Day 3 On to Guerrero Negro

And a cold night it was - not freezing, but close. Heading down to Guerrero Negro today. The highway is very narrow so passing 18 wheelers heading north is a bit tense – no shoulder on the road, and often a big drop-off.




Desert changing and is becoming less green with fewer plants.




Went through a military checkpoint, agricultural inspection ( no fruit or vegetables taken across.) and immigration where we got our tourist card. Then on into the town of Guerrero Negro ( black warrior ) named after a ship that sunk in the harbour.

Day 4

Whale watching today. The Grey whales migrate from Alaska to the lagoon here to birth their calves. We saw many ( or the same one ) quite often, just the blowing and the backs. It was rough in the little boats, and was very, very cold.


Came back and had a quiet afternoon and dinner in the home

Day 2

Up to the rising sun and blue sky. There is still an incredible amount of water around. Set off about 8:00.



Drove past miles of farms, vineyards, and small towns. I didn’t know that Baja was a major food producer - famous for tomatoes.Filled up with gas and then had a bit of fun in the mud as we entered the highway after regrouping. We had no trouble, but a little van pulling a trailer was stuck in the mud. Then we head inland.





It was amazing. Some very unique plants, lush deserts because of the rain, incredible views and then we came to a landscape of rocks, large rocks, and cactus growing right out of them - truly amazing.


The road to the camp was paved, bumpy but paved!!! And it is in an incredible location.



We took a short hike to some caves to see the glyphs and saw many of the unusual plants up close.
Tonight, it is a dinner of “typical ranch fare” - tacos, enchildas, beans and rice. Tasty. Clear skies so a cold night is coming.

Ole Mexico - Day 1

After a stormy, rainy, windy night, we are up bright and early and lined up to go by 7:40.




Heading south through the border. We didn’t even have to stop. And it continues to rain.


Roads are flooded. But we are underway.


Once we left Tijuana, it is one long highway to Cabo, so very little chance of getting lost. It is kind of an odd feeling, driving along in a group of 8 motorhomes. There is a leader (wagonmaster) and someone at the back (tailgunner) and all of us paying people are in the middle. And down the road we go - through small towns, passed seaside resorts, and farms.


Everything is very wet. We found out that they had about 3 inches of rain fall last night and today, and last year their total rainfall was almost 1 inch. Some of the highway is underwater, but not too deep. It reminded us of McConnel Creek. Then, as came close to our stop for the night, an entire village was standing around a bridge. The water was raging underneath, and was undercutting the highway on one side. We may be here a very long time, but no, we made it through.


It was a long, muddy road down to our campground which was very basic, but clean. They had a restaurant and we enjoyed a buffet dinner. By night, the sky had cleared with lots of stars. Hopefully we are finished with the rain.

Five star Camping

From Benson, we headed to Casa Grande and took advantage of a promotion to a luxury RV resort - $99 for a week (regular $350). Entrance was lined with Palm trees, and fairways, and ponds with fountains.


It is an amazing place - over 1500 places for Rv and park models, large clubhouse, three activity rooms, baseball pitch, airport (mini for model planes,) and an activity list that was almost unending – anything you could possible want to do, they had facilities for it. Riding the bicycles around was really easy, and if you rode every road, you got a good workout.



It has its own executive golf course, lush green and immaculately kept, at $16 for 18 holes. Golfers had to walk and no driving carts were allowed. But golfers seemed to have the right-of-way people, bicyclists, etc. where the course crossed the roads, over cars. Plus dances and game shows, bingo, and entertainment.

Most people here come for 3 to 5 months. We met one couple on their 5th year here that decided to take one day each week, and tour about - something they hadn’t yet done!! Unfortunately or not,, we had to cut our week short as we had to be in San Diego for our Mexico trip. Oh well, it was fun!!

Saguaro, It must be Arizona

Good bye- Texas. It's been fun!!!


Up early and headed west - a long days drive to Benson, Arizona ( about 500 miles ). The beginning of the drive was on Highway 90 - great road, no traffic. When we got to Van Horne, we joined Highway 10, which runs across America to San Diego. Then it got busy with trucks. But it sure did move along!! The only slow section was through El Paso. We pulled into Saguaro SKP Park about 3:30, set up and made it to Happy Hour with Les and Susan.



A week of cold nights and clear, cool days. We golfed a couple of days,.




We toured a couple of days.
Tombstone city.










We went off into the desert,




on long, dusty roads into some really beautiful areas.

Good bye Texas

Friday: Decided to head out. Turned the motorhome west and north, followed the tracks





and drove along highway 90 passed houses



until we reached Alpine ( yes, it is in the mountains, sort of.)

This is definitely the “west coast”(think California attitude) area of Texas. The only place without a Walmart. The only place that has it’s own cell phone system, which will not work with any other system, and charges you to use it. We arrived about 3:30, set up, and went for a walk. We asked about places to eat, and asked for something that wasn’t deep fried, we were given a “umm - well there is a place that has a good salad bar” - yes, we are still in Texas!!! We ate in. It was cold, but the sky was an amazing colour of blue, and at night, the star show took your breath away ( or maybe that was the cold ). Lovely spot.

