NEEDLES, CA (Day 2).  Today we drove to the Mojave National Preserve, a desert park that carves out a portion of the Mojave Desert between I-40, I-15, and the Nevada border.  It is typical desert except for hundreds of acres of Joshua Trees.  There are far more Joshua Trees here than there are in Joshua Tree National Park.

We visited the Kelso Depot Museum, an old ornate train depot converted into a visitor center/museum.  Freight trains continue to pass by there along five tracks separated off by a fence.  We watched two videos about the desert ecology, plant and animal life, the amazing seasonal transformation seen there, and history of the region.

We then drove the long road to Teutonia Peak Trail, where we hiked and shot photos of the acres of Joshua Trees in their natural environment. A lot of driving and hiking.  We were pretty pooped by the end of the day, then a long drive back to the RV park.

Kelso Depot Is an Oasis in the Desert

Just Add Irrigation and Things Turn Green

Inside the Depot/Visitor Center

Trains Continue to Pass Through Here

Mojave Cross on Way to Teutonia Peak Trail

Dedicated to Veterans of All Wars

Teutonia Peak Trail in the Mojave Desert

Joshua Trees of Many Sizes

The Trail Stretches on a Long Way

Many Kinds of Cactus

Record Blooms in the Desert This Year

Cactus in Bloom

Some Large Joshua Trees

Joshua Trees Will Blossom Soon

Betty Photographing in the Desert

Joshua Tree Pointed Leaves

We Hiked  a Long While but Turned Back Before Trail's End
Too Long a Hike in the Hot Desert Sun

On the way out there we were told that there would be no food, water, or gas service in the desert, so top off the gas tank and take a lunch and plenty of water.  We did this, but stopping on the outskirts of the preserve to get gas leaves everyone at the mercy of gougers who have a monopoly on service, one at one edge of the preserve, and another at the other edge.  Regular gas cost $5.869 per gallon.  The price of any supplies inside were equally exorbitant.

More Crowing About Route 66 at Gas Station

Inside Were Over-Priced Nostalgia Items 

High-Priced Small Bottles of Drinks from a Bygone Era

Three Packages of Beef Jerky for Only $19.95

NEEDLES, CA.  We are camped on the historic Route 66 just over the border with Arizona.  Some other RV parks near us are on the Colorado River, which divides California from Arizona.

What a shock when we arrived here at the RV park, opened the door, and stepped into an oven.  We are in the Mojave Desert, at 100 degrees.  A "dry" heat.  You could tell that we were coming into a desert as we approached California.  Brutally parched landscape with only dried out sage brush.  We dropped from about 5,700 feet of altitude to 495 feet as we traveled today.

After entering California, we were soon directed into a produce inspection station.  We wondered whether they would take some of our fruit, but a man looked at us a while through the driver window  and wished us a good day.  That was it.

We drove into the town of Needles to look around.  Many signs touting their location on Route 66, but all rather dated.  Hotels that look like something off US 301 in Georgia during the 1960s.  Very run down and old.   This RV park is old, as are the others along this strip of road.  Mostly 30 amp hookups, and the parking sites are short.  Our 35 foot motorhome fit, but there is no space left for the Jeep.  All of the nice landscaping is in the back where the old 30 amp sites are located.  We drove to other RV parks in the area and the situation is the same.  Some are better maintained, but still with the same old limitations due to being based on designs used when RVs were small and needed less power.

We had planned loosely to visit Joshua Tree National Park, but it turns out to be much farther from here than we thought.  It would involve five hours of driving there and back.  That could leave three hours to visit out of an eight hour day, but the proportion of time behind the wheel to have three hours to visit somewhere that has fewer Joshua trees than we have here in the Mohave Desert, does not seem reasonable.  So, we shall look around here for something to see tomorrow.  The day after that we continue our journey through California, headed for Bakersfield, CA.

View Between Us (left) and Our Neighbor (right)

Snug Little Site in the Desert

WINSLOW, AZ.  It was quite cool as we traveled today, but the next few days are forecast to be hot here and into California.  We could not find a rest stop on the interstate, so we pulled off at one of the exits to Gallup, NM.  There we found a complex of hotels, eateries, and one Indian art outlet named Turquoise Canyon Outlet.  There was a large parking lot where one RVer was already parked, so we pulled up beside him.  Later, two more RVs pulled up to our right.  The outlet had amazing items inside, with three entrances each having a bank vault doorway.

