Off to see an Eclipse

8 04 2024

After departing Tucson, we’re planning a relatively quick transit across New Mexico and Texas hoping for clear views in the upcoming eclipse  “Path of Totality”.  We last viewed a total eclipse in 2017 when we were in Douglas Wyoming.  This time we’ve chosen Bandera Texas as our “prime” spot, with an expected totality of just over 4 minutes.

Our first stop after departing Tucson is at Hacienda RV Resort in Las Cruces, NM.  We generally stay at the KOA in Las Cruces, but with extra travelers in our group and eclipse traffic, the park isn’t available.  However, Hacienda works just as well for a couple of nights here.  The full hookup sites are wide and specious. From Las Cruces we’ll spend one night in Van Horn at the familiar Van Horn RV park and one night at Southern Living RV Park in Ozona, TX.  Both of these parks offer bare necessities and are just fine for quick overnights.

Southern Living RV Park, Ozona, TX

We’ve visited Bandera before, but this is the first time we’ve stayed at Riverside RV Park.  The Medina River flows along the southern edge of the park and in warmer weather would provide welcoming shade and calm quiet swimming holes.  From the easy check-in to the personable park hosts, this is a very nice place.  We’re parked in site #77, a wide pull-through site that is mostly shaded by a big tree overhead. The tree is a bit messy, but provides great shade for sitting outside or around the provided picnic table.

Riverside RV Park, Bandera, TX

Riverside RV Park, Medina River, Bandera, TX

As eclipse day arrives on April 8th, so do the clouds across the Texas Hill country. However, all preparations continue with huge tripods of telescopes and camera lenses positioned towards the sky all around the campground.  Around 12:30 through partially cloudy skies, we’re able to see the “bite” out of the sun.  As totality time at 1:30 approaches, the lights flicker on, birds are quieted and an eerie hush settles over the park.  Complete darkness lasts for 4 minutes and 4 seconds in this part of Texas, and very quickly the sun starts to reappear in the now mostly cloudy skies.  Not exactly the presentation we’d hoped for, but unfortunately it seems like most of Texas and many other places across the US experienced the same cloudy conditions.

Riverside RV Park, Bandera, TX – “Totality”

While we’re here primarily for the eclipse, we have a great time exploring Bandera and the surrounding area.  During an excursion to Kerrville, we check out the new Howdy’s Bar & Chill, formerly the Wild Ass Hey Barn.  Back in Bandera, we found a new favorite eatery – the Trail Boss Steak and Grill.  Located off the main street, this new restaurant offers a wide selection of steaks, seafood and burgers, combined with a full bar and excellent, attentive staff.  A special shout-out to Conner who serviced us during both of our visits – thanks for a great job! And, of course we had to check out the famous Cowboy Bar of Bandera!

Howdy’s Bar & Chill, Kerrville, TX

The Cowboy Bar, Bandera, TX

After Bandera, we’ll spend 3 nights at one of our favorite KOA’s, the San Antonio/Alamo KOA.  The park is east of town and provides easy access to the Historic Pearl development on the grounds of the former Pearl Brewery, the downtown Riverwalk and some of the historic residential areas in between.  We once again enjoyed the Black Laboratory Brewery and tasty Mexican food at Rosarios, now in their beautiful new location.

Historic Pearl Brewery, San Antonio, TX

Rosarios San Antonio

From San Antonio we’re headed to South Padre Island after a brief stop in Harlingen.  More from SPI…


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Categories : Spring Road Trip 2024

Across I-10

30 03 2023

After our amazing 12-night cruise around Cape Horn, South America, we’ve arrived back to Phoenix exhausted after nearly 30 hours of traveling since our disembarkation  in Valparaiso, Chile. We originally had planned to depart Apache Junction on Friday.  However, after the long travel day including weather delays at DFW, we opted for dinner, hot showers and sleep.  But, with 4 hours of jet lag, we were up bright and early the next morning and ready to hit the road.  Unfortunately the next leg of the trip will be very quick, and all the way across I-10 from Phoenix to San Antonio, TX, a total of 981 miles!

Our first night is at Stagecoach RV Ranch in Deming, NM – 329 miles completed.  In Deming, the only place we’ve ever stayed is at Rock Hound State Park.  However, with this quick overnight, we didn’t want to drive all the way out to Rock Hound.  Stagecoach RV Ranch is a small park, about 3 miles south of town, and we hoped, far enough off of I-10 to prevent the all-night traffic noise.  Indeed, the park was quiet and dark – we enjoyed our stay here.  There is no fee for an overnight stay, but they asked for a $20 donation.  The facilities look new, the 50A, water and dump were convenient.  And, an added bonus, their WiFi ran along at about 6Mb, plenty of bandwidth for streaming a few hours of TV.  All in all, a great value!

