Home On the Longhorn Range

Hillcrest RV Park, New Waverly (actually Pumpkin), TX

Cost: $12.50 per night with Passport America
Last Date Stayed: 4/2/2017 – 4/8/2017
Altitude: 229 Feet
Days #839-845

Bill:

A great, quiet, relaxing place. We utilize this Park for our week out of Thousand Trails Lake Conroe. Good electric, water and sewer and Wi-Fi. About 30 sites mostly grass and level with ample room between sites. Some sites have shade. Picnic tables are sprouting up on sites every day. Pool, bathhouse and very nice clubhouse.  Friendly, no nonsense onsite management. I always enjoy it here.

Mia:

One of my favorite places in East Texas. Love the pastoral setting – the friendly Rodeo cows in the neighboring field – including some Longhorns, who pose for the camera; the zillion birds that wake you up in the morning; the nicely spaced and level grassy lots. Most of all the management, Mary and Doug, make me feel at home there. From a homemaker’s point of view, I appreciate the clean, quiet laundry facilities within the club house. Speaking of the club house, they have just done a make over of the kitchen and it is lovely. If I were still in cooking / baking mode, I would not hesitate to use their gorgeous kitchen to turn out a great family dinner or bake tons of homemade bread & pies. Lots of space and new appliances waiting for your use. Can’t recommend this place enough – but, then, maybe I should just be quiet and keep it a secret so I don’t have to worry about not being able to get a spot….

 

Thousand Trails Lake Conroe, Willis TX… Our Final Day for This Winter.

Cost: $3 per day with our Thousand Trails membership
Date Stayed: Two week cycles from 11/13/2016-04/23/2017
Altitude 239 feet
Days #699-860 – 6562 miles downrange

-Bill Here-

It is a Thousand Trails park. Not bad. Electric is good. Water is OK. Almost all sites have sewer hookups. Most sites drain well after a storm. Sites are pretty level BUT are gravel. Large gravel. As in, twist your ankle if you step on one of the rocks wrong, gravel. All our sites had a picnic table and fire ring. Depending on which site, spacing is good.

Lots of things for kids. Pool, tennis and basketball courts, Activity Center and on and on.

This was our second winter here. Things have changed. The weekends are really crowded now. I assume it is because Thousand Trails opened it to the public and more seasonal sites. Plenty of rules, but little enforcement. Nothing really bad, but the “quality” of campers has deteriorated.

If we’re both above ground and still rolling this fall we’ll probably be back. Mostly because the limitations of our membership may be too severe to get us into the Florida Thousand Trail Parks anymore.

One word of warning. Management here WILL NOT allow you to receive any USPS mail here. They will refuse it – Return To Sender. Even Priority Mail – except medicine. That can be a real problem if you are not aware of it. Probably because it would be a violation of Federal Law to charge you $2 per package like they do for FedEx and UPS.

Mia’s Turn –

As usual, Bill and I agree on most things, but we each see those same things from a slightly different perspective.  So – my view of TT Lake Conroe. . . It has been a good place for us to winter – neither of us are really  “Florida people”. High heat and high humidity is not my thing, neither is the higher cost of Florida living. but in the Southeast part of Texas is great in the winter – November thru March. Lower humidity, and temps ranging from 50s to high 70s daytime and 30s to 50s at night – perfect sleeping weather. Lots of seniors love the heat –  but for me, I like a cooler crisper temp at night.  Lake Conroe has that in spades.  Also, when storms move thru here, they seem to be smaller, and less violent than the ones that go thru Hill country, to the west of here. There are storms and tornado warnings / watches here even as early as late Feb. but the sheer force of the storms don’t seem as harsh as those further west even tho they are more frequent.

