Celebration Weekend at Gulf Shores

We arrived at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama on Thursday afternoon. This is a very large state park campground, with nearly 500 sites. The park is immaculately maintained with roomy sites, and plenty of trees, grass and water (a lake as well as the seashore). Hanna and I walked around several of the loops, and settled in for the evening.

The next morning, I met Wendy and Denny for breakfast and catch up chatter. I decided to make a drive out to Fort Morgan that afternoon. Online reviews said the site was dog friendly, including the museum, so Hanna was excited to join me. Situated out on the end of Mobile point peninsula, the wind really howled, but we walked all around the grounds, checking out many batteries and magazine areas, lighthouse ruins, as well as the museum. The fort was active during the early 1800s and under the control of Confederate forces during the Civil War, when it was surrendered back to the US government in August 1864. It was once again an active military fort during WWII, serving as an ordinance depot. In 1947, it was deeded to the state of Alabama, and became a historical park.

I went to Wendy & Denny’s condo for an evening visit. The next morning, I did a few chores, and ran into Target for a couple of items. The anniversary party began at 4:00, and I enjoyed a wonderful celebration with friends and family of the happy couple. I got back to my camp just about bedtime.

The next day, I did preparations for my next leg of my journey: starting the Natchez Trace Parkway. I went back to the condo in the afternoon for leftover party food and the Cardinals’ football game. At 7:00, I said goodbye to my friends and headed back to Hanna and Minnie. I pulled out of the campground the next morning at 10:00, and drove to Paul Johnson State Park near Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where I checked into a nice site for two nights.

Outrunning a hurricane

From Ft Stockton, we continued east to Canyon Lake just north of San Antonio, where we tucked into a beautiful Army Corps of Engineering campground. I’ve stayed in a few ACoE campgrounds and really like them. Some of them honor the NPS Senior pass with a 50% discount, but this one did not happen to. However, the week I was there, they were running a special, so I got a $15/night rate.

The next morning, I moved on toward Houston and ended up back in the same RV Park I stayed in last year when I visited Cindy in SugarLand. It rained lightly off and on all afternoon and evening, but there were enough breaks that Hanna and I got our walks in.

I knew I had enough leeway to spend two nights in another camp before my reservation in Gulf State Park, so I decided to drive to Fountainebleau State Park on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain the next day. It was ~350 miles from my SugarLand camp, so I got an early start. It was raining as I pulled out. Throughout the morning, not only did the rain continue, it increased. At some points, I had my wipers on the fastest rate, and traffic was slowed to 35mph on the freeway, where the speed limit was 65-70mph. My Nuvi gps routed me to the San Houston Tollway, but it was too congested and rainy to find my way off and deal with my navigation system, so I just sucked it up and paid the tolls ($15.75). I finally saw an option for getting off the toll road and took a city highway over to I-12.

It was a relief to get out of Houston and Beaumont traffic, but the rain was still pouring down and I soldiered on. About 20 miles west of Baton Rouge, I came to a dead stop. Traffic was backed up for 12 miles due to a semi truck accident blocking the lanes, as well as torrential rain still coming down. By this time, I was also getting into rush hour. As I crawled along at 3-5 mph I called the state park at Lake Pontchartrain to ensure I could get into a space after hours, and was assured there were plenty of sites open and also how to get through the gate if it was closed.

After a two hour delay, I finally got through Baton Rouge, and started coming out of the rain, and I arrived at the campground at about 7:15, just as the last light was fading. Finding a site in the dark and setting up camp is not a lot of fun, but I managed. I sure was glad to know I had a “zero day” ahead of me!

The next day, as I listened to the weather reports, I realized Hurricane Imelda was hitting Houston and that’s what I drove through the previous morning. They got between 2-3 feet of rainfall and devastating floods over the next couple days. I sure am glad I left when I did!

Hanna and I relaxed in the campground, taking walks around the loops and driving down to the lake front.

We packed up Thursday and drove on to Gulf Shores, where we pulled into Gulf State Park. I’ll be here through the weekend, spending time with Wendy & Denny and their friends.

Rockhound and Pancho Villa State Parks

I left home at 7:00 a.m. Thursday morning. I made my way to the campground at Rockhound State Park just south of Deming, NM. My New Mexico State Park pass is still good through next April, so I decided to make good use of it. $4 for electric & water hookups in a beautiful campground is about the best deal you can find. It was in the 90s, so I really needed the electric for AC.

