Friday 10-16-26 Cold Windy Day

Celebrate it's Friday and dance

 

We had a cold windy day. 

We didn't go anywhere because it was too windy. The wind was out of the north, which made it cold. The wind blew 20 to 24 mph with gusts 31 mph. We woke up to the morning temperature of 56 degrees at 6:00 am. When the front came in the temperature dropped a couple of degrees. It didn't get out of the 50's. The high was 62 degrees. It was weird it was 62 degrees outside and our air conditioner ran in the afternoon.

Hold on tight

I woke up at 7:15 and got dressed. Then I made apple cinnamon mini waffles and we shared a shake for breakfast. About 10:00 we went over and paid for another night. The gentleman and his son were in the dog park area installing a couple of red canvas tarps on the covered area to block the wind. The gentleman talked to us and said he and his son started the RV park ten years ago. He also told us they were having the Big Bend Open Road Race this weekend. He also said they have a nice museum about Fort Stockton. 

The Big Bend Open Road Race happens twice a year for four days. Every fall and spring a fleet of Ferraris, Mustangs, Lamborghinis, Corvettes and other cars descend in West Texas for the event. They put the drivers in different classes. The first and second days are registration, tech, rookie orientation, qualifying and practice. The next day registration, tech, car show and parade. The final day is the race, after race party and race banquet. It is a 118 mile loop from Fort Stockton to Sanderson and back. It takes place on highway 285 and the classes compete between 100 to 200 mph. 

We spent the day reading. Larry started a book and finished it. Then he started another book. After I finished The Man with No Borders I asked Larry to choose another book for me. The book I started to read today was Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier. It's about two remarkable women, who study fossils in the England. It very good so far.  

Reading and relaxing

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The Daily Event was Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 6 games (3 Pyramid and 3 Tri Peaks). It took me 15 minutes and 3 seconds to complete, which put me in 15th in my group.

I didn't do too many steps. I only did 2,000 steps. 

       

Thursday 10-15-26 New Time Zone, Return to Texas & Westex Living RV Park

Westex Living RV Park in Fort Stockton

We had a great day. 

We woke up to the morning temperature of 60 degrees at Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino at 6:00 am. It got up to 79 degrees in Fort Stockton Texas at 4:00 pm.

I woke up at 6:00 and got dressed. Then we had a sausage patty and shared a bagel and shake for breakfast. Then we put things down and secured. We were on the road by 6:45 am Mountain Time. 

I got up early because we had to go through El Paso Texas. I figured Larry wanted to get through El Paso before morning rush hour. We spent the night at the casino, which is at the state line of Texas and New Mexico. The traffic was a little heavy but not as heavy going the opposite direction. 

Today Larry drove 250 miles on I10. We were only in New Mexico for a few blocks and then we were back in Texas. The scenery wasn't that exciting in west Texas. It was mainly desert with a little bit of mountains. We filled the Minnie with gas in El Paso at the Love's and Fort Stockton at the Pilot. We also stopped a couple of times to stretch our legs and for bathroom breaks. The time changed from Mountain Time to Central Time right before we got to Van Horn. So we gained an hour. We arrived in Fort Stockton at 1:00 pm Central Time. We're back on our normal time zone. We have to adjust to the time difference. 

Time adjustment

During our trip we traveled in three time zones: Central Time, Mountain Time and Pacific Time. 

We are staying at a small RV Park called Westex Living RV Park. It's in Fort Stockton, TX. It cost $30 per night. When we were driving in the park it looked full. Larry stopped at the office and asked if they had any openings. The couple said, that they usually do have a few openings for people to stay a night but there was a project going on so they are full. They said, that a few of the RVs haven't shown up yet and we could have site #30. Larry told them we may be here for two nights. They said it probably will be ok. We backed into site #30 and setup the Minnie for the night. 

