FRI., FEB. 17 thru MON., FEB. 20, 2023
It was a cold start to the morning. Ice fell off the slide topper when we were closing the slide. Proof of our cold temps. It was a pleasant 200-mile drive from Alamogordo, NM back into our “home” state of Texas today. The only hiccup was going through El Paso where we made a wrong turn, oops. But we were able to get back on track fairly quickly after a few stressful minutes. We saw more long trains on our journey plus mountains and an 80 mph speed limit. Yikes! Nice to have a travel day with no issues! The repairs to our tiny home in NM seem to have gone well. We arrived safely to Van Horn RV Park in Van Horn, TX. We have a mountain view out the dining room window. Nice! We’re here for 3 nights and looking forward to visiting Guadalupe Mountains National Park tomorrow.
Saturday, Feb. 18th, 2023 we woke up to scattered snow showers which ended about 10:30 then we drove an hour to Guadalupe Mountains National Park. It towers like an island in the Chihuahuan Desert. It is the highest point in Texas and has the world’s most extensive and exposed fossil reef. El Capitan is the most iconic formation in the park. It was partially covered in clouds when we first arrived but the clouds later cleared out and we had a nice view (photos below). Winter is the park’s windy season. We had clouds and sustained winds of about 15-20 mph with temps in the low 40s. The park can have sustained winds of 50mph. I guess we were fortunate we only had 20 mph winds!
As the afternoon wore on, the sun broke thru and we shed layers. There is no traditional “scenic drive” that goes through the heart of this park. There are various spur roads and rather extreme hiking trails that can last 6-to-8 hours and climb 3,000 ft. We weren’t quite up for that… at least not in this lifetime. Instead we chose the Manzanita/Smith Spring Trail that was a more manageable 2.5 miles. Rated as “moderate,” it climbed 387 ft or, according to my Apple Watch, the equivalent of 27 flights of stairs. We got our exercise! A fun hike in this very different landscape!
We were able to visit an historic ranch home in the park that was built in 1870 by 2 brothers. Then later purchased by the Smith family in 1906 who expanded the home and had a small orchard and a truck farming business. Several nearby springs, one called Manzanita Spring and the other Smith Spring, provided recreation as well as drinking water for animals, humans and crops.
This National Park marks the 4th one visited in the past 7 weeks since leaving California on Jan. 1st. That’s pretty good for us! Still lots more National Parks to visit though.
On the drive home we passed Jeff Bezos Blue Origin Launch Site 1, a launch site for his private spaceflight company. Across the street was Figure 2 Ranch, which is also owned by Jeff Bezos. Originally a cattle ranch founded in 1890, Bezos is building a “10,000 year clock” in part of the Sierra Diablo Mountains that lie on the ranch property. Never know what we’ll come across!
Monday, Feb. 20, 2023 we traveled 116 miles east on I-10 to Hilltop RV Park in Ft. Stockton, TX for an overnight stay and were treated to snacks when we checked in and a pretty sunset. Next stop is Kerrville, TX in the hill country to spend time with family and, as an added bonus, long-time family friends!
