Road Trip 2015 - #7 Carlsbad

September 17, 2015 - After a midway stop in Fort Stockton, we arrived at Brantley Lake State Park just north of Carlsbad.  No description needed.

Clouds help make the most beautiful sunsets and that was the case here.  Also, we had awesome heat-lightning shows each night. 

Of course, we visited THE caverns.  We had been before but booked a guided tour this time.  We were lucky enough to have a guide who's father and grandmother had worked in the caverns so she was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable.  She was a treat.

We did a little bit of off-pavement exploring...

The last day before we left Carlsbad was a rainy one.  We did some house cleaning and then settled in to watch the LSU game only to find it not available so we decided to explore.  What we found was a local winery just a few miles down the road - Balzano Vineyards.  What a fortuitous find!  Not only did they offer free wine tasting but they also had access to the LSU game!  We were the only customers and we had a fine and lengthy visit with our hostess.  David walked in not really liking wine much.  He walked out with a much greater appreciation!

New Mexico is one of our favorite states so we had to move on to explore more of it.

Road Trip 2015 - #6 Bandera

September 12, 2015 - Not only is the Bandera Beverage Barn a drive-thru liquor store with an attached RV park but it also has a laundromat!  The selling point was not just the $10/nightly rate (full hookups!) but that the park sat right on the Medina River.  So not only is the place cheap, I can kayak right outside my door, let the dogs play in the river and ride some of the most notorious scooter roads in Texas.  And did I mention that Bandera is the Cowboy Capital of the World...and only 40 miles from San Antonio.  We had a very, very busy four days here.

Our first scooter ride was to Kerrville on a very twisty, turny Hwy 16 where we had dinner at a little diner just off the Guadalupe River called Bill's BBQ.

The next day was packed - the Alamo, Riverwalk and missions.

Then we went to the Natural Bridge Caverns.  We kinda consider ourselves cavern connoisseurs since we've been to quite a few.  NB was cool but our guide was a novice and much of the cavern was "dead."  I'm glad we went but it is not a do-over.

We had a long scooter day attacking the Three Twisted Sisters ride, enjoyed the Frio Canyon Motorcycle Stop, did run-thru's at Garner and Lost Maples State Parks.

And then I got my paddle.  David took me and my kayak about three miles upriver and dropped me off.  The water in the Medina was beautifully clear and completely devoid of anyone else.  I saw many deer, all types of birds (including a hummingbird dive under water in the river!), rabbits and fish of all sizes on my two plus hour journey.  I had to manuver around a small spillway and walk my way through a couple of shallow place but it was a truly magical solitary paddle.  I love having these every now and then.  They are so renewing!

It was hard to leave such a beautiful area, but New Mexico was calling...and we were listening!

Road Trip 2015 - #5 Luling, Texas

September 9, 2015 - When we left Bolivar, we were looking to get somewhere close to San Antonio where we could do some exploring.  We hit up our Passport America app and found a nice little park sitting on the San Marcos river - Riverbend RV Park.  It had a horse training facility next door, but we never got up early enough to see them in action.

The idea was to visit the nearby historic town of Gonzales and the Spoetzl brewery, home of Shiner Boch.  We unloaded the scooter and went in search of adventure.  

We found it about 15 minutes later when Mother Nature decided to unleash a flood upon us.  We stopped under a motel portico dripping wet - the first time that we had been completely drenched while on the Ultra Classic.  At first the manager didn't want us to be there but eventually he brought us some nice warm towels (hoping that we'd dry off and go away I'm sure).  We were able to explore a bit of Gonzales but didn't make it to the brewery as a big black cloud hovered over the town of Shiner and we didn't expect that the motel manager wanted us to return again.  We u-turned in the middle of the highway and I bought a Shiner beer at a tavern back in Gonzales.   It's my new favorite beer!


Back at the park, we let the pups explore down at the river while David tried his hand at some fishing.  The current was quite swift!

A cool, little side treat was sitting at the entrance to the park - the oldest package liquor store in Texas - Huber Package Liquor.

After a couple of days in Luling, we decided it was a bit far to explore San Antonio from there.  For once, I had an idea of where we would go.  The Bandera Beverage Barn and RV Park, another Passport America find, had sounded enticing for a couple of weeks so we hopped over to the west side of San Antonio to check out this combination RV park and liquor store.  Hmmm...seems a trend is developing.

