Category: Fun

Texas is big, really big. Sherman, our Cruise America RV, only wants to travel in daylight so it required two days to make it across the state. Our route took us south and westward away from San Angelo on Interstate 10 through some pretty barren countryside.  This made for interesting views.  We were able to see vast stretches of desert punctuated by a few oil rigs, and small herds of cattle. We went for miles without seeing a human soul except for those in passing vehicles. The scenery was fascinating in so many ways.

Ultimately we turned north and west as we neared El Paso. I have never been to Mexico and was struck by the difference in the appearance of the structures on either side of the border as we drove beside the “wall”. The huge, modern buildings in El Paso were in sharp contrast to the small, well-worn homes that were etched into the hillsides of Juarez just several hundred yards away from us.

Our destination on this leg of our RV road trip was White Sands Missile Range, NM. We ventured through Las Cruces then turned east over St. Augustine Pass through the Organ Mountains. It was hard to contain my excitement at this point.  Prior to this trip, I had been in every state in the lower 48 except for three and New Mexico was one of those three. I had always pictured New Mexico in my mind as being beautiful, and this first glimpse did much to reinforce that image.  The view to our front was stunning. The mountains were framed by a clear blue sky with the earth tones of the sand at the bottom of our view through Sherman’s windshield. I remember saying to myself “This is why I made this trip”.

White Sands Mille Range is the largest military installation in the country, covering some 3,200 square miles. Testing missiles requires lots of land, and testing missiles happens here. We went through the gate to the base and drove straight to the campground because it was getting late in the day. We had a reservation but we were a bit apprehensive because there are only eight sites for RVs and we wanted a good one. We worried needlessly. There were only two sites occupied. We placed some towels and a few boxes on the picnic table at the end of the row. Helen (adorable wife) gave me a high five because this was definitely the best site available (and Helen is pretty picky about where she sleeps).  The next task was to go pay for our stay.  At $10 it was a bargain!

After a quick trip to the commissary for some dinner items, we connected Sherman to all of the utilities and settled in. The setting sun gave us a striking view to our front. My only thoughts were “Man, I’m so glad to be here!”  My next thought was why were we here for only one night? I sat at the picnic table, eyes fixed on the mountains until I was driven in by the chill that fell on the desert.

The next morning we were up early and bounced out of Sherman to take some pictures of the sunrise and the morning sun on the mountains. Once again, a clear day greeted us.  A skilled photographer I’m not, but a few pictures were taken that morning came out well. I was able to get Helen to pose for this picture as she headed off for the shower.  I always said she looks good anytime, even early in the morning.

The showers at the campground were extremely clean with no one waiting to use them. Our Military Living readers need to know that everything about this campground is first class. It truly is a gem in the military inventory and I would recommend it highly. Hopefully, we will return someday for a longer visit.

All too soon the time came for us to leave. We pointed Sherman toward the White Sands National Monument. As we were leaving the main base of Missile Range, we spotted endless field of bright yellow flowers that extended far into the desert. We stopped to photograph this dazzling color display and walked through them for several hundred feet. Later, a friend told us they were California poppies and the rainfall had brought them out in volume this year.

The White Sands National Monument, a National Park, is located completely within the Missile Range reservation.  As such, it can be closed occasionally for missile testing, but this day was not one of them. We stopped at the Park Headquarters to have our Park Passports stamped and to pick up a souvenir or two before we drove eight-mile loop through the Monument. What a sight to see.

The white sand is composed of gypsum that is washed from the surface of the surrounding mountains and becomes trapped on the floor of the desert. There is no way for the water to flow from the area, so the light gypsum sand remains and is moved around by the wind. Large dunes are thus formed. We drove by many of them on the loop road. A Park brochure informed us that this is the largest gypsum dune field in the world and the monument can be seen by astronauts from space.

We also drove by young people who were surfing and sledding down the sand dunes.  It looked like a lot of fun.  We stopped to watch the surfers at one of the points of interest and decided to walk out to a viewing area past several dunes. It was quite remarkable to see how far the white sand extended. It was also quite beautiful. Once we reached the end of the viewing area we met a nice couple named John and Mary from Wisconsin. They came to White Sands in a large RV that made Sherman very self-conscious.  We took turns getting pictures of ourselves to preserve our visits. See our Picture Gallery next Tuesday.

We also met an energetic young student from Creighton University who had just completed a project with the border patrol in El Paso during her spring break.  She had come to White Sands to enjoy a day of sand surfing with a few of her classmates. I found myself envious of both her youth and her energy.  She was to graduate soon. We wished her well as she walked back to join her friends.

Sherman was waiting somewhat impatiently as we returned to the parking lot.  He was anxious to move on to Albuquerque where we would finally be staying somewhere for more than one night. Perhaps the sand under his saddle was making him a bit cranky. We dusted him off and fired him up.  We were sorry to leave White Sands, a place I’ll store in the memory bank for a long time. Sherman however, blew a few grains of white sand out of his radiator…and muttered something like “it’s time to be Easin’ Along”. Cranky!