Stagecoach RV Ranch, Deming, NM

Our next night found us at the Van Horn RV Park in Van Horn, TX – 551 miles completed.  We’ve been at this RV park many times, it’s about the only game in town, and there aren’t many other towns in this part of West Texas.  The old park is just as run down as before.  From our site at E8, the cactus garden is dry and dusty, the onsite-café is closed due to inspection violations, the pool is drained and the WiFi is intermittent at best.  We did manage to find a 5Ghz signal that would run along about 11Mb, for 30 minutes or so, then it disconnected and reconnected a few seconds later.

Van Horn RV Park, Van Horn, TX

Our next stop is at Junction, TX – 868 miles completed.  We’re at the North Llano River RV park, in site 48A.  We were last here in 2020, but didn’t manage to get a review in the blog.  This former KOA park of about 75 sites occupies a nicely wooded area along the North Llano River.  Tent sites at $25/night have the premium views, right next to the river.  RV sites, from standard with full hookups at around $50 to premium sites with pergolas and grills range up to $95.  Even though the park is only about a ½ mile away from I-10, the road noise isn’t a distraction.  The Wifi here ran along at around 6Mb, plenty for TV streaming.

North Llano River RV Park, Junction, TX

After Junction, we continued east on I-10 until Kerrville, only about 60 miles west of San Antonio.  However, wanting to avoid downtown San Antonio, we detour south through Kerrville, Bandera, Hondo and arrive at Choke Canyon State Park, on the banks of Choke Canyon Reservoir.  During check-in we’re notified that they have a water main break, and there is no water in the campground.  Fortunately we’re able to fill our fresh water tank at their maintenance facility and continue to our site, #114.  This back-in site is located at the end of the campground loop, and very private being completely surrounded by trees.  With no park WiFi, we’re relying on our T-Mobile hotspot service. Our 5G phone ran along at streamable speeds.  However the 4G network was very slow when we arrived, but was working just fine by the next morning.

Choke Canyon State Park, Calliham, TX

From Choke Canyon, we’ll make the relatively short drive south to the Rio Grande Valley.  We’ll be in Harlingen for 2 days before moving out to South Padre Island on April 1st.  More from SPI…


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Categories : Spring Road Trip 2023

Across New Mexico and West Texas

24 03 2021

From Sierra Vista, AZ we’re parked in site #19 at the KOA in Las Cruces. This is a favorite KOA for us, and we enjoy these premium back-in sites with views across Las Cruces and to the Organ Mountains beyond.

Las Cruces KOA

Organ Mountains Sunrise

From Las Cruces, we spent 1 night in Van Horn, TX and then on to Alpine, TX at the Lost Alaskan RV Park.  The continuing West Texas drought, probably coupled with the unprecedented cold weather this year has left this area dry, brown and dusty.  The only green are the pine trees in the Lost Alaskan park, and many of those are looking stressed.  Saturday evening we treated ourselves to dinner at Reata.  A favorite from living in the DFW Metroplex, the Reata Alpine is a little more casual, but with same delicious menus. On Monday we sequestered inside, with wind gusts to over 40 MPH, the dust turned the skies brown and left a fine covering everywhere.

Reata Alpine

From Alpine we’ll spend 1 night in Del Rio at the Broke Mill RV Park, and then move to the KOA in San Antonio.  More from SAT…


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Into West Texas

5 05 2020

Canyons RV Park, Sanderson, TX

Departing Uvalde, we’re headed to Sanderson, TX and Canyon RV Park. We’ve traveled through Sanderson several times on our way in or out of Big Bend National Park. In the past we’re always decided that Canyon RV wasn’t for us. Located between the highway and railroad tracks, the park looked old and rundown and received fairly bad reviews. But, hoping for the best, we decide we’ll try it, or – if things don’t look good, continue to Ft. Stockton.

On a weather note, somewhere between Uvalde and Sanderson we cross through the “dry line”. Humidity this morning in Uvalde was 100%, this afternoon in Sanderson it’s 20%!

