A Little Time in Oklahoma and Texas

We want to get to Santa Fe before Labor Day and so we just made a few stops of two or three nights each. Plus the weather is in the high 90's and 100's and we really want to get to some little cooler weather which Santa Fe will be. We had a long drive to Oklahoma which turned out longer than we thought. We were going to stay at Red Canyon State Park near Oklahoma City. However, when we got there the office had just closed and there was a sign saying only motor homes under 40 feet can go down the steep road to the campground. We decided not to try it and I quickly looked for another place to stay. We headed west to Fort Cobb State Park. Gracie, our GPS, directed us to the far side of the lake on some narrow country roads. We ended up at a dead end at a boat launch but luckily there was room to turn around and we figured out how to get there. Our GPS has mostly been great but we do have problems it seems with some of the state parks. We got to the park and it turned out to be a very nice spot where we were right on the water.

We just stayed two days and just relaxed at our site, mostly in the MH with the air conditioner going. We had s thunder storm while there. In fact, we had just gotten out of the motorhome to go to the office to register and there was a loud crack of thunder. There wasn't a lot of rain but thunder for hours and some lightning in the distance.



Our next stop was Palo Duro Canyon State Park, near Amarillo, TX.  We stayed here a number of years ago and it was very nice though we did have a big thunderstorm while we were there.

Palo Duro Canyon is the second largest canyon in the US behind the Grand Canyon of course. It is 120 miles long and 20 miles wide at points. It has a depth of 800 feet. The office is at a high point and you then drive down a steep windy road to get to the campground. Last time we stayed at the far campground. However we couldn't stay at the area this time. There are a number of areas on the road that flood when it rains. In fact, when we were here before that was the case the day after the big storm. They are in the midst of building bridges over the low spots. Unfortunately they made a small area and the road is about 2 inches too short for large motorhomes to get through. Oops :(  I guess they will be fixing that problem eventaully. So we stayed at the first campsite loop which was also very nice. We have 50 amp electric again and so can still use the air conditioner as it is still very very hot. We drove around one day to take some pictures. There are a lot of nice hiking trails but just too hot to even think about.

Below is the road work they are doing. This  would be flooded if there had been a lot of rain and some of the dips are much deeper than the one below.

We just spend a few days here and our next stop is Santa Fe and weather than should be around 20 degrees cooler. Still warm but not nearly so hot as it has been this last little while.

Taking care of business

Reception on internet and cell service has been off and on. One day we drove over to check out  one of the other campground on Padre Island. Joe took along his computer to see if it would be faster so he could do a little work. Bird Island Basin has camping right on the water.  We still like where we are staying a little better as it is prettier with the dunes and flowers. Joe spend some time working while I still some reading and watched some of the wind surfers do their thing.

You can also camp right on the beach. Just down a ways from where we are staying is a part of the beach where you can drive your car right on the beach. Part of it , anyone can drive on and then you come to a section that is 4 wheel drive only. We, of course, had to try it out. We saw  tent trailer, a small airstream trailer and a fairly large 5th wheel camped out on the beach.  Also a number of people fishing. One of these days we have to get some fishing gear and try it out.                                                     

Sunrises at the Beach

Even though we stayed up late to watch the Ducks play and win, we got up a few mornings to watch the sunrises.                                                                                                                                                                                              

It is so beautiful here. The Padre Island Seashore is the longest undeveloped stretch of barrier island in the world. Birders would love it as there are so many types of birds here. It is also the only place in Texas where all 5 types of sea turtles are found. They are very protective  of the nesting sea turtles and during the nesting season, warnings to be careful if nests are sighted. they also ask the nests to be reported to the rangers.

As we still are having sunny and warm days we went to Mustand Island to do some kayaking. We went there last year and liked it. We probably should have looked at the tide charts as it was low tide when we were there and so we couldn't go through some of the inner trails. We paddled out to the Corpus Christi Bay. We had quite a workout coming back as we were going against the wind. However, we still enjoyed the paddle. This is a big fishing area and the only people we saw were  fishing, no one but us actuallly out paddling .                                                                                                                         

Padre Island National Seashore

Sunday, we left Conroe, Texas and headed on down to Malaquite Beacg, which is on the Gulf on the Padre Island National Seashore. It is about 15 miles from the town of Corpus Christi.We stayed there last year on our vacation. Wow, that seems long ago. We got a good spot where we can see the water through all our front and side windows. Not a big campground and no electric or water, but cheap and great view. It is only $8 a night and only $4 for those with America the Beauty pass which we have. Hardly anyone on the beach and nice and peaceful. Monday we took a long walk on the beach. Weather very nice in high 70's or low 80's and sunny.

Tree from storm/hurricane as there are no trees on the island.

