or the town's mining history.  We enjoyed a nice lunch at the Oatman Hotel which features an unusual decor which you will see in our pictures.

Our thanks to friend Roger Mowery for alerting us to this and hope you enjoy this photo record of our visit.  You can also read a nice account of the place at this link.

Out and About in Bullhead City

We are currently settled into Davis Camp in Bullhead City, AZ, which is just across the Colorado River from Laughlin, NV.  Davis Camp is owned and operated by Mohave County (not sure why the spelling is not Mojave like the desert) and covers the entire East Bank of the Colorado from the bridge to Laughlin to the Davis Dam.  For those of you who are not familiar with the area, we are located about 1 1/2 hours (95 miles or so) generally South of Las Vegas.

Up to this point, since arriving here last week, we have mostly attended to some necessary chores including laundry, grocery shopping, oil change for the car and the like, but we've also taken some time to enjoy some of the local scenery and some short visits across the river for some fun and food.  Exploration beyond the immediate area will follow soon.

These photos have captions for a bit of additional information.

A Tale of Two Holes

Our last two major visits on the way to Bullhead City, AZ:

Hole Number One:
Meteor Crater near Winslow, AZ - Awesome

Photos - click here
More Info - click here

Hole Number Two:
The Grand Canyon - Majestic
Photos - click here
More Info - click here

Painted Desert and Petrified Forest

Many folks don't realize that these two areas sit right next to each other.  Largely, the Painted Desert is located to the North of I-40 near Holbrook, AZ and the petrified wood can be found to the South of the same Interstate in the same area.

On the way to Holbrook, we experienced some snow in the area of the Continental Divide in New Mexico and then a bit more in the OK Campground over night.  This is the first experience for DV (our RV) with snow - something Deb and I always said would Never happen.  Well, never say never I guess.  Naturally, for large portions of the country, this has pretty much been a Winter of nothing but snow and you will see our experience as laughable.

There are very few of these photos that have captions.  As you are about to see, much of what we experienced is just beyond words.  If you enjoy what you see, I encourage you to visit these locations, if not in person, then via the internet.

Spaceport America

Some of you may not know that a Spaceport exists.  It is located here in the middle of the desert, about 20 miles or so to the SE of TorC.  The project is a joint venture between the state of New Mexico and several private enterprises.  While the first commercial passenger flight into space is still somewhere on the horizon, the facility has already been the site of a number of launches.  If you are interested in more information, do a search for Spaceport America.

On the way to the spaceport, we also visited the 'other' side of the dam at Elephant Butte Lake and you'll see some areas in our photos that you may remember from an earlier post when we explored the lake by boat.

The day drew to a close with another spectacular show in the sky.  The whole day's photos are available here.

Hillsboro and Hatch Revisitado

Shopping in a Ghost Town?  Well yes, Deb and Mary found some fabulous buys in Hillsboro in a really nice little shop that is probably the greatest contributor to the economy of the town.  We also enjoyed a great afternoon snack at one of the two local cafes which included fresh cut fries, a really great slice of pie and coffee of course.  We then traveled on to Hatch for more shopping.  This time it was for food, including just a few of the remaining chilis which are now nearly gone until the next harvest except for the dried and frozen varieties which can still be found in great numbers.  More of our "Revisitado" adventure can be found in the photos and associated captions available here.

Fastnachts Anyone?

For the last several years, our crew has made PA Dutch donuts (Fastnachts) for other folks in the RV Parks where we are staying.  This year, Fastnacht Day (aka Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, etc. - depending on your location) falls on a travel day for us and we therefore decided to hold it a bit early here in Elephant Butte.  No one here had ever heard of a Fastnacht, but they were enjoyed by all!

This area has many "Ghost Towns" - vestiges of the gold and silver mining days.  We've now visited several of them and will probably see a few more while we are here.  Click here for some photos from our trip to Chloride and there is info about the town here if you are interested.

