Running From the Cold, Tombstone and Benson AZ…

Time to move on westward and our next stop is at Dwayne's Mountain View RV Park in Bowie, AZ.A long 160 plus mile drive into Arizona as the chilly weather keeps us moving. Since we are a bit higher in elevation we don’t plan to stay but one night here.

The next morning we got up to seeing snow on the mountain tops near the park verifying why we shouldn’t stay longer here. We packed up and moved a bit further west to San Pedro Resort Community in the town of Benson, AZ. Lower in elevation we will stay here a few days which will give us time to visit some nearby friends.

There isn’t a lot going on in Benson but the park we are staying at on the outskirts of town at least has some trails leading from the park taking us out into the desert so we were able to do a little birdwatching. Not a lot to see but a nice little hike near the park is never a bad option. Besides if this town was good enough for Pancho Villa it is good enough for us!

We have friends we met at Betty’s RV Park in Louisiana that are staying just south of us so we decided that we would meet up at a brewery in Tombstone AZ. Since we were going ther anyhow we decided to go early and reacquaint ourselves with Tombstone.

Tombstone is quite the touristy town but it does have some historical interest. Even though the towns people have chosen to monetize the town it still has a western flair to it and is worth a visit if you have never been to it. We walked around the town and took in the local sights as well as taking a few photos of the rustic town.

Finally it was happy hour and we met Dan and Merlene for a few cold ones at the Tombstone Brewery. It was such fun reconnecting with old friends we haven’t seen in some time. After several hours of fun conversation we parted ways and headed back to Benson. We have made so many good friends at Betty’s RV Park and always look forward to reconnecting.

One last day in Benson, so we decided to simply walk around town since the weather was dicey. We had hoped to make a trip down to  a neat little town we like south of her called Bisbee. However, since it was a good ways away and with the weather we simply stayed put.

Staying in Benson our last day allowed us to explore the murals of Benson. While Benson is a small town it does have some interesting murals that were commissioned by the town. The artist who did them was quit talented and we enjoyed taking in the stories he tried to portray in his art.

A few days exploring Mobile Alabama…

Our next travel day would be to our last stop in Alabama. A three hour drive later we pulled into a new park for us, River Delta Marina & Campground. This is a County Park just north of Mobile Alabama in the small town of Creola, AL. The sites aren’t the best laid out but we sure did like the daily rate of $19.80 per night for full hook ups. Then we discovered they offer a senior discount of 10% on top of that, what a deal!

Even better is that the park has a really nice nature trail adjacent to the Tensaw River. This is also a boat marina called River Delta Marina where we saw lots of boaters heading our for a day of fishing. The Mobile River is also reachable by boat from here.

The nature trail is all on boardwalk and isn’t very long but it became a good part of our daily walks as we took in the beautiful swampy scenes, listened to the birds and were always on the look out for American Alligators, of which we saw several. The bald cypress lined river also made for great evening strolls as the sun was about to set.

The park was a great location for us to explore Mobile Alabama and we also wanted to drive over to see Daphne Alabama while here. We have driven through Mobile many times but never ventured to the downtown area. After spending some time downtown we found the city to have a nice vibe and you can tell there is a big push for development . Yet, we noticed a lot of dilapidated structures as reminders of past storms.

We learned that the USA Mardi Gras celebrations supposedly began in Mobile and not New Orleans. However, there is much heated debate about its true beginnings.. Nonetheless Mardi Gras is widely celebrated in Mobile and even in October there were remnants of past celebrations as old beads could be seen hanging in tress everywhere in the downtown area.

The architecture in the older historical parts of town also resemble the architecture seen in much of New Orleans. We really enjoyed our stroll around downtown delighting in the murals and occasional art pieces throughout town. We even found a nice spot to have a cold Alabama crafted beer at the Oyster City Brewery after our long day of exploring Mobile!.

