C&C Retirement Adventure, Volume 3, Lajitas, TX

Just a quick note to our followers, that Lajitas (though very comfortable and picturesque) is REMOTE.  Both Corky and I are experiencing dropped Internet connections, error messages, slow or no connectivity.  Loading photos is becoming more and more difficult.  Don't know whether to blame it on our equipment, their WIFI, or just the remoteness of the area.  Hopefully, it will improve once we move to more populated areas.

Have a very merry Christmas to all.   C&C

C&C Retirement Adventure, Volume 3, Lajitas, tX

Well, here it is, December 21, 2012, the end of days according to the Mayan calendar.  One whole day left--what to do, what to do?  We decided to gamble that the Mayans screwed up and we'll be around for a while,  so we drove over to the Golf Resort & Spa to see what's what.  It's quite a nice place, with facades designed to resemble the main street of a old western town.

C&C Retirement Adventure, Volume 3, Alpine, TX

Due to the high winds predicted for Wednesday, we chose to stayTuesday and Wednesday nights here at the Lost Alaskan RV park in Alpine, rather than fight the gusts on the highway going to Lajitas.  We enjoyed a very nice dinner at Reata's, a small house-converted-into-a-restaurant on Tuesday evening, then drove out to Marfa, a town about 15 miles west.  The brochure we picked up at the RV park listed the Marfa as a "must go to" place to see the mystery lights that have baffled residents and visitors for years.  So, of course, we HAD TO GO!

Here's what is printed in the brochure:  

“The Mystery Lights of Marfa:  The ghost lights of Marfa are as mysterious today as they were when they were first seen by early settlers who drove their cattle into the Marfa area in 1883. 

The lights appear almost every night and can be seen from the Marfa Lights Viewing Site located on the south side of Hwy 90, nine miles east of Marfa.  Ghost light watchers scan the southwestern horizon, looking toward Chinati Peak.  Using the distant red tower light as a marker, one can be certain that any light to the right of the marker which appears and disappears is a Marfa Ghost light.”

And here's what is on the signage at the Viewing Site:

“The Marfa mystery lights are visible on many clear nights towards Marfa and Paisano Pass as one looks towards the Chinati Mountains.  The lights may appear in various colors as they move about, split apart, meet together, disappear and reappear.
 Robert Reed Ellison, a young cowboy, reported sighting the lights in 1885.  He spotted them while tending a herd of cattle and wondered if they were Apache Indian campfires.
 Apache Indians believed these eerie lights to be stars dropping to the earth.
 Many viewers have theories ranging from scientific to science fiction as they describe their ideas of aliens in UFO’s, ranch house lights, St. Elmo’s fire, or headlights from vehicles on US 67, the Presidio highway.  Some believe the lights are an electrostatic discharge, swamp gases, moonlight shining on veins of mica, of ghosts of Conquistadors searching for gold.
 As explanation as to why the lights cannot be located is an unusual phenomenon similar to a miracle, where atmospheric conditions produced by the interaction of cold and warm layers of air bend lights so that it can be seem from afar but not close.
 The mystery of these lights still remains unsolved.” 

So, off we go into the night (and believe me it's dark, dark, dark out here on a lonely TX highway).  After driving past the viewing site (because it's so dark, dark, dark), we hang a uey and find the turn-off to the viewing site which is actually a dimly-lit rest-stop with porta-potty-type facilities and a deck/veranda where one can stare off into the darkness.   Neither of us was impressed.  I must admit, though, that I did see distant lights fade out and then brighten again several times during the 10 minutes we were there.  Mystery lights?  Maybe.  I guess I was expecting something a little more Twilight Zone-ish.  The three other people we happened upon at the viewing site were equally unimpressed!  We chuckled at our gullibility as we returned to the RV.

Wednesday was really windy, so stocked up on a few groceries, lunched at the "Cowboy Grill," and spent a couple of hours at the Museum of the Big Bend on the campus of the Sul Ross University.  The Museum's displays depicts the history of this area from the Jurassiac period with its Texas Pterosaur (fossil was discovered in 1971 by a geology student), evidence of early cultures, pioneer settlements and the wild west era through to the present day.

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Thursday was a perfect travel day for the 100 mile trek to Lajitas, a golf & spa resort outside of Terlingua, Texas right on the Rio Grande not far from the entrance to the Big Bend National Park.   The half-price special the Maverick Ranch RV Park was running was very hard to pass up.  We checked in on Thursday afternoon and spent the rest of the day checking out our new surroundings.  