Where We Parked for Lunch and Exploration

Here Is a Peek Inside the Outlet

One of the Bank Vault Doorways

We are camped for the night at the Meteor Crater RV Park, which we visited two years ago on our way to seeing the crater.  We are not going to the crater this time, but we liked the park so much that we have stopped here again.  The grounds are kept so well, with large beautiful trees that attract so many birds that birders come here just to watch the birds.  One tree that I like is the poplar, that we also saw in Albuquerque.  Beautiful trees full of birds everywhere we went.
 

Our Site for the Night

Interesting Bark of a Poplar at Albuquerque Park

ALBUQUERQUE, NM.  Nicer views along I-25 as we headed north away from Texas, but the westerly winds were still pretty strong.  There were mountains in the distance, and the air was cooler.  Hurrah!  Stopped at a simple rest stop (see photos below) for lunch and a short walk.  Rest stops in West Texas and New Mexico are much smaller and simpler than they are in the Southeast.

Adobe Style Rest Stop on I-25

Small Parking Area Behind Rest Stop

 Once we got to the intersection with I-40 headed west, the traffic became more intense, and the last 8 miles through West Albuquerque were nearly bumper-to-bumper.  We are at a campground down a long street having three RV retail lots, followed by this RV park.  RVing is big out west.

One of the most noticeable things about this part of the country is the light.  Early morning or late afternoon light is best anywhere, but here it makes even basically unattractive views look special.  A good example is the view that our motorhome faces here at the RV park. A messy collection of things left out in the weather are in the glow of the westward lowering sun.  Below is a phone snapshot that does not do it justice.

View from Our Campsite

Tomorrow we leave for Winslow, AZ on Rt 66.  Actually, I-40 covers most of the old Rt 66, though a few stretches of the original still exist.  We went shopping for groceries tonight along part of the original highway that has been restored.

This RV park has some interesting RVs here.

Restored Hudson and 1960s Era Trailer

Ain't Much But It's Home to Somebody

ANTHONY, TX.  Very trying day of driving I-10 in very strong winds (65 mph gusts).  Went through some really ugly country, with numerous abandoned businesses in run-down towns.  One nice thing about these towns is that in the absence of a rest stop, these abandoned businesses have paved parking areas that are good to park our motorhome for a rest or to have lunch.

Abandoned Truck Stop Made a Nice Rest Stop

 The strange Cummins engine warning messages returned.  Last year we had them troubling us, but a few seminars at rallies with industry experts since then have counseled us that most of these are bogus warnings due to the introduction of DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) in 2010.  DEF is the liquid that must be refilled in a separate tank on all diesel powered equipment made after 2009.  It really does clean up the exhaust for diesel engines, so that the old days of bus terminal stink is no longer a reality.  However, the cleaning process of the exhaust is not perfect, especially in the earlier models.  Our engine is 2012, made for the 2013 Freightliner chassis.  It is quirky, and did make me a bit edgy to see those "Service Engine Soon!" messages on the dash.  About 20 miles from our destination here, they went away.  A relief!  We also knew that we had Cummins and Freightliner experts service the rig while in Red Bay, AL two months ago.  Nevertheless, God's providence was evident in seeing us through strong winds that tired us and bogus warnings that sought to worry us.

The wind is still strong, but is forecast to subside by tonight and remain calm until tomorrow afternoon, well after we are out of Texas.  Yeah!!!  That should give us a quiet night.  We shall be glad to try another state for a while.  Takes forever to get out of Texas.

Our Very Plain RV Park in Anthony, TX

FORT STOCKTON, TX.  Back to civilization, meaning wifi, Verison coverage, satellite GPS service, fuel stations for motorhomes, etc.  Texas is quite large, as you already know, but this means driving hundreds and hundreds of miles to go from one place of reasonable functionality to another.  There are a handful of very large cities, and a few towns with stores where you can get the things you need, then hundreds of miles of absolutely NOTHING.  Out there are roads and road signs that lead to town consisting of collections of structures (some falling apart) all across this huge state, but heaven only knows what it must be like to live in any of those places.

Today we drove mostly on U.S. 90 along the Mexican border.  At one point we were shunted off the road into an area of border patrol officers who questioned us a while, then let us continue.  They said that within 100 miles of the border you are subject to being stopped and questioned.  We also followed the Pecos Trail.  We stopped at a picnic area for lunch and realized we were at a scenic overlook of the Pecos River.  We took photos of it (see below), then continued on over the bridge that crosses the river.

Pecos River Bridge

Eventually we made it back to I-10, which was far windier than the very windy drive we had all day.  What a windy place this is!  The misdirection that led us south to U.S. 90 rather than north to I-10 turned out to be one more act of God's providence, directing us to a place with lighter traffic and wind.

