Travels With Picasso

This morning finds us in a nice RV park in Fort Stockton Texas. I thought I would never use the words “nice” and “Fort Stockton” in the same sentence. The place we stayed on the way out was awful and the two we looked at yesterday were worse. However, we had seen a sign off the highway on the way into town and backtracked to take a look. It’s a lovely spot out of town.

We are packing up to head for Deming New Mexico today. Our main goal is to find a place there where we can watch the Green Bay Packers win the Super Bowl. On the way we will enjoy the scenery through the west Texas mountains and New Mexico high desert. I’ll be humming Marty Robbins again I’m sure.

Yesterday we left Falcon Lake and came to an RV park in San Antonio. Today it is snowing down there along the border and the Gulf of Mexico! Here it is in the mid 20’s, but dry so far. We are right on the edge of where they are predicting snow and freezing rain. We’re not sure if we will leave tomorrow or Saturday. We’ll be watching the weather and road reports and make a break for the west when the conditions are okay.

Due to the cold weather the RV park has shut down the water. Therefore, there are no bathrooms, showers, or laundry. However, we do have electricity and propane, so we can stay warm and cook. We filled our big jugs at Whole Foods and will use that for all our needs in Picasso. We also went to Camping World today and bought a small electric heater. It cost us the equivalent of two propane fills, so it should pay for itself with 2 cold nights ahead.

We hope all is well with friends and family all over the country. This cold wave is affecting many.

Today we checked the weather forecast and discovered that there will be severely cold weather over the mountains for the next several days. Single digit lows mean totally wiinterizing the trailer and not having water overnight. Also the local Mexican gas merchant sold us butane rather than propane. Butane doesn’t work below 30. That means we would be severely limited if we travel in those temps. The highs will only be in the 30’s or 40’s during that time. Therefore, we must extend our stay at Falcon State Park. At the end of the week it looks like a warming trend will get us across the continental divide and to Arizona. We’ll go to San Antonio on Wednesday to spend a couple of days shopping for some RV things (light bulbs, antifreeze, etc.). It will be cold there, but we can stay in an RV resort with electrical hookups so we can use our electric space heater and their heated showers. 😉 Friday is the day we will head west and plan to arrive in Benson Arizona on Sunday.

Traveling in an RV requires flexibility.

Small armed bands routinely patrol Falcon State Park. With cameras on one shoulder and binoculars around their necks these grey-haired soldiers patrol the trails and roads in small groups, seeking their prey. When someone spots their quarry they huddle around a small book and debate the identity of the creature. Often this ends in agreement, but can lead to discord in the group. Individuals sometimes go out on patrol alone, seeking to surprise their quarry by stealth.

These troopers keep notebooks with long lists of the names of their targets. Often a joyous shout is heard when a new name is added to the list. 

Jean and I haven’t joined the bird watching army. We prefer to go out into the bush with our cameras and snipe for whatever we see.

I completed a couple of plenn aire studies of the view from our campsite. The first I call Falcon Lake Border Patrol.

The second is an impression of the Texas Olive tree that shades our trailer. These trees are everywhere and have marvelous shapes.

It’s great to have weather that permits us to paint outdoors.

This is a picture of a Caracara, locally known as a Mexican Eagle. They are reported to be uncommon here, but we are seeing them daily now.

Today the sun is shining and the wind has shifted to the south. That means we might be able to put up our tent/canopy again. With the westerlies we’ve been getting it acts like a parasail on the side of the trailer. When the 2000 pound trailer begins to rock and lift off the ground you know it’s time to take a reef in the sail so to speak. Fortunately, the canopy disengages itself from the track before the trailer is lifted.

We plan to do some painting and drawing today. A short time ago I got a closeup shot of a Caracara (Mexican Eagle). I’ll get it downloaded to the computer and posted as soon as I can.

Another sunny day in south Texas. Today the campers here are watching the NFL conference championship games. There’s chili and cornbread in the rec center. Everyone contributes. I’m not sure if Packer fans will outnumber Bear fans, but I’m sure we will have both in attendance.

We renewed our campsite for another week, so now plan to leave on January 31. One more week in the sun!

Today we took a morning drive into Rio Grande City, the closest town with what we consider a good grocery. Roma is closer, but its stores are of dubious quality. HEB is a big chain in Texas and one of those is in Rio Grande City. We found everything we wanted. Unfortunately, when we returned we found that the gallon of milk we bought for our friends had expired four days ago! This is one of the realities of shopping in a border town. The local population isn’t as particular about expiration dates, so you often find dairy, canned good, and other items beyond their expiration date. Buyer beware!

I spent the afternoon in my recliner reading a Dan Brown novel on my Kindle. Thanks again to my VA friends who bought that for me for my retirement present. It has been a wonderful addition to our travels and saved many rainy days.