Day 52 Saturday February 29

   

     Sun up over the channelled Deschutes. S woke and fed and walked B in the crisp. Met her at the breakfast arena and managed to hold back on consumption of items available - no waffles. Ripped out onto 97, a beautiful road over the rolling highlands before the mighty Columbia, then on interstate to interstate through rain and shine. Rather taken with Maupin on 97 before it dropped to the big river.
Anyway home and pretty glad.

Day 51 Friday February 28

Leaving the tanks this morning

     Made haste northward. 95 Vegas to Tonopah, 376 Tonopah to Austin, 305 Austin to Battle Mountain, I 80 Battle Mt. to Winnemucca, 95 to 78 to Burns, OR, and finally 20 Burns to Bend. Funky canyon town of Austin, NV for breakfast. Read a 3 page profile of the town and got a load of diesel. I liked the vibe of Burns, not sure what it was. Bend and the Hampton Inn and Suites again. Bend all modern and hip and bustling. Snow predicted for tomorrow; we will make a run for home anyway. B accidentally fed twice at dinner, no problem. Found a drink at Anthony's Home Port across the foot bridge spanning the Deshutes in front of the hotel, nothing to write home about.

Day 50 Thursday February 27

B poses in front of Tonopah Library

establishing shot of S, B and tank

105º

exiting camp on Friday looking west

Out of Vegas on 62 which was a lovely 4 laner new and shiny over the first range and into the great basin to the north. After switching to 95 and reaching Tonapah we stopped at the Brewery barbecue place which S said could not hold a candle to Coopers in Llano, TX and she was right. After a while S said something about a hot springs up ahead to the right on a dirt 5 miles easterly. We went. There was a large round galvanized cattle watering tank with a pipe coming out of the hillside that was 105º and in we went. So did B in the muddy pool in front of the tank and got a bit stuck. We rocked up the clay bank to a flat spot and set up for the night. After another while two tall young East Indian guys showed up apparently following a white Subaru with two young women who they knew not but who had disappeared up slope  to what S found out on a walk later were more tanks. The two guys were wandering down from Reno and eventually left without a soak. We had a fire and it was cold enough and we had been packing the wood for a while. S went for a 2 am soak and as she came back a large commercial truck drove up and the guy got into the tank below us and S went back down to check it out. Turned out he helped set up the site and was returning from a haul. He was still in the tank at 5 am. The whole thing was kind of a kick but B was a mess from the mud.

Day 49 Wednesday February 26

remembering Senator W

remembering S W 2

RSW 3

S insisted I post this Hueco Tanks pictograph. Personally I find it in poor taste.

      Out of the Reservoir after breakfast and pack up. Tar pourers working the cracks on hwy 95 north, border patrol check only hiccups on the way to Quartzsite. Turned out the Yacht Club was closed because of problems with their alcohol license, so a very mediocre lunch at another spot which had that slightly haunted air. Quartzsite has that air all over. Picked up some Halls and later some Fritos and Jalapeno Cheese Dip.
     Hooked the distance to Las Vegas, ricochetted off edge of city to Red Rock Canyon camp but it was full of Hollywood types (well, utes anyway) in small cute tents so we dodged into the Hampton Inn and Suites overlooking the Strip, I guess. I mean from the 4th floor we can see off in the distance the lights of downtown LV. S is noisily finishing off the fritos and jalapeno cheese dip that I spent a lot of time with in the way back of the van as we passed through LV earlier. B is resting in the van just below us after her walk and dinner bowl.

Day 48 Tuesday February 25

Morning at Senator Wash

Tamarisk grove at Senator next to campsite

Rest area in the grove

     Another clear and warm day in the lower Colorado River Complex. A rather do nothing time. Got the kayak out but never blew it up due in part to the need to futz with he electric pump - who knew it had a battery that needed charging. More lentils and lunch leftovers from Sophia’s for lunch; lots of cold Sonoran Enchilada for me none for S. Breezy to the point of rolling up the awning by 10 am. Fine layer of dust on everything. Good hammocking in the tamarisk grove listening to the Kim Stanley Robinson space epic Aurora. S did swim to the small local island while I napped; good for S. Cell signal sketchy but present so some intertubing. Some concern for the iPhone 9 coming out on time plus death in pandemic. Late bike ride for me  hardly significant except it got dark and couldn’t see the deep soft sandy parts too good. Bright crescent moon and one planet. 

