The Little RV Visits El Paso, Texas

On our second day in the El Paso area we decided to go poke around in one of the tourist stores. This store was called Saddleblanket and had billboard after billboard in the area and clearly it worked because there we were in the store hunting for treasures. Now keep in mind that since we live in our RV full time we don't have space for unnecessary things like decor or keepsakes but we still like to look and this place didn't disappoint. 

You know you want a set of those bar stools pictured above.  

What about some of these other treasures we found.  Anyone for a giant metal cactus? Anyone? What about a longhorn steer?

After shopping the morning away we went in search of something a bit more cultural.
We followed the El Paso Mission Trail. The mission trail consists of three missions. We managed to make it to two of them. The first was San Elizario Presidio Chapel.

San Elizario Presidio Chapel 1877

The mission has beautiful wood doors.

The interior is very ornate and there was so much to look at from the stained glass windows to the columns and arches. 

We stopped at a little taco shop for lunch then moved on to Socorro Mission (1843). 

Socorro Mission 1843

The inside of this mission was very rustic and the age was apparent but in the best possible way. 

I loved the carved wood trim along the walls and the balcony.

The altar...

Ceiling detail...

I never get tired of seeing parts of America's history.

Rockin' and Rollin' in the Little RV

This morning we decided to get out of Texas so we packed up, chipped the ice off of everything and were on our way. None of the hoses or cables would cooperate because everything was frozen and stiff as could be.  I basically stuffed it all into the basement and shut the door knowing when we got to our next location it would be thawed out and more flexible.

That's not snow it's all ice.

As we drove about the first 100 miles today the weather was in the low 20s and very foggy. There was a lot of ice on the bushes along the road. We were only a few miles from Mexico and this is not what I was expecting.

The fog eventually burned off and the sun came out. We gained an hour as we crossed into the Mountain time zone.

Casino Camping in New Mexico

We drove about 250 miles today and are just barely over the border in New Mexico. We're casino camping again which I love because of the prices.  $15 a night for 50 amp electric and water.

We're experiencing more crazy weather this evening. There is a front coming through from the west and we are having 50 mile per hour wind gusts. The Little RV is rockin' and rollin' this evening.

Stalled in Texas and Waiting for a Storm to Pass in the Little RV

We left Junction, Texas on Friday morning. The western side of Texas is sparsely populated and there are long stretches of nothingness. I watched the temperature climb as we moved West. We started at 55 degrees and when we stopped for the day in Fort Stockton it was 82 degrees. The wind was incredibly strong. We found a great little park called Hilltop RV Park. As you might expect it is on a hilltop near Fort Stockton and surrounded by miles and miles of nothing.

Not my idea of beautiful scenery

The park is all pull-throughs with full hook-ups. My kind of park! The drives are wide and I had no trouble parking in our site. The owners have several pieces of metal art around the property. 

Roosters

There is a storm coming in from the West and we are supposed to get some snow tonight and tomorrow morning but the temperatures are expected to be back in the 60s by Tuesday. We have decided to stay here for two more nights until the weather clears up.  

This morning I walked to the office to pay for our additional nights and took my camera along. You can see how dark and cloudy the sky has become.

I love these Mexican musician figures.

On both ends of Fort Stockton there are giant Buffalo Soldier statues welcoming drivers. I can see one from our site.  This is not the best photo but here they are.

Home sweet home...

The Little RV is Slowly Making Its Way Across Texas

We left the San Antonio area yesterday after spending 8 days there. We were able to get our mail and see some sites but not much more. 

We are now making our way across Texas toward New Mexico. The Texas portion of I-10 covers nearly 900 miles and we will be driving each and every one. 

We are in Junction, TX today in a very nice little park. The sites are huge and most are pull-through. There is a river along one side of the park and it's so quiet. The hosts couldn't be nicer. 

Did I mention how quiet it is??? After our 8 day stay in the last park where we had to turn sideways to squeeze between our RV and our neighbor's RV, we couldn't put our awning out, there was constant traffic and you could hear everything from the neighboring RVs this is quiet a treat. 