Entrance gate on the right

Entrance gate on the left

Dog park and playground

Horny toads decorations at a common area

Skeleton at the dog park

Office for the park with a scarecrow

Halloween decoration at the laundry

 

The owner's shed and decorations

Westex Living RV Park is a cute park and very well maintained. They have a dedicated dog run with  disc golf and horseshoe, small playground, laundry, 50 large sites with full hook-ups (20/30/50 amp, sewer and water and WIFI. The site are very nice but you do get noise from the highway.

I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The Daily Event was Event: Two Game Tango of 20 games (10 Klondike and 10 Spider). It took me 2 hours, 33 minutes and 58 seconds to complete, which put me in 15th place in my group.

Larry started a book and after reading a few chapters he said it was not worth reading so he picked another book to read. I finished reading The Man with No Borders by Richard C. Morais. It was a great book about an elderly man who is dying and takes his final journey in life. It has some twist and turns about his life. I liked the ending. Richard C. Morais is a great writer and keeps you interested through out the book.

Reading is fun

By the end of the day I only did 2,000 steps.

    

  

 

Wednesday 10-14-26 Back in Texas, Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino & Having Fun

 

Sunland Park Race Track & Casino exit sign (2023)

We had a wonderful day. The morning temperature was 56 degrees in Deming, New Mexico. The high temperature was 82 degrees at Sunland Park, New Mexico. 

I woke up at 7:00 am and got dressed. Then we had breakfast, which was a sausage patty and a bagel. We shared a shake. Then we put things away and secured. We weren't in any hurry because didn't have too far to go, about 100 miles. We were on the road by 8:15 am.

Before leaving Rockhound State Park we stopped by the dump station and dumped out tanks. We went a different way to Deming from the park. We drove a few miles, where the park road Ys. Instead of going straight we turned left. It was a little longer but the road was a little better. We drove through Deming and got on I10. Larry drove the interstate to our destination, which was Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino. The drive was very nice until we got about 18 miles south of El Paso, Texas. Then we had road construction for a few miles. We didn't stop completely but traffic had to feed into one lane. We said good-bye to New Mexico and hello to Texas at the same spot. We were only in Texas for a couple of miles and then we were back in New Mexico. Texas doesn't have any casinos because it's against the law to gamble. We got to the casino at 11:00 am. 

The RV spots are first-come-first-serve and there's only 8 spots. We found a spot and walked over to the casino security office to pay for the site. While there we asked the security officers if they were remodeling because of the painting going on. She said yes because they have a new owner. We paid for site #7. The sites have water and electric for $15 per night. You can stay up to 10 nights. Check-in time is any time and check-out time is 10:00 am. They have security in the parking lot. Sunland Park Casino is small but very nice. There is no non-smoking section. The have beverages areas through out the casino. It is very clean.

Sunland Racetrack & Casino (2023)

Once we were assigned our site we walked back to the Minnie and plugged it in. After getting the Minnie setup for the night we had lunch. We shared a salad.

After lunch I played my games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The Daily Event was Event: Easy Street Mini of 15 games. It took me 31 minutes and 24 seconds to complete, which put me in 16th place in my group.

After playing my games I went over to the casino to gamble. I was there for a couple of hours and came back with the $20.00 I started with. I went back after dinner for another two hours. I came back with $15.00. For being entertained for four hours and only giving the casino $5.00, that's not bad. I had a great time playing at Sunland Casino.

While I gambled Larry read. He started a new book because he finished reading his book last night. In between gambling and playing games I continued reading The Man with No Borders by Richard C. Morais.

By the end of the day I had done 5,000 steps.      

  

Tuesday 10-13-26 Rock Hound State Park, Hiking Thunder Egg Trail & Having Fun

 

Rock Hound State Park

We woke up to 52 degrees in Deming New Mexico. It got up to a warm 80 degrees. There was a little breeze, that kept it cooler.

I slept in until 7:30 am. I crawled out of bed and got dressed. I made mini waffles for breakfast. 