The Texas Dry Line

Pulling into Canyon RV, we’re surprised by the bad reviews and what we remember as a “do not stop” park. Sites are wide, level and graveled. Several of these sites have large pine trees on opposite sides providing some welcome shade from the late afternoon sun. Concrete utilities islands are designed for 50A usage on one side and 30A usage on the other side in “back to back” configurations. However, the park isn’t nearly full enough to require any back to back parking and in fact, we’re the only overnight guest. There are another half-dozen or so longer term residents including a FEMA team working onsite. Rates are $30, cash or check only, and deposited in the “Piggy” mailbox. We didn’t try it, but reports are that the new fiber install in town has boosted WiFi to stream-able speeds. New owners are making tremendous headway in changing this to a great stopover park for Big Bend visitors or those escaping the heat of the Texas Hill country or the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Thanks Kevin, we’ll be back!

Departing Sanderson, the original plan was to head north on 285 to join I-10 at Ft. Stockton for an overnight in Van Horn. However, we decide on the much more scenic drive across highway 90 through Marathon, Alpine and Marfa. RVTripWizard.com notes a low tunnel on the west side of Marfa at 13’11”. Arriving at the railroad bridge, the signs note only a 13’7” clearance, making it way too close to what we believe is a 13’6” trailer. After a bit of careful backup work, and directing blocked traffic around us, we head back into Marfa determined to find an alternate route. As it turns out, there is an easy route to avoid this low bridge. Approaching from the east, turn south on 11th street to Murphy Ave west. Follow Murphy to the West Mosley Loop and rejoin the highway just beyond the low bridge. Voila, problem solved!

Alpine, TX

In Van Horn, we’re parked at the familiar Van Horn (former KOA) park in site E8. From here we’re headed to Alamogordo, more from there…

Van Horn RV Park


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Across Southern New Mexico & West Texas

15 03 2020

Our View at the KOA, Las Cruces, NM

From Bisbee the original plan was to make a stop in Deming, NM.  We enjoyed staying at Rock Hound State Park outside of Deming in 2016. However, after a fairly early departure from Bisbee, we’re in Deming by around 2PM, and make the decision to continue another hour to Las Cruces, home of one of our favorite KOA’s.  We end up in interior site #55 which works just fine for an overnight stay.

From Las Cruces, it’s a short trip over to Alamogordo, where we’ll spend 3 nights at Boot Hill RV Resort.  From Alamogordo we make an overnight stop at Van Horn RV Park and another overnight at Ft. Stockton RV Park.

Boot Hill RV Resort, Alamogordo, NM

Van Horn RV Park, Van Horn, TX

After this quick transit of New Mexico and West Texas, we’re planning a week long stay in the Texas Hill country, at one of our favorite RV parks, By The River.  More from Kerrville…


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I-10 across West Texas

15 03 2018

The Roadrunner of Ft. Stockton, TX

Traveling I-10 through west Texas can be an endurance test of winds, rough roadway and constant semi-truck traffic.  After a bit of a reprieve on the scenic Trans-Mountain highway that leads to the north around El Paso, we’re back on I-10 just east of town.  It’s been a number of years since we’ve traveled much of I-10, generally we divert south for Ft. Davis and/or the Big Bend area.  This year we’re headed nearly all the way to San Antonio – over 500 miles to the east.

With few options for overnight stops here in West Texas, our first night will be at Van Horn, a former KOA that works well for a quick overnight stay.  PARK REVIEW  Arriving around 1PM (after moving into the Central Time Zone) we watch as the nearly empty park fills with overnight rigs.  But, by 11AM the next morning, nearly every site is once again empty.

Our plan was to check out one of the city parks in Iraan, TX.  However a call this morning indicates that the no-reservation park is full – so change of plans, tonight we’re parked at another former KOA, the Ft. Stockton RV Park.  Just east of town, this is a fairly nice park and once again nearly full overnight and empty by 11AM.  On a bit smaller scale than the Las Cruces roadrunner, here in Ft. Stockton, “Paisano Pete” greets visitors and poses for pictures in a small park near downtown.

Ft. Stockton RV Park

Ft. Stockton RV Park

After quick overnights at Van Horn and Ft. Stockton, we’re bound for 5 nights near the Kerrville area in the beautiful Texas Hill Country.  More from there…


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Van Horn and on to Davis Mountains State Park

17 03 2017

Van Horn RV Park

After leaving Las Cruces we’ve arrived in Van Horn – a popular stop in our west Texas travels.  Last year we spent 2 nights at Mountain View RV Park and decided it was a bit too close to I-10 and the rail road tracks.  This year we’re back at the former KOA, this year a little drier and dustier with the drought that is continuing in west Texas.  We’re assigned site E7, a long back-in with full hookups.  Site E8 would be somewhat better, an end site with a small patch of almost green grass and a cactus garden.

