Touring America 2023

Well, it's certainly been a busy week. After leaving Van Horn Texas, we headed for some rest and relaxation at the North LLano River RV Park. We stayed there several years ago and liked the open spaces. The owners have enlarged the park and the spaces are awesome! They put us in space 70 which is the nicest space in the campground. Many of the spaces have views of the river. Ours was no exception, but we also had a cabana, fire pit, bbq and patio furniture. Very nice touches.

Under threatening skies, we left Junction headed for Medina Lake and the Thousand Trails park there. We had spent a couple weeks there in 2011 and thought we would enjoy the deer and the Lake once again. Well, many of the deer have gone elsewhere and most of the water has been sold out of the lake. A big disappointment. It does underscore why private entities have no business sense when it comes to water management. The "lake" is only 6% full and what water is there is useless due to pollution. The entire area was impacted as tourism is non existent and property values have plummeted, partly due to pollution of the wells from the lake water being sold off. Sad situation indeed. The first night at Medina Lake was a whopper. Mother Nature lit up the skies with a spectacular display of lightning, accompanied by it's cousin, thunder. Very little rain though. The second day was hot and humid as would be expected. We ran the A/C most of the night. Last night was also hot and humid and the thunderstorms returned but brought heavy winds with them. We decided to wait until morning to see if we would stay another night or head eastward. I don't mind driving in the wind but won't if there's wind, thunderstorms and hail in any combination.

This morning was bright and warm but still very windy. There were no signs of rain so we decided to hit the road and head east. Our destination was Columbus Texas. Remember the problem I had earlier with the air leveler compressor? I had made the new screws for it but decided not to repair it as I wasn't comfortable crawling under the coach without proper blocking. I called Iron Horse RV in San Antonio, explained my situation, and they said they could help me out. After a short stop there, repairs were made and we headed east. It was very windy all the way to Columbus, but we arrived safe and sound. After dinner and a trip to the hot tub, I'm now trying to catch up on this blog.....

Many of the Does were in a family way. Most fawns are born late May and Early June.

Plenty of deer here but not nearly as many as in 2011 when we were here. And, they were not as friendly either.

Here's a view of the lake without any water... We were shocked by what we saw.

This guy loved the "dry" lake....

Arizona isn't the only State with Cardinals....

These guys had the run of our section of the campground. We watched them for almost an hour. They would run at each other and one would jump straight up and the other would go under him, then they'd switch and do it again...that's what retirement is all about...









Normally this is not where you want to see your rig...looks a lot safer than me squeezed underneath....well worth an hours labor fee....

Here's the culprit....that little bugger sure made a lot of noise when it was loose.

As most of you know, we don't like the Interstates. An alternative to I-10 is US 90, which mostly parallels I-10 and runs from Van Horn, Texas all the way to Jacksonville Beach, Florida, ending three blocks from the Atlantic Ocean. So, if you're tired of the Interstate, you might try this road. Very scenic and little traffic.

Coming into Columbus Texas along US 90....the houses were a little rundown but the lawns and gardens were well tended.

Tomorrow, our campsite along the Colorado River......