Shopping is convenient – just a few miles down the road one way to Kroger’s, and if you go a different route you are quickly at Sam’s Club, Walmart, Big Lots, Michael’s, almost any big box, big chain store or restaurant that you could want, It’s easy to find what ever yu might need, and easy to get around. Our experience in finding good service for Ms. Lucy has been pretty good here, and that is hard to find because of her age. Many places are either afraid to work on her, or are willing but don’t have any experience on older engines.

The week end campers flood the place on Fridays and start the exodus on Sunday morning. Lots of kids, some very well  behaves, others . . . not so much. Same as their parents – it doesn’t take long to see which kids belong to which parents. In general the campground is more crowded now than it was when we first stayed here in 2015.

The wild flowers in this area are beautiful – pinks, reds, purples, yellows, blues – the grass is alive  with color and I truly love that. Even in the campground the grass is full of beauty at this time of year. But, the thermometer daily keeps reading higher and higher and the humidity is following right along, so it is definitely time to get back on the road and head North. So long for now Texas, we’ll be back!

Update as of March 31st, 2017

Yes, we have been lazy. Yes, we have been bad. Yes, we are still full timing. Yes, we promise to be better.

So – we wintered in Conroe, TX starting November 16th,  2016 this year. Going back and forth from Thousand Trails Lake Conroe and Hillcrest RV Park in New Waverly for our week out.

We had to install a new carburetor which took a couple of months to “get right”. I think we got it right now. I’ll know more in a couple of weeks when we fill up the tank and check out mpg. We got down to 4mpg and hope to get it back to 6mpg or better.

Also FINALLY got the computer fixed. I put in  a new video card,CPU and a new motherboard. It turned out the motherboard was the defective item.

Texas High Plains – Where the Wind Never Stops!

Me, in the High Plains wind!

 

Texas High Plains. – Love the wide open spaces, love the friendly down to earth people. Love the wind that is always present. – The wind- ahh, yes, the wind. Here it is almost always present, – like an old friend, constantly there. Sometimes it is gentle, a light refreshing breeze, softly sighing through the window, making the sunny days pleasantly warm instead of scorchingly hot. Sometimes it rages and gusts, blowing small objects ahead of it, along with dust and grit that filters in through the screens. It shrieks and screams and howls through every tiny crack around any opening of Ms. Lucy. At other times, it rocks her like a mother lulling her baby to sleep. When the wind is still, – when it is calm for more than a few moments, it seems eerily quiet – too quiet – something important is missing; and when the wind returns, the world seems right again.
The wind, that I love so dearly, does come with a price for a woman. That price is that you will never have neat hair again, – ever. The wind teases and pulls and coaxes the hair from its proper place, calling it like a siren to blow free in the breeze. – Ever wonder why the Native American women (and men) are shown with their hair in braids? The pioneer women have their hair tucked into bonnets tied tightly under their chins?? It’s the wind. – The better to keep it out of your face, and especially out of your eyes!!

She knows how to handle the wind in her hair!

Since we have been on the road full time, I’ve let my hair grow out – and now after almost 2 years, it is well past my shoulders. The reason is simple – short haircuts require constant maintenance. When you live full time in your RV, and you don’t have a towed vehicle, it’s difficult to find a place to get a haircut that can accommodate your 36 ft. rig in the parking lot. Since we prefer rural places and small towns, where there may not even be a barber shop within a 30 mile radius, Great Clips is not a realistic option. – so, I fight with the wind and my hair. I’ve tried pony tails, barrettes, Claw / clips, combs and any combination you can think of, along with industrial strength hairspray – but the wind just laughs at my silly attempts to tame it!

A beautiful shot that captures the winds sweeping through the High Plains – wish I could take credit but I can’t claim it – Kudos to who ever did!

Time to go to hats – maybe bandanas – right now I’m wearing a baseball type hat. Next I’ll try a cowgirl hat. But. . . . the wind loves hats too . . . so they have to be pinned on or tied on. .. What’s that noise? Do I hear a soft chuckling in the distance? The wind just laughs as it whistles on by.