After breakfast we went on a short hike 1.25 miles. We started the hike from the Minnie and walked to the trailhead, which was on the other side of the bathroom. The trail we hiked was Thunder Egg Trail, which was a 1.1 mile loop. It started by the bathrooms and went up the hill. It looped around the rim of the hill and finished at the day area. It was a moderate trail because you had to be careful of the loose rocks and gravel. The loose rocks were caused by rain. The trail was wide and you saw a lot of desert cacti and other desert plants. We saw a few beautiful wildflowers. We stopped occasionally to look at the view of the campground and mountains. The plants we saw during the hike were Beargrass, Sotol, Prickly Pear, Creosote, Yucca, Mesquite and Mormon Tea. We had a great hike for about an hour.

Sign about Thunder Egg Trail

Plants along the Thunder Egg Trail

Thunder Egg Trail

Mountain range 

Rock Hound Campground from the trail

When we got back to the Minnie Larry went inside and I walked around the Desert Garden. It was very small and had a few benches to sit on and look at the plants. I was a little disappointed because there were only a couple of signs identifying the plants, which were honey mesquite and Tobosa Clump-grass. The cacti and plants at the park. The common cacti in the park  are Arizona barrel, Engelmann prickly pear and hedgehog. Other plants are yucca, ocotillo, mesquite, Soto and Mormon tea. In the canyons and upper elevation plants are junipers and scrub oak. At the visitor center they have a native botanical garden with local species of plants and in the springtime they display wildflowers like the Arizona poppies. 

Entrance to the Desert Garden

Ocotillo 

Arizona barrel

Cholla

Tobosa

Mexican Golden Poppies

When I got back I relaxed with a book and Larry continued doing research on e-mail clients. Then he read on his e-reader and finished the book. I continued reading The Man with No Borders by Richard C. Morais. Richard C. Morais is a great writer and the book is very good so far.

Reading is relaxing

I played games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong from yesterday and today. I did the Daily Event, which was Event: Tri Peaks Mini of 5 games. It took me 13 minutes and 18 seconds to complete, which put me in 33rd place in my group of 50 participants.

Last night Larry noticed there were a couple of rocks on our site, that were painted. So I took a picture of them. They are very nice: one has a morning dove and the other one has flowers and the love. It makes me smile every time I see the painted rocks.

Morning Dove

Love rock

In the afternoon Larry added Dawn and water to our sinks and toilets. Tomorrow he will dump the tanks on the way out of Rock Hound State Park. 

In the evening I didn't do too much. The campground is very small, it has 29 sites (5 non-power sites and 24 electric sites). I decided just to hang around the Minnie. By the end of the night I had done 6,500 steps.

Sunset at Rock Hound State Park

Yucca Elata at our site

Spoon Yucca at our site

Desert Willow at our site

  

  

Monday 10-12-26 New State, Rock Hound State Park & Having Fun

 

New Mexico welcome signs

We spent two days in Tucson visiting with family. Now it was time to continue our adventure to Texas.

We woke up to 68 degrees in Tucson at Sentinel Peak RV Park. By the end of the day we were in New Mexico with the high temperature of 83 degrees in Deming. It was windy all day.

I woke up at 6:00 and got dressed. Then I made breakfast, which was a sausage patty, shared a cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese and a shake. Then we put things away and secured. Larry topped off the water tank. We were on the road by 7:00 am. 

Larry drove 250 miles today. It was mainly on I10 east. At places the interstate was very rough. The scenery was pretty because of the mountains. We stopped a few times for a bathroom break and to stretch our legs. One stop was at the rest area in Dragoon. It was very pretty with rock formations in the surrounding area. When we got to the New Mexico state line the time changed and the time jumped forward an hour. We stopped at a rest area in New Mexico about 40 miles from Deming to have lunch. The rest area was very nice with covered ramadas. We parked in front of ramada #4. We were going to eat at the table but it was wet. An employee had just washed it. For lunch we had a sandwich and chips.

Rock formations at the rest area at Dragoon Arizona

New Mexico rest area where we had lunch

After lunch we continued on. When we got into Deming we stopped at Sinclair and filled the Minnie with gas. Then we continued to Rock Hound State Park where we will stay a couple of days. It was 13 miles from Deming on a two lane road. The last 6 miles was down a rough road. It was black top but had a lot of big gravel in it, which made it very rough. 

