Traveling across to Alpine Texas from College Station is 621 miles. It is a lot of up and down the road. We travel through the beautiful countryside of the hill country of Texas. If you have never been there, it is some of the best cycling roads around. Diggity and Doggie know how to handle the long drive. A good  snooze will make it pass quickly.

We get into Alpine late in the afternoon. Setting up camp is easy here. Nice and flat pad site for the trailer. The one thing that has our attention is it will be quite chilly tonight…down in the low 30’s to high 20’s. Freezing water hoses and such gets your attention. Besides being close into town I could not resist the name of the  RV Park.

February 3rd…Happy Birthday Mr. Jimmy! He wakes up to a million birthday wishes via Facebook, text, e-mails and phone calls. “The Gatherer” has gathered many friends over the years. His birthday wishes remind me of those relationships he has nurtured. It makes me smile. Tonight we eat at an Italian place called Guzzi Up. A nice place. One thing we noticed is how busy they were for a Wednesday night. A fellow there played guitar and was really entertaining. In a place where the acoustics are not that great, he was perfect. In 1959 Buddy Holly was killed in a plane crash on this day, February 3,1959. He mentioned it and played a few of the tunes. It was a good evening for Jim to start his 69th year.

It’s a lot of miles to get here, but well worth the trip. Every time we come here I reflect on how we all live.  Down here their lives seem a lot less complicated. We’ve met those who are totally off the grid. With out newspapers or TV, the craziness of the world is some other fictional place. It’s not too bad. Above we are set  at the Maverick RV campsite. In the background it the Lajitas Mesa. There are not a lot of people here. Come next weekend the mountain bike festival will happen and this desert paridise will look like a parking lot.

Jim caught up our great friend Mike Long, he invited us to a cookout at his shop Desert Sports. Neat, I’m excited to see people  and get their names a reconnected with faces. We get there and everyone is busy doing stuff. Mike is building a fire, Crystal is feeding pup dogs, Bobke cooking something in a Dutch oven that smells delicious,  Katie has made a couple of sweet potato/apple pies, at the same time some folks  bringing in mountain bikes they had rented for the day.

There are four guys from Colorado who drove 13 hours to get here. Whew!  Shawn Gillis who owns Absolute Bikes in Salida Colorado along with his friends Earl, Chris and Randy are here for the cookout. Woody had met Shawn at function they were attending. Shawn was excited to meet Jim. He knew him from all of Woody’s great stories of Jim.   That’s Crystal , Mike’s sweetie in the background.

The sun is setting and Cooper, the black Lab, Whiskey, the Golden and Kaylo the sweet little tan pup all enjoy everything about life here.

Jim and the Colorado boys!

Today Jim and I went on a familiar trail from last year. I am feeling a little hesitant from a fall I had back in October. When we got to the “T” in the trail I chose to ride the road used by the vans to get here for support. Turns out it was one long road, about 8 miles. I was sure we were going to ride into Terligua and would have to climb a long steep hill on the road back to the RV Camp. Well thank goodness that didn’t happen. Instead we were on the other side of that and had a nice rolling 6 miler into camp

We head into Terlingua  to visit with everyone at Desert Sports. When was the last time you saw clothes drying on a clothes line?  Steve and  Cynthia are with us tonight at the Starlight for two for one burger night. That is not Steve’s tush! It’s a bar stool on the porch.

 

ToDay is Carly’s 7th birthday. She belongs to John who we met a few years ago here. They are full time RVers. Several people came over to celebrate with Carly.

Mike and Judy are here now. It’s great to have them back. Judy and I set out to find the trail head to the saddleback hike.After several attempts on my own John actually drew me a little map. When I found it is was surprised how simple it was to miss it. On the hike we encountered some hikers who were upset we had Doogies with us. Unknowingly we took him into the national park where dogs are not allowed. We decided that the actual climb for me was way too difficult so we came back. On the road we came up to a Sheriff’s truck. We said Hi and he asked us if we had been on the trail. We told him we didn’t realize it was national park ( dogs are not allowed in the National Park) we didn’t start at a trail head and turned around when told by some hikers. He said “thank you”we said “your welcome” and we went our way. Really nice guy.

It’s Friday night and it finds us at the Boat House. A lot of the places here have entertainment. Here they have the Slim Fest. Dedicated to Slim Ritchie, he loved this area and spent a lot of time here. Our friend Crystal is playing with others tonight. What a surprise we didn’t know she played the accordion. The dog in the photo is Fenway and his lifesaver, Ginger. Fenway was hit by a vehicle on the road and Ginger saved him. His face is a little crooked and he has a permanent smile on the left side. Ginger says he doesn’t go in the road anymore.

Roger,his wife Sondra, his son David and David’s fiancé Liz have joined us for the mountain bike festival. Years ago there were Bike races here and Roger and David  came then.  We told them last year what fun it is just to come and ride. So here they are here!

Three great days of riding and hiking and David and Liz  and Mike and Judy are on their way home. Roger, Sondra, Jim and I are headed to the hot springs in the national park. We haven’t been there in many years. It will be fun to soak in the hot springs with the Rio Grande flowing right next to it . The rock formation has swallow nests up in the crevices. The Boquillas Hot Springs, is a former resort in what is now Big Bend National Park. They were developed by J.O. Langford from 1909. He contracted malaria as a child. Searching for a cure, he heard of The Hot springs. Langford, his wife Bessie and his 18-month-old daughter set out for the site. He took a 21-day treatment of drinking and bathing in the spring waters, regaining his health. The springs was the first major tourist attraction in the area, before the national park was established.

Stopped at the Boat House they were not serving dinner but the cocktails were good. The wood carving is Slim Ritchie. On to the Starlight for dinner. Two for one burger night on Monday!

This morning we hike up to the picnic table. A great view of the Rio Grande. Then on down highway 170 toward Presidio. This road is considered one of the top most scenic roads in the country. Several movies have been filmed here. Sondra and Roger standing in an adobe building used in several sets. Tonight we will have dinner at the trailer. Tomorrow Roger and Sondra will be leaving. It has been great to spend time with them. We wish them safe travels. We will be here for two more weeks and will the head to Arizona to see family in that part of the country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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