Exploring around Hondo

Thursday: Drove to Uvalde where there was a jeep dealership and had a servicing done. Uvalde is a city at the intersection of the two longest highways in Texas. It was once a center of the area. Their courthouse



An old Opera building ( 1916 ).


It took about an hour, then we headed north and visited Garner State Park. (29.59511, 99.71367). The park was empty but for a few, but you could tell that in the summer the place was ridiculously busy. The second park that we had planned to visit was closed for the hunt. Parks here monitor their animal populations, and when a species becomes too plentiful, they have a hunt for a fixed time, and a fixed number of animals, at a cost to the hunter. So we toured the hill country, and returned to our park to housekeeping tasks.

San Antonio

Wednesday: Sunny. We headed into San Antonio. What a great city. Traffic was not too bad. In fact, it was smooth driving. did all the tourist things - Went to the Alamo,



and walked the Riverwalk. The Riverwalk is so neat!! Especially when it is not too crowded and the sun is shining and it is warm.



Then we had lunch in a Mexican Restaurant in Market Square. It was the same restaurant that we had been to with Ron, and George decided to eat a pepper that was on his plate. The steam streamed out of his ears, his eyes watered, and he ceased to breath for several minutes. This time, the peppers remained on the plate and we had a delicious lunch.

Heading West

Monday:
The morning was cloudy and forecast rain, so we left Bastrop and moved south west to the Escapees park west of Hondo, which is just west of San Antonio.





Nice place. Lots of blue sky and warmth.










Tuesday: After Propane man came, we left to explore the “Cowboy Capital of the World” ( not just Texas) - the city of Bandera, just north of Hondo about 40 miles. Visions of ranches and cattle and horses and cowboys and dust and pick-up trucks. Wrong!!! It was a town in the middle of rolling hills with lots of trees, and lots of dude ranches for the city folk to come and pretend they were cowboys. However, there were some interesting old buildings, and the museum did have a shrunken Indian maiden head on display, and a two-headed goat – photos not allowed.

the older buildings of Bandero - Not cowboy at all!!!



But it was a nice drive on a warm, sunny day.

We're Back

What a great visit we had - lots of good food, and visits with friends and family. We also had snow - George had to shovel the drive-way twice - and rain and cold and gray. Then on January 4th, we headed south again. It was a very smooth travel day, catching an earlier flight to Calgary, then on to Houston, and up to Livingston. We did some food shopping, and then set up our home. Temperature feels good.

Saturday: Slight rain, on and off, so we decided to head west towards Austen. Most of the way was on secondary highways, so it was nice driving and lots to see. We went through several small towns, like in the old west, with hitchin’ posts in front of the stores. Skies cleared, temperature rose to the high 70’s ( 20’s). Life is good.



Checked into Bastrop State Park just east of Austen. (GPS 30.06527N; 97.16935W) This park has lots of hiking trails, and roadways, and its own golf course. It’s the weekend so we were lucky to get a place. Went for a bike ride around the park. We are now in the hill country, so riding has its walking moments (at least, for me). It took us about an hour, it’s a big park!! Then we went into historic Bastrop. The tourist center is set in an old bank, and when you go in, it is like walking into a bank of the early 1900s. Walked then drove through the historic district. Lots and lots of houses from the 1800 in very good shape.




Sunday: Cloudy and 78 (25). Went golfing first thing, $25 including cart. Then we set off for Austen, the capital of Texas and the capital building. Not much traffic. And Surprise!! It was open and full of tourists. Most of the areas were open for viewing. It is very ornate and elaborate.

Looking up


Looking down.



And on our way back to Bastrop, we discovered the mother of all outfitters stores. It was huge, and had almost anything in it - a large aquarium of fish that the fishers might catch. A massive outdoor-like display of animals the hunters might hunt. Plus a shooting and archery gallery. And everything else.

Happy Birthday

Monday saw us at the jeep dealer at opening. Service Manager said that the jeep was safe to drive with one lug nut meeting. And we have arranged to have the car fixed Wednesday. So off to Dallas we went. A long drive – almost 5 hours. Checked in, had lunch, and then off to meet spend the remainder of the day with my Aunt Dorothy, her son Peter, and his wife and 2 sons. Mahallya made a delicious dinner,. In November, Peter hosted a 80th birthday party for my aunt, in Vancouver, and so, Tuesday being Dorothy’s real 80th birthday, it was a special time for us.




Tuesday was the trip back to Livingston, stopping in Nacagdoches to pick up our repaired leather seat. Then, on Wednesday had the jeep repaired. The rest of the week, we spent shopping and getting things ready to leave here.
On Sunday, we left the RV in storage in Livingston, and drove to and left the Jeep in Houston and flew to Calgary, slept there, and then on to Vancouver.