Hatch

The town of Hatch, NM, is the Green Chili Capital of the World; this, according to the folks of Hatch and New Mexico.  OK, it may well be true.  We didn't really see a lot of green chili peppers during our visit, but there sure were lots of red ones.

On the way back from Hatch, we explored part of the Lake Valley Backcountry Byway including a visit to Hillsboro, which is one of 9 Sierra County Ghost Towns.  Hillsboro was the County Seat until it was moved to TorC in 1938.  Formerly a mining town which produced $ millions in gold and silver, it now has a population of only about 80.  Please see our photos and captions for more information.

New Mexico Sunset

Like most people, we enjoy beautiful sunsets and it is almost a daily event here and sometimes all around us. 

These photos are just from tonight's viewing.

And now for something completely different:

 

It looks much like many of the photos we've included in some of our recent blogs, right?  Nope, it is Mars in a photo taken just about two months ago.

On The Lake

On Wednesday afternoon (12th of Feb), it was our great pleasure to spend an afternoon on Elephant Butte Lake, thanks to Shane who graciously volunteered his boat (and experience).  Along with viewing various points along the shore of the lake, we also visited the lake's three marinas, Marina Del Sur, Dam Site Marina and Rock Canyon Marina.  One of the nicest parts of the trip was enjoying our lunch together on the boat as we just drifted for a while near the mesas you will see in the photos.

Please see the captions of these photos for additional information.  If you get the idea that we're having a great time in all these discoveries and explorations, you're absolutely right.

Veterans Memorial Park at TorC

On Saturday (Feb 8) we visited the Veterans Memorial Park and Museum at Truth or Consequences.  Both the grounds and museum are a very nice and inspiring tribute and include a scale replica of the Vietnam Memorial and markers inscribed with statistics and descriptions of all the major conflicts that the U.S. has been involved in over the years.  Further information is available here.

We then took a bit of a drive, just more of our area familiarization attempts, before heading to downtown for the Second Saturday Art Hop, a monthly event here where all the art shops, etc. are open in the evening.

You can view the day's photographs here.

A Walk Around T or C

While we are in Elephant Butte, NM, we drive to the neighboring town of Truth or Consequences (formerly Hot Springs) for groceries and the like since there are no such facilities right here. The town is known here as T or C (which seems to be pronounced by the locals more like T-R-C)and the reason for the odd name can be found here.

These photos represent a bit of what you might see when taking a walk around the town.

Elephant Butte Lake, NM

For the entire month of February, 2014, we will be residing with our traveling companions at the Elephant Butte Lake RV Resort in Elephant Butte (next to Truth or Consequences), NM, certainly one of the nicest RV parks we've ever found in our travels since 2007.  We usually find something we really like about most places we've ever stayed, but this location is nothing but positive as you might guess from these photos.

We have done just a bit of exploring of the area so far since, like the rest of the country, we are hoping for some warmer weather soon.  While we've not been in any snow, it has reached as close as about 50 miles North of us as of last night and we've seen it in some of the higher elevations in the mountains that surround us.

Del Rio to Carlsbad
On our last full day in Del Rio, we attended a UFO festival which included a number of lectures by some of the top researchers in the field, a showing of the movie "Fire in the Sky" and a costume, parade and food event in a nereby park.  Among those making presentations were Stanton Friedman who has appeared in many films and TV documentaries concerning UFO's and Travis Walton, the victim of the 1975 "Fire in the Sky" UFO abduction case.

On the first leg of our journey toward Carlsbad, NM, we took a short side trip to Langtry, TX, home of Judge Roy Bean and the "Law West of the Pecos" which included a very impressive cactus garden which is shown in many of these photos.  Also some of the pictures include a view of Mexico not too much in the distance.

Visit to Roswell

We arrived in the Carlsbad, NM on Monday, January 27th and settled in at the Brantley Lake State Park which is located just about 12 miles North of the city.  The lake is quite large, but not nearly as huge as it could be, due to years of very little precipitation in the region.  The lake would be normally fed by 7 rivers, but most of them are dry, with the Pecos being the only one where we've seen some water.  Some of our party were originally hoping to do some fishing, but we understand from some other folks here that it would probably be a waste of time.