The next morning, I decided to stay an extra day and drive down to Pancho Villa State Park, where Dale had spent some time last summer. He said there is a great Museum / Visitors Center there, so I tossed Hanna in the back seat of the Fit and took off down the road. When we arrived at the park, we drove around the large campground, which is right in the middle of what used to be Camp Furlong in the border town of Columbus, NM. Some of the old buildings still remain, as well as old rusted equipment. I read all the signs and took several photos, then made my way to the museum. Just as I walked up to the door, the ranger docent was putting up the Closed for Lunch sign. I gave him a sad look, and he smiled and took it back down and said “Come on in! I can wait. You’re my first visitor today!”  Since Hanna had to stay in the car, I assured him I would be quick. But in about 12-15 minutes, he had given me a good overview of the museum and the history of the area, especially focusing on the March 9, 1916 raid by Pancho Villa. It was indeed interesting, as Dale had said. I could have spent an hour there if both Hanna and the ranger had not been waiting. (The photos below are not in correct order, but it’s too difficult to move them around from my phone. Note the sign with info re: the touring car. That was particularly interesting.)

We took a quick look around the town and headed back to camp. I intended to drop Hanna off in Minnie, have a quick lunch and drive into the Walmart for a couple items, but a thunderstorm came up and it rained off and on the rest of the evening. It was much more welcome than the few items on my shopping list.

I packed up and pulled out early the next morning, and drove 350 miles east on I-10 to Ft. Stockton. I am in a little run down RV Park a few miles off the freeway, with electric hookups to keep the AC going. It’s only an overnight stop. Hopefully, tomorrow night I can find some place more appealing.

Annual chores

After my New Mexico trip, I put my Minnie back in the side yard until my next camping trip. Or so I thought. Just a few weeks after I got home, I got the notification my license was due and I had to have an emissions test ... again! So, I had to take her out and down to the testing station. She passed, of course.

Instead of immediately putting Minnie back in storage, I decided it was a good time to get the new tires I was planning on this year. The old tires are from 2012, and that's about the limit for tires in the hot desert. They still had lots of tread, but the rubber gets old, and I didn't want to be driving down a freeway at 62MPH and have one suddenly fail. So I took it to Discount Tire and asked for the $1200 set of six. They promised to have them in the shop the next day and put on and ready for me to pick up by the end of the day.

However, after driving past the shop twice during the day, and still finding my Minnie sitting in the back lot where I had left her, I called to ask if they were going to have it ready. That's when they realized the tires never came in, and they had failed on their promise. The asked if they could put $1600 Bridgestones on instead, at no additional cost to me. Umm, YES!! So that's what she got.

I'm making my fall plans to head east about the middle of September to Alabama, where I will join Wendy and Denny's friends and family to help them celebrate their Golden Anniversary. It's hard to believe it was 50 years ago that they got married so Wendy would not have to move away from her beloved when her dad changed jobs.

After the celebration, I'm going to drive back to Mississippi and start the Natchez Trace Parkway again. But this time, I plan to drive the entire 444 miles all the way from Natchez to Nashville, while camping and sightseeing along the way.

NM State Parks Spring 2019 Summary

Now that I'm home, it's time to summarize the experiences of the last six and a half weeks, including a comparison with Mom and Dad's weeks spent in the New Mexico State Parks during their retirement. It was quite nostalgic to visit many of the same places they loved so much. Richard even remembered which camp site in Navajo Lake Pine campground they liked to reserve. Unfortunately, site 4 is now designated as a camp host spot, so we couldn't camp in it, but every time I walked the loop with Hanna, I thought of them. Every time, I stood overlooking the lake, I thought of Dad taking his boat out and finding a favorite fishing spot. Every hour I spent reading, I thought of Mom relaxing in their fifth wheel while Dad was out on the water. And many of the sight seeing side trips Dale and I took were because I had read about them in Mom's journals.

Mom left a stack of journals where I rediscovered the excitement of their travels.

I didn't track all my expenses or mileage this year. After traveling in my Minnie for 3 years, I know what my gas mileage is (~7.5 towing my Fit), and my campground expenses were mostly covered by the annual pass I purchased for $225.

