Jan 25, 2021 - Webster, TX

We are staying in Webster TX in the Jetstream RV Resort at NASA, a nice park. But it is not on the same level with Pueblo El Mirage in Arizona. It is just a nice RV park. There is a nice clubhouse, pool, and gym. But there are also lots of residents who are workers, families, and some short term people who are just passing through. The RV campsites are much smaller than PEM, something I really miss. I have NOT unpacked our outdoor furniture, grill, etc, because there is very little room for it. There have been lots of developments since we...

Jan 14, 2021 - Moderna COVID Vaccinations at CARE

Today Brookshire Brothers Pharmacy held a COVID vaccination clinic at CARE to give a free Moderna vaccination to all those who wanted it: residents, staff and volunteers. The pharmacist and his aide worked closely with our nurse, Judy, in getting it set up. They were very efficient, so the process went very smoothly. We were required to sit for about 30 minutes after the injections to make sure that there would be no reactions. I hardly felt the injection because their needle was so sharp. Other pharmacies in town were offering the...

Jan 11, 2021 - Farewell to Waymon Sinclair

Early this morning we lost our friend and fellow CARE resident, Waymon Sinclair, to complications from COVID-19. He had been having a very difficult battle with the virus, which had weakened his heart. He and Shirley have been here for several years and had regularly participated in our parties – dressed accordingly. Waymon is the fourth one of my acquaintances who has fallen victim to this horrible disease.

Jan 11, 2021 - Into Texas

Today has been our longest day yet...13 1/2 hours. I call that a “double-day”. It’s been cold every day thus far, but now that we are west of the Mississippi we see forecasts improving. We plan to spend 3 nights here. As you can see from our pictures, the view from our windshield is not our best: however, we are planning on spending some time walking around down town San Antonio. Hopefully we’ll have some stories and pictures that are a bit more interesting. Meanwhile, stay safe, mind your COVID manners, and be nice to everyone. 𯘷

Jan 1, 2021 - Happy New Year!

Today dawned chilly but dry, a welcome change from the cold, rainy weather of yesterday. Not much is going on due to that infamous elephant in the room: COVID-19. I hope and pray that 2021 will bring better conditions around the world. I’m just thankful to be safe and healthy and to have such wonderful staff and volunteers at CARE.

Dec 31, 2020 - New Year’s Eve Party at CARE

Tonight the CARE volunteers hosted a little New Year’s Eve party for us in the multi-purpose room. It was nicely decorated and there were plenty of snacks and drinks. Brian Brandenburg told stories and sang some silly songs, accompanying himself on his ukulele. Judy Gauthier played her clarinet along with pre-recorded music and I accompanied Maureen Asper on the piano keyboard. There was a pretty good turnout in spite of the cold, rainy weather.

Dec 31, 2020 - Happy New Year

After a less than restful night, what with the wind howling and rain/sleet hitting the windows and roof, we woke up to cold and wet here, and a foot of snow at Panther Junction just 26 miles north of us. The higher elevations in the Chisos had a couple feet of snow. Unheard of for the desert! And of course the whole park was shut down with blocked roads and vehicles stranded, stuck or off in a ditch. As for us, we only had mist and light snow which was not accumulating at all. What was scary though was that Ben’s small travel trailer was...

Dec 30, 2020 - Interesting Riders

Susan and Matthew, VIPs who work at the Persimmon Gap VC, rode with us on Old Ore Road today. This is a mother/son team who are full time RVers with just a small van. This is their first time here at Big Bend, so they were excited to see some parts of the park that they are unable to drive to with their vehicle. Matthew is hearing impaired, so spoke only in sign language. Susan was a teacher before she retired, and taught several different subjects in ASL (American Sign Language.) Together, they have volunteered all over the world,...

Dec 29, 2020 - Almost a Good Day

Glenn Springs road was pretty calm and peaceful. We only had a couple of campsites that were occupied, and the rest were no problem. We did find some light tracks on the road, and thought we were going to get away with an easy day until we got back to River Road and found an area where some yahoo had done figure 8s in an otherwise pristine area of the desert, and we were back to raking again. These were fairly deep, so took a good bit of time to smooth them out. It was really nice weather today, so we had our happy hour outside when we got...

Dec 28, 2020 - A LONG Day

After spending yesterday resting (except for laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc) we started our 3 days with River Road. Terry hiked the Marufo Vega trail for her last 2 days, so we figured we had better get back on the back roads since we have so many visitors in the park for the holidays. Our day started with cleaning up the remains of a campfire that someone had in the parking lot of the VC. Then we turned in a vehicle that was parked on River Road so the occupants could hike in to the Hot Springs, which is closed. Then we spent about an...

Dec 27, 2020 - Semper Fi and Merry Christmas

Tyler, Texas was a wonderful stop! We went there specifically to meet up with two Marines who served under Dennis when he was the Guard Chief on the USS Independence during the early 1990’s. Lindsey and Balderas were fresh out of boot camp when they were assigned to sea duty on the aircraft carrier and they had not seen “Gunny” as they call him, for almost 30 years! It was a week of reminiscing and lots of stories, I haven’t laughed so hard in many years. We spent the week at the Boulders at Lake Tyler; it had been a former city campground...

Dec 26, 2020 - Hike in the Desert

While Jeanne and Mike went back to work at the VC and Terry went back out on patrol, Cathy joined Don and me for a hike in the desert. There was a canyon that I had been wanting to hike to off of River Road. I figured that it was at the end of Glenn Spring draw and very possibly just south of the Compton ruins. Don thought I was nuts, naturally. But he did agree to hike in to look. One way was just under a mile and a quarter, with the last ¼ mile being rough going as we had to bushwhack our way through the brush (mostly catsclaw and...