The Chihuahua and the Old Fashioned Vet

My apologies in advance – this is a long blog post  – but if you have a pet that is also a family member, you’ll understand.

There are three of us in this little family unit; myself, Bill, and our third Musketeer, Little Snoopy, the 5 lb. Wonder Chihuahua. Snoopy joined us about 10 years ago, just before his 3^rd birthday. He was tiny-(er), scared, and withdrawn when he first came to stay with us. He would hide in his bed, under his blankets for most of the day, coming out when he thought nobody was around to find food and water. –  He was afraid to ride in a car or truck. He ate very little. He wanted to join in the “pack” activities but was slow to trust, so he spent a lot of time watching, silently, at a distance.

“I hate cameras.”

Slowly he learned that we were not going to hurt him. – We began “immersion therapy”. I would carry him around with me, either in my arms or in a “pooch pouch” all day long, so he was constantly with us. When we went anywhere, he went with us. We established a daily routine. He began to understand that he could expect the days to follow a pattern. We got up, ate, went outside, etc. etc. in a fairly regular schedule. As he learned what he could expect from us, and what we expected from him, he became more secure and his confidence grew.

We have had several major life changes during the 10 yrs.  he’s been with us, – moved several times, retired, became full time RV’ers, but through it all, we’ve tried to keep the same sense of order and routine to our day to day lives. It’s been good for him and for us. He is an integral part of us now. If we want to go to a restaurant that won’t allow dogs, we either get take out, or we just don’t go.  We take turns when we go shopping in places that don’t allow dogs, so one of us is always with Snoop. He knows he won’t be left alone, or left behind.

With that preface, there have also been inherent health issues with a dog this size. – He has to go in to have his glands “expressed” about every 6 to 8 weeks. He is a VERY picky eater. He has had dental issues – a lot of dental issues. – Soooooo – since we have been on the road full time for the past 2 yrs., we have seen quite a few different Vets. Some have been nice, some have been better than others. Most have treated us part of a production line. Rush rush In, – tech does nails and glands all in 5 minutes – and rush rush Out.  If we did request an actual office visit and exam by THE VET. The degreed Dr. would spend even less time with us than the vet tech, write a script, and be out the door to the next.  Questions? – ask the tech – who may or may not know.   We knew that Snoop needed dental work done. Whenever we stayed at any one location for longer than a week, we would ask the local vet for an estimate – worst case scenario for dental work. We got estimates ranging from $350 to $800 to “Well, it depends on how many teeth, how complicated the procedures are” etc.

Then we stopped “overnight” in a little (pop. 800+ ) town in Northern Texas, called Vega. – It was quiet. It was peaceful.  We could see 10 miles in all directions! – It felt good. We decided to stay another week. Then for another month. Since we were going to be in Vega for a while, we thought we would try again for a vet to work on Snoop. Our first try was in Amarillo – 35 miles to the East of Vega. More production line crap. . . .  we looked on line for a vet in Vega – no  websites, but the owner of the RV park recommended the Vega Veterinarian Hospital down on Rt. 385.  – We found a phone number and made an appointment.

We pulled into the parking lot – it was a dirt lot with a very small pole building  – about triple garage size, and several large out buildings as well as livestock pens. – Ummm – maybe this was the wrong place?. . . We went in. I did a double take – there was no reception room – this was a rough, hard working country vet’s office. I had to stand around a few minutes, waiting for the vet, who was with another patient. When he came out of the exam room, I had to do a double take. Jeans, cowboy boots, plaid farmer’s shirt with the sleeves rolled up and hands the size of hams.

When we got into the exam room, I was amazed. Nice exam room, marble topped table. – and bedside manner – this guy – Dr. Rollins – REALLY cared. He took an hour to examine, to explain everything in detail, to draw blood for labs, to get to know Snoop. An HOUR!! – When was the last time ANY doctor spent an hour with you???

