Big Bend National Park

What a windy place! Gary and Chris went off one day with their friends and another day by themselves and both days I thought I was going to blow over in the motorhome. This place looks a lot like parts of Arizona or Nevada up by Laughlin and Bull Head City. But the Rio Grande is not the Colorado River.

The second night we were there the wind blew so hard it caused the “town” we were in to lose all electric power. At ten the next morning when the electricity still wasn’t back on, we three decided it was time to leave. We got to drive the go-mobile through the national park to the other entrance on the way to Marathon, TX. Our friends decided to stick it out for a few more days. We will miss them.

Click here to see some of our pictures from Big Bend.

Fort Davis, TX

There must be lots to see in this area because Chris and Gary were gone from the go-mobile most of yesterday and today. Yesterday they saw Davis Mountain State Park and had lunch at the Indian Lodge there that was built by the CCC during the 1930’s. They also had a tour of the McDonald Observatory whose web page has better pictures than they could take. so click here to see all about the observatory.

At night they even went back to the observatory for the Star Party. Bundled up in heavy winter parkas, hats, gloves and scarves they sat in the outdoor amphitheater where they were treated to a spectacular show of the constellations, planets and satellites passing overhead. It was like being in the largest imaginable planetarium. Then everyone got to look through 5 different telescopes at Saturn, the moon and several stars. It was magical.

Today they took off in the car again with their friends and did two scenic loops. The first circled the Davis Mountains; the second included the small towns of Alpine and Marfa, near where the movie Giant was filmed. I was glad when they finally got back.

Deming, NM

I got to spend the whole weekend watching the dogs being walked outside the go-mobile while the folks I live with took off with their friends to see the area. First they went to Silver City, which they said was larger than they expected and full of “artistic types”. Lunch in the tiny little town of Pinos Alta. They stopped to look into a huge copper mine and finished up at a state park called City of Rocks.

On Sunday they visited three other state parks including Rockhound and Pancho Villa which is in Columbus, NM right on the border with Mexico. At Rockhound, visitors are encouraged to actually take rocks from the park… up to 15 pounds! They only brought me back one tiny rock, but I like playing with it anyhow.

I know they took a bunch of pictures and posted some online. Here is slideshow of their pics...

Benson, AZ

We spent the day getting settled in and organized. Well, actually, Chris and Gary spent the day rearranging cabinet contents and adjusting some of the new gear. I spent the day watching them, sleeping and making sure that we weren’t going anywhere. And now I remember what I like about this go-mobile… I have lots of special places to curl up and I can keep my eye on them wherever they are.

At home they have special rooms for all of their activities: one for sewing, one for the office, one for eating and one for watching TV. Here in the go-mobile they do everything in one room. It’s so much easier to keep track of them here.

Off We Go

Imagine my surprise yesterday morning...

I was peacefully scouting out the putting green behind my house with my friend Gary, like we do every morning. Then we headed back towards the door and he scooped me up in his arms. OK, that was fun, but then before I knew it I was in my travel box and we were heading out front to the big, silver go-mobile. They call it their RV but I call it the go-mobile.

I usually spend most of my time in that box while the go-mobile is moving. Since I'm not the navigator (Chris does that), I just sleep until all the road noise and motion has stopped. I'm smart enough not to get out of my box when they stop for lunch... only when I know that we have arrived somewhere for the night.

Looking back over the last few days I guess I could tell something big was up. Gary and Chris made many, many trips with their red wagon loaded with clothes and crafts and food and crafts. I figure this must be the start of the RBT (really big trip) for the year. I wonder where we are going this time. Stay tuned and I'll keep you posted.