Jan. 19-22: Every time we come to Texas we’re overwhelmed with how
big it is and how far it is east to west on I10. Since we left Houston after
noon, we only went as far as South Llano River State Park near Junction, TX and
pulled in after the office had closed, but they had told us to just find a site
and we’d settle up in the morning. We had supper and then took a hike around
the silent camping loop by the light of the nearly full moon. It was really
beautiful. We were happy to have electricity that night as the temperatures
went below freezing and we woke up to frost, which dissipated quickly when the
sun rose and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The next day we drove to an RV
park west of Balmorhea State Park. We had planned to stay at Balmorhea but it
is closed for renovation and so we couldn’t. The little RV Park at Van Horn, TX
turned out to be surprisingly nice, and quite cheap with full hook-ups for only
$21.50! There were a few clouds that night but I did get a glimpse of the red
Super Blood Moon as I walked back from the wash house after dark. As we
traveled I10, we paid as much as $2.95 a gallon in the Middle-of-no-where, TX
and as little as $1.60 at the Costco in El Paso, where we also got a quick
lunch, before entering New Mexico.
We have stayed at City of
Rocks State Park on every trip west because we like it so much. The fanciful shaped
pillars and huge boulders of tuff from the Kneeling Nun eruption 34.9 million
years ago are scattered in a condensed area like a child might leave a pile of
blocks when called to dinner. The paths winding through them remind one of
narrow streets in a medieval village. There are very few campsites along the
edge of the main area of rocks, and a new loop of even fewer sites around a
nearby “suburb” of more rocks. That is where we had our reservation.
Sunday night there were only three
campsites taken and the other two were on the east side of the rocks so we
couldn’t see another person. We were all alone on the west side, with an empty
expanse of desert range land stretching as far as we could see. After getting set-up, we
hiked back to the main rock formations and spent a long time climbing around
and exploring. We took pictures of the sunset and enjoyed leftover lox and
bagels in solidarity with Betty & Herb, who had told us this was their
Sunday night custom. Then we walked around our camping loop, again with nothing
but moonlight. We got back and listened to the second half of the MSU/Maryland
basketball game, which MSU won convincingly. The only problem was that there
was a fierce wind out of the NW with gusts up to 55mph, temperatures in the 20s
predicted for the night, and we had no electricity. (Surprisingly, we have strong
internet and phone signals here at the edge of the range lands and can
communicate as long as our batteries last!) It was getting colder and colder
and so we went to bed under lots of covers, with all the cupboards open to
protect the plumbing, and the furnace set for 50°, to conserve the battery but
hopefully without freezing any pipes.
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| City of Rocks from the ridge leading into it |
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| Our wonderful campsite in the rocks |
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| City of Rocks by moonlight |
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