Snoopy the Ever Vigilant Urban Farm Dog

We made an appointment to get the dental work done, and when it was finished, the Dr.  – not the tech or receptionist – called to tell us we could pick up our boy. He has only 5 teeth left, but he came through it like a champ. We are so glad we did it . . . and we are soooo glad we did it in Vega, with an old fashioned vet that really cared about our little guy. – After we picked Snoop up, the Dr. had to make a house call out to one of the local ranchers who was having some problems with one of his cows.  – Wow! Can’t say enough about this place, and about the people here.  If you are in need of a really good, caring vet, and are in the vicinity of Amarillo, TX. Drive on over to Vega, – stay at the Walnut RV Park, and call Dr. Rollins. You won’t be sorry!

Big Ones. Small ones. Fat ones. Tall ones. – Silos are EVERYWHERE !

The further north we moved the more we saw silos. More and more silos. In every town, between towns, silos everywhere.

Coming from the Midwest, this puzzled me. Yes, there were fields of agricultural crops here in Texas. But nothing like in Illinois or Indiana where they stretched out from horizon to horizon. Why so many silos?

Then it dawned on me. I theorized that they were “reverse silos”. Not for storing the grain at harvest time. But to store imported grain for the cattle which DID sometimes stretch out from horizon to horizon.

But I needed to find an expert to validate my theory. I found one on Facebook. Megan at the Texas Grain & Feed Association. Her reply:

“You are correct. Depending on the need, grain can be purchased from other parts of the US and even the world. There are elevators that store grain and feed mills that manufacture feed from grains. Some elevators have feed mills on site.”

Glad to know the old brain is still working even though it took me a while to realize that if I grew up in Texas then Midwest silos would be the “reversed” one.

So, if you want to see some hardworking folks having some good old Texas fun click on the link below:

Texas Grain & Feed

Say hi and tell ‘em that “Midwest Bill with the dumb silo question” sent you.

Route 66 RV Ranch in Amarillo, TX

Remember the old Test Pattern that would appear when nothing was being broadcast over the air-waves . . . .

About 34 miles East from Walnut RV Park in Vega, TX

Cost: 2 days @ $36.00 per day
Date stayed: 8/4/2016 – 8/5/2016
Altitude 3,601 feet
Days #598-599 – 4,875 miles downrange

-Bill Here-

Not much to say. Utilities were OK. BUT electric outlets on pedestal are installed UPSIDE DOWN. Park was kinda “tight”. Because the people to our left had two vehicles we could not make the swing to pull out and had to pull forward through an empty site. A little creepy, but not overly so. Right off I-40. Our site had a view looking westbound. Anecdotally, lot’s of RV’s and Uhaul’s moving on down westbound on I-40.

We stayed here for a provisioning run. Sam’s Club, Walmart and United Grocers were very close.

Would be OK for another short stay. But I think I might try another one of the RV Parks right in the area. All about the same price. At $36, it was OK but unremarkable.

This is actually a photo of the Multi -purpose Park  taken from the Route 66 RV park website. Not my photo, and it is actually nicer than this photo shows.

~ Mia’s 2 ¢ ~

This place was so unremarkable that we didn’t even get the camera out to take a photo. Not even one.  It was barren – desolate – boring – and somehow, just not pleasant. – There was a small “Park / Playground / Dog Park” area which doubled as the Tent camping area.  It had a swing, slide, ‘monkey bars” and a covered pavilion with a communal grill.  It was well maintained and had a nicely watered lawn – although small. There were several large trees which made it a nice little oasis in the blistering hot park. –

Although bags and a waste bin were provided for doggie doo. there were several LARGE piles laying within 5 ft of the unused bags and waste container. They were there when we arrived and still there when we left. – This was not the fault of the management, but was more a comment on some of the campers who were staying there.  And yes, I  was (and always try to be) careful to pick up our 5lb. Chihuahuas  “disposables” just because it’s the right thing to do . One of my pet peeves is people who are irresponsible about cleaning up after their pets – and especially so in a multi-use area like that.

