Small Home – Big Yard

Balmorhea State Park, TX

In an unplanned stop, we’re parked at Balmorhea State Park, about 60 miles WEST of our original destination in Ft. Stockton.  After spending last night in the parking lot next to I-10 in El Paso, we’re in need of some quiet, roomy, state park camping.  Fortunately we arrive to find that due to a an early departure, Balmorhea has just 2 sites left.  These are normally tent-only sites, but have been pressed into service as water-only RV sites during Spring Break. But, these sites are roomy, provide a small patio slab, a picnic table and shelter.  They also have a fire pit and a separate BBQ grill.  Our site #16 backs up to the open space south of the park with the Davis mountains in the background.

We stayed at Balmorhea about 4 years ago with the truck camper and ended up departing early due to lack of internet connectivity.  Today we’ll try out our new Wilson Cell Phone Signal Booster.  Consisting of an external antenna that’s mounted on the top of the rear ladder and an inside powered cradle, the booster is claimed to increase cell signal up to 25 times. When we first arrive at Balmorhea, the Verizon broadband is showing mediocre 2G services.  After mounting the antenna and slipping the broadband modem into the cradle, we’re up to 4 bars of 3G service.  At least in this particular environment, the booster does its job.

Tomorrow we’re planning to head into the Texas Hill Country with our next stop at one of our favorite campgrounds, South Llano River State Park.  Move from outside Junction, TX tomorrow…