March '21 (Part 1) - Amistad Reservoir, Madera Canyon, & Parks Ranch

The first of March was a really difficult day for us. After a long and adventurous life, Mindi's age was catching up to her. She was 17, and her health had been declining for the last two years. Now it was at the point that she could barely stand up and was obviously struggling with daily life. We'd known the time was coming, but that morning it was clear. She got lots of treats and love that day, and her final moments were peaceful. We held her as she went to sleep and said our goodbyes. Even though it was heart-wrenching to let her go, we were relieved that she wasn't suffering anymore.

It was really helpful to have a long-term site while we prepared for (and recovered from) that difficult decision, but once it was over we were ready to move on. It seemed the worst of winter weather had passed, and that meant we could finally start moving north.

Just before we left, SpaceX launched Starship SN10, and we got to witness another chest-rattling lift off, unbelievable belly flop free fall, & engines relighting just above the ground to flip the falling rocket back over. When the dust cleared this time, we saw a vertical Starship standing proud on the landing pad! One of our main goals on this journey was to witness a Starship launch, and thanks to SpaceX's ridiculous pace of progress, we were able to see 3! 

Good try, SN8! Most made it on the landing pad! (Launched Dec 9th, see more in December's post)

SN9!  (Launched Feb 2nd, more in January's post)

Go SN10! (Launched March 3rd, but see more in February's post) 

We drove over 30 hours back and forth to South Padre Island, took three trips over to Boca Chica to see the launch facility up close, stood in awe for almost 20 combined minutes of flight, physically felt the awesome rumble of 3 RUD explosions, witnessed the crowd going wild when one actually stuck the landing, and even got a wave from Elon himself. Our Starship experience was epic, and I'm so excited to see what the future holds for them. NASA is currently planning on using Starship to land humans on the moon as early as 2024. 

We left Falcon County Park and followed the TX/Mexico border 4.5 hours northwest. On the drive we passed through two Border Patrol inspection stations where we were asked to show ID & where we were coming from. The agents were nice and professional and the process only took a minute or two. When we rolled the back window down, one of them even said Khaleesi was beautiful.

San Pedro Campground, Amistad International Recreation Area

The Amistad Reservoir is right on the border of Texas and Mexico, near the town of Del Rio. Fun fact: Amistad means "friendship" in Spanish. There are many campsites around the shore of the reservoir, some with better lake views than others. On the map, it seemed like San Pedro would be right on the water. On arrival, it was clear the water level had dropped and the finger we were on was dry. Instead of lake views and fishing, we got acres of dried lakebed to explore!

Not busy at all, only a few other campers spread out.

We spent 7 days there at $3 each, totaling just $21 for a week of camping and exploring.

The "horse crippler"

Just after this picture I swiped my leg against one of these which HURT and I had a tough time getting all the hairs and spines out of my jeans, getting stabbed a bunch of times. Zero stars, would not recommend.

An actual tumbleweed!

Finally found the water after half an hour of walking

Boat ramp

Group camping area (reservation only)

Governors Landing Campground

After a relaxing week at Amistad Reservoir, we continued northwest along the border. About an hour into our drive we crossed a bridge where the Pecos River meets the Rio Grande. There was a small rest area right by the bridge that allows free overnight camping.

Cave below lookout point

We continued west leaving the border behind and the landscape changed drastically.

During the drive to our next site, we passed within 40 minutes of Big Bend National Park. When we stopped to get fuel nearby, we overheard a man saying Big Bend was crowded due to spring break. Apparently the nearest gas station to the park was completely out of fuel, and he'd been worried he wouldn't make it to this one. We'd planned on visiting the park while we were in the area, but after hearing that we decided it probably wasn't worth the risk. Besides, our main attraction was seeing the McDonald Observatory and Research Center, located in the Davis Mountains.

