Unplanned trip to the Amistad National Recreational Area

Yesterday I was on the east side of town an area I do not often frequent. There is a loop that was opened a couple of years ago to make it easier for 18-wheelers to transit through Del Rio without actually having to go through the city. I got a wild hair and decided to check it out. Found there were more cars on it than truckers. I went over two or three bridges (CRS) that said I was crossing San Felipe Creek. I had no idea San Felipe Creek encompassed such a large area.

I was getting worried as I had no idea where I was headed until I spotted this road sign, then I knew I was close to Lake Amistad, and yet I still took the wrong turn and was headed to Sonora...😄...Lol, memories of my first years in Houston, where I constantly got lost. At least unlike my father and most men I know...I had no problem asking for directions.

My first stop was the San Pedro Campground the largest in the Amistad National Recreational Area. There was not a single person camping which made me glad...I will tell you why later.

I happened upon the "Billy Bob Tree" and it was looking sad. I even questioned if it was the same tree...but it was. Has anyone heard from him lately?

I headed to my personal favorite Governors Landing. One of these days I am actually going to spend the night here though not anytime soon with this heat.

It just breaks my heart to see the lake levels plummet every time I visit.

No people are crazy enough to be camping here either. Only the Border Patrol at the highest point of Governors Landing keeping a watchful eye.

The Highway 90 bridge...

Governors Landing has both a camping area as well as a public area where people can come fish or have a picnic. Lots of folks here though I did not take pictures of them.

The public picnic area...

A trail that leads to the water. Apart from my fear of snakes, it was hard to walk on so I did not go very far. To think that only a few years ago this was all under water.

Now to get back to why I was happy that there was no one camping at either campground. As I have mentioned many times I follow the vlogs of several vandwellers, especially those that spend time in Quartzsite, Arizona, and/or New Mexico on YouTube.

I am not going to give names but there is a dangerous situation happening where two bloggers, each in their own vehicles, that have chosen to stay in Arizona during this dangerous heat. There is no reason for this...they could have moved to higher levels...even CVK who has a homestead at 7,000 feet as well as his friends have left for a cooler location.

I don't often read comments but I did, to try to figure out the reason behind this lunacy. Apparently one of the parties feels she owes the other something for taking her to the airport and looking after her van while she flew back home.

If you want to help your friend work on their van build why not do so somewhere else and not where you are putting your life at risk?  Many have commented how her organs could shut down at the insane daily temperatures where it does not even cool down at night.

Many of her readers including myself would not mind pitching in gas money or even a stay at a nearby hotel but she does not want to. I had to unsubscribe from her channel. I have enough worries of my own to take on additional ones.

Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Auntie Acid

A visit with Barney

The past two mornings have been foggy and drizzly but at least it has not been cold.  Today was trash day, I have avoided picking up the trash outside of our fence line that worthless people throw out their window but could not put it off any longer.

The weeds and grass have grown a lot since Pollito mowed them. I either have to tackle them myself or hire someone to do them...man I hate yard work!

We have a cold front on the way and I did not want to take a chance on Barney (OFM Adventures) leaving as I missed him by a couple of hours the last time he was in town...but not today!

We had a long and pleasant conversation. Barney is knowledgeable on just about any topic.  If you have never met him I highly recommend you drop by his campground if he is ever near your hometown.


Spurs Corner

With our two best players out of the line-up this evening and having to play the Golden State Warriors, it was no wonder KSAT12 sports anchor pretty much insinuated that everyone go to bed and check the highlights in the morning.

We had a fighting chance when we were only down two points before the half...then they went on a  run and pretty much dashed our hopes.

The second half was AWFUL!!! Maybe KSAT12's advice was not so bad.

A nice visit with Barney

This afternoon I made my way to San Pedro Campground part of the Amistad National Recreational Area. This campground does not have as many campers as the others so I was happy to see that there were several RV's, tents and a pop-up camping van making good use of the facilities.

It is always gratifying to meet up with fellow bloggers that I have been following for many years. Barney is a walking encyclopedia on West Texas and beyond and loves to share his knowledge with others. We had a very nice visit.

Summer weather is already upon us, we have been experiencing temperatures in the low 90's. The only saving grace has been the strong winds making things a little more bearable.  We really need some rain.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Amistad National Recreational Area (NRA)

I have been wanting to go to Amistad Lake and the recreational areas since yesterday.  Although late in the afternoon, was finally able to do so today.
 

Of course, I had to start at my favorite campground, Governors Landing.  In all my years cruising through there, I have never seen it as packed as I did today.  There were no empty camping spots, this one guy did not let that deter him and he set up his own campground.

In the past while all the available campsites were taken, it was mainly two, max four people.  Not today...there were tons of kids and family members...some had eight or more.  I was happy to see it being used to its fullest.

At Governors Landing there is also a large picnic area for those that do not wish to camp out but want to enjoy a cookout at the lake.  I was absolutely surprised at the number of cars in the parking lot, some had to park to the side.  It was filled to capacity.

For my Midland/Odessa friends...you know who you are...your favorite hangout was packed as well.

It was getting late but I had to go check out Billy Bob's and Barney's favorite campground...San Pedro.  Sorry to say that there was not even one person camped there.  I do not know why more people do not use it.

