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March 03, 2018

Leaving Del Rio, Texas heading west

March 14, 2018. We decided to leave early and head west with no particular destination. We were packed and other road at7:15 am. Odometer reading 56282, $100.76, 38.15 gallons of fuel, $2.65/gallon. We are heading towards Margaret, Texas. With a possible destination of El Paso TX. We decided to take a more southern route along I 90. We are glad we did. We started with a beautiful sunrise over a river. Speed limits averaging 70 mph, and sometimes 80mph. We came across a border inspection station outside Comstock, Texas. The road has us pull up to an inspection area, they appear to be looking for illegal immigrants. They have trained dogs and officers around. When we pulled up, they just asked how many people are in the rv and if we are all American. Then we were on our way.

Texas, Licons dairy farm

March 15, 2018 Today we took a short thirty minute drive to another passport America location. So it is free. We are at Licons Dairy Farm. It is located in San Elmira Texas. This place is great. They make asadero cheese, along with other food items. We had a tasting of the fresh asadero cheese. It resembles mozzarella. We were given two golfball size pieces. It was hot out of the kitchen. It was delicious! They also have e fresh made sweet potato candy, biscuits, butter and milk. We bought and tried local tres leches candy, it resembles fudge consistency but tastes like sweet milk. The sweet potato candy is half a sweet potato candied, very good. We had the fresh butter on our biscuits, also very good. There is also a petting zoo area withcows, camel, donkies and chickens. The staff are very nice even though the place is very busy.

Cuidad Acuna, Mexico Mi Tierra Restaurant bar and grill

March 13, 2018 After walking around the city of Cuidad Acuna we decided on Mi Tierra Restaurant bar and grill. We waited outside in the waiting area near a fountain. When we went in we noticed how clean it was. We ordered a Margarita and a Mexican beer. They brought warm salsa Verde and tortilla chips. It took us a but if time to order because the menu was in Spanish. We googgled some items on the menu and decided on champion quesssadilla. When it arrived it was mushroom quesssadilla, not what we thought we were getting. But! It was good. Then I ordered chicken and beef fajitas and norm ordered a meal of a variety of things, tacos, enchilada, steak, rice and beans. We both tried everything and it was good. We had a few more cocktails. Then we paid our bill. $35 american. The price was awesome.

Del Rio, Texas Holiday Trav - L Park

March 12, 2018 we decided to leave the beach today. The weather forecast was for cloudy, cold and windy conditions. We decided to move along and see what else was out there! We packed up at the beach, Norm did a two point turn and drove off the sand with no issues. We are heading to somewhere with hook ups to clean our beach mobile. We fueled up, odometer 56097, $50 17.5 gallons at $2.85/gallon. We decided to head towards I90 instead of the more direct I10. We just drove down some much nicer and more scenic landscape. The speed limit is 70mph in a good portion of the places on two lane road. We picked a passport America place. Holiday Trav - L- Rv Park. $14 plus $3.50 extra for 50 amp service. We drove most of the day and arrived at 4pm. We immediately started doing laundry, dishes and sweeping! Tons of sand! We were planning on going to Big bend National Park. We called ahead and it is spring break there. There are no rv spots for hours around it. So we just decided to stay for two nights here. There is Amistad lake across the street. It is huge. We took Yogi for some fresh water swimming. The lake is cool, clear and easily accessible.

Fabens, Texas Cattlemens Steak House

March 14, 2018 This is a repeat of a place we went to on our first trip out west in 2015. We are heading to Norm's mother's house in New Mexico. We loved it last time. We drove 6 hours today and arrived at 2. We went to there Designated rv parking and set up. We showered and went to dinner at 5. The scenery and grounds here are beautiful. It is a a working ranch with a petting zoo and lake walk. For dinner Norm had the Cowboy steak, a two pound porterhouse. I had a 14 ounce ribeye. They don't have salads here. It has been voted "the manliest steak house" in 2012. All meals come with all you can eat beans, coleslaw, bread and jalapeño peppers. Our steaks were cooked perfectly. After a few cocktails and dinner we went out for a walk to see the animals. After our walk we returned to the restaurant and had dessert. Then back to the Rv and to sleep. We have been on the road for fourteen days. We have crossed to time zones and had a daylight savings time change. We can hardly keep track of the time. Our phones keep roaming on other tone zones.

Padre Island National Seashore - South Beach

March 10, 2018

While enjoying the busy weekend here and the beautiful weather the ice cream man took a pass by. Can't get anything else out here but we could get ice cream!! Unfortunately we started back on no carbs so no ice cream for us.