Van Horn RV Park

After a quick overnight in Van Horn, we’re bound for Davis Mountains State Park, one of our favorite Texas State Parks.  Located just outside Ft. Davis, the park provides easy access to the historic fort and McDonald Observatory.  We’ll spend the next 3 nights at Davis Mountains where we’ll catch up with our good friends from Montrose, CO – who are on their way back to Colorado after spending about 7 weeks in Texas RV parks. More from the Davis Mountains of west Texas…


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Davis Mountains State Park

20 03 2016
Davis Mountains State Park, Site #51

Davis Mountains State Park, Site #51

Good Morning from the Davis Mountains in West Texas.

We’ve visited the area several times, even before we had the truck camper.  We’ve stayed at Indian Lodge, but have never managed to get reservations at the Davis Mountains SP campground.  It seems that we’re almost always through Ft. Davis during Spring Break, when all campsites are busy and the town is full.  However, with better planning this year, we managed to reserve a campsite for 2 nights, apparently right at the end of Spring Break.  One of our favorite spots in West Texas, the McDonald Observatory always has special spring break Twilight Programs and Star Parties.  However, with the moon nearly full this Saturday evening, there’s little chance of seeing much through the telescopes.  And with temperatures dipping below freezing overnight, we opt to forgo the evening programs.

A nice change from Van Horn, our first night in the campground is quiet, relaxing and peaceful.  With all sites nearly full on Saturday when we arrive, we’re almost alone on Sunday after the spring breakers head home.  The nearby Black Bear Restaurant at Indian Lodge offers a tasty lunch buffet on Sunday.  In the afternoon we head out to the observatory for the daily Solar Program.  It’s always interesting to watch the sun “live” (as opposed to real time, which isn’t possible since it takes 8.5 seconds for the sunlight to arrive on Earth).  Watching the coronal flares and molten gases on the surface, we’re more inclined to slather on a bit more sunscreen and be better at wearing hats.  We’re also reminded that the Star Party includes one of our favorite aspects, the constellation talk, followed by telescope viewing. At least the telescope viewing is best enjoyed outside of Spring Break and Easter weekends – and both are better on darker (new moon) skies.  We may check schedules for our return trip.

Technology somehow still completely escapes Davis Mountain State Park.  Hidden up a valley, there’s no cellular service or over the air TV. The park offers some WiFi, best used at the entry gate or the interpretive center.  However, with just the right placement of a PC next to a window, we’re able to slowly download email.  We’re parked in site #51, a nice creek side water/electric site nestled into the trees.  There are two loops with full services including cable TV – the pull-throughs creek-side (#1-#8) are very nice.  The “upper loop” (#28 – #28) are located on a fairly steep loop and will take a fair amount of front to rear leveling and have fewer trees. The rest of the sites are best left for tent campers, low trees and narrow roadways would make RV entry very difficult.

Tomorrow we’ll continue east, with a overnight stop in Del Rio, then on to one of our favorite spots, the Texas Hill Country west of San Antonio.  More from there…

Davis Mountains SP, site #51
Black Bear Restaurant at Indian Lodge
Indian Lodge at Davis Mountains SP
Skyline Drive at Davis Mountains SP
Skyline Drive at Davis Mountains SP
Skyline Drive at Davis Mountains SP

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Van Horn, Mountain View RV Park

17 03 2016
Mountain View RV, Van Horn, TX

Mountain View RV, Van Horn, TX

After leaving New Mexico we’ve spent two nights at Mountain View RV Park in Van Horn, TX.  We’ve stayed in Van Horn once before with the truck camper at what is now a former KOA.  Mountain View is the park you see from I-10 – looks nice with lots of pine trees.  But, after two nights we’re tired of the highway & train noise and dust.  Mountain View has normal sized spaces, nearly each has a pine tree, the hookup including cable TV are in the right place, for $38.50 per night.  Advertised as under new management, they operate under the “next space open” assignment technique, ensuring everyone is packed in as tightly as possible.

There are some east edge sites that would be a bit nicer, but apparently the electric doesn’t work in those.  There’s a good laundry room and plenty of showers.  Over 80% of the residents appear to be full-time residents – everyone mentions a pipe line that is being built in this part of Texas.  Our only outing was to Chuy’s, a local Mexican food restaurant that appears to be using a 1987 visit of John Madden to gain new customers.  It was very busy on this Friday night, so presumably one of the best places in town.  We initially ordered a Margarita and a Shiner Bock (a very popular Texas beer).  The response, “we’re out of both of those”.  Not sure how that’s possible…but, welcome to Van Horn!

Mountain View RV, Van Horn, TX

Mountain View RV, Van Horn, TX


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