Friday we explored Terlingua, which is a ghost town.
In 1890, cinnabar ore was discovered here, and Terlingua became the world's quicksilver capital. After looking through a
store that sells numerous locally made items we stopped at the only
coffee shop for a smoothie, a perfect treat on a warm day. At 5:00 we headed
over to the RV park's pavilion for BBQ brisket. It was a pot luck dinner, with the campground
host smoking a brisket the day before, and everyone else bringing various dishes. All in all it
worked very well with many salads, lots of baked beans and rice dishes. We took
cheese, naan strips, and a tray of fresh vegetables. We had a great evening
visiting with all our neighbours. We got a tip about a good hike that starts and ends at the RV park.
John discovered a website that listed the top 5 hikes in Big Bend National
Park. Saturday we headed; out to do a couple. The first was Santa Elena
Canyon through which the Rio Grande cuts; a spectacular views, about 1 3/4 miles return.
After stopping at Castalon
historic site in the park to eat our lunch,
we drove to our next trail head, Cattail Falls, for a 3 mile return hike. The falls only had a trickle of water, as they only run strongly after recent rain.
We got back to the trailer in time to watch the Brier 3:4 page playoff.
Sunday was our usual day to hang around the trailer. We did laundry, watched the bronze medal
curling, then the Nascar race and finally the gold medal men's curling. You can
see why we took the day off from hiking. We also did some research as to future RV park.
Monday morning after housecleaning, we went on a hike recommended by the
campground owners. It is a short hike, just under 3 miles, starting and ending at
the campground. John got
basic directions and drew a map of the trail with the host's help. The route took us through an interesting wash/canyon. The trail was picturesque and well
worth the walk.
Tuesday was moving day. We left BJ's RV park early because our drive was 5 1/4
hours, not including any stops. We always have breaks for coffee, diesel,
picture, groceries and other things, so we always add 2 hours to the estimated
travel time. For some unknown reason, the GPS took us to Fort Davis and then across to US90, instead of just heading west on 90. We didn't think we had a scenic route option chosen, but it was a nice drive. We arrived at Anthony, New Mexico (2 miles from Anthony Texas) at about 2:30.
The campground owners where away and due back about 4:00 according to the note
on the door. A friendly fellow who works at the campground part-time helped us
choose a site so we could get set up.
Wednesday was shopping day in El Paso. We checked for a couple of things at Camping World,
but they did not have what we wanted. Then we went to a place called Saddleblanket. It
is 2 acres of interesting Western and Mexican furniture and goods but we didn't make any purchases. At Wal-Mart we were able to get our RV
toilet chemicals about 4.00 less per container than at Camping world. Our
grocery stop was Albertson's, the first one we've seen since Billings Montana. Our
final stop was the New Mexico travel information to pick up an old-fashioned map to keep Greta, our GPS, honest.
Thursday was our day to some of El Paso sights that we believed would be interesting. We headed through Franklin Mountains State park to Fort Bliss Museum. The museum is
on the army base, so we went through a checkpoint to get onto the base. The nice young
fellow said he didn't think we looked like terrorist and our Canadian passports
would suffice as I.D. The museum was extensive and interesting, covering all
the wars from the Mexican/American wars to present day. Our next stop was the visitor information in downtown El Paso, where we were lucky to get free parking for the day. They provided
us with a self guided walking tour of the historic downtown, as well as other info booklets. After having
a nice lunch at a little hole-in-the-wall deli, we did the walking tour, which highlighted the buildings in downtown El Paso.
After
the walking tour we stopped at the El Paso Art Museum, which also had no admission charge. Interesting. Perhaps the problems they are having
with the Mexico drug wars has taken it toll on El Paso and they are trying to
make it as easy as they can for tourists. The Art Museum has good sections on western art, renaissance artists, and some modern local artists. On our way back to the RV park, we stopped at La Vina Winery,
where Joan did some wine tasting and chose a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.
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