Month: December 2013

One night here in Benson and then Tucson tomorrow where I can escape the cold nights. A few days there and then to Yuma. Quartzsite after that for the big gathering there.

I'm out of Texas! And the wind was non-existent on my driving days, which is quite remarkable. I took Loop 375 around El Paso today, and it worked out well. I've never liked the I-10 route through the middle of El Paso, it being a very busy, frantic, multi-lane freeway requiring lane changes, and confusing signage. 375 will someday be what is called a Beltway in normal places, but in Texas it's called a Loop. There is a lot of construction, 2...

This blog is about food. I'm leaving Texas and will be in Deming tomorrow. HEB is the grocery store chain in Texas, and while it's my favorite of all in the country, my other traveling friends say the same thing. Best I can tell they have a near-monopoly, Walmart being seen but not Safeway, Krogers, Albertson's, or others of their ilk. First, they have a great selection, and if they are in a bi-cultural area the selection expands accordingly....

Last year about this time I was heading to Marathon, Florida. Amazing coincidence. I'm at the Marathon Motel and RV Park, an especially nice place that is cheap, roomy, and the scenery is great (Big Bend Country). I'll sit here for the holiday because they have good wifi and I hope to skype the grandkids tomorrow. Now, when I say this is a nice place, I'm not referring to green lawns and lakeside beaches. This is west Texas; "nice" means the...

It's the West Texas thing, long drives through mesquite and oil fields. Last night was Lake Casa Blanca state park which is the only decent place to see in Laredo, tonight it's Del Rio which is a good place to get stuff but I don't need anything. Tomorrow I'll land in Marathon. The weather factor is treating me very well, sunny and no wind.

High winds didn't let up as forecasted, so I stayed put for another night. I expect this will happen to me again as I go north and west. I used the free day to get my truck battery replaced. It's been testing as fairly weak lately, is almost 7 years old, and I'm heading into 20-degree weather.

The weather forecast looks good for travel. Not too much wind, no precipitation, mainly sun, but I will driving into deep cold. It doesn't make any difference where you find yourself in Texas, but it's 800 miles to get out of it. And for the traveling type, it's the west Texas run that is worse. North, east, and south are equally a challenge. I'm heading to Deming where I plan to lay up a bit, cold weather or not. Along the way I hope to park in...

Just about any tamale you can get into your hand is going to be excellent, but here in the RGV I favor Delia's. Today I picked up some to keep me for a few days, but now I think I should get some more for the freezer. I like theirs because the filling doesn't contain much corn as a filler, which means they are pretty small, but have a really good flavor. I'm still planning on leaving Saturday, wind permitting. As I go north I'll be running into...

It's been pleasant lately so I've been searching for birds and eating some splendid local foods of the Mexican variety. Mexican food differs a lot when you change regions: Santa Fe is different than Tex-Mex which is different than RGV. Here in the RGV I encounter the practice of offering the Gringo one menu of choices, while locals get another menu. I've encountered the same practice in the Asian districts of Seattle and San Francisco. The...

The air warmed up and the winds died down so I headed to Estero Llano Grande State Park, a World Birding Center site. And it might be my favorite because of it's compactness and plentiful water features. Birding was fair, most importantly the sun was out and I got some warmth and outdoor walking time. I was happy to find yellow-crowned night herons there. Besides liking the bird which is not easy to find, the only other place I've found them...

I've got cabin fever after two weeks of crappy weather, but things are looking better this weekend. I gave up on birding, mainly because of the wind, but low temperatures made it quite miserable. So I've got a lot of running around next week to make up for lost time. Right now I'm pretty sure I'll leave the Valley next weekend and head to Arizona. My goal would be Yuma around the first, but I'm not sure quite yet.

One of my favorite foods is Texas BBQ, more particularly roadside shacks emitting clouds of smoke. The tender of the process is usually an interesting character, very different guys that have one thing in common: you'll be informed they have been smoking since 3 in the morning. "Normal" work days are the weekends, Thursday through Sunday, but they reserve the right to be open or not depending on how they feel. My rule is when I see a roadside...