Tuesday, March 16 - Day 6
Rockport, TX to Falcon State Park, Falcon Heights, TX
Left Rockport about 9 o'clock after a good night's sleep and a substantial breakfast. The temperature had already climbed from the night's low of 60F to 72F and there wasn't a cloud in the skies. Made a few detours on TX Farm Roads, but there is nothing scenic about miles and miles of essentially flat countryside. Lost some time in Corpus Christi trying to persuade the Visitors Center and the public library to let me hook up the laptop. No luck. Went on to Brownsville on US 77, the only available road.
Found the Rio RV Park, where internet friends had planned to spend the week. However, they weren't registered. Wasn't surprised since they like the type of campground that I prefer, and Rio was not it. Rio is more like a parking lot for snowbirds. But the very nice manager lady let me go to the rec room, hook up the laptop, and download/upload.
Continued on Boca Chica Road (TX 4) to its very end at the Gulf.
Then back to Brownsville and US 281 and US 83 up the Rio Grande valley. Very little scenic beauty, a lot of wind and dust. Made it to Falcon State Park at Falcon Lake by 5:30 PM . A truly beautiful park, offering a lovely view of the lake, and practically deserted. The camping fee was $6 for a huge site with water, grill, fire ring, and picnic table/bench. Full hook-up sites are smaller, pull-through, and run $9.00. They are not modem friendly.
Drove 392 miles and was on the road for 9 1/2 hours.
Wednesday, March 17 - Day 7
Falcon Heights to Seminole Canyon State Park near Comstock, TX
A mixed day, as far as scenic beauty is concerned. US 83 to Laredo is OK, if you like farmland. Laredo itself has a few historic buildings, but all in all - the name "Laredo" and the memories it evokes in me of Wild West movies are far more romantic than the actual streets of Laredo. Next, followed US 83 and US 277 to Eagle Pass, TX. This city, although I don't remember it ever being featured in any of my boyhood movies, is actually quite pretty. Even got a photo of the Rio Grande.
US 277 to Del Rio and then US 90 to Comstock are quite scenic in parts, especially where US 90 skirts the Amistad National Recreation Area. Definitely worth including in your itinerary. From Amistad on, the road becomes a gradual roller coaster ride with an upward trend. By the time I arrived at Seminole Canyon State Historic Site, about 10 miles north of Comstock, the altimeter indicated 1,400 feet above sea level.
This place is definitely worth a visit and be sure to include the exhibits in the visitor center. You learn about prehistoric times as well as the efforts to build the southern route transcontinental railroad and much of what happened in between.
The campground facilities include very clean and spacious restrooms and showers, and I enjoyed the latter for a long time. The sites are out in the open (there aren't many trees around) but there are good distances between sites. All very well kept, with fire ring, grill, and picnic table/bench for each site. Could only get a water+electric site, and Texas doesn't consider you old enough to qualify for a senior discount until you've hit 65. So, had to pay full price, $12.00. But the view made it worth it.
It was sunny all day, with occasional light clouds. Low temp last night was 64F, and climbed to 80F during the day. It was 79F in the evening, so I grilled for the first time on this trip. Tonight it's very windy, and the ranger just came by to warn of the possibility of tornados, hail, and heavy-duty thunderstorms until midnight. So far, at 9 PM, it's just very windy and the van is rocking. I've lowered the pop-up roof to reduce wind exposure, which seems to help. But now I keep banging my head against the ceiling.
Drove 313 miles today, was on the road for 7 hours. Filled up the tank at 95.9 cents per gallon and averaged only 15.2 gallons on the last tank. Perhaps the headwinds, perhaps the need to turn on air conditioning, perhaps the greed of the filling station owner.
Thursday, March 18 - Day 8
Seminole Canyon, TX to Terlingua, TX
Last night was pretty rough. By 10 PM the wind blew really hard, and all the tent campers fled to shelter. I had barely fallen asleep when I was awakened by the sound of hail hitting the van. The noise made it sound as if someone was raining golf balls onto the roof. After about 15 minutes of this bombardement it started raining - hard. Have you ever been inside a car going through a car wash? Same noise level. After midnight it became very quiet and the wind died down. Had a good night's sleep. This morning I learned that a tornado had touched down about 4 miles south of the campground.
Drove some very scenic roads today. A few miles west of the campground, US 90 crosses the Pecos River. Have your camera ready, if you ever travel this way. I didn't and missed capturing a beautiful sight. Next (still on US 90) comes the Sanderson Canyon, which is really a huge valley. The road dips and rises, with an upward trend. Gradually climbed from 1,400 ft to about 4,000 ft. At Marathon, TX jumped over to US 385 (quite scenic in parts) and then TX 118, which turns into the Big Bend park road at Persimon Gap.
My Golden Age pass got me free admission, but no campsite was available. Had expected that. Nevertheless, drove to Basin (the main campground) just to see the scenery. Climbed to 5,400 ft. Turned around and dropped back to 3,750 ft while continuing on the main park road for a few miles to Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive. Definitely worth taking. The Drive took me to Santa Elena Canyon. Then took a dirt road (Old Maverick Road) to Maverick Junction and the west entrance to the park. After a few miles on TX 118 arrived at Terlingua, TX and checked in at the Big Bend Motor Inn and RV Camp. Got a "no hook-up" site for $6.95. They also promised to let me connect my laptop between 6 PM and 7 PM tonight.
State and National Parks out in the boondocks (such as Seminole last night) often are so removed that they only have radio telephones, which make for extremely slow FAX and modem connections. I'm waiting for the day when I can, at a reasonable price, buy a way to uplink to a satellite at min 56K from anywhere in the US.
Started driving at 9 AM and arrived in Terlingua at 4 PM - 7 hours and 298 miles on the road. Bought gasoline for $.999/gallon and averaged 16.2 mpg. Low temperature last night was 53F, at departure it was 58F, reached a high of 82F during the day, and now we're back down to 72F. It will probably get quite cool during the night. Altitude at Terlingua is about 3,000 ft.
And here are some of the photos I took during the day:
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