We camped in four state parks; Percha Dam, Bluewater Lake, Navajo Lake and Heron Lake, as well as a couple of boon docks outside the parks. We visited three more parks; Caballo, Elephant Butte and El Vado. My favorite campground was Heron, but the lake was so low we didn't enjoy the view much. That award goes to Navajo, especially since that lake has several arms and varying perspectives from the campgrounds and roads around it.

The best part of the trip was spending it with Dale. We really enjoyed camping together, each with our own Minnies, taking lots of trips to see the sights or running into the Walmart in the nearest town, walking the campground loops and trails, and sitting around an evening campfire making S'mores.

I really appreciated him accommodating my desire to visit certain locations. He might have wandered a little farther east or stayed longer in each spot if I hadn't been spurring him to move and discover a new adventure with me.

His summer plans are to mozy around northern Arizona, and try to find places to put his kayak in the creeks, streams and lakes there. I think I will try to escape the Valley heat and join him for a few weeks up in the mountains. Then next fall, I hope to head back east and drive the Nachez Trace Parkway end to end. Maybe I can convince him to tag along with me!

Maybe I can convince my readers to tag along too, via this blog!

Headed home

Dale and I left Navajo on Saturday morning, and drove south to Thoreau, where instead of turning east and driving into Bluewater Lake State Park, we kept going into the Cibola National Forest. Dale had boon docked in a nice location a couple of years ago, and we drove directly to his old site and set up camp. The road was a little rough, but doable with the big wheels on our Minnies. We spent a quiet night in the forest without seeing another soul, not even the four legged kind.

On Sunday morning, we said our good byes (for now), and I drove back to I-40 and turned west, while he made plans to turn east and back to the Bluewater Lake campground. I turned south on Highway 87 in Winslow, and made my way to Blue Ridge Ranger Station, and an overnight site next to Richard and Dianna. After Dianna and I took a nice forest walk, we had elk burgers for dinner, and I discovered they are delicious! Much chatting and an NBA basketball game filled the rest of our evening.

I made it home just before noon on Monday, to find 98° heat awaiting me.

She climbed up on the seat as we came through Mesa. She knows we're almost home!

Throughout the afternoon, I managed to get my Minnie put away in my back yard and emptied. I'm pooped! No walk for Hanna and me tonight.

Back to Navajo

After a wonderful week at the Heron Lake campground, Dale and I discovered the weather forecast had turned nasty and that area was in for cold and snow the next week, so on Sunday, we packed up and headed back to Navajo. We pulled into Pine campground and took two electric sites, with plans to hunker down a few days before the weather turned nice again. I discovered I have an electric heat setting on my heat pump AC, and it sure came in handy when the snow began to fall there!!

On Wednesday night, the campground began to fill with folks getting an early start to the long Memorial Day weekend ahead. At 10:30 p.m. some campers pulled in across the road from me and made raucous noise until 3:30 in the morning.

Dale and I decided it was time to move up the road to Juniper, the quieter non-electric campground. We found two great sites next to each other on the end of the far loop, and it was bliss for the next 10 days.

Waiting for graham cracker crumbs to drop

We mostly hung around camp for the week, walking 2-3 times each day and ending the evenings with a campfire and S'mores. It was lovely to just relax and enjoy being together.

On Thursday (May 30), we piled Hanna and ourselves into the car and drove north to Durango, Colorado. We had googled "things to do in Durango" and found a list of sites and attractions. We started at the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum, wandering through a lot of artifacts of both the railroad, and also other historical forms of transportation. From there we went to Nini's Taquerio for huge delicious burritos. With full tummies, we made our way to the Animas Museum, which was also quite interesting, well worth the $4 senior price of admission. We drove another dozen miles north to visit the Pinkerton Hot Springs, a cool little pull-off site where warm soda water bubbles up and over the rocks creating streaks of color that cascade down the hill. The green and snow capped mountain behind it is the perfect backdrop.

By that time, it was mid afternoon, so we headed back south, meandering down the pretty road through the Colorado landscape.

The following weekend, a bunch of twenty somethings filled the campsites around us, and we knew it was again time to move on. Home was calling, chores and appointments are building up, and I'm longing to see my kids and grandkids again.