Rock Climbing and Crazy Water?

We had a free weekend approaching and decided to go camping for a few days somewhere, anywhere. It had been a busy summer and fall was approaching.  I emailed our son and told him we were thinking about trying Caprock Canyons SP and invited his family to join us.  He replied that they had just made reservations at Lake Mineral Wells State Park and would like for us to join them there.  Their trip was a birthday request of their oldest son, Will.  He is now 12 years old and this park has great rock climbing areas, which he loves to do and excels at. How could anyone say no to that?

 On our way down to Mineral Wells our route took us through Archer City, Texas, the home of famed writer, Larry McMurtry, author of Lonesome Dove and many other works.  We stopped at his book store for a look around and a break from the heat.

We arrived in the heat of the day on Friday.  It was 106F as we set up.  Later, a cool front came through and Saturday was pleasant for a day of rock climbing or watching.  We chose watching.  That afternoon the boys swam while we got a campfire ready for hot dogs and s'mores.  A scary story after dinner and then every one slept well.

 Brock practices climbing on the lower rocks.

 Cory coaches Will and all the other climbers in safety and technique.

Me, Cory and Grant pause for a moment.

 Christi and Cory.  Hey, she climbed to the top too!

Will, Sam (the boys' friend and neighbor), Grant, Brock, Cory and Christi at Penitentiary Hollow, where all the rock climbing action occurs. 

 Around the camp fire.

On Sunday, the kids went fishing while we prepared lunch after which they left for home. We planned to stay an extra day.  Our plans changed a little when Betty received word that an elderly aunt was not doing too well.  We were only an hour away from the nursing home she was in, so we decided to stay an additional day in order to go visit her.

When I had mentioned to my 85 year old mother that we were going to Mineral Wells her immediate response was "See if you can still buy Crazy Water!" (that is a story in itself).  The high mineral content of some of the water from wells here was said to have cured a demented woman who drank it in the 1880's.  It was later found that the water contains trace amounts of lithium, a mineral used in the treatment of certain mental disorders.  On our way out of town we stopped at The Famous Water Company and found that yes indeed, they still sell Crazy Water and in fact the Crazy Water Festival is coming up in October.  We bought a case of the miracle water and then pointed our rig towards Amarillo.

Another fun trip in the books.

Kids, bikes and the Canyon

Spring break was here.  Our son and daughter in law were making a trip to Denver and asked us to keep their three boys for a couple of days.  Yippee!  All we needed was a reason to try out our new (to us) 5th wheel.  We took the boys and their bikes down to Palo Duro Canyon State Park.  This park is about 25 miles from our house, so that makes it one of our favorites when the weather is not too warm.

While I checked us in at the gate the Texas Longhorn cattle exhibit got a good looking over.

A brilliantly colored cardinal was a regular visitor at our campsite.

Will and Grant hone their skills in the fine art of cooking bacon in camp.


A downhill sidewalk provided hours of biking fun.

Hiking with Capitol Peak in the background.

Climbing the red rock bluffs.

Our crew.

Brock keeps up with his big brotherts.

More biking fun.

The famous Cave.  Always a favorite destination for a short but exciting hike.

Stopping to read a little about our surroundings.

These kids are part mountain goats.  Yes, there are kids in this picture.

It was a short, but memorable camping trip.  It gave us another chance to iron out any kinks in our rig and hopefully the boys will remember it for a long time.  I know we will.

2300 miles and we never left Texas!

It was April, 2012 when Betty got a phone call from a customer requesting that she come to the Rio Grande Valley (Los Fresnos, Texas, to be exact) to do a product show and demonstration.  Betty sells the Longaberger family of products (baskets, pottery, wrought iron and more) at home shows.  She will go almost anywhere to do her job.  After a little thought we decided to hitch up the 5th wheel trailer and make a little vacation out of it, after all our route would take us through Midland, twice, where some of our grand kids are!

Our first stop was Midland where we stayed and played.  The next day after hugs and promises to be back in a week or so, we moved on.  Two days later we arrived at Port Aransas on the Gulf Coast.  There we visited a cousin I hadn't seen in years and got a tour of the beaches, neighborhood and town.  We stayed at a great RV resort, but didn't have time to fully enjoy it since our schedule called for us to be in Los Fresnos the next day.

After the work was done in Los Fresos we continued northwest along the Rio Grande River leaving the Valley behind.  Most of the snowbirds were gone, but I can see why they come here by the thousands every winter.

Our next destination was Big Bend National Park, but it would take a couple of days to get there, so we stopped along the way at Seminole Canyon State Park. What an awesome place.  Uncrowded, beautiful desert scenery, Native American pictographs, gorgeous sunsets and even a nighttime thunderstorm!

Big Bend was as vast and awe inspiring as always.  The history presentations and exhibits were great.  The RV "campground" with hookups was really just a parking lot, and a crowded one at that, run by the store at Rio Grande Village.  Thankfully we were there after the peak season, so there weren't too many rigs in the lot.  The really pretty camping is in the National Park Service campgrounds, but there are no hookups there and with daytime temperatures reaching into the 100's, electricity was a mighty fine thing to have.  It makes the air conditioner work better, you know.

After a few days there we headed on to Davis Mountains State Park, but we took the scenic route through Big Bend Ranch State Park.  This park is nearly as big as BBNP, but newer and not very developed yet.  The drive  along the river has been ranked by National Geographic as one of the most scenic in America.  They were not kidding.

















Overnight at Davis Mountains State Park, we skipped the "Star Party" hosted by nearby University of Texas' McDonald Observatory.  We had attended it before when our kids were young.  Let me tell you, in case you didn't know, there are a LOT of stars up there and you can see most of them from here on a clear, West Texas night.  Do it if you ever get the chance.  You can bring your own telescope or use one of several they set up just for the event.

After another stop in Midland we headed back to Amarillo. We had traveled 2300 miles, seen umpteen Border Patrol officers, burned more diesel than I care to calculate, but we had a great time.  And we never left Texas!