Rock Hound State Park campground isn't paved. We stopped at the visitor center to get a site. The lady told Larry the only way to get a site was online, the office can't register you. She was actually surprised we didn't have a reservation. She gave Larry a map of the trails in the park. We found a site, which was #19. In order to get the motorcycle off the carrier Larry had to drive into the site. It worked out great.

Rock Hound State Park welcome sign

Rock Hound Visitor Center

The campground from the visitor center

While Larry was registering online a worker came by and asked if we had a reservation. Larry told him he was in the process of making one. He told us he was going to be around until 4:00 if we had any questions. We thanked him. Once we were registered we setup the Minnie for a couple of nights. 

Our site is very nice with a view of the mountains. The park has running water bathrooms with showers. The sites have power and water. There is a dump station. The park is very well maintained. It is a beautiful park. 

Camping at Rock Hound State Park

We didn't walk around until later because it was warm. We kept cool under the air conditioner. I read and Larry worked on our e-mail. Yahoo made a change to the e-mail and he didn't like it so he is trying a new email client. 

For dinner we had baked beans and sausage. After dinner we walked around for about a half hour to check the campground out. It's not that big but at least I got some steps. By the end of the day I had done 2,500 steps.

Part of the mountain that surrounds Rock Hound campground

Another part of the mountain

Sunset at Rock Hound State Park

In the evening I did the Daily Event of Solitaire, which was Event: Solitaire World Tour of 30 games. It took me 3 hours, 47 minutes and 53 seconds to complete, which put me in 7th place in my group.    

Sunday 10-11-26 Visiting Shirley, Ray & Mary & Sentinel Peak RV Park

 

Smile and be happy

We had a great Sunday.

We woke up to 75 degrees and the high was 84 degrees in Tucson. It was windy so it kept the temperature a little cooler than yesterday.

We slept very well at the Super 8 Hotel. It was too hot to sleep in the Minnie. The continental breakfast was very poor. To eat they only had a plain bagel, yogurt,  and granola bars. Drinks were juice, coffee, tea or hot chocolate. It's probably the worse continental breakfast we have ever had. The room needed a little maintenance but overall it was nice. The room, breakfast area, hallway and front desk were clean. The staff was very nice.

We weren't in any hurry to get to Shirley's house so we hung around the hotel until 9:00 am. When we arrived at Shirley's house Marry (Ray's partner) was just showing up to see how Shirley was doing and to take her grocery shopping. I waited until they were back from shopping and then I made cinnamon French toast sticks for lunch. Shopping got Shirley out of the house and moving a little bit. They were back by 11:30 am. I helped Mary bring the groceries in. After putting the groceries away and waiting for the cinnamon sticks to bake Mary said her good-byes.  

Cinnamon Sticks (photo from 3/28/26)

We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with Shirley. Ray showed up about 3:30 to visit with us. At dinner time I made bowtie pasta, four cheese tomato sauce and smoked beef sausage dish for dinner. After dinner we said our good-byes. We wanted to leave before it got dark because we were going to stay at Sentinel Peak RV Park in downtown Tucson. We left about 6:00. We had a great visit with family.

Windy and Dolly

Shirley with the beautiful flowers Mary brought to her

Shirley 

Ray 

Larry made reservations for Sentinel Peak RV Park online and checked in online. The lady at the park e-mail us the confirmation number and the four codes (gate code, pedestrian gate code, laundry code and bathroom code). We are staying in site #1. It's a nice RV park. 

The facility has 23 full hookups (5 pull-throughs), a community room with WIFI, tv, ping pong and foosball, a laundry room and small plunge pool. It's not pet friendly onsite but there is a public park two blocks away to walk your dogs. There's a restroom but no showers.

photo from the website

Once we were setup for the night I played my games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong from yesterday and today. I did the Daily Event, which was Event: Easy Street Mini of 5 games. It took me 6 minutes and 58 seconds to complete, which put me in 9th place in my group. I didn't do too good in my steps I only did 1,000.

We had a super time visiting Shirley, Ray and Mary.