Tuesday, March 6, 2001

 Just as we planned, we have blasted across the southwest and are now at a motel in Corpus Christi, TX, getting ready to head out to Padre Island National Seashore where you can drive your 4WD vehicle for 55 miles on the beach and camp anywhere. This will be a test for the van.

The photo below was taken last week in San Diego. It is our back yard during a hail storm. This is why we left San Diego. It's just too cold and miserable there.

 On day one, Friday, March 2, 2001, we made it to Picacho Peak State Park, which is about 40 miles north of Tucson. It was clear and cold but the campground was nice, quiet and clean. There were a lot of saguaro cacti in the area so we visited a couple and took these photos.

The next day we cruised past Las Cruces and by-passed El Paso and stopped in a god-forsaken place called Van Horn, TX. It was very windy and pretty cold so we stayed in a motel to avoid frostbite and windburn. Since it was Saturday night we decided to live it up a little bit and have dinner at the Smoke House next door with the locals. After some good brisket and a root beer, we had all we could take and retired for the evening.

Driving across Texas is extremely interesting. Not. I can now tell a Freightliner from a Peterbuilt from a Volvo from a Kenworth from a half-mile away. And I thought the Texas transit was going to be boring! We spent Sunday night at South Llano River State Park where we had a secluded camp spot adjacent to a wildlife management area reserved for the roosting of the Rio Grande Turkey. I'm not kidding and I have the photos to prove it. See below.

On Monday, we stopped for lunch and a stroll on the River Walk in San Antonio. It seemed like the whole city was under construction. We had a great lunch at the Palm restaurant where our waiter was from San Diego and the restaurant itself had its birth 20 years ago in LA. No matter, a good martini and tender steak will do wonders for adjusting attitudes. After lunch we remembered the Alamo and went to see it. Pretty interesting place.

Well, that’s all for now.