Sooooo, while it was adequate for a short stop over, it was not a place I would want to return to or recommend. Sometimes a place just doesn’t have a good “vibe”, even though you can’t point to anything specific. For me, this was one of those places.

32 Miles East on I-40 Frontage Road from Vega, TX to Amarillo, TX

Where there’s Smoke

8/04/2016 Day #598

-Bill Here-

Great Balls of Fire and Automobile “Monoliths”.

It first appeared low on the horizon. Smoke and we all know what that means. We got closed and closer and eventually saw the flames. It was a race. We needed to get by it BEFORE those gusty winds out of the south pushed it over I-40 and our frontage road path! Will we make it?

We made it,  and left the mini-conflagration in our rear view mirror. But that was not the end of “strange” that day! . . . . . . Mia…

Fire rapidly spreading towards livestock and buildings

Mia’s 2 Cents

Brush Fire – – I’ve seen the controlled burns  used by Plains farmer /ranchers when the clear off their fields, and this may have been one of those when it started, but it seemed to have gotten out of control. Greedy flames and tall columns of billowing smoke;  Smoke that was blowing  towards  acres and acres of open prairie, ranch houses, out buildings, equipment and livestock. . . and the frontage road that we were traveling on.We drove for several miles,getting closer and closer to the source of all that smoke, driving into the haze that the smoke created, and then. . .  we heard the first of many volunteer fire vehicles racing to help control the fire before it could destroy crops,homes or life. They came, from all directions, passing us from behind, coming from in front of us, cutting across the frontage road, streaking down the little dirt side roads, . . the cavalry of unsung heroes that would make the land safe once more.

The famous “Cadillac Ranch”seen from the road.

Just when we thought the day couldn’t have any more excitement, we came across the strangest sight yet – people parked along the side of the road -on either side, for about a quarter of a mile and were streaming into and out of a field  a few miles outside of  Amarillo. As we went past, I snapped the picture above – not knowing exactly what I was looking at. Later,when we got setup in our site for the night, we looked at the downloaded pictures – and realized we had driven right past a famous piece of American Roadside culture,without even knowing what we were looking at. The well known piece of folk art called “The Cadillac Ranch” .  Click to learn more about the Cadillac Ranch  

Wow – it’s amazing what you can see on a short, 30 mile road trip. . .!!

Texas Mini-Twisters and Reality

Imagine this in a neon green. . .

–Bill Here-

No real-time pictures. You’re going to need to use your imagination on this one.

Sometimes you just see strange things happen. When we pulled into Vega at the Walnut RV Park I saw something that caught my interest. There was a neon green child’s pool swim ring by the side of the road. I thought, “how odd”? I figured it might have blown out of the back of a pick up truck? We had just arrived here so I didn’t have too much time to think about it or take a picture.

Liftoff was just this side of the big white sign

The next day I was looking out the front windshield and saw a little whirlwind. It got bigger and bigger. It was right across the street, just 50 feet away. It picked up that neon green pool toy up. Higher and higher… round and round until it was 60-80-100 feet in the air over Historic Route 66 and moving north. I watched it until it was out of sight.

She went that a’way

Sometimes you just rub your eyes and wonder, “did I really just see that”? Well… now I have a better idea how it got there.

Somewhere, somebody is trying to figure out how it got out of the pool. And who knows where it will end up. Life is kinda like that sometimes, isn’t it?

Walnut RV Park in Vega, TX

Sitting at our site, view from the driver’s seat

About 95 miles from Waylon Jennings RV Park in Littlefield, TX

Cost: 2 days @ $25.00 per day
1 week @$125.00
Date stayed: 7/26/2016 – 8/3/2016
Altitude 4,060 feet
Days #589-597 – 4,839 miles downrange

-Bill Here-

A VERY nice park right on Historic Route 66 just off I-40. Spacious reasonable sites are well kept. WiFi, electric, water, and sewer all first class. Huge laundry room. Very secure park as friendly owners are are onsite. Roosters TexMex restaurant right across the street (Historic US Route 66) and is rated 4.5+ out of 5.

