75 Degrees

Sorry but we have to brag about the warm weather because its the warmest day we have had here in quite a while. We went fishing, of course, and enjoyed seeing turtles sunning themselves and the water sparkling in the warm sunshine. I have to say the water is very clear in the lake and a beautiful blue green color in the Devil's River which dumps into the lake.

We were fishing by the big cliff pictured because there are hot springs that empty into the river here. The water temp was almost 70 degrees because of these springs otherwise the water temp is in the mid 50's. The fish are supposed to start spawning in the next week or so but we will see. Many Texans that live in the northern part of the state are coming here to get out of the cold and snow at home. They say the weather they are having is unusually cold -- I wish they would keep the cold wind up there and not let it blow this way. After a taste of 70 degree temps we got a morning of with a touch of sleet.

I think the stress of it taking two months to get the truck fixed and finally having to have a new boat cover made because the original wasn't waterproof -- caused Jim to succomb to shingles. Luckily, it's not too uncomfortable and hasn't slowed him down too much. Everyone here walks across the border to the pharmacie and gets whatever they need for medications -- with or without a prescription. We aren't willing to do that -- they have good clinics and a hospital here if you need medical care. People in camp can usually suggest a good doctor. There are only two dentists in the area because most people go across the border to a Mexican dentist -- much cheaper and they adverstise being American trained. I opted for going to one in Del Rio -- I'm just not that brave.

Ancient Sea Fossils

Close to the campground along a pathway you can find all kinds of fossils. If you click on these pictures to make them bigger you will be able to see them much better. One group is all shells fossilized in rock with the white snail shells that look like they washed up on shore yesterday but are in fact fossilized. The picture with the big rock "glob" of shells, seaweed, etc in the rock and the smaller gray swirly snail shells shows fossils that are fairly small. The picture with the two darker rocks on the right side of the picture show the tiniest fossils in the rock. You can see the small bumps in the rock that were ancient seeds or sea creatures - not sure which. The state park about 40 miles from here has some giant fossilized snail shells -- they are at least two feet high -- amazing how big they got.

We had some excitement here -- a chase on the highway past the park involving a car and at least two dozen police cars of various sorts. They were chasing a stolen vehicle and when they got it stopped -- at the campground in the national park. The man driving had a gun that he turned on himself -- he also had a woman with him. The officers shot him in the arm and took him into custody. The amazing thing about the whole episode was the car chase -- it looked exactly like when they chased OJay down the freeway. There were Del Rio police, the highway patrol, federal park enforcement personnel, a helicopter and even the Texas rangers all after this car.

We got to enjoy a Valentine's dinner and musical entertainment Saturday night. The owner of the park grilled up some pork roast and served it with salad and vegies -- everyone brought their own favorite beverage and it was very good. The trio of musicians that played did a good job on their guitars and fiddle. -- It was good even though it was mostly the slow country songs -- not my cup of tea -- but it was still fun to get together and listen.

Killer Bees?

When you look at the picture of the high canyon wall from the water you can see how pockmarked the canyon wall is. All of these holes and crevises are excellent places for beehives. Here in Big Canyon we were fishing next to this wall and heard a loud hum. We also noticed there were a few bees flying around us and a lot more dead in the water. The only large beehives around this part of the country are pretty much made up of Africanized bees "killer bees". We obviously got the heck out of there quick. Just the sound of the the hive is frightening. I can't imagine irritating them and having them all come after you.

I tried taking a picture of the sunset over the water facing toward Mexico. We were at the campground and boat ramp that the local Air Force base has on Lake Amistad. This boat launch area and campground is right before you get to the dam -- and into Mexico. The public can use the ramp but only military personnel can camp here.

The local Ford dealer finally fixed the vibration we had in the truck at certain speeds. After balancing the tires three times and having it still shake they finally replaced the drive shaft. All of this work has been going on since before Christmas. Nothing gets done very quickly down here. Thank goodness for an extended service contract. It seems to have done the trick so now we can go on some longer drives again.

We took the truck about 60 miles northwest toward Big Bend National Park and took a picture of the scenery with the canyon in the background. We are planning a few nights up at Big Bend for last week of February. We hear it gets really busy there in March with all the spring breakers.

Sunsets and Moonrise

Winter hit up in the panhandle of Texas dropping 10 inches of snow. Interstate 40 was closed through Oklahoma and a number of RV'ers from "up north" in Texas headed here to escape the weather. We also had a number of folks that stayed here at our park longer than they planned not wanting to drive in it. We just had some heavy rain and then it got up to 75 degrees with a tornado watch - in January!

I am amazed at how many RV'ers don't head south until sometime in January when the roads can be at their worst. I asked one couple who just arrrived from Michigan if they even found any campgrounds to stay at on the way down. They put antifreeze in their rig and stay in motels along the way or they stay at state parks since most of those stay open even in winter. I am also amazed at the number of RV'ers who travel the whole winter. We have met a number of couples who travel across the south from Florida to Arizona never stopping for very long in any one place. I can't imagine what it costs in camping fees and fuel. It is so much less expensive to stay somewhere for a month -- monthly rates can save you hundreds of dollars over nightly rates. I can understand how you could become bored staying in one place if you don't have a hobby to pursue.

I tried taking pictures of some of the beautiful sunsets and a pretty moonrise by one of the windmills. We are trying to find a place to take sunset pictures without overhead wires in the background. The windmill is the back storage area of the cmapground -- the campground is much more orderly than this storage area.