The Ray Adventures: Rockport, Fredericksburg, Ft. Stockton, Tx and Las Cruces, NM and Benson, Az.

To quote Willie Nelson, " On the Road Again", after spending about 18 months away from Salem we are now on our six week trek back to our hometown. I flew back to Oregon twice, once for Charlotte's 70th birthday and the last time for my 50th high school reunion but Gary has been gone this whole time, he is looking forward to seeing family and friends. We will miss our friends in Rockport but will see them again next November, we've had a wonderful winter there, the weather has been been nearly perfect and have had lots of great times. We were so happy Laurie, Dan and Charlene came down to visit us there.

Sunday, February 28, We've been pretty busy since Dan and Charlene left Friday preparing to leave Rockport. Gary volunteered on the Lexington for the last time this winter, he has thoroughly enjoyed his time on the ship. I mentioned in my last blog we'd gone to a major fundraiser for the "Lex" Valentine's weekend, what I didn't tell you, the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay is a non-profit organization. It receives no federal, state or local tax funding. Revenues necessary to maintain and operate the museum are derived solely from admissions, special events, Ship's store sales, over night visitors, memberships and private grants. I rode my bike around the park, up and down all the roads, about 3 miles, the roads are rough and hilly on the other side of the lake but I do get a good work out. When Gary got back from the Lex we washed the last side of the coach, we had to wait for an overcast day since it's on the sunny side. After we finished I visited with David and Marihelen, they own a store in Red River, NM., they sell the coolest yoga pants (we call them happy pants) I wanted to buy another pair, then they made me have a glass of wine with them. I did manage to get back on my bike and ride home without falling over.

Monday, February 29, Happy Leap Year! Our first order of the day was to get a geo cache, now we have picked up a GC every day of the year. The one we chose was on a Wildlife trail. I just about backed out when I saw the sign telling you all the "critters" you could possibly see, including rattlesnakes and cotton mouths. All we saw were birds thank goodness. Jeri, from Illinois, told me Blue Herons and Great Egrets were nesting atop the live oak trees along Highway 35 in Rockport. We had several errands to run but made sure we stopped. They are large birds, I don't know where I expected them to nest but was surprised to see them in treetops, Truly magnificent, again I was surprised to see both species share the same treetop. After finishing our errands and a quick bite at Sonic we got back to the coach, I smoked and BBQ'd some chicken wings for the final happy hour we hosted. About 30 people came, we had lots to munch on and of course adult beverages, saying good-bye to all our Rockport chums was sad.

Tuesday, March 1st, We left about 10 for our 257 mile drive North to Fredericksburg. It would have been less mileage but Miss Sally (our GPS) took us on a couple of unexpected side trips, it's a good thing I didn't have a hammer handy. We stopped for lunch in Goliad, we wanted to eat lunch at the Hanging Tree restaurant again but they are closed Tuesdays so we ate at the Empresario. The stupid GPS wanted to take us through surface streets smack dab through the middle of San Antonio, we finally found our way back to the 410 and were on our way out of town. Once we got to Fredericksburg, it directed us through town and about 10 miles north. When she told us we had reached our destination, we were in the middle of cattle country with no RV park in sight. ARGHHHH! We traveled a few more miles down the country road looking for a place to turn around (not easy) when we found a ranch house with a circle drive that looked like we'd fit. Close, but no cigar, there was a tree in front of the house we couldn't get under, we had to disconnect the Jeep and back the coach to get on our way. No one was home but we did turn two dogs and a pig into a frenzy. I wonder what those people thought when they got home and saw the tire tracks? I try to remember to ask the RV park if the GPS coordinates will work, I neglected to do so this time but won't make that mistake again. We finally arrived at Oakwood RV park about 4:30 just time for an adult beverage.

Wednesday, March 2nd. Fredericksburg, population of 10,500, was founded by Prussian (German)farmers in 1846, it still has a large German population as evident by street names, agriculture, the big crop being peaches and many German restaurants. It is also the hometown of Rear Admiral Chester Nimitz, the head of the Pacific fleet during WWII. The National Museum of the Pacific War and the Admiral Nimitz Museum are located in downtown Fredericksburg, a few years back when we visited just for the day we were curious why the museums were located in this location when we ran across a historical plaque saying it was Nimitzs' hometown. Gary spent the majority of two days at the Nimitz Museum, he'd seen the War of the Pacific on our previous visit. Gary said the museum is quite detailed, it tells the story of Nimitz through exhibits in his boyhood home and is housed in the historic Nimitz hotel and the war in the Pacific he led. It takes a while to go through it but if you get a chance be sure to visit both museums. I browsed through the gift shops, I didn't buy anything, the prices were way out of my budget. We enjoyed lunch ,where else, at the Fredericksburg Brewing Company. Yum yum yum. Gary said the beer was good and the water was exceptional.

