Driving West Texas (is monotonous) & Getting Ready to Explore Benson Arizona Area

West Texas

Oil and Nothingness 

Martha and I have made our way from Thanksgiving with family in the Dallas area to Benson, Arizona for a month stay before moving on to Tucson, Arizona.  There are only two words that encapsulate how I feel about West Texas "Oil" and "Nothingness." 

For hundreds of miles along I-20 in West Texas,  you only see a brown, stark and unforgiving landscape with the added bonus of plenty of wind to keep your attention while driving.  There is little there to hold the dirt in place, so when the wind blows, there is dust in the air.

The landscape, buildings and curious looking oil field structures along with a tangle of rusted tanks and pipes dominate wide open plains. They paint a bleak and stark photo in my mind reminiscent of the photos taken of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. I imagine a woman with a child clutching her leg both with desperate looks on their faces peering at us passing from a dusty old beat up house.

Everything you see along the highway looks tired and worn looking. Sprinkled here and there are shiny, bright and gaudy looking businesses called truck stops that look weirdly out of place in the desert. West Texas is inexorably tied to big oil and gas and its inevitable that when the oil runs out most of West Texas will run out too.

Once you are on I-10 and past El Paso, you enter New Mexico and the scenery changes from everything oil related to miles of nothingness. You encounter a string of cattle feed lots, then it goes from arid to drought stricken, with frequent warnings and instructions about what to do in a dust storm. While it felt bleak and stark to me, Martha said that it felt like she was going home.

Starting Our Exploration of Benson and Surrounding Area

Today we are going to the Pima County Fairgrounds for the RV show mainly because we want something to do that we don't have to work hard at. Later in the week we are going to see "The Thing" It should be interesting. What is the thing?  I don't know but the billboards along two hundred miles of I-10 tease you into wanting to know.  We may even let you know what we see.

We made a couple of overnight stops prior to arrival in Benson. The was "Whip In RV Park" in Big Springs and then "The Desert Willow RV Park" in Van Horn, Texas

Our in Route Campground Reviews Below

(see more reviews and our blog at https://wanderingtootsies.blogspot.com)

Whip In RV Resort - Big Springs, Texas

WIFI - Yes, slow during peak hours morning and evening

ATT - Yes, two bars, three bars with WeBoost

VERIZON - Yes, four bars. five bars with WeBoost

SERVICES - 20/30/50 AMPS, Sewer, Water and cable
OTA TV - Not used here
COORDINATES  32.223400, -101.481400

COST - $32.00 dollars with Good Sams a little expensive but if you need full hookups this is the place. 

DISCOUNTS - Good Sams

REVIEW - Easy off and on I-20, great overnight spot and easy back onto the highway. We were able to get a pull through site that handled our rig and toad (55') but reserve early in the day. Great staff, dog park. The park has a lot of full time oil workers living there but it was surprisingly quiet here other than the noisy highway nearby. This is a great overnight spot and if you stay here ask if site #18 is open as it is almost a straight shot out of the park from there.

Our site was #18

Desert Willow RV Park - Van Horn, Texas

WIFI - Yes, works but slow

ATT - Yes, two bars, three bars with WeBoost

VERIZON - Yes, four bars. five bars with WeBoost

SERVICES - 20/30/50 AMPS, Sewer, Water and cable
OTA TV - Not used here
COORDINATES  31.040250, -104.827010

COST - $25 dollars nightly $22.50 with Good Sams
DISCOUNTS - Good Sams and many others (military, etc.)

REVIEW - Mom and Pop place in the city of Van Horn. Large parking lot like appearance but we were in West Texas where all parks match this description.  The park was neat as a pin, though.  Not a thing out of place, and it was obviously well cared for, unlike much of the main street in Van Horn.

Easy off and on I-10 and into and out of the RV Park. Owner is a nice guy and very helpful. You are in walking distance of the only "fancy" restaurant in town which is at the El Capitan Hotel. We did not eat there but I was told the food was good but expensive. The park is all graveled and can be dusty when the wind blows.

Travelers hint - If you need fuel and are leaving early in the morning do yourselves a favor and avoid Loves Truck stop. It is a really hard to get on the highway there after fueling. It seems there is a second entrance to Loves directly adjacent to the I-10 on ramp. Truckers line up to get fuel by using the ramp approach. Because the are so lengthy they block the ramp access by moving as far left on the approach as they can so they can make the turn. It's truly a cluster (insert appropriate verbage here). We waited a little over one half an hour waiting on the traffic jam to clear and it only cleared because a Sheriff's Officer sorted the mess.

Click Photo to Enlarge

Ripped Our Awning Off and The Rule of Three

What's the "Rule of Three" anyway? (Part 1)

Ah, full timing. living the good life, freedom of the open road, setting your own course, traveling at your own pace, learning how to take an RV patio awning apart in a wind and rain storm on an emergency basis with rain running down your sleeves and into your shorts, learning to use tools that aren't really meant to the job at hand to dismantle a twisted awning. Sounds perfect doesn't it?

When I was growing up my Dad always smiled when something went really wrong or when something broke and then he would say "Bad things always happen in threes, wonder what's next?"  After last weekend I truly understand that statement. 

Martha's last blog entry covered that we stayed in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi at the Silver Slipper Casino's RV Park.  We left there on Friday the 9th of November with the intent of heading toward Galveston Island State Park in Texas.