I woke to a beautiful sunrise today. As I watched the sun come up I saw some deer by the river and later I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye and these geese were making their way to the river. 

Most of the other campers packed up and left the campground early. It's a quiet day in the Little RV. Rob is resting and I'm working on this and that. 

The campground has descent wifi so I can work on the blog but our cell phones don't get enough of a signal to make calls so family don't worry, we're fine!

Loving Our San Antonio Neighbors in the Little RV

We are near San Antonio, Texas this week. Rob is a bit under the weather so we're taking it easy on the sight seeing but I'm sure getting a lot done around the little RV. I got a new appliance so I am dealing with a domino situation.  It has to go somewhere so something else has to go, period! 

The RV park we're in has the most incredibly narrow sites. We arrived, checked in and got set-up and within about an hour our neighbors arrived. The sites are so narrow that when our slides are out I have to turn sideways to get between the two rigs. We're crammed into one of those green rows in the photo below.

Braunig Lake RV Resort

Fortunately for us, our new neighbors, Pete and Linda were awesome and even though we could look directly into each others windows we were sorry to see them go today. They are heading the direction we just came from so we traded some campground and sightseeing suggestions.

Today we drove into San Antonio to take a look around. Walking was out of the question so we just toured by truck. 

We drove by the Alamo and if Rob feels up to it we'll go back and do the tour.

The Alamo and a whole lotta tourists!

There were some beautiful churches along our route.

When we'd had enough traffic and crazy streets we headed for one of the San Antonio Missions, Mission Espada. 

This mission was established in 1690 and much of it is crumbled remains. 

It was a beautiful and peaceful place to wander around and photograph. There are three other missions we would like to visit while we are here. 

The Little RV Rolls into Texas After a Long Day

In preparation for our departure we filled both of our fuel tanks in Pass Christian, Mississippi. We are delighted to pay only $2.45 a gallon for diesel. That is the lowest price per gallon we have paid since we bought our truck. See the Gulf in the background?

We left Mississippi yesterday bound for Louisiana. We were welcomed to Louisiana just a few miles into our day. 

We had a general idea of where we might stop for the night but the closer we got to Texas the more determined we were to make it across the border. We don't generally drive more than 100 to 150 miles in a single day but sometimes we just want to feel like we are getting somewhere. 

Check out this huge star at the Texas Welcome Center. 

We're camped just inside the state for two nights just to recover from the long day of driving. We were fortunate enough to get a really long pull-through site and didn't even have to unhitch the truck and the Little RV. Tomorrow we move south to the Gulf near Galveston, Texas. It's about 130 miles to our new camp which is directly across the street from the gulf. 

It's Mardi Gras here in the South. I always thought Mardi Gras was something celebrated in New Orleans but all along the gulf we have run into Mardi Gras decorations and signs advertising Mardi Gras events. We were only able to get a site for 4 nights on the Gulf because there are celebrations planned for this weekend and next weekend and the parks are full. 

I've been researching things to see and do in Texas and it's clear that we have to go to the San Antonio area. That will be our next stop. 

The Little RV Visits the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Oyster Shells

We're in Mississippi for a week while we wait for some necessities to arrive in the mail. Last time through here we camped near Biloxi so this time we moved a bit further along the coast.  We found a campground that accepts Passport America so we're enjoying a huge site with full hookups for only $15 a night.

We even have our own lighthouse.

We spent an evening on the beach watching and photographing the gorgeous sunset. 

We have been to the beach twice to look for shells and found nothing but oyster shells by the thousands. They really don't appeal to me so no more shelling for me until we move on. 

Oyster shells

We're having a rainy day today so we are getting some indoor things done. Tomorrow we are going to a fresh seafood market in Biloxi in search of fixings for a seafood feast.

Hopefully all of the things we are expecting will arrive by Wednesday so we can be on our way on Thursday. Our next stop will be somewhere in Louisiana.