McDonald Observatory and Research Center

Gerard Kuiper was once director of this observatory. He's known as the father of modern planetary science. You've probably heard of the Kuiper Belt, but he also discovered two moons (Neptune's Nereid & Uranus's Miranda), made correct predictions about Mars's atmosphere and the rings of Saturn, and played an influential role in the development of infrared airborne astronomy. 

In the summer of 1956, Kuiper invited Carl Sagan to the McDonald Observatory to study Mars with him. Mars would be at it's closest approach to Earth since 1924, offering ideal viewing conditions, and wouldn't be this close again for another fifteen years. Sagan was planning to visit Europe that summer, but accepted the invitation gladly, responding, "Europe will always be as far away from this country as it is now, which is not the case for Mars." Unfortunately, the weather both in Texas and on Mars did not cooperate, which kept them from making useful observations.

Similarly, though we were so close to the observatory, we were not able to go see it. Due to Covid, the observatory grounds were currently restricted to authorized individuals and not open to the public. To get a tour, we needed reservations, which were all sold out for days. We weren't able to reserve in advance since we didn't even know where we'd be sleeping that night. 

Lawrence E. Wood Picnic Area near Fort Davis, TX

Texas allows parking for up to 24 hours at any roadside rest area or picnic area!

It was a major bummer, but just being nearby and reflecting on the history of the area was still pretty special. We pictured Carl driving the same winding mountain roads and appreciating the beauty we were now seeing. We wondered how much had changed since he'd been there. Maybe during a break they'd walked along the same trails we were now on.

We had one day of nice weather, then temperatures would drop below freezing and we would have to move on. We found an awesome picnic area next to a hiking trail that had a beautiful overlook, an old watering hole with a dam, and many interesting plants and colorful rocks.

The survey was evaluating how time in nature impacts our health

Biggest ant colony I've ever seen!

I can see my house from here!

looks like hogs have been digging here

old watering hole

dam

Checking out a cave near the entrance

Our best guess at the cave resident came from examining this poop - a porcupine!

Goodbye Texas, hello New Mexico!

After the picnic area, we headed 2.5 hours north to a site just over the border of New Mexico, near Carlsbad Caverns. On our way, we passed through Guadalupe Mountains National Park.

caves!

This park protects one of the best examples of an ancient, marine fossil reef on Earth!

Park's Ranch Campground near Whites City, New Mexico

We turned off of Hwy 62 at mile marker 10 and carefully made our way down the long rocky road to Park's Ranch Campground.

A purple cactus!? I think this is a "Strawberry hedgehog"

TWO different species, even! This one is a Prickly Pear

It was so quiet and peaceful, and we got plenty of sun for our solar panels. We could see Whites City & Carlsbad Caverns in the distance from camp.

Whites City

The entrance to Carlsbad Caverns is near that road right in the middle of the ridge

The night sky was stunning, but there was some light pollution from a nearby flare stack & Whites City lights.

Kyle was able to get a shot of this meteor though! (streak on left side)

We did have a few days with high winds during our two weeks at Parks Ranch, including "gale-force" winds one day with wind speed around 40 mph and gusts up to 75 mph! We moved the truck to block the wind from the camper, and tucked anything that would blow away inside. We could still hear the flapping of our slide awning, and during strong gusts we could feel a little rocking, but it wasn't the worst winds we've been through (and there were no trees around to fall on us).

The coolest part about Parks Ranch was being able to explore caves in our "backyard"! The Parks Ranch Cave System is the 2nd longest gypsum cave in the Western hemisphere, at 4.3 miles long! This drone video shows how close we were able to camp to the main cave entrance, and how long the rocky road into the area is.

There were over 10 entrances that we found and the main two were fenced in. The gates weren't locked, but doors were kept close to keep animals from getting trapped inside. In the larger cave, there was even a bin with helmets and kneepads to use! 

Rabbit? Bat? Rat? It was big!

Since March has been packed with adventure already, and we're barely halfway through, I'm splitting this month's update into two posts. Part 2 coming soon, which includes Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands National Park, and best of all, a new addition to our family!