We stayed a night. Then another. Then a week. About 30 miles to Amarillo or NM border. No pool but for those people who spend a lot of time in RV parks, this is the kind of place that just “feels right”.

Rooster’s., just across the road on historic Rt.66

Mia’s 2 Cents

Well. I have to agree with all the stuff that Bill has already said, but of course, i have to elaborate . . . .There are a couple of things that make this place unique for me. One is the great view .  Out the port side,  there is old Rt.66. People stop at all times of the day to take pictures of the signs. People in cars, in trucks and in RV’s,just stopping in the middle of the road, getting out and taking a quick photo. It’s fun to see the young, the older and the in between as they pose for their pictures. Then there is the Rooster itself, – a tiny little restaurant, out in the middle of the High Plains of  Texas, with a great Tex – Mex menu and a parking lot that is always full. At times, the over flow spills into the neighboring fields and along the highway. Out the starboard side and somewhat farther away, is I40 with it’s never ending parade of trucks. Cattle trucks, tankers, grain haulers, you name it- flowing in a steady stream all night and day.   The other thing for me, is the ever present wind -Ms.Lucy rocks  in the constant wind and it feels like the soothing motion of a boat in a gently breeze. Even more enjoyable because you know that gentle breeze can sometimes turn to a raging  beast, but usually doesn’t. – Ahhhh – This is a quiet place, a good safe place, for folks who full-time and want to have a safe and comfortable place to stay for a night, a week, or longer.  It’s not meant for families who are looking for a destination spot where the kids can be endlessly entertained, but for those who live on the road it is a nice little oasis.

View off the Starboard side – I.40 in the distance with truck traffic

 

 

98 Miles North on U.S. Route 385 Littlefield,TX to Vega, TX

Heading north on 385

– Bill Here –

Mia has already summed it up well with her “Beef It’s What’s for Dinner” post. That and the post about Dimmitt were part of this stretch.

But to reiterate. Corn, Windfarms, Cattle and the trucks that transport them, HUGE Dairy Farms and Feedlots in numbers that numb the mind. And the sky. If the Universe is endless, then the Texas sky must be right behind it. The abandoned buildings. Dreams that have come and gone…

You could spend a lifetime traveling in Texas and see only a fraction of 1% of all there is to see and feel.

Cattle – As far as the eye can see

~ Mia ‘s 2 Cents ~

We’ve wandered through the Piney Woods country and through the beautiful Texas Hill Country, and loved all of it, but for me, – for us so far, the Texas High Plains has captured my heart – it lets my soul breathe. The vast expanses bring a sense of awe that I haven’t found elsewhere.

Anecdotal Observations Regarding Fulltime RVing on the Planet Earth.

Photo is a still from the classic, “Grapes of Wrath.” There were a a million stories during that migration across country, just as there are today.

From our observations over the past 4 1/2 years of full timing, it would appear to me that there are 4 classes of “RVing” that occur in most RV Parks.

Class 1: These are people who own 5^th wheels and Pickup Trucks that cost almost $100,000 or more OR people who own Class A’s or Class C’s and toads that can cost upwards of $500,000. This class can demand perfection and can routinely stay at any RV Park, regardless of cost. They may be full-timers or “recreational” Part-timers. They are mobile. They have many options.

Class 2:  People who own smaller travel trailers, 5th Wheels or older Class A or Class C RVs. They are generally found in more inexpensive State, Federal or private RV parks. They may be full-timers or “recreational” Part-

timers. They are mobile. They have more limited options.

Class 3: Working people who live permanently or semi-permanently in a RV. May be a Class A or Class C, 5th Wheel or Travel Trailer.  They may be working a temporary job or between jobs. They may spend X months at one location and X months at another location. They usually are semi-mobile. They may have even more limited options.