More about Lajitas tomorrow.

C&C Retirement Adventure, Volume 3, Texas

We left the WinStar Casino RV Park around 9:30 a.m.  For those of you who know Corky and his penchant for waking at the crack of dawn and getting going right away, you'll be glad to know he has mellowed a lot with 2 years of retirement behind him!!!!  We leave when we are ready to leave.  No hurrying, no stress.  Of course, the fact that this is our third adventure and we are becoming more experienced in RV life may have something to do with it.  Or it could be because we have no self-imposed deadline to arrive anywhere.  Or maybe it's the pleasant weather.  Or no mechanical problems that we couldn't handle.  Regardless, this has been a good trip so far.

Our overnight stay was in Big Springs, Texas at the Whip-In RV Park. Not quite as fancy as the WinStar but a comfortable Park.  On Tuesday, we continued southeast on I-20 skirting the edges of Midland and Odessa which I found to be less than picturesque.  Scrapped oil tanks, pipes and other rusty equipment dotted the landscape for miles.  (I didn't take any shots of the littered areas--apologies to followers who have a soft spot for SW Texas).

Perhaps a different route would have given us a better perspective.  At any rate, we put the area in our rear view mirrors and headed toward the mountains.

We arrived in Alpine, Texas at the Lost Alaskan RV Park about 1:30.  WOW what a difference in the landscape.  Alpine lies at the southern edge of the Davis Mountains not far from Big Bend National Park.  According to the brochure provided by the Park's hosts, "The town was originally established as Murphyville in 1883.  The name was changed to Alpine in 1888 to reflect the beauty of its natural surroundings in the 'Alps of Texas.'"

Currently we are taking it easy, having a little lunch and discussing our plans for the next few days.  We've decided to stay here in Alpine until Thursday as high winds are forecast for tonight and tomorrow.  Hope they calm down by Thursday when we will head for Lajitas, TX and the Maverick Ranch Golf and RV Resort.  Their website describes a nice RV park and an associated hotel, restaurant and lots of activities.  They have reduced their site fees making it very tempting to stay over Christmas.

Hope you are all staying warm!  We are.  Later.

C&C Retirement Adventure, Volume 3, Oklahoma

Well, we didn't make it into Texas yet; instead we chose to spend a couple of nights in Thackerville, Oklahoma, just about 75 miles north of Dallas on I-35.  The Chickasaw Nation runs the WinStar World Casino there.  It is touted as the third largest casino in the world and there's no denying their claim--the place is HUGE!  It attracts players from Oklahoma City, Dallas/Ft.Worth and local area.  The massive facility is segmented by "countries" where players can stroll through the areas and play on themed machines.  Surprisingly, the lion's share of one-armed bandits are penny and nickle slots.

Main Entrance

Big Ben look-alike is actually the facade for the Parking Garage!

Rome's Colleseum

Dwight Yocum is scheduled to perform on Dec. 22

The associated RV park is nicely designed and offers all the necessary amenities--long, pull-through concrete driveways so you don't have to unhook your tow vehicle, electricity and water, sewer, picnic table, charcoal grill, clean showers, ice, pet walk for the VERY reasonable fee of $20/night!  And, as an incentive for you to spend a few bucks at the casino, they offer $10 free play with $10 cash play AND one night at the RV park for free.  We took advantage of the deal and yes, with the dollars we left at the casino, we got nothing free!  Oh well, fun time.

The weather has been wonderful; today reached almost 70.  No jackets needed.

While walking the pups in the RV park, I happened upon this festive RV reminicent of Chevy Chase's "Christmas Vacation" film.  I just had to share:

Hope everyone had a nice weekend.  Tomorrow we head into Texas.  Later.

C&C Retirement Adventure, Volume 3--Kansas

The trek from Council Bluffs IA to Emporia KS was UNEVENTFUL--THANK GOODNESS.

I'm sure you can understand that there was a certain amount of anxiety in the coach as we passed by the site where we lost our power steering capability on our first adventure, and then again when we passed the intersection where the garbage truck belched the dutch oven and tea kettle out of its belly right in front of us on our second adventure.  (THAT WAS SCARY).  We were beginning to feel the area was jinxed.  Not so.

As it is late afternoon, we quickly set up camp and hop into the car for a tour of Emporia State University (formerly Kansas State Teachers College), my institute of higher learning!  WOW! Nothing looked familiar!  Could it be that the town has grown in my 45 year absence?


We finally reach the entrance to the campus, which thankfully, has not been rennovated.