     Some gun fire from Yuma Proving Grounds throughout the day also reconnaissance  dirigible visible to the east presumably over the Grounds. Must be a funhouse over there for the guys and gals - loads of weapons, no enemies. Plan to scoot tomorrow using highway 95 up through Nevada. Maybe hit a motel or two.
     

Day 47 Monday February 24

our own saguaro at site 174 Organ Pipe Cactus Nat Mon 

Ajo square

Did bike to Alamo primitive camp, 6 miles round trip. Nice day, clear and pleasant. Alamo camp no big shakes but okay. Split for Ajo the elegant old copper town. Got a coffee on the square and thence into library. Heading back to Yuma and Senator Wash.

     Stopped in at Sophia’s Mexican Cafe in Gila Bend for a late lunch, had much of it for dinner as well. Hit Frye’s Foods in Foothills, a stepchild of Yuma, for supplies, forgot the Halls and almost put gasoline in the bus. Took 95 and Imperial Dam Road through the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Grounds, which seems like a place where you learn to drives tanks and other things through mud and difficult spots, to good old Senator Wash Reservoir where we found a quiet spot but the res had been drawn down again probably for the produce that was coming up in perfect rows in vast fields between the cattails and the desert. This area is like a successfully terraformed Mars. 

     S chose not to join me in my lentils and slop from lunch with the diced fresh tomatoes as dark fell in the tamarisks and dirt here at the res; she’s on the mend and wants to stay that way also she didn’t care for the presentation at Sophia’s of the Sonoran Enchilada which was too radical a departure from the regular enchilada to her way of thinking.

     We hung the hammock from the tamarisks over the beds of needles several feet thick and I am thinking nice but maybe snakes. Speaking of snakes there were 2 or 3 tiny stupid mosquitos as dark fell, then none.

     There are several other campers on this bit of the shore, some sitting around a fire some watching tv in their unit some apparently not home. Can’t see anyone from our place only if you walk to the outhouse on the hill.

We may stay here a day or two, launch the kayak, fish, read, hammock, etc.

Day 46 Sunday February 23

Morning after we weren't washed away

Walked a ways up to the road closed sign

     The big water didn’t come and Sunday was clear and warm. Before or after breakfast we walked up the road to the closure and the Carr House which was closed for the winter and we walked on for a ways and looked out on the valley and the sprawl of Sierra Vista. There was a tall strand of waterfall high up in the cliffs.

     We hit Sierra Vista for diesel, Fritos, etc.

     

     S is coughing up a storm. She got some Halls yesterday but that wore off.

     Drove 86 after skirting Tucson  to Why and Organ Pipe Nat Mon where we were greeted like old friends, sort of. Probably won’t go to the Star Party tonight in camp due to it being at the dumping station and we overheard it once some years ago and it didn’t go well and S is sick and I am writing this and B is tired. S made lentils with sweet potatoes which was fiery but yoghurt fixed that. Tomorrow though we may try to reach the primitive Alamo camp by bike. 

Day 45 Saturday February 22

   

imagine chasing P. Villa around northern Mexico in June in this thing

our view from the cheap seats this morning in Pancho Villa SP

why Bisbee existed before tourism

downtown Bisbee - tourists suddenly gone

     Attacked yesterday's fails on waking at Pancho Villa State Park. Sanded contacts for right turn signal and turned random things on and off and mysteriously fixed turn signal and fridge but not stop lights. On strength of these small victories S and I visited the museum in the park and watched a video about the last battle against a foreign invader on US territory, that being between Pancho and Pershing. Walked to Borderland Cafe for a brunch burger and enchilada. Struck out for Bisbee on same lonely road number 9. Bisbee a zoo of tourists but good wifi at coffee house.