CONCAN, TX.  We drove to Garner State Park, where we were greeted with a small building, with its outer room full of people waiting to be admitted to another room where park employees worked at four counters to register park guests, whether day visitors or over-night campers.  We had made reservations weeks in advance online, but here they required wrist bands to weed out illegal entrants who sneak into the park without paying.  Thus, though every other state park honors reservations made on their online web sites, this park does not.  We actually saw trucks parked along the road outside the park, with people illegally sneaking through the brush along the river to sneak into the park without paying.  Made us wonder if these were illegal immigrants who did not want to be discovered.  They clearly all were Hispanic.

Waiting Area to Be Processed for a Wrist Band

Frio River with Large Pretty Cypress Trees

Activity Center & Store Built by the CCC During the Depression

Wild Flowers Surround Our Camp Site

Inside the park, we found narrow roads with confusing signs leading under low-hanging tree limbs that motorhomes must avoid.  This made for a very trying stay at this otherwise pretty park with beautiful trees, energetic song birds, and a nice river, the Frio River.

Our stay was further complicated by the absence of any cell phone, web, or GPS satellite service.  Hence, I am entering this several days late.

KERRVILLE, TX (Day 2).  Today we drove to the James Avery headquarters here in Kerrville.  It is just outside town on several beautiful acres.  They have a retail store and museum in one building.  Betty's mother used to order Christian jewelry from them years ago, so Betty wanted to stop by to see the headquarters.

Avery Jewelry Museum

After that we traveled to Ingram to see an RV park that I had heard about a couple years ago.  We thought that it was here in Kerrville, so mistakenly made reservations for where we are staying now, but it really is a few miles away, where several beautiful acres of pecan trees on lush grassy land is home to a large herd of Axis deer.  They only come out in low light, so we did not see them, but were nevertheless very impressed with the park.  Consistent with everything else we have seen in this part of Texas, the owners of that park and the manager are serious outspoken evangelical Christians.  If there is a Bible Belt in this country, it is here in Texas as much or more than anywhere else.

From there we drove to The Coming King Sculpture Prayer Garden in Kerrville, something Betty found out about online.  It is located on a tall hill just outside town near the intersection of I-10 and SR 16. The theme running through it is prayer, giving you rocks on which you can write out prayers with a Sharpie to place in the prayer garden, but other themes are also present, including the Second Coming of Christ, the Great Commission, washing one another's feet, and being fishers of men, with much imagery about Israel, including the Star of David in many places, including at the feet of Jesus.  A lion depicting the Lion of Judah (also looking like Aslan in C. S. Lewis' Narnia Chronicles) is also present.  A sort of Dispensational theological element runs through it, which is probably a conviction shared by the members of the foundation that built this garden.  Some nice sculpture is there, though.

The Great Commission

Jesus Consoles a Young Mother While Holding Her Child

Jesus Commissions Us to be Fishers of Men

Star of David at Jesus' Feet

Lion of Judah

Star of David with Spikes in It to Form a Cross

The Coming King Riding His White Horse

Huge Cross Can Be Seen from I-10 and SR 16

Wash Each Other's Feet

From there we drove to Fredericksburg, a town that I had read about online a few months ago.  It was within easy driving distance, so while in the area, why not drive on out there?  It is a nice little town with a history of German settlers in the nineteenth century.  There is a section of downtown named Marketplatz, with an historic church founded by these settlers.  It had just closed when we arrived, so this was not available for us to see.  We could read plaques that memorialized people and events of that time.  There is a plaque recognizing Admiral Nimitz of World War II fame who came from this town.  Ironic that a man of German heritage was fighting with the Allied Forces in that war.  Historic buildings in town have been converted into stores to sell items to tourists.  Once again we found shopkeepers who were outspoken Christians who had signs around their stores with scripture verses and talked openly about their faith.  Perhaps most memorable to me was a malt shop in town, named Clear River, Ice Cream, Bakery, Deli.  It is set up like a malt shop from the 1950s with a large screen TV showing the movie, Grease, with outtakes from the old movies saying to visit the concession stand for popcorn, etc.  It was quite a flashback, but most amazing to me was that it was around 4:30 pm and during the after school time for the local high school, with the kids flocking into this malt shop like it was the 1950s.  You would think they would consider it a place where aging baby boomers hang out and avoid it like the plague, but they loved it there.  The whole town is sort of like that, a blast from the past.

We drove back to Kerrville, ate supper, then went for a walk down by the Guadalupe River, a very nice river.  The cabins in the park are rather spartan, but each has a nice stone stairway behind it leading down to a path along the river.  A couple of them have swings attached to tree limbs along the bank for kids to swing out over the river to drop in.  This is a great park for the local families.

Tomorrow we leave for another town in the hill country, Concan.  It will be a short 1 1/2 hour drive from here.