The main thoroughfare through the older part of town is Commercial which T's into the entrance to the campus.  Plumb Hall (the Administration Building) is in the background.  I'm taking the picture through the car's windshield, hence the smudge across the shot.





We take a left, then a quick right to find the 2-bedroom apartment I shared with Margaret, Janis and Jane during sophomore year.  #3 Center Street Apartments--they were still there, looking a bit tired and weary, but so convenient, only a block from campus!

We found a parking spot on campus easily, which surprised me until I learned that the Christmas holiday began that afternoon so few students roamed the campus.  So many new buildings had been sandwiched into the open spaces I remembered that I almost felt lost.  We located the Student Union after stopping for a map and directions at Plumb Hall.  The dining hall that had the typical 8' foot wood/metal tables and folding chairs had been transformed into an elegant banquet hall that could rival a 5-star restaurant!   A multi-million dollar renovation a few years ago expanded the Student Union building to include lounges, food court, and additional dining areas to accommodate special events and weddings, etc.  It blew my mind!

This timeline display depicts the evolution of the school's mascot, (would you believe) "Corky the Hornet" 

We were the only shoppers in the Book Store that resembled a Barnes and Noble--in fact, some of the tags on the merchandise were marked with that brand.  Bought a tee and sweat shirt, then continued our walking tour.  Outside the Student Union building, things started to look more familiar.  The bridge over Wooster Lake, Morse Hall (girls' dorm), and the stadium  mostly remained unchanged and brought back a few memories.

Morse Hall was the girls' dormitory (I peered through the window of my old room  on the lower level--it's a storage room full of cabinets, tables, and clutter now)

Boys' dormitory across Wooster Lake

As we left the campus we strolled along the entrance again.  A statue of the school mascot had been erected right in front of Plumb Hall in 2004.  According to my husband, my fate was sealed way back then!   REALLY!

We had a nice steak dinner at Montana Mike's, returned to watch the ND Bison beat Georgia in college football and listen to the rain pelt the coach's roof.  Today is sunny now and is supposed to reach into the 50's.  

Stay tuned for more from Texas.

C&C Retirement Adventure, Volume 3, Leaving MN

It's mid-December, there's snow on the ground, and the temperatures are frigid--it's time to head SOUTH!

We embarked on our third retirement adventure on Wednesday morning, December 12.  Of course, while loading essentials and prepping the coach for travel, we encountered a few problems most of which can be attributed to the cold temperatures.  Experience has taught us that this coach REALLY does not like Minnesota winters.  Hopefully, by the weekend we'll have reached warmer climates and the coach will perform like a champ.

Our first stop was Oakes, ND--a mere 157 miles from Detroit Lakes.  We delivered family gifts, enjoyed some time with Corky's 91 year-old mom and spent the night at Corky's brother's home.  

For the past couple of weeks, our canines have been going crazy; they sense something is going on.  Gus and Woody have become quite anxious whenever we are out of  sight or with the slightest changes in routine.  Their usual quick responses to our "kennel up" is met now with much resistance and suspicion.  Gus (the educated dog) has become proficient at unzipping the kennel and encouraging his accomplice, Woody, (mommy's boy) to escape confinement.  While at Corky's brother's house, they both broke out twice!  Hoping they'll calm down once we establish a routine.  

By 9 a.m. Thursday we were southward bound!  We are "on the road again" heading toward our day's destination--Council Bluffs, Iowa.  We pulled into the Harrah's Horseshoe Casino's RV park about 5 p.m.   Not too busy tonight--only one other RV in the lot.  We chose to forego a big dinner in the casino for hot dogs and soup in the coach.  We are all beat--even the pups are sacked out.  Oh, did I mention it's almost 50 degrees here!

Tomorrow our destination is only about 200 miles from here--Emporia, KS.  We are going to spend a few hours touring the campus of Emporia State University (formerly Kansas State Teachers College KSTC) where I attended college so so many years ago. The weather forecast is for rain, but perhaps I can get a few pics of some my favorite haunts (if there are still standing).  Stay tuned.

We said goodbye to Santa Fe Skies RV Park about 8:00 a.m. on Friday and headed north toward Pueblo, CO for windshield repair.

All buildings within old Santa Fe city limits must conform to the "pueblo-style" architecture .  Many homeowners outside city's limits prefer that style as well.

We drove past the BLM Public Information Office in Santa Fe--didn't stop!