     …not sure where this record left off because of the lack of signal where we are now so I can’t check the post - something about Bisbee. So now we are pulled off under a grove of small oaks next to some creek which may or may not flash flood at any moment up a canyon into the mountains above Sierra Vista, AZ. It is raining and now dark. We are quite comfortable all the same and looking forward to a spinach ramen delight. I did turn the bus around so that if the big water comes I believe I will be able to use the front wheels as kind of a rudder down the deluge back to town to a nice Motel 6 or Quality Inn and Suites.

Note: pictures added to previous two posts

Day 44 Friday February 21

all I have from

chatty tour group at Tanks

A day of fails: discovered that van has no brake lights whatsoever and at some point after that S found that the fridge had stopped fridging. Off for a return to Hueco Tanks of yore for the guided tour which also turned out to be a fail or a waste of time for our guy Carlos, a nice young man, knew little about much that would have made the walk interesting and the 10 others on the tour included too many chatters. So into El Paso to the swank Mercedes dealer for a diagnosis of van issue but that was not worth much as the diagnosis was a short in the wiring and unless we wanted to spend days in El Paso they couldn't do squat for which we paid $80 which I am sure was the least that place made on a service, ever. While all this was going on we had a nice lunch at Johnny Carina's Italian Restaurant across a killing field of an expressway. One good thing about the non-repair was that the guy who actually worked on the van and I bonded a little because B became his buddy while he worked in the van and he had a 14 year chihuahua. Anyway took out of there with an eye on the following traffic of which there was plenty and shot west on hwy 9, another lonely two-laner, to Pancho Villa State Park. On the way I developed a substitute brake light which involved turning on the lights as I hit the brake. At the strangely full camp we found that we were also missing the right turn signal. Had a nice shower and a terrific BLT however.

Day 43 Thursday February 20

   

Heading right for that mountain on the left

from the Devil's Hall trail

almost at the Hall

The Hall itself

Back down from trail parking lot camp ahead van on left

     Ran out of Fort Stockton on I 10 and turned north at Van Horn on hwy 54 to Guadalupe Mountains National Park for an afternoon and evening stay. Rambled up the Devil's Hall trail for a 4 mile walk before dinner. Temp dropping into the 20's with a mean wind so no awning. Camp was a parking lot in a beautiful setting. Put in the reflective window dressings and had the heater on all night, comfy and cozy. S still sick but a trooper as we already knew.

Day 42 Wednesday February 19

not part of the bbq place but the entrance to the Longhorn Cavern which was closed but used to have a speakeasy down there somewhere

lunch

see loaves of free-choice white bread on the table

barbecue happening in this area somewhere

meat pit

     Goodbye to Buckcannon (spelled Buchanan) Lake and K and J and Milly and Leila the dachshunds. It is raining and has been for a while, while temperatures have dropped considerable as well. We returned to Cooper's hall of bbq because it was on the way anyway and it was noon by the time we walked up to the choosing pit. The photography above is devoted to that part of the day due in large part to its being the highlight of what was otherwise a straight-up drive on some lonely two-laners through Mason, Menard, Eldorado, Iraan and at about 5 pm to Fort Stockton, Texas which looked familiar from our spot at the Quality Inn and Suites. We still have some brisket from the meat hall and plan to include it in our evening sup in the van in the lot below. Doing some laundry.

Day 41 Tuesday February 18

Woodrow Wilson High School Band concert in Dallas with D's son R at first saxophone 

shot of K and J's place on Buckcannon Lake this morning

as above

as above 2

Spending the day here at Buckcannon Lake exploring Longhorn Cave and the barbecue place in Llano, Cooper's, and hoping it doesn't rain although it is overcast, cool and breezy. I think I would like to take the bikes up the chair lift and ride down the Spider Mountain but that is probably not going to happen since it is only open on weekends. S made pancakes for breakfast for 6 and the 3 dogs were calm. The lake could be lowered at any moment our hosts say to make sure that the next one down the line which belonged to LBJ would stay nice and plump even though of course LBJ is in Texas Heaven now.
Later an unauthorized drive up under the Spider Mountain chair lift for mountain bikers, a return to the farm road gates from earlier and a breeching of them, a lunch at a paleo barbacue hall in Llano, a visit to a fancy inn in the style of the CCC, and finally with S fallen back into a cold the remaining foursome drove through the rain to Marble Falls for Mexican.