Class 4:  People who are long term in a RV Park for a variety of reasons. Maybe unemployed, living on a small fixed income, or for whatever reason this is their only option. Used Travel Trailers can be had for a little as $500. Coupled with monthly site fees as low as $200, this is their ONLY option to live.  They are not mobile and are living out their lives in the RV Park as their neighborhood.

I don’t look down my nose at anyone. I know what it is like to be down and out. My comments are only to illustrate what the state of this country is. There are probably hundreds of thousands of people in RV Parks on any given day – and “There Are Millions of Stories in RV City”.

Moven’ on down the road.  Photo from “Grapes of Wrath”

Beef It’s What’s for Dinner

The wide open plains of West Texas, – where you can see for miles in every direction and the stars are amazing.  Most of the people we know would think this is way too boring and empty but we like it just fine.

There is a big wind farm to the west of us and you can see the huge turbines lazily turning in the wind. There are  thousands of acres of corn that stretch mile after mile and cattle – oh – you can’t imagine the cattle / dairy ranches that are here. The hay mounds are nothing like the little ones in Indiana, The hay “stacks” here are more like hay mountains, and are covered with huge tarps that are weighted down with hundreds of old tractor tires in rows.  It is really hard to judge the size because they are in open prairie and there’s nothing for comparison but I’m guessing that they are at least as high as a 2 to 3 story building and as long and wide as some strip malls I’ve seen, and there will be a couple dozen or so on a ranch – maybe more.

The herds of white faced cattle covers unknown hundreds of square mile. On Rt. 40 alone, the road is full of cattle trucks that pass us – full of cattle, going both ways and the very air smells of cows – sometimes a little more than others, depending on which way the wind is blowing – and it is always blowing! – Don’t ask what’s for dinner it’s BEEF – in one form or another. Beef tips, beef stew, beef steak, tacos, burritos, nachos, burgers – it’s beef, and lots of it.  You have a choice, here, of beef, ground beef, or chicken. Pork and fish disappear from the menus and from small town groceries when you reach the high plains area. We’ve gone for almost two decades eating beef only on rare occasions, perhaps 3 or 4 times a year, to eating it 4 or 5 days a week. In all fairness, I must say that the beef you get here is NOT like the garbage that you get in the Midwest or even in the Southeastern states. The people here simply would not put up with that kind of “junk” meat- they wouldn’t serve it to their dogs! The beef that we see here is much leaner, much more tender, and not injected with 20% (or more) water. I think Texas keeps the best for themselves, and sells the rest off to other parts of the country. Ahhhhhhhhh – sigh – I love Texas – but all this talk of beef has made me hungry, I think I’ll go whip up a burger.

Help!!! I’ve been sucked into “The Last Picture Show”.

 

Courtesy of Wikimedia by Billy Hathorn

Ever get that feeling that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand  straight up? While driving thru Dimmitt, TX on US Route 385 we drove by this scene. There wasn’t enough time to take a picture of our own so we are posting another’s. The only addition to the photo is there now is a big “FOR RENT” sign in the window. Complete buildings as well as many storefronts around the downtown square are vacant.

So much of small town America has died. Corporate franchise America now rules. The very thing that made America strong is gone. So sad. So chilling.

The only comfort I have comes from lyrics of the song “Atlantic City” written by Bruce Springsteen. (I prefer the Levon Helm version)

“Everything dies baby that’s a fact, but maybe everything that dies someday comes back.”

We can only hope.

Waylon Jennings RV Park in Littlefield, TX

About 48 miles from Mesa Verde RV Park in Wolfforth (Lubbock), TX

Cost: Free, but donation requested.
Date stayed: 7/25/2016
Altitude 3,545 feet
Day #588  – 4,744 miles downrange

Entrance way to Waylon Jennings Park in Littlefield – note the Ace Hardware sign barely visable  in lower right corner.