The Billy Bob tree

To me this campground is perfect, it is big, it is private and you can actually hear yourself think.  It gives the illusion of being in the middle of nowhere yet it is not too far from civilization and Billy Bob's favorite store...Walmart.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Spruced up campgrounds

It had been a while since I had visited the Amistad National Recreational Area campgrounds in particular San Pedro.  I am happy to report that it has been spruced up. For one it has new signs.

They grated graded the roads (is that the correct terminology?)

They have also been busy trimming the trees

However, they did an awful job on the Billy Bob tree!

They still need to mow your yard Billy Bob...as usual your camping spot is all lonesome.

This is where I wish you a good night and Terlingua Dreams but I fell asleep watching TV last night and did not do my post. Have been up since 6:00 a.m. an oddity for me :D

A drive to Lake Amistad

It occurred to me that the last time I went to the lake and to the various campgrounds was back in November 2013 when I came back from Terlingua and almost ran off with Billy Bob...remember?  If you don't you can read about it here http://terlinguadreams.blogspot.com/2013/11/i-am-running-off-with-billy-bob.html

Yesterday I was curious to see how many people had come down for the Easter weekend so asked mother to come with me...she rolled her eyes and reluctantly came along.  Decided to check out Diablo East Marina first and the parking lot was pretty full with license plates from various states as well as Mexico.  Even a Border Patrol boat was in the water...pretty neat gig I would say.

For those new to blogging you can click on almost any blogs pictures (with a few exceptions) and the images will be enlarged.

Border Patrol

Idaho 

State of Chihuahua in Mexico

New Mexico

Next stop was my favorite campground at Amistad...Governors Landing.  As I was waiting to cross Highway 90 West I could see a truck heading east going at a very high rate of speed.  I don't know how he managed to turn at that speed as he was also hauling a big trailer and a boat.  I thought that was against the law in Texas.  Was even more surprised that he turned to go to Governors Landing as there is no way he was going to be able to fit all three things in the small campsites.

These cute dogs did not even bark at me.

I was sure glad this following campground did not have a car parked in front of it...as the speeding truck almost ran into me head-on but I was able to pull in here.  A Park Ranger vehicle then came up behind me and stopped them.

Went down to the picnic area but not too many people were here.  Saw a couple carrying their fishing gear and walk to the shoreline where more people were fishing.

Mexican State of Nuevo Leon

The lake levels looked low but it must be deep enough as there were a lot of boats out there.

 Many of the cactus were already in bloom.

Why is it that my mother dozes off but when I turn into San Pedro Campground she wakes up?  She absolutely hates this place!

Billy Bob tree

Barney of Old Fat Man Adventure Fame http://ofmadventures.blogspot.com/  was here a couple of weeks back and wrote of how dry everything was...hardly no shrubbery...he wasn't lying.  Only thing you see green is the darn mesquite trees...even the Billy Bob tree was looking sad.

Mesquite tree

There were only two places taken, the first one at the entrance by two tent campers and the second by the guy that I almost ran into head-on back at Governors Landing.  He did not seem to be in a good mood and was yelling either at his wife or maybe it was his daughter. In the Billy Bob picture you can see his camp in the background.

For Barney and Ed that have stayed at Broken Mill RV Park in the past...the place was full.  Either the Winter Texans have not left yet or a lot of people came down for Easter...or possibly both.

If you are interested in coming to Lake Amistad you will find plenty of room at San Pedro Campground...just stay away from the speeding guy.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

I am running off with Billy Bob!!!

News flash ----->  I found my tall weathered cowboy...well he is tall, weathered and he likes cowboy stories :)

After taking a couple of days off to recuperate from my trip to the Chihuahuan desert and trying to get my pictures sorted it occurs to me that I have neglected to blog about the day to day stuff.  Not that there is anything exciting going on but remember I started this blog as a Cyber Journal for myself for when my CRS gets even worst, so I can read about what I used to do.

Since Billy Bob published in his blog that he had been waiting for me to make an appearance decided that what dad's old car needed was highway driving speeds to keep it from wanting to stall.  I actually got to 75 but quickly got it back to the speed limit of 70.  Last thing I need is a ticket.

Saw a lot of cyclist at San Pedro

Billy Bob was home but not out in the yard...said he was cold!  Actually he was sipping a cup and had just finished his post for the day.

Sadie Mae barked at me like the great little watch dog that she is but then came and joined me on the coach :)

Billy Bob kept on looking towards dad's old car which I had parked in front of "Sally da house" and he finally asked me why I had the car packed...I think he was worried I wanted to join him....jajajajajaja.

I took this today of what the guys saw not a good picture with the glare will attempt another one later.

A while later a truck came speeding down the campground...dang!  I had no idea Barney drove so fast!  He too looked perplexed and asked me the same question, lol.  Gentlemen calm down...those are my Terlingua clothes, blankets, pillow, sleeping bag, etc etc. that I need to take to the laundromat.

I can't bring them in the house because the campfire smoke while very enjoyable in Terlingua makes me want to gag when I am back in the real world!  So dad's old car is the recipient until I can get to it.

The going rate at the Exxon where Billy Bob fills up Sally...

I normally do my posts at night, therefore, I can not wish you Terlingua Dreams...so have a great day instead :-)