On Tuesday we took about an hour drive to Roswell, NM, the site of a famous UFO crash in 1947.  While it is not currently possible to visit the actual crash site, there is the International UFO Museum and Research Center which is open to the public.  While some of the displays are tongue-in-cheek depictions of Little Green Men, etc., the exhibit hall includes infromation on the Roswell Incident, Crop Circles, aliens depicted by ancient cultures and other UFO and abduction stories, facts and photos from around the world.  See our own photos here. The truth is out there.
Carlsbad Caverns

I cannot possibly describe the beauty we encountered in the several hours we spend above and within the caverns.  We walked for miles through the caverns, impressed with the great size (not feeling at all confined as in some other caverns and caves we've visited).  We hope you enjoy the many photos an get at least some sense of what we saw.  We took so many pictures that we were killing batteries left and right and I've thus broken them down into three sets as listed below:
Camera
Deb's Phone
Ty's Phone
Brantley Lake State Park

We spent five days at this location while we explored the vicinity.  These photos are intended to give you some sense of the excellent location and some of the views we enjoyed.
From Carlsbad to Elephant Butte, NM

On February 1st we traveled to our new location via El Paso, TX.  Hmm, NM to TX to NM (don't ask).  We share with you here a few photos of the trip and more entries will follow as we explore this new area.

277 South Site at Amistad

Yesterday, Mary and Bill joined us in Del Rio.  They had made a side trip to San Antonio after leaving Rockport, then spent a night in Eagle Pass before continuing on to this area.  We spent most of the day at the 277 South site at Amistad where Pat, Mary, Bill and Deb tried for the ever elusive fish in the lake while Dick and I explored the rocky shoreline of the SouthEast end of the lake.  We hope you enjoy these photos.

Rockport to Del Rio

We arrived in Del Rio, TX, on January 14th and today we ventured into Ciudad Acuna, Mexico where we did a bit of shopping and enjoyed a nice lunch at Santa Marta's in the center of town.  Having made quite a number of trips to Mexico over the years, it is such a shame to see what has happened to the border towns over the last decade.  We saw entire blocks of the town where stores were closed; however, in one section most of the shops, etc. were open, but not terribly busy.  We are told that this is about the safest of the border towns and we absolutely felt safe and were treated well by everyone we encountered, but there really were very few other 'gringos' that we noticed and I know that this severe reduction in tourism has contributed greatly to the economy of the region.

One of our primary reasons for spending time in Del Rio is the Amistad National Recreation Area which surrounds the Amistad Resorvoir on the Rio Grande.  The "Friendship" lake has about 540 miles of shoreline in Texas and 350 miles in Mexico.  The park extends 81 miles up the Rio Grande, 14 miles up the Pecos River and 25 miles up Devils River.  Up to now we have spent a good part of two days in the park and still have a lot of area to cover as you might guess.  Pat and Deb are hoping to catch some Bass, but that has not worked out as yet.

While in Del Rio, we are staying at the Hidden Valley RV Park which is located just a few miles from from the Rio Grande and the border.  Janet, the park's owner is just super friendly and helpful and we'd recommend this park to anyone who is planning an RV trip to this area.

Today's photos include our last days in Rockport and our first days at Amistad.

Goose Island State Park and More

Like many of you, over the last 10 days or so we have been involved with celebrating Christmas and welcoming 2014.  Unlike most of you, we have also done a bit of fishing from the piers at Fulton and Goose Island State Park and explored a bit more of this part of Texas along the Gulf of Mexico.  In addition to the fishing locations, we also traveled via ferry to Aransas Pass and from there headed South along Padre Island to Mustang Island National Park and the Padre Island National Seashore before heading back to Rockport/Fulton via Corpus Christi.  We later enoyed a day of shopping and some really tasty Mexican food at Senor Jaime's in Corpus and it is now our plan to spend some more extended time in each of these areas. Please click here for a slide show of our most recent photos.

Happy New Year to all!