Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Wanderlust

Camping Carlsbad

We’re camped in Carlsbad, NM this evening, not to see the Caverns, but to just camp overnight. We wanted to make it to Artesia, which is another 20 minutes north of here, but the local RV campgrounds were (a) unavailable and (b) shabby, so we stopped at a nice, clean KOA on the north side of the Carlsbad area.

Tomorrow, we will continue to the west, eventually arriving at Las Cruces, NM for a couple of nights. We need to have a rest from the road, get a good shower, shave, etc. and plan the next phase of our return to the Arizona mansion.

16 Apr 2024 by Notions Travel Wanderlust

Camping — Junction, TX

We’re camped in Junction, a little town just off of I-10. The town is located a hundred miles or so west of San Antonio. It’s a pleasant rural-ish RV park alongside the Llano River. We’re staying here for a couple of nights just to relax for the weekend. We have already had our dinner and are settled in watching TV and surfing on the internet.

The ride out of San Antonio was even more of a nightmare than the arrival last night. It took us a full hour to just get of the urban area and head west on I-10. Traffic was backed up horribly due to freeway and other construction. The departure was very annoying and tedious. I recommend staying out of San Antonio until they finish their road projects.

On Monday, we will continue west and probably stay another night in West Texas before heading back into New Mexico. We’re going to have to be home by late in the week to take care of some appointments, etc. there.

We thank the Lord that we have been safe thus far, and pray that He will continue to bless us.

13 Apr 2024 by Food & Dining Notions Retirement Wanderlust

San Antonio

Just a quickie to let you know that we’re in San Antonio at the Alamo KOA. The trip here from Port Lavaca KOA near the Gulf Coast was pretty good except for the last few miles on I-10 Westbound where there was massive road construction underway. All that was exacerbated by some heavy traffic, making for a tedious final approach to the off-ramp.

We’re here for tonight and will be continuing westbound where we’re booked in for a couple of nights in Junction, TX for some needed R&R.

When we leave in the morning from here, we will do a drive-by at the Alamo in the morning for a photo-op (perhaps).

12 Apr 2024 by Notions Retirement Wanderlust

Camping in El Campo, TX

Our travel day started out with moderate to heavy rain showers in the Waco, TX area, Then, as we progressed southward towards our destination, the weather improved to overcast with no precipitation for the “middle” of the drive. The clouds gradually broke up and as soon as we parked in our camp spot, the sky became clear.

On the way, Damsel took a shot of one of the many pastures we pass, usually no big deal, but this pasture had a little something unusual about it:

Damsel found that this herd belonged to FreBo Ranch.

Click on images to view enlarged.

10 Apr 2024 by Environment Retirement Wanderlust

Eclipse Day

What we anticipated to be a dismal forecast for the weather on Eclipse Day, turned out to be not so bad, especially during the totality phase. Clouds passed between us and the sun often, but then opened up for partial phase glimpses and during totality, most of the four minutes of darkness, we were able to see the corona and in the image below, a couple of prominences at two-thirty and five-thirty on the disc. The 5:30 prominence was huge.

I wasn’t very well-prepared to take photos given the woeful forecast, which affected my motivation, but I was able to attach the big 100-400mm telephoto lens and shoot bunches of photos hand-held (no tripod) and had a few fair results including the one above. Damsel had similar results and captured the “Diamond Ring” at the end of the totality show:

As I’m blogging this, we are getting some moderate to heavy thundershowers with lightning and thunder, but, Praise the Lord, no tornadoes. The precipitation knocked out the satellite TV a few times, but it is up and running now.

We’re here until Wednesday and then off to other parts of Texas south of us towards the Gulf of Mexico and thence via westerly routes heading back to Arizona over the next several days.

08 Apr 2024 by Astronomy Environment Notions Science Wanderlust

Camping — Waco, TX

We didn’t post about our campsite last night since the internet connection was almost non-existent. (Note to self: next trip get Starlink and bypass crappy internet service.) At any rate. we had a nice overnight at Abilene, TX last night.

Tonight and for the next few nights we are where we expect to view the total solar eclipse on Monday. We’re all settled in and relaxing after another tedious driving day with gusty crosswinds most of the way from Abilene to here.

The outlook for clear skies on Monday for the eclipse isn’t looking too good as of the current weather forecast; mostly cloudy and possible rain. We are optimistic that we will be able to see some of the totality with breaks in the clouds possible.

Damsel and I will be spending the weekend with our usual emphasis on dining, albeit on the road. The menu currently features entrees of Steak Salad (Filet Mignon, of course) and BBQ Country-style Pork Ribs. We hope y’all will eat as well this weekend.

05 Apr 2024 by Travel Wanderlust

Camping — Lubbock, TX

After another day of gusty wind driving, we arrived last night in Lubbock, TX, for some R&R. We got all checked in to the campground, opened the slideouts, hooked up the sewer/water/electric and immediately had dinner that the Damsel prepared.

This campground is very nice, but has a couple of drawbacks in that there is a busy highway and a railway right next to it. We’re OK with that since we can run the RV Fan or A/C to provide some white noise to cover most of the outside noise.

We are going to grill a couple of steaks today and that will be dinner along with some veggies. We usually take a walk after that with the dogs. Later, we will watch TV and probably a movie. We’re really roughing it out here.

Tomorrow is shopping day with a stop planned in Sweetwater, TX for that activity. Thence on to Abilene, TX for a one-night stop before heading out to our eclipse-watching destination.

03 Apr 2024 by Wanderlust

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