Sonora Caverns

20 – 23^rd Jan

 

We moved further west from Bandera to Sonora.  Here they have some fantastic caves.  Luckily they have a RV camp site at the caverns so we book in for a couple of nights.  The sun was shining and we sat sunbathing for the afternoon.

 We got talking to the couple in the RV next to us and spent the rest of the evening sat around the camp fire chatting and they gave us some good advice and recommendations on places to visit.  It had been around 25C that afternoon but the evening temperature dropped and there was frost on the car windows next morning.  Thanks to Adina, Paul and Sophie the dog for a great evening.  Unfortunately they were heading east and we were heading west, so the next day we said goodbye to them.



Monday morning we went into the Caverns which took us down 155ft underground.  The Caverns extend for up to 7 miles of which our guided tour was approx. 2½ miles.  The formations were extensive.  There were stalactites and stalagmites as well as ‘straw’ formations and most of all ‘popcorn’ was everywhere.  We were down for nearly 2 hours and the temperature was around 23C with humidity of around 80%.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sparrows Homes

Guinea Fowl

The afternoon was spent sunbathing, listening to the guinea-fowl and watching the peacocks and sparrows.  Some deer came into the camp site later too.



Cowboy Capital of the World

18 – 19 Jan

The area west of San Antonio is known as Hill Country, and we passed a number of signs for Ranches along our route.  We stayed a couple of nights at Bandera, a town that calls itself ‘Cowboy Capital of the World’.  It is a fairly small town and they have made a good attempt to keep some character even though they attract tourists. 

They have a Square on Main Street which shows the various Ranch Cow Brands and where an Historical Re-enactment Group act out a gunfight every weekend.  The Sheriff got shot a number of times and on one occasion he ‘died’ on the seat that we were sat on!



We sat in the sun on the bar veranda, drinking iced-tea watching the activity on Main Street.   

Harley-Davidson bikers from Corpus Christi had come up for the weekend and were cruising around.  We spotted a horse and also a mule being ridden through the town.  Alison chatted to the horse rider who mentioned that around a hundred of them ride together into San Antonio for a festival in February – a distance is about 50 miles over two days.

We spent the evening in the Silver Dollar Saloon and played pool, whilst a live band played Country & Western music.  This is not the height of the tourist season and it was a good atmosphere as the place filled with ‘locals’, who we noted came in the back door so they didn’t have to pay the cover fee.

 

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

14 – 17 Jan

Wednesday was a lovely sunny day so we went down to the coast.  The wind was a little bracing at Port Lavaca and we carried on to Aransas Wildlife Refuge.  This area covers 115,000 acres along the Gulf coast and is a stronghold for Whooping Cranes which fly down from Canada to spend the winter months here.  These rare birds stand 5’ tall and now number approx. 500; a come-back from only 16 in 1941. 

On the way there we stopped to watch a bird of prey trying to catch his dinner, look closely at the photo just in front of the hawk.  

We saw several deer and some wild hog piglets (the mother was hiding in the bushes).  We climbed to the top of an observation tower and looked down on the vultures that were coming into roost in the trees.  We spotted a racoon hunting for something in the estuary (clams perhaps?).   

We came across road kill (deer) being shared by the turkey vultures and 3 crested Caracaras.  There was no fighting; they seemed to take it in turns quite amicably.

 

Out in the sea we saw a man fishing – he was wading up to the top of his legs about a mile out from the shoreline, his boat was anchored about 200 yards away. It seemed quite strange to see someone walking in the water so far out – it was obviously very shallow in this region.

 

About 15 miles further up the road hunting is allowed.  It is currently the duck and goose season.  A hunting licence is $48 for the year and there are “bag limits” which vary depending on the bird eg up to 3 Canada geese but 20 Snow geese (sounds like a freezer full of goose drum-sticks).

 

The next day Paul did some maintenance on the RV whilst the sun was shining and in the afternoon we took a walk along the Guadalupe River in Victoria. In the evening we went to listen to a chap singing Country Music.

