TEXAS TO ARIZONA March 29 - April 4, 2013

With Easter weekend on us we decided to spend the holiday in the Hill Country of Texas, north of San Antonio.  I was able to get us a 2 night stay at a great county park: Kerrville-Schneider Regional Park. There was so much to see, but our biggest outing was to the Lyndon B Johnson Ranch.

 To tour the property you are given a CD and a driving map allowing you to drive all over the property and spend as much time as you'd like at each site. Our first stop was the schoolhouse he attended and where he later returned as President Johnson to sign major educational Legislation. A Park Ranger gave us a walking tour of his home, The Texas White House. With televisions and telephones in every room, he was able to conduct much of his work and entertain dignitaries there on the ranch.  He died in that house of a heart attack at the age of 65.  Paul and I were both so surprised at this fact...he had always seemed so old to us... and we both know that 65 is NOT OLD! 

 After our visit there, we still had time for lunch in the nearby German town of Fredricksburg...a wonderful brat and sauerkraut lunch at Auslander's. We were up early Easter morning to get some major miles done. By the end of the afternoon we were across Texas near the town of Balmorhea, staying at the Passport America's Saddleback Mtn RV Park. Definitely just a stop on the road, right off the highway but with full hookups for only $10, it was perfect for us.

Monday, April 1st,  we passed through the enormous city of El Paso, which surprised both of us, and entered New Mexico. Arriving in the early afternoon was a much needed break from driving so we stopped at Dream Catcher RV Park, an Escapees membership park near Deming, NM; basic but with a nice laundry room to use. We took an evening drive up to the nearby mountains to catch a beautiful sunset.

 We could have driven the rest of the way into Arizona but wanted to let Emily have some days alone with Harry before we arrived so we spent the next 2 nights at the Kartchner Caverns State Park outside of Benson, AZ. As we headed that way we made an impromptu stop at Fort Bowie National Historic Site. To get to the fort built in 1852 we drove about 10 mi off the interstate, parked the car and then walked the 2 miles into the park. All that's left now are the ruins but we had a wonderful hike and picnic.

 Really? Geronimo was here?

Typical Apache house

Fort Bowie in the distance

 We hiked out a different trail with views of the valley below.

We were set up at Kartchner Caverns by mid afternoon, Tuesday. The spectacular living caves were first discovered in 1974 but required many years before being purchased by the state of Arizona and developed as a park, opening in 2001. We took the tour of the Big Room the next morning, an amazing sight. We planned to leave on Thursday morning and were able to get an 8:30 tour that morning of the Throne Room and still be out of our campsite by noon, perfect!

After our first tour on Wednesday we spent the afternoon visiting Tombstone, just 20 miles south from our campground.  A true western town, stage coaches, cowboys, gunfights and all.

Lunch and a beer at Big Nose Kate's, including a visit from Doc Holiday and Wyatt Earp.

As always, Arizona sunsets are gorgeous!

From here we only had a 60 miles drive west and a bit south to Green Valley and time with my brother, Harry.