Bad Thing Number One

We were barely on the road for 20 minutes traveling north on Mississippi Highway 607 when we hit heavy rain and rather strong wind gusts coming from the east that started blasting the passenger side of the coach.

Since it was raining so heavily it became tough to drive, so I slowed to a safer speed of about 50 mph and shortly after we were hit by a really hard wind gust. As it hit us I heard a loud "pop" (think parachute popping open) and then the coach's handling got rather squirrely very quickly.  I was trying to figure out what was going on and glanced at mirror on the passenger side of the coach. What I saw was our 21' long 12' wide patio awning fully deployed and ripping itself apart.

I was already in the right lane with nobody behind me so I was able to brake hard and pull off the road onto the shoulder rather quickly.  When I got out of the coach this is what I was greeted with.

Not only was the canvas torn and shredding, the electric motor that retracts the awning was GONE!

After a full inspection of the damage and some googling by Martha on her cell phone of what others have done in this situation (we aren't the first, there's quite a bit of information out there), we came to the decision that the only thing to be done was remove the rest of the awning because the awning roller and canvas were shredded and the aluminum struts were all bent and twisted and some of them had their pivot points torn clear through the aluminum. Since we couldn't retract the awning and couldn't drive with it out, it had to come down. 

Bad Thing Number Two

When we arrived at the campground, we noticed that our tow dolly was missing a light!

There was a yellow LED marker light where this hole is now. I was pondering how this happened when I remembered the missing 12 volt awning motor. I don't know for sure, but I think that motor came off the awning and hit this light. What was really weird is that the screws that hold the light in place were also missing.  

Probable Sequence of Event - Maybe?

So, I think the events went as follows.  The wind gust broke the plastic housing and awning motor loose from the awning spool. It in turn went sailing into the tow dolly marker lite, then since the motor was gone the spool locking mechanism was also gone.  The awning's spool was effectively unlocked, allowing the spool to release under its own roll up spring and it rolled out and fully deployed.

Bad Thing Number Three

But wait, there's more. We spent the evening in an RV Park near Beaumont, Tx.  The morning we left for Galveston I had to dump grey water and much to my dismay the Rhino Flex sewer line burst when I pulled open the valve and emptied a considerable amount of the 47 gallon tank onto the already muddy ground before I could react and close the valve. What a mess.  It could have been worse. It may have been black water I had to dump. In retrospect I was lucky, I guess.

One thing is for sure, you get variety in your life when you full time.  

Enjoying Pensacola - Going Coastal

LIFE'S A BEACH - PENSACOLA, FLORIDA

Sunset at the Naval Air Station

We're at the BEACH!

We haven't blogged in a while, so I told Chuck that I'd write one this time.  It's been a fairly quiet few weeks, as we've slowed down (yay!) and are doing a lot of just living, instead of playing tourist.  After Hurricane Michael disrupted our plans to stay at Pensacola Beach, we spent 2 1/2 weeks at Navy campgrounds in Pensacola, drove 30 miles ands spent a couple days in Alabama, drove 90 miles for a couple days in Biloxi, moving another 35 miles to the beach at Waveland, Mississippi and then are headed for another few days on the beach in Mississippi and Texas before Thanksgiving.  A month and a half by the beach isn't too bad!

Work, work, work

I am amazed at how full life can be when you aren't working full time.  I have been working quite a bit lately, as I've been fortunate to have several freelance jobs come in.  It's kind of nice to turn away work because you're too busy...although I definitely am not working 40 hour a week.  I like putting in a couple of hours a day, but it does cut into my Facebook time.  I have also been working on Chuck's family tree.  I had a breakthrough where I identified a whole branch of Ketchums that are DNA matches to Chuck, and now I have to figure out exactly how they are related...and they've now added a chromosome browser to MyHeritage's DNA section, so I can try and map gene segments to family branches.  Of course, Chuck has thousands of DNA matches, so this is a long-term project.  It's getting me familiar with the technology, though.

Disk Golf for low-cost fun

Anyway, besides work and genealogy, we have enjoyed a bit of disk golf time.  Our campground at the Blue Angel Recreation Area in Pensacola had three 18-hole golf courses and the weather was nice while we were there, so we played every day!  And Chuck also took time to wax The Beast, so we are nice and shiny again.  We also have played in a city park in Pensacola and a city park in Biloxi.  It's a great way to get out and get some fresh air and some steps in.

Getting some exercise

I went and invested in a new Fitbit for myself, and am working on getting those steps in!  One thing about living in an RV is if you don't go outside, you don't get much exercise.  It's a whole 20 steps from the very front to the very back!  When it rains or the heat is too much, I end up walking in place or turning on the music and dancing....which looks foolish (I can't seem to get away from the full length mirror), but hey, it's exercise.

Our tourist activities

Other things we've done:  go to a wedding on the beach, mead tasting, finding Thai restaurants, meeting online friends in person, climb a lighthouse, watch the Blue Angels practice, walk on the beach, visit the Flora-Bama, snap a few sunset pictures, and relax!

Late afternoon sky at Blue Angel Recreation Area

Trying a Mead Flight at Swan Neck Wine and Meadery

A Beautiful Wedding

At the Flora-Bama

Beach at the Naval Station (no swimming allowed)

Oak Grove Campground on the NAS Pesacola, the roof was chock-full of acorns after 10 days there!