We steered Sherman out of Ft. Worth on the fourth morning of our RV road trip.  Our destination was Goodfellow AFB Recreation Camp in San Angelo, TX which was about five hours away.  This RV Park had no reserved spots available, so it was first come, first serve.  We had called ahead and learned that there were a few spaces available at the time we called, but we moved along briskly in order to have a place for Sherman, our Cruise America RV, to spend the night.

By now we were becoming comfortable with the nuances of driving a motor home. The most difficult aspect of driving a vehicle of this type was becoming accustomed to driving with only side view mirrors to observe the traffic around you. The mirrors were large and easy to use and the wide angle mirrors were helpful as well.  Nevertheless, for the first couple of days, I felt like my head was on a swivel and I was constantly casting glances from side to side.

 There was one other factor that took some getting used to and that was driving in the wind. Sherman acted much like a big kite when the wind was blowing from the side…and it seemed like the wind was always blowing. This required some serious concentration at times and always required two hands on the steering wheel.  At one point when crossing the open plains, a gust blew us onto the shoulder of the road. That experience was a bit unsettling. By the end of the early days of this trip, I felt the effects of holding Sherman to a straight line and was usually a bit fatigued. However, as mentioned above, I was getting used to it and just settled in on a speed of no more than 65 mph and used cruise control whenever possible.  

When we arrived in San Angelo, we went first to the Air Force Base and not to the Recreation Camp a few miles away.  There was no Pilot/Flying J nearby so Sherman needed fuel and we needed a few things for our kitchen. Goodfellow is a very large base and the employees and airmen were leaving for the day as we arrived, so traffic caught us at an inopportune time—remember we did not have reservations. We gassed up, (love BX gas prices) turned Sherman around and headed out.

Upon arrival at the Recreation Camp, the camp host, a very friendly gentleman named Ralph, greeted us warmly. He lived in a huge fifth wheel trailer at one end of the Camp. Ralph said he didn’t think he had any spaces left.  Our hearts sank, it was getting late in the day, and we didn’t have a plan B.

Ralph went back to his trailer and grabbed a clipboard, then headed off to the camp office, telling us to wait while he checked a few things out. We endured several long minutes of sitting by Sherman immersed in hope.  Ralph returned and asked us how long we would be staying and we replied that we were there for one night only. Our luck won out.  Ralph had one space left.  It turned out that, of the four campsites at Goodfellow that can be reserved, a camper making the reservation for one of them was delayed by a day.  Sherman filled that space very quickly.

Before we connected the utilities, we got some directions from Ralph for a nearby place to grab food for take-out.  We didn’t feel like cooking. Ralph suggested we give Packsaddle Barbeque a try since it was only about a mile down the road.  We had been looking forward to some Texas barbeque so we were all in.

Packsaddle was a storefront operation in a strip center. When we arrived there were no customers, but two very friendly young ladies greeted us and made suggestions.  Helen (adorable wife) wanted to try sliced brisket—something we don’t get in Tennessee, and I ordered a pulled pork plate.  Both meals came with baked beans and cole slaw. We piled back into Sherman and returned to the campground, hooked up, and settled in for the night. Since we had a microwave oven in Sherman’s kitchen, we decided to take a walk around the campground then return to warm up dinner.

I want to give an overview of the Recreation area for our Military Living readers. The Recreation Camp is a very nice park. It only has 20 spaces, but all have electric, water, and sewer hookups. It has a great shower facility that is very clean and well maintained. (we took full advantage the next morning). There is also a nice washer/dryer facility that sits inside a reading and rec room with many books, videos, and puzzles to browse or read while you wait for your laundry to finish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The campground sits alongside Lake Nasworthy, a pleasant lake for fishing or boating. There is a marina and a marina office for boat rentals although this was closed on the day we visited. We sat on one of the benches beside the marina to regroup from a day of driving.  This was a welcome break.

After our Barbeque dinner (just ok, not great), we listened to music on the MacBook I brought along. If there is anything to criticize about this camp, it is that, while Wi-Fi is available, it is very unreliable. We finally gave up, but that was not really a big deal. We could remain disconnected for one day.

We awoke around sunrise and walked to the mini mart outside the gate for ice and coffee. Unfortunately, we did not have time to browse through the town of San Angelo. We needed to make our way to White Sands Missile Range because, like Goodfellow, there were no reservation sites available. I’m told that San Angelo is a great place to explore but we’ll have to come back on our next trip.

We did make one pit stop after we hit the road and it just happened that we stopped in front of a historical marker pointing to Castle Gap, a break in the mountains where the first cattle drives came through in the 1800’s. I did some research later and learned that the early drives through this gap opened the trail for future drives from Texas to Montana. The stories about these drives later served as the basis for one of my all-time favorite novels, Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. Legend is that eight different gold shipments were lost by settlers while venturing through the Gap, and treasure hunters still work the mountains in search of lost gold.

Not even the possibility of finding gold could convince Sherman to drive through Castle Gap. He preferred instead to continue Easin’ Along.

Please come back next week–White Sands, NM.