Thursday March 3rd. The first thing in the morning we headed to Enchanted Rock State Park, about16 miles from town. The rock, a granite dome that is 425 feet high and covers approximately 640 acres, the dome is smooth caused by the erosion of the sedimentary rock. The only trail we could take Luci was the loop trail, I took it while Gary climbed the summit trail. Originally I thought I'd try the summit trail but (1) Luci couldn't go and (2) it seemed too difficult for my bum "ticker". I dragged Luci uphill most of the 2 miles to the scenic overlook on the loop trail and she dragged me down the same path. Gary said his climb was pretty steep but the view was worth it. We both would hate to take either of the hikes during the hot summer months. Gary went back to the Nimitz Museum after lunch while I took a side trip to Luckenbach, Texas, population 3, it's 13 miles from Fredericksburg and is known as a venue for country music, the General Store, Saloon and Post Office opened in 1849, also in town (?) is a dance hall. In the summer 1973 Jerry Jeff Walker recorded a live album at the dance hall, putting Luckenbach on the country/western map, other notable country singers, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Lyle Lovett have made appearances at the dance hall. The afternoon I was there a lone singer (don't know his name) was singing to a small crowd behind the saloon. A fun way to spend the afternoon, especially if you're a country music fan. I drove back into Fredericksburg just in time to meet Gary at the Fredericksburg Brewing Co.

Friday, March 4th We left Fredericksburg about 9:00 for our 260 mile drive to Ft. Stockton arriving
about 2, at the time the park was quite empty, by night it was just about full. They have a little cafe at the park that serves breakfast and dinner. We decided to try it, Gary had BBQ'd ribs while I went nutso and ordered chicken fried steak. Pretty tasty but most of mine came home with me it was so filling, Gary had it for breakfast the next day. Fort Stockton is about half way between San Antonio and El Paso, about the only town in the area you can stop for the night.

Saturday, March 5th Historic Fort Stockton, originally Camp Stockton, the frontier military post, active 1859-86, consisted of 35 adobe and limestone buildings. Three of the original eight officers' quarters, guard house and two reconstructed barracks with kitchens remain at the small museum. The nearby cemetery used to hold the remains of the soldiers but they were transferred to the San Antonio National cemetery, it still has the white crosses for the soldiers. Strategically located between Fort Lancaster and Fort Davis, with a good water supply it protected travelers from Indians. The Overland-Butterfield stage route would stop at the Annie Riggs hotel, now a musem, it still has some of it's original furnishings and has been restored to the 1800's era. After lunch at the DQ we picked up 5 geocaches, at each end of the town along I-10 are two large metal sculptures, one of Indians and the other Cowboys silhouetted against the clear desert sky. About 9:00 pm about a 50 foot Marathon motor home pulled in next to us, they are the Rolls Royce of RV's costing about a million dollars. We felt a little like "white trailer trash" beside them.

Sunday, March 6th, We got on the road about 8:30 (early for us) for our 294 mile drive to Las Cruces. Gary had heard about a railroad museum in Sierra Blanco, one of those towns left behind after the interstate by-passed them. As it turns out the museum is only open on Wednesday's, I was surprised it was open at all, like most of the town it was pretty downtrodden. After a harrowing ride through El Paso, the highway has been under construction for years, we arrived at Sunny Acres RV park in Las Cruces, NM. Since it's our third time in Las Cruces we are only spending one night. We had dinner at High Desert Brewing Company before calling it a night, the long travel days are tough.

Monday, March 7th We left Las Cruces about 9 for our 230 mile drive to Benson, Az., we passed over the continental divide, elevation 4,585 feet. We stopped for lunch in Bowie, another town forgotten since I-10 went through. I think there is more to the town but this area was falling down, it did have a RV park and a little "store" selling jerky and other overpriced goods. We arrived in Benson, population 5,100, just in time for their "farewell to snowbirds" pot luck dinner. The two couples we sat with were also just passing through, one couple who both had been married for 59 years but to someone else, were newlyweds. The park provided burgers and hot dogs, we didn't take anything since we arrived too late. There were some pretty good cooks at this park too. We are spending two nights before heading to Florence to visit with former Salem residents Gordy and Sylvia, they live on several acres overlooking the valley, can't wait to see
the sunsets. Gary's sister Carol and husband Al are there now too.

That's it for this week, enjoy the pic's!

TTFN

Gary and Pam