Abandoned homestead in northern New Mexico

All along the highways between Santa Fe and Las Vegas, New Mexico  (mostly on adjacent parallel roads)  we saw groups of people walking.  We discovered that they were all heading to a local church for Good Friday services.  These types of pilgramages occur throughout the country, but it was interesting to see it first-hand.

We reached Pueblo, CO just about 1 p.m. a busy time of day to drive through this part of the town to find the SafeLite Windshield business.  Although we had been assured that we could easily maneuver this beast into their repair lot that information was WRONG!  It was a tight fit but Corky managed to drive to the back lot, unhook the car, park the car, then turn the RV around before the repair work could be accomplished.  

The boys and I took advantage of the sunshine and grassy slope behind the facility to wait out the repair.  We were on our way to  Colorado Springs within an hour.  

However, while in Pueblo, the wind began to blow, and blow, and blow!  40 MPH gusts nearly blew us off the road.  The 50 miles to Colorado Springs KOA was exhausting.  The dusty winds were so bad that we couldn't see the mountains just to the west of the interstate.  Even the nightly news program had a brief  segment reporting on winds up to 70 mph in the Colorado Springs area.  

The windy conditions abated overnight and we awoke on Saturday to beautiful clear blue skies.  The view of pike's Peak from the RV park was stunning!

It was only a short distance from Colorado Springs to our next stop in Golden where we would stay for the weekend and visit with good friends Barry & Nancy Krebs who live in Lakewood.  The weather was gorgeous.   We stayed at the Dakota Ridge Park for two nights.

Before we went to Barry's & Nancy's place on Easter Sunday afternoon, we visited the Red Rocks Park & Amphitheater in Morrison, CO only a few miles from where we were staying.

Red Rocks park is located where the Great Plains meets the Rockies.  It is at an elevation of about 6,500 feet and offers great recreational opportunities among fabulous rock formations. Additionally, the amphitheater has wonderful accoustics and boasts musical performances by well known musicians.  Here are a few pics:

This is a mockup of the amphitheater

You can almost see the Denver skyline at the right of the photo

One of the interesting sights at Red Rocks!

We left Colorado on Monday and overnighted in Grand Island, Nebraska.

As we get nearer to Minnesota, the temperatures grow colder and colder---darn!  Tonight we are Watertown, South Dakota where it is supposed to dip into the high 20s.  We found a casino that offers free RV sites--well, after we buy dinner and play a few slots I guess it's really not free.  Tomorrow only a short 4-hour drive to DL.  

Hope there's no snow!

We enjoyed a fairly pleasant journey from Grants to Santa Fe; the temps warmed up quickly and soon any evidence of the previous day's snow was gone except for what we could see in the distance on the mountain tops.

Coming into Albuquerque, NM

Crossing the Rio Grande!

Looking toward Santa Fe

Scene on 4/4/12--all the snow had melted away by the next day!

Only one incident marred the 4 hour trek--a semi passing us kicked up a road rock and chipped our windshield.  #$#%!&!$  Once we set up in the Santa Fe Skies RV park, Corky called SafeLite Glass Repair and was pleased to find that our insurance will cover the repair totally.  We will stop at their shop in Pueblo, CO on Friday on our way north to have the windshield repaired.

Here are a few pics of some of Santa Fe's attractions:

Plastic rosaries hang from the tree's branches

This stairway has no supports.  It was originally constructed without  railings.   The story goes that the chapel was built with no good access to choir loft; nuns prayed for someone to help them build stairs/ladder; a carpenter arrived and set to work building the spiral staircase, then disappeared without asking for payment for his craft or his materials--the nuns believe it was St. Joseph himself!

This National Historic Landmark is the Palace of the Governors--built in the 17th century!  It is one of the few original adobe structures in Santa Fe,  Native American artisans exhibit and sell their works of art beneath the Palace portal. 

Adobe bricks along the left side of this structure

This generations' old mud/straw house must be recoated every 3 to 5 years.  Updated on the inside, the owners have promised grandparents to maintain the original adobe exterior and to NEVER stucco over the adobe walls.   

St. Miguel's Mission, the oldest church in the USA, built in 1610

Sculpture greets visitors to Museum Hill

Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi

State Capitol building

We plan to head out tomorrow for Colorado, making a stop in Pueblo for glass repair (and to pick up government documents--remember those advertisements!   HA, HA).  Depending on how long it takes to complete the work, we'll probably continue to Colorado Springs for our overnight stay.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Don't forget to nuke your PEEPS!!  (Watch a PEEP Chick GROW into BIG BIRD--10 sec. in the microwave)  Simple pleasures!