Waltzing Across Texas, New Mexico and Arizona - 2012

We departed the steamy lowlands of Louisiana right smack into the steamy lowlands of southeast Texas for a brief stay in the general vicinity of Houston.  The traffic around Houston is fairly amazing, so many people and in such a big hurry.  Further along in our trip we came upon a bumper sticker which claimed that life is too short to live in Houston; we concur. 

Our visit to Bandera was far more pleasant.  The temperatures had moderated by then and it was nowhere near as humid.  Our resort was purported to be on the shores of Medina Lake (or maybe it’s Lake Medina, not that it matters) but the lake has all but disappeared in the past three years leaving a lot of resorts in serious need of an “attraction” to lure the tourists.  The peace and quiet plus the opportunity to visit some RVing pals was plenty enough entertainment for us.  It has been several years since we’ve seen Bill and Jeanne.  They have settled in the Kerrville area and seem to be enjoying their new-found roots.  We had lunch and a nice long visit with them.

On another day we paid a visit to one of the Full Timers Chapter’s honorary members, Suzy, who lives near Bandera.  Suzy was secretary of the chapter for many years and has been very helpful via email in assisting Howie with some of his official duties.  While we chatted, her dog Boots taught us the finer points of playing “fetch”.  Boots has no sense of humor when it comes to “Fetch” and does not like to be toyed with.

Bandera prides itself on being the Cowboy Capital of the World and no doubt it is.  A drive through town on Saturday morning found every parking spot filled but with only a few sedans in evidence; most vehicles were larger-than-life pickup trucks, mud spattered and well-used.  Dude ranches abound in the Texas hill country and recently many have converted to “big game hunting”.  Immediately next to our campground was a large preserve surrounded by very high fences and protected by a locked gate.  Through the fence we were able to see zebras grazing as well as a herd of Axis deer.  We aren’t sure what sort of animals are available to be hunted on such a preserve but we are guessing that Axis deer would be fair game – although they are an exotic species from India, they were introduced to Texas in the 1930s and many herds roam wild.  In appearance they are larger and heavier bodied than the ubiquitous  white-tailed deer, with fawn-colored coats that retain fawn-like spotting through adulthood.  The males sport handsome sets of antlers similar to an elk’s. 

We spent one day in Fredericksburg, a German-centric town with an abundance of gift shops and restaurants.  Oompah music seeped from many of the eateries and the sidewalks were clogged with tourists.  One shop Rustlin’  Rob’s,  boasts the largest number of food stuffs to sample – mustards, sauces, jams, etc.  but everything struck me as horribly over-priced.  Some of the hot sauces might have been considered dangerous weapons.  It wasn’t until we’d left town and had a chance to read one of the local newspapers that we learned that Fredericksburg’s streets are named so that the first letters of each name spell out “ALL WELCOME”  heading east from the town square and “COMEBACK’ heading west.  We don’t know if the streets spell out “VISA” heading north and ‘MASTERCARD’ heading south but it’s something to consider.

After a visit to Kerrville for an oil change for the coach (an all day affair), we headed west on I-10, stopping for two nights in Fort Stockton.  Two nights became three when the slide wouldn’t retract and we had to extend our stay.  Fortunately Howie was able to make the repair himself because the area’s one and only mobile tech seemed to be extremely busy, too busy in fact to even return our phone call.  Fort Stockton boasts the remains of the old post, a cemetery and a handsome turn-of-the-century train depot which now serves as the Visitors Center.  Fort Stockton is considerably larger and busier than when we first visited five or six years ago.  There’s new art work around the depot, new retail stores and the town is eagerly awaiting the arrival of it’s very own Flying J.  That’ll put the icing on the cake!!  The town’s mascot is Paisano Pete, the world’s largest roadrunner, who guards the road to historic downtown Fort Stockton.  Pete is 11 feet tall and 22 feet long and is quite the charmer.

Having wasted an extra day in Fort Stockton, we decided to do just a quick over-night in Las Cruces even though it is one of our favorite cities to visit.  Just fighting our way through El Paso was enough to tire us out.  The traffic is horrendous!!  As soon as we arrived at our campground in Las Cruces we were immediately aware of the scent of roasting chilies.  Tis the season and we went off in search of some freshly roasted peppers.  We found some already cleaned and frozen at a shop in Old Mesilla so we purchased a couple of packages and called ourselves satisfied.

Our next-to-last stop heading west was in St. David, Arizona.  St. David is a wide spot in the road that leads to Tombstone.  It’s also only a few miles from Benson, another town which seems to be enjoying a growth spurt.  I was delighted to find a bead shop and spent a whole day learning a new (to me) stitch and making a crystal wristwatch band.  We made a day trip into Tucson for a visit to the 17th Street Market, a grocery that specializes in exotic bottled and canned foods as well as fresh seafood and vegetables essential to Oriental cooking.  I was in search of sriracha sauce which I was quite sure would only be available in a store featuring gourmet foods.  I later discovered large quantities of it sitting on a shelf in Walmart.  Maybe it’s not so exotic after all.

We were fortunate enough to be in Benson for Butterfield Overland Stage Days which kicked off with a parade down 5th Street.  A quilt show and craft sale was simultaneously occurring at the town’s historical museum, followed by a rodeo and fireworks at the fairgrounds.  And on Sunday there was a classic car show associated with the Stage Days – they had some beauties on display – followed by more rodeo-ing, which we opted not to attend.  Instead we stayed at home to enjoy the rare opportunity to see the Buffalo Bills play a game on TV.  They’ve been so pathetic for the past decade that their games are seldom televised but, thanks to a match-up against the Arizona Cardinals, they were on the tube.  The Bills won in over-time by a field goal so it was a game rife with excitement.

Speaking of excitement, Howie was tickled to find that the jujube trees in the San Pedro Valley museum’s back yard were still there and that the fruit was ripe.  We discovered these little taste treats on our first visit and haven’t seen them anywhere since.

The final leg of this trip segment brought us up I-10 and across Phoenix to the town of Surprise where we will “camp out” in the coach for a week while we try to find furniture for our little bungalow.  Our next posting will likely contain helpful hints on how not to furnish a house from scratch in just seven days.