Day 40 Monday February 17

bronze animals at lunch spot

this road could have worked out, but it didn't

Yeah, this would have taken us right to the lake house northwest of Austin by way of the chair lift for mountain bikers, but there was a gate and a creek and a couple of hand painted signs to the effect that if you are not a friend of Andy Threadgill then you are trespassing. So we turned around. Later we found out that there were 3 more gates but you just had to open them and shut them after you and the no trespassing was for the ranch beside the road and in fact this was the emergency fire escape road for all the people on the lake ahead where we were going.

The bbq place in Lampasas was closed as was the schnitzel joint so we had something at Alfredo's where they had the bronze alligators in the creek.

Arriving finally at K and J's place we were showered with hospitality and a couple of dachshunds though anxious soon showed their essential kindness. We got a home tour and deer feed in the donkey which was a kind of super robust golf cart. Later a fire and drinks under the stars (of Texas) to celebrate a day of freeways, food and friendliness.

Day 39 Sunday February 16

Our hosts

     Clare kindly went for an assortment of breakfast taco/burritos and everyone's pupils dilated on seeing her haul within the 9 o'clock hour. Biked around White Rock Lake to meet C, S and Clare at the boathouse for a quick sail on the lake. Biking home got a little lost but did the home tour. Day warm, clear with a light breeze. Tomorrow southwest 170 miles to Lake Buchanan and the home of D's brother-in-laws' brother's place there. So in a day or two we will begin return voyage to home by way of the southern border and the west coast. Now as B's dinner time fast approaches I have been gifted 3 of the remaining many morning burritos, or as they may be, soft tacos, and I am one with Texas.

Day 38 Saturday February 15

Louie's

C at Louie's

B in D's front yard

D's agave

     After a chat with our neighbor an Italian on a BMW motorcycle who had been cycling the world for the last 10 years and who thought it unfair that he paid the same fee as the big dog rv's, we rocked out on i45 to Dallas and to see C our old friend from Jersey who was with JJ the Egyptologist and ensconced at C's cousin D's house on White Rock Lake. Went to JJ's talk on a butler/offerer/herald for Queen Hatshepsut and Thutmose III. Following this exotic and esoteric encounter we went for pizza at Louie's and then home to rest.

Day 37 Friday February 14

not far from the airbnb there were these rigs. together they are about the size of my hometown

the white things in the foreground are windmill parts

then we went camping

Valentines Day at Fairfield Lake State Park - see B in bus

Left the condo on Leeward Avenue, Padre Island heading north over Mustang Island and on to a ferry back to Texas itself. Was able to find the door to the condo pool at last - not heated. Passed north mostly on Hwy 77 through better watered country to a spic and span camp on a lake an hour south of Dallas. I believe, however, that I see evidence in our camp of wild or feral pig rooting. Which is fine, I don't mind.
S and I had a nice steak dinner with a salad and chocolates for dessert and S had a tody for her cold by the fire while I had a second G&T also by the fire. It is chill and soon we were in the van with the heater to where B had decamped rather earlier.

Day 36 Thursday February 13

Looking north from Bob Hall Pier of S's youth

Looking south from pier

On the Beach

B questions the wisdom

     Sunny but cool today on Padre Island. Wind. Fridge not working in van. Have condo for another night. Biked down beach with tail wind - very nice. Coming back not so much. Dove poppers for lunch from R in McAllen - bacon wrapped around dove breast wrapped around jalapeno - nice.

     Post lunch sat around using the fast wifi for random intertubing and trying to find the entrance to the pool just outside our window - no luck. Futzed around with the electricals in the bus to see if it would fix itself. Unplugged some odds and ends we had plugged in long ago to the 110 volt system and suddenly the fridge came back on, so... nice. Drove to Bob Hall Pier's Mikel May's bar and grill at the pier-foot to find a drink. Had some shrimp and seared tuna. Drove on the sand for a bit, took some pics. Home for a shallow bath with a coffee cup over the drain which hardly worked and there was scant hot water. S feeling a bit better. Good non-travel day all in all.