West along the I-10 - Again

13 Jan 13

Sunday we said farewell to people we had chatted to at the camp site bar and set off down the I-10 heading into back into Texas.  The rain lashed down but it is good to see the swamps looking full.  Further up the Mississippi they have to dredge the river to keep boat traffic moving as the water level is so low.  The river is a major transportation route for produce, such as grain from the more northern states, putting it onto the roads would increase costs (something the UK could think about)

We spent one night in Beaumont and then carried on south to the town of Victoria.  This part of Texas is very flat, very similar to Holland. The area is appreciating the rain as they have been in a drought situation since 2011.  We are now listening to Spanish TV and radio channels and Mexican restaurants everywhere.

New Orleans Again

9 – 12 Jan 13

What we want to see most in the US are the National Parks. Most of these are out west, so we set off back along the I-10 (again) to the campsite at Lake Pontchartrain, New Orleans (we stayed at this site in October). 

The first day it poured with rain.  There was even a Tornado Watch warning issued on the Thursday. Despite the rain it had been warm all day and there was a glorious sunset that evening.

 
On Friday we decided to drive the Great River Road National Scenic Byway which follows the Mississippi River and includes a number of the Plantation Houses that have survived from the 18^th and 19^th Century.  The Scenic Drive was more a tour of the Oil Refineries with the river hidden from view by the Levees.  Again it poured with rain.  At one point when we crossed a high bridge over the Mississippi the mixture of rain and heat from the river made a thick, low fog which hid everything apart from the funnels from a couple of boats – it looked quite eerie. 

 

Slave Huts

We stopped at ‘Laura’ a Creole Plantation property and had an exceedingly interesting tour – under our umbrellas!  This property was built in 1805 and much of the historical facts obtained from the Memoirs written in 1939 by Laura about her grand-parents and family.

Inside a Slave Hut

 Saturday we went into New Orleans city centre looking very English with our rain coats and umbrella – it was warm and sunny all day!

We visited the WWII Museum.  There was an Inauguration Ceremony in the morning for a new building/exhibit to which veterans and families attended.  We talked to one or two of the families but were unable to get into the museum until after lunch.  It was well presented and factual and covered both the European and Pacific Theatre.

Heading south again

2 – 8 Jan 2013

We set off from North Carolina back to Florida where we had left the RV, breaking the journey with an overnight stay in Georgia.   The RV was fine, apart from a little confusion over where the spare keys were which had left with the campsite owner in case there was a problem whilst we were away. It took a further four days to find them.

 The weather was cold and damp.  We visited a couple of the local state parks and went down to Fort Walton and walked along the sea front.  Fort Walton would be a glorious place when the sun shines with the decking from the cafes and bars lined up along the white sand and the beach volley ball courts set up ready for use – but for us it was a sea-side resort on a damp winter’s day.

 

We took our Driving tests which consisted of two theory tests of 20 questions each; one on state regulations, the other on road signs.  The following day we did the practical driving test in our own car for which an hour was set aside for each of us (ie 2 hours).  Of these two hours, we spent 15 minutes each, driving around the block with the Examiner, conducting the obligatory manoeuvres ie 3-point turn etc.  The other 1½ hours involved the Examiner staring at the computer screen, tapping away at the key board and constantly consulting a number of different colleagues on what to do with the fact that we were not US citizens and therefore did not fit into any of the normal procedures which confused the computer ………  

 

We eventually got our Florida Driving Licences with colour photo!

 

Christmas and New Year

19 Dec – 1 Jan 2013

We left the RV in Florida and travelled up in the car to Louise for Christmas.  We visited our friends in Alabama on the way and had a great time catching up with them since we last saw them in October. 

The drive up the I-65 and I-85 from Alabama to North Carolina, through Georgia and South Carolina, took 11 hours with torrential rain for all 500 miles!

We had a great Christmas Day with full turkey dinner cooked by Louise. 

During the last 10 days we have spent time relaxing, time with the pets (4 dogs, 3 cats, 4 guinea fowl) Seen the film The Hobbit, eaten too much and had fun at a New Year’s Eve party. 

We finish 2012 having had some excellent experiences.  Since arriving in USA 5 months ago we have travelled 9400 miles and visited 16 states. We’ve met some great people and made some good friends.   We’ve seen some different animals in the wild; chipmunk, opossum, racoon, as well as a variety of birds.

We are sad to leave here but also keen to get going again on our Adventures for 2013 ……………