April 2, 2017 - Alpine, TX to Van Horn, TX

It was so gloomy outside.  The weather forecast called for mid 50’s today. At least, it did not rain when we were up.

After finishing our breakfast it started to rain. Erwin wanted to fill up freshwater tank because we were low on it.  When we were ready to leave the warning light came on the dashboard and the message said “Stop Engine”  There was a red “S” light on.  We checked the warning signal menu and nothing showed up.  After going through the auto self test of different functions we did not see “S” message.  Erwin decided to turn off the engine, wait a while before starting again.  The warning light was off, so apparently it was a malfunction.  

We finally left Lost Alaskan RV Park at 11 am.  TX 118 was partly flooded in some sections.  We made a right turn to get on Highway 90/67 West to go to Van Horn, TX where we will spend one night. 

We drove through Marfa, the town we visited last year for viewing mystery light. Few miles west of Marfa we pulled into picnic area to have lunch. Between Marfa and Valentine, TX we spotted Mysterious Blimp, a semi-stationary blimp, that is being operated by the U.S. Air Force.  It is listed on RoadsideAmerica.com.

It looked like the highway 90 is going to be widened to two lanes each way.  The road construction was more than few miles long.

We arrived Van Horn, TX around 1 pm, pulled into Desert Willow RV Park on E. Broadway St.  The office was closed, but there are envelopes with the forms to be filled out. We picked whatever site we want, put down the site # on the form, left cash inside the envelope, dropped it off in the mail slot at the office. Since it accepts Passport America membership we paid $13.50 a nite (if you want to use Passport America discount only cash is accepted). We decided on site #41 (in the back of the campground). Pull through with full hookups.  There are no trees, and therefore, no shade. The surface is clay, but pretty much level.

After dropping the money off we went out for a drive to check out the town. Van Horn is the county seat of Culberson County, Texas.  The population, according to Census 2010, was over 2,000.  The town was named after Lt. James Judson Van Horn, who commanded an army garrison in 1859.

There were few vintage road signs, murals, water towers, abandoned buildings, historic hotel, and more.  I read somewhere that John Madden, the famous sports announcer, made a surprising stop at Chuy’s Mexican Restaurant to watch the Monday Night football game on TV and to have dinner, so we stopped by there to take a peek inside the restaurant. Chuy’s has been around since 1959.  

John Madden, former NFL coach and sportscaster

I was pretty much satisfied with places on my list that I wanted to see and we went back to the RV Park.  The winds started to pick up and the temperature was 56˚.  I spent the afternoon editing notes and pictures for the blog.  Erwin went out for a short walk.

Oh, we could feel vibrations inside our Lil’ Home.  From where?  The trains going by about 1/4 of a mile from here.   Good thing we won’t have to worry about hearing the noise during our sleep, but will we feel the vibration??? We shall see...

~Edith

April 1, 2017 - Big Bend National Park, TX to Alpine, TX

The fan was on all night long.  The night was not as cool and breezy as it was the other night.  

I got up first, got things ready for the “move”.  Then I went to the camp store to use wi-fi to check for campgrounds in Alpine or Van Horn, TX. While I was away Erwin did light maintenance to be sure our rig is all ready to go.

It was 9:45 am when we left the campground. We chose to get on TX 118, took the western gate to leave the Big Bend National Park. It was 11 am when we left the boundary line of the national park.

Chisos Mountains

Good bye, Big Bend

 

It was hazy in the distance.  TX 118 route is not as pretty as Highway 385 from Marathon, TX to Big Bend.  There was a sign warning of burros for next 8 miles, but we did not see any.  We only saw cows.

There was an Inspection station, 12 miles south of Alpine, TX. Just one question was asked: “Are you a citizen?” (with strong Spanish accent).  “Yes”, was Erwin’s reply and we were let go without inspection.

Inspection Station

We decided to see if Lost Alaskan RV Park on TX 11,8 north of Highway 90, has available sites for tonight. The park is called "Lost Alaskan RV Park" because it was founded by a guy from Alaska who claimed to be lost and couldn't find his way back! They have few and we got site #12 (pull-thru with full hookups). $34.16 a night.

Erwin had to fix the mud/rock flapper in the back of the Lil’ Home because one of the holes on the rubber thingy broke off from the bolt.

Erwin took a long nap while I made notes of our journey at Big Bend National Park and explored the campground. After he was up we went out for grocery shopping and sightseeing.

There is only one “supermarket” in Alpine.  Porter’s Thriftyway is a nice store and has lots of stuff I was looking for. 

Big bag of large red chili peppers

We cruised through the downtown and neighboring areas.  There are several murals throughout the town.  Beautiful artwork.  We crossed the bridge going south on TX 118 to check out an old hotel and the church.

Courthouse built in 1887

Dan Blocker, an actor whose role as "Hoss"
in the TV show "Bonanza" was from this town!

It rained and there was lightning when I was ready for bed at 1 am.  The window on my side of the bed was open and the winds were blowing in so hard.  I started to feel so cold and was going to close the window.  However, I had a hard time closing it and had to to wake Erwin up to help me.  Erwin looked like this :-(

~Edith