Bill Here

City run Park in the hometown of Waylon Jennings. About 15 spaces. No sewer. Only a few appear to have electric. Some of the water faucets are broken. Dirt sites with some grass. Cement picnic tables under little covered “pavilions” Low hanging tree branches. But trees offered SHADE to some sites. Yay!

When we pulled  in about 11:00 am  we were the only RV there. That gave us a chance to pick a site with SHADE, no low hanging branches, water and electric.

The park is right next to a combination Ace Hardware/Radio Shack. Somebody was going out of business. Inside the Radio Shack area were shopping carts with discounted merchandise. Outside were cardboard bins with discounted housewares, lawnmower belts and all sorts of stuff.

I went in to buy some rechargeable batteries, cable coax and a fuse. Nope. Nope. And Nope. Ever see an Ace Hardware or Radio Shack with NO rechargeable batteries? The weirdness of that coupled with the sign on the door, “No Backpacks Allowed” kinda freaked me out. I was happy to see more RVs pull into the park.

THEN… The DUST STORM came right thru town. About 5:30pm the wind picked up and the sky turned brownish red. The dust storm only lasted about 20 minutes. But it was the first one I was ever in. Wow!

Dust storm seen out our dinette window.

Mia’s Turn

Waylon Jennings Park- well – believe it or not, after over a year and a half of being on the road full time, this was our first “free” park. I didn’t really know what to expect so I had no preconceived expectations. When we pulled in, it appeared somewhat desolate – we were the only rig in the place and I wondered why. – But as we looked at the sites, I was glad because as Bill noted, it allowed us to pick the very best site in the park. There was only one that was long enough to allow us full shade for most of the day and also had functioning water and electric.

The dust storm was a surprise. For three years, as a youngster,  I had lived in Kansas – well known for it’s flat prairies and occasional dust devils – but it had been so long ago that I had forgotten how suddenly they can spring up, turning a blue sky into hazy brown.  It was our first dust storm, but I’m sure it won’t be our last.

The park, as well as the town – at least the part we saw of it, had a slightly run down feel to it- not totally neglected –  the grass was cropped very short, bit more as though the mechanism that runs the town had winding down – running out of energy to keep on top  of things. like an old lady that can no longer keep her garden free of weeds. – While I was not concerned about our safety, it was nice to see three other rigs pull into the park before nightfall.  In all, I would stay there again as an over night stop – if I could be sure to get the spot with the shade!

 

 

 

Mesa Verde RV Park in Wolfforth, TX (Lubbock)

about 109 miles from Hat Creek RV Park in Big Spring, TX

Cost:
2 nights / 1@ $35.00 and 1 @17.50 with Passport America ($52.50 total)
7/23/2016 – 7/24/2016
Altitude 3,299 feet
Days #586-587    4,696 miles downrange

Ms. Lucy with her sunglasses on – note pedestal hookup to right.

– Bill Here –

Nice park. Full hookups. Site level with premium gravel. Free WIFI and cable. As usual we did not use any of the amenities. NO shade (and very hot), so Ms. Lucy had to put on her sunglasses.

One strange thing. We were right by the front and the Park WiFi antenna completely overwhelmed our local network. No big deal, we broke out the Ethernet cables.

Mia’s Turn

Yeah – what he said. Nice enough for an over-nite.  – The one thing that made this place notable, – from my point of view, was the absolutely stunning flowering trees that were planted around the edges of the park. I have not seen anything like it before and as we drove around Lubbock,to get too Sam’s Club, I saw  the same type of trees planted in the mall – islands as landscaping / ornamentals. The blossoms varied from tree to tree – some were light pink, some pale lavender, and some deep fuchsia or purple. After researching on Google, I thought they might be Oriental Orchid trees – but while the blooms look like them, the leaves are very different. The leaves look similar to that of the Rosemary bush, and not at all like the leaves of the Orchid tree. I am still trying to find out what they are – but what ever they may be, they are spectacular.