The Rest of Texas

As we left Fredericksburg after Thanksgiving, we were SO close to Luckenbach, Texas, (with Waylon and Willie and the boys...lyrics from a song by Waylon Jennings) that we had to stop in to see what was going on there. And the little town (population 3) was hopping as they were readying for a big dance in the dance hall that night. The town even provides overnight RV parking for those who party too heartily! But we didn't dawdle as we were anxious to go on to San Antonio.

And are we glad we did! San Antonio will forever be the "City of Music" to me. We parked the camper at the local KOA and took the city bus into town to see The Alamo (a shrine operated by the Daughters of Texas) and the Buckhorn Saloon (Texas Ranger Museum is there). But we were pleased and surprised to be there for their monthly street fair. Musicians rotated every 30 minutes in three venues along Houston Street where the artisans were out in force with their gift ideas for the holidays. We found our way to La Villita where 14-16-year-old mariachis were serenading the crowd. Then, for dinner, we sat at a table right on the river where boats filled with carolers breezed by. All surrounded by thousands of Christmas lights. San Antonio is a great town!

From there, we left civilization as we know it and headed to Big Bend National Park where we camped along the Rio Grande for a night (to winds about to blow us over!) before heading to the Chisos Mountains for a second night of camping. The campground had been flooded and some of the trails demolished last September when a tropical storm hovered over Mexico and dropped many inches of rain in their mountains. The rain water then filtered down to the Rio Grande where the usual 1.5 feet of water rose to 28 feet!!! That storm run-off even changed the course of the Rio Grande. Nature is something! The park is full of bear, javelina, deer, mountain lion, and just plain wilderness. A real treat for us after the recent visits to cities.

Just across the Texas border into New Mexico are the Carlsbad Caverns. We came across many opportunities to see caves on this trip, but we were waiting to see the granddaddy of them all! And we were not disappointed. We knew we wouldn't be able to see the bats fly out toward evening as they'd flown south for the winter. But as a juxtaposition, we were able to see the birds fly in at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Preserve where they spend the winters. The sandhill cranes and snow geese were amazing! In fact, the bird count on November 26 listed something like 6,000 sandhill cranes and 32,000 snow geese! At times, the sky was white with the flight of the snow geese. We arrived there late in the day, so the timing was perfect to watch them find their roosting spots for the evening.

Prior to Bosque, though, we just had to go to Roswell to look for aliens (sorry, Devon, the only aliens we saw were on the lamp posts!) and to Lincoln where the infamous Billy the Kid took up arms in the Lincoln County Wars (watch the movie "Young Guns" for a truly accurate portrayal of the era and occurrences). History came alive for us there. Fascinating town.

Then it was on to Santa Fe to visit with Clint's family. His mom is doing great thanks to the care she is given by his brother, Bobby, and wife, Marina. About the only thing she wants to do while we're here is go to a casino, so today we'll take her to a big new casino/resort that just opened, "Buffalo Thunder." Maybe we'll win big and pay for this whole trip! HA