Farewell Rockport Texas, It’s been real…

Well my time has come to a close here in Rockport Texas as it has been two months since I first arrived. Actually it was two months and one day since I added a day due to heavy rains predicted. This stay was pretty much everything I had hoped for. It was quiet, it had the beach and ocean nearby yielding many fishing and walking opportunities. I was also able to find some great bird watching locations.

The only downside to this two month stay was the fishing was quite poor.  It could be my fishing skills but I’d like to blame it more on the big freeze which caused a huge fish kill in this area. It was bad enough with reduced limits on some fish species as well as increasing minimum sizes. The size limitations caused me the most grief on speckled trout as the size limit was raised to 17” and every trout I caught was just below that. I do want to thank Barney who pens the Old Fat Man Adventures blog for his fishing tips. Without his advice I may not have caught any trout!

When I first arrived in Rockport the wildflowers were blooming. My site was close to fields of Indian Paintbrush and Phlox and also close to a neat little spot nearby with a small pond. The pond was loaded with Whistling Ducks and Roseate Spoonbills but of late they have mostly moved on..

I really enjoyed experiencing the annual bird migration this spring as this area is right in the heart of the migratory paths of many species of birds. Between frequent visits to Port Aransas and Goose Island State Park I also found several good birding spots near town, one even real close to a great happy hour spot.

For those who haven’t visited Rockport you really should especially to enjoy this quiet location on the Texas coast where there's great places to do a little fishing or for just hanging out at the beach. Rockport has that small town feel where life runs at a slower pace. Between hurricanes and Covid the area has suffered a bit but probably not much more than many other towns in the USA.

The small downtown is up and coming. It is really trying to establish itself as a bit of a touristy area mixed with venues to attract locals. There are several well done murals to see that are scattered on the walls around town as it is emerging from the Covid slowdown.

Having said all this I am certainly ready to move on as hitch itch has become evident these past few days. I have no hesitation of returning to the this area as it appeals to most of my interests. Another huge positive for Rockport is the lower than usual costs associated with full timing while staying here. But alas, the wheels must roll once again…Next stop will be Shiner, Texas!

NOTE:  While Sharon is in North Carolina I am now currently at in College Station, Texas until  June 15th…

A Little Trip On Route 66…

After a very lengthy stay in Texas we finally left the state several months later than planned. But, as they say, life happens! So we left Amarillo Texas and made our way into New Mexico. About an hour later and just a few miles off US 40 is one of Route 66’s iconic little towns, Tucumcari, NM.

We pulled the RV into another Passport America park called Blaze-in-Saddle RV Park. While we only stayed one night at the Passport America rate of $14.50 we have to say that the three brothers who have recently taken over this park are making it a great spot to stay when visiting Tucumcari NM. We met two of them at check in and they couldn’t have been nicer.

The town of Tucumcari is named for Tucumcari Mountain (named by native Americans) which we could easily see from our RV site. An interesting tidbit about Tucumcari is that many of the scenes of the TV series Rawhide shown in the early 1960’s were shot in the Tucumcari area.

While Tucumcari may no longer be a vibrant and active town it is still an interesting place to stop. There are many several places adorned in neon along route 66 to be seen. Sadly they are alongside some ruins of the past from days long ago when the town was bustling.  That all stopped when the interstate highway took over and bypassed this once vibrant town leaving what’s left behind as a tribute to its past.

We spent most of the day trying to locate the many murals painted on buildings throughout the town.  It was a nice walk and we had a little fun at the hardware store posing with its quirky murals.

The best time to check out the town is at night when all the lights comes on. There are several motels that have embraced the charm of Route 66 with lots of neon lights and vintage cars. We had decided to eat at the recommended Pow Wow restaurant where we had some fairly good New Mexican cuisine. However, our next stop will be near Albuquerque where we know we will encounter much better New Mexican food…. we can’t wait!

NOTE: We are in Albuquerque New Mexico until after labor day and then on to Lake Abiquiu, NM…