Road Trip 2015 - #4 Bolivar Peninsula

September 8, 2015 - We knew we wanted to go back to the beach before we drove west toward the desert.  Holly Beach was our initial destination but after checking some blog resources, we decided on Bolivar Peninsula just north of Galveston.  Bolivar consists of mostly vacation homes but it also has 20+ miles of unrestricted beach!  The dogs can play on it, you can camp on it and you can drive on it.  It was totally awesome. Because of the heat and some questionable weather, we fell back on our trusty Passport America app and found a nice, full hookup RV park just a hop, skip and jump from the beach.  Having a safe spot for the dogs which we explored on the scooter was just the ticket.  We stayed at the Bolivar Peninsula RV Park in Crystal Beach where we were greeted by a sweet dog - always a good sign - and a happy host.  We set up and immediately headed to the beach.

While the weather was iffy, we took our chances and made a run down to Jamaica Beach.  This was our scooter's first ferry ride!

Full disclosure - the only bad thing about Bolivar was the biting dragon flies.  They only were a problem at dusk and away from the beach, but they were awful when they did come out.  Some people may call these dreadful creatures mosquitos, but if they are they are the pterodactyl version.  They about carried us away.  Even the dogs were scared to come out of the camper after dark!

But the beach was still amazing!  Bayou played in the surf and Bleu puked up salt water...

The weather started getting ickier so after a couple of beautiful days (and terrifying nights), we started our westward journey...which included a ferry ride for the camper...another first!

Road Trip 2015 - #3 Eunice

September 3, 2015 - We land in Eunice to join our LiARs pals for our annual Labor Day homecoming.  Cards were played, beverages consumed, food inhaled and laughter happened frequently and with gusto.  We cheered on Lance in his elder-league football game, propositioned a 15-year old to drive the drunks home from Lakeview, and killed it dancing to Uptown Funk in the pool.  We posed with Kelly's (aka Rosie the Riverter) digital billboard in downtown Eunice...

After enjoying a quality and unforgettable four days with our awesome friends, we departed for next destination...knowing it would be on the Gulf Coast but not exactly sure where.

Road Trip 2015 - #2 Grand Isle State Park

August 31, 2015 - After leaving Pecan Island and as we began nearing Palmetto Island State Park - which I absolutely love and have dreamed of paddling - I posed a question to David.  What about Grand Isle?  We had never been, had heard good things and had three days before we needed to head toward Eunice for our annual Labor Day retreat.  He agreed and we headed toward one of the most southern points of Louisiana.  Hey, it was just another three hours on the road.  What a treat it turned out to be!

The state park was almost vacant when we arrived Monday afternoon.  I immediately found the beach...

...while David found the bay and caught us a couple of redfish for dinner!!  A local bartender gave us a grilling recipe for them which was really good.  We asked our neighbor camper Mr. Robert to join us for dinner and he reciprocated by bringing shrimp over the next night.  I decided to visit the bay as well...

The only thing that would've been better is if the dogs had not been restricted from the beach.  They would have had a blast chasing crabs.  Maybe it's better that they didn't get to do that.  They probably would have went after the dolphins as well!

After a couple beautiful sunsets, we left to join our friends in Eunice.

Road Trip 2015 - #1 Pecan Island

August 28, 2015 - Pecan Island

Our first stop was a much anticipated return trip to the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge in South Louisiana.  Our friends Gene and Vicki accompanied us to Crawfish Haven RV park just outside of Pecan Island.  It was a bit of a hole-in-the-wall kinda place but as is the custom, the people were friendly and the location was convenient.

While the shrimping and crabbing were not as abundant as we hoped, we certainly captured enough of both to feed us well.

 On Sunday we went to the Gueydan Duck Festival, a hopping place for sure.  I ate my first BBQ duck-covered boiled quail egg while Gene ran into some old friends-of-friends.  After a quick side trip to their house, we ended up with a freezer full of frog legs and shrimp.  Winner! Winner!  Chicken Dinner!

The first three days went by very quick and we had to decide on our next destination.  Leaving Crawfish Haven, we fully planned on going to Palmetto Island State Park which was just a short hour away, but as we're wont to do, our plans went awry about halfway there.