Corpus Christi, Texas South Beach

March 10, 2018 we are still camped out on the beach. The forecast for today is spectacular, 86 degrees and sunny. This will assist with charging the house batteries from the solar panels. It is spring break here and as expected the amount of people here, has increased. We took yogi out for a long walk and let him swim to stay cool. On today's walk I photographed many jellyfish. There are many different kinds of Sea Jellies. They apparently provide food for the birds and turtles. They will eat them when they wash up on the beach. There is one called a Cabbagehead Jellyfish. It is big and white and translucent. I am having an urge to dissect one.
, Another one is Portuguese Man of War. It is blue and translucent. It has tentacles that can be fifty feet long. This is the jelly that delivers a horrible sting to humans that come in contact with its tentacles.


The last type that I saw just one of is the Sea Nettle. This one also has a powerful sting.

Corpus Christi, Texas Padre Island national seashore

March 8, 2018 we are still camping on the beach. It has been so wonderful to have such peace. Now I want to talk about the ugly side of the beaches here. The first time we drove the beach we saw miscellaneous trash here and there. Norm and I said wow these people don't even care about this beautiful place. Afterwards we went to the Malachite visitor center. There is an informational sign explaining why there is trash about the beach. Due to the currents of the Gulf of Mexico, trash from the Mississippi River and the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico are all pushed here. Then the wind

blows it in and onto the land. They will give you trash bags to collect trash if you are inclined to. You can get a volunteer patch for presenting your yellow bag to a ranger. The motto here is keep our beaches beautiful bring home more trash than you make. Since we walk the beach anyways, we have been collecting trash. It's sad that this is not even their trash.

Corpus Christi, Texas South Beach

March 7, 2018 After yesterday 's rain we went to explore the park. We went to the visitor center and talked with a very knowledgeable Ranger. She told us about seabeans.
We will attend her class on the subject Monday. We went to a 3/4 mile paved trail. We walked it with Yogi. There is a sign that says "beware of rattle snakes". Then we drove North Beach. We drove until leaving the park and continued to a public restaurant and Bob Hall pier. We then returned to the park and proceeded to South Beach. Immediately upon driving we saw rvs and cars driving south for five miles. At the five mile mark the sand gets too soft and requires a four wheel drive vehicle. We looked around said to each other that we wanted to camp on the beach instead of the campground. We went back to the campground, packed up the Rv. I drove ahead with the car and filled out the registration form. It is free to camp on the beach. Norm drove down the beach about a mile and found a fabulous spot. There is nobody close to us. We are about 50 feet from the ocean. It is windy and in the 70's. Yogi and I played in the water with a tennis ball. He is loving the freedom.

Corpus Christi, Texas Malachite campground

March 6, 2018 Padre Island national seashore $10 Park entrance fee. Free is you have a senior access pass. $8/night, $4 if you have an access pass. Odometer reading 55893, $158.37. $2.69/gallon. Bought 5 gallons extra to use for fuel while boondocking. Today we drove 5 hours to get here. Because it is first come first serve, we disconnected the car and I went ahead of Norm driving the Rv. When I arrived it was down pouring. Much to my surprise there were sites available in the Malaquite campground. I picked one out and paid for 6 days at the kiosk. The site I picked turned out to be the best one. There are no hook ups. We were facing the ocean and could see it through an opening in the dunes. We are parked on pavement. I thought I had hit the jackpot. Site 31. I then left and drove 30 minutes to the nearest Walmart. I bought alot of food. We are restarting our diets and need to be prepared. I then bought a bottle of Texas bourbon whiskey. Then I went home cooked dinner. We walked the beach a short ways. Tomorrow we will explore the park. But, so far it is huge. It is the largest undeveloped barrier island in the world.

Crystal Beach, Texas

March 5, 2018 After taking a ferry from Galveston we discovered a gem of a place. We had lunch at Hardheads. Our waitress told us about a twelve mile long beach we can drive on with our car. We were told we could drive on it free hut if we wanted to park we would need a pass. We paid $10 at a local convenience store. Then we drove and stopped and let Yogi play. He was quite happy.

Galveston-Port Bolivar Ferry - FREE

We decided to take the Galveston-Port Bolivar Ferry to wherever it ended up. The ferry is free for vehicles and people. Some trailer trucks, 5th wheel and class A RVs were on with us.
The ferry stopped at a beach community called Crystal Beach.
We stopped at Hardheads for a bite. Some fried catfish hit the spot.
Heading along the strip to see what other adventures pop up.