We are planning on staying here at least a week to just kick back and do a little kayaking, biking and walking on the beach.                                                                         

Spring, Texas

The rest of our time in New Orleans was uneventful. We had more rain and then strong winds. Friday we left and headed for Texas. We want to spend some time on Padre National Seashore on the Gulf in Texas. However first we are going to make a few days stop in Spring, Texas.  Near the beginning of our drive we take Interstate Hwy 10. We cross a bridge that is 18.2 miles and crosses the Atchafalaya Basin, which is the largest swamp in the United States.

                                                    
                                                                                                        

We got to Woodland Lake RV Campground in Conroe, Texas. It is fairly nice and our site looks on one of the three fishing ponds they have there.

The reason we are stopping here is to see some Cavalier King Charles puppies that we saw for sale on the internet. Madaan Cavaliers is the breeder and we set up a time to see the puppies on Saturday. We arrived to find a litter of beautiful little puppies. All but one were the blenheim coloring. The one we picked out is a tri color, which is black and white and tan. It was very hard to choose as they are all so cute.

                                                              
                                                          

    Isn't our little southern puppy, Savannah so cute. We had a hard time leaving her as she won't be old enough to come home with us until at least the middle of December. Mary, the breeder is very nice and really loves her Cavalier dogs and the puppies. She has shown dogs for years and has been a breeder for a long time as well and we can see she really takes wonderful care of the dogs. We look forward to have Savannah join our family.                                                             

Texas Grand Canyon

We arrived at our destination just south of Amarillo, Palo Duro State Park, the second largest canyon in the US. Most of the campsites are just above the canyon floor. Unfortunatey we are unable to get any cell phone reception even with our amplifier on. During or first night we had a big thunder and lightning storm. Much different than our little California ones. In the morning the road out was closed due to mud slides over the road way. When we originally arrived, we saw signs in abut 5 or 6 places noting they are subject to flash flooding and that is where the mud and water needed to be cleared out. As we had our Jeep we were going out anyway and luckily a ranger there was in front of us and opened the gate for us. He could see we weren't having any problems. Just got the Jeep pretty muddy. See one of pictures attached. We went 49 miles north of Amarillo to see Lake Meredith National Recreation Area. The droughts of the southwest have definitely had an impact on the lake levels. This lake is at 8% of its capacity.

Stop over on way to Amarillo TX

Left at 2:00 PM headed for Amarillo with a stop over at Sunset Park, another Passport America park. We have now paid for our Passport America 3 year membership with the savings to date. PA has restrictions but if you are fulltiming it is part of your tool kit to reduce expenses. Sunset is just a stopping point on 287 but they also offer free laundry so this turns out to be a very inexpensive stop. The hosts were very nice as well. The wife who is originally from Germany gave me some basil she was growing and told me some stories on their campground hosting experiences. They are in their 70's I think and met in Germany after the war. He was an American solider and they fell in love and came to America to live and have been married for 50 years.

Livingston TX

Made the drive to Escapees Rainbow Park, Livingston, TX with the intentions of becoming residents of Texas. The next morning we went to the national headquarters and signed up for the Escapees Mail Forwarding program which gave us our address requirements. Nikki then contacted her former employer, Epicor Software on our address and required paperwork for Healthcare under Cobra. This started a flurry of emails to get this straighten out. During this time, we studied for the Texas drivers test. During our studies we discovered that we are really being tested for a CDL(commerical) license with some exclusions for recreation vehicle only. While there was nothing really restrictive we were concerned that something might pop up that would invalidate getting that Texas license. At that point, we would have already gotten vehicle tags, registered to vote and turned in everything Californian, no turning back easily. California looks at motorhome driving a little differently than Texas. At this point, we do not want to down a road we are not 100% sure. Nikki would like more driving experience before having to take the driving test as well.
On the weekend we went to Village Creek State Park to paddle part of the Village Creek. It is part of an extensive canoe paddling trail system by the Texas Park System. We only have good comments about the Texas Park System. It appears that Texas is heads and shoulders about California's Park system which we are familiar with. So hung around Livingston until some UPS packages arrived 6-22 and then went on our way.

Kerrville ,Texas

After a night stop over at another Passport America roadside campground near Ballmorea, TX we arrived at By the River Campground in Kerrville, Texas in the Hill Country. Very pretty with lots of trees which was a nice change from the drive across the West Texas landscape which doesn't have much scenery. By the River Campground is right on the Guadalupe River. It was so peaceful with just the sounds of the birds during the day and crickets and other creatures at night. While here, we paddled two sections of the Guadalupe, one being right from the campground itself. The campground also sells their specialty homemade tamales. They sell them by the dozen for $8.50. They are cigar sized tamales and excellent.