Seminole Canyon Historic State Park TX

Roger here...   Wow!  What a welcome we received on our first night at Seminole Canyon State Park.  It rained, and we saw the most vivid rainbow (double, no less) we have ever seen.  It was a complete arch -- ground to ground -- for both rainbows.  Too bad we could not get the entire thing on our camera.

I know....  Too many pictures of the same thing. Here's the view of the sunset on the other side of the sky fifteen minutes later.  

Magical, to say the least.


We have a great campsite here.  Huge.  Lots of privacy.  A covered picnic table.  Amazing views.  AND,  we are nearly by ourselves.  I can't figure out why people aren't cramming into this place.  


Here are a few of pics of the flora and fauna from our site...

Sorry, no shots of the scaled quail, white-tailed deer, rabbits (Bandido really likes the rabbits), or the three-foot-long ribbon snake.  Unfortunately, we were not camera-ready.  In the case of the ribbon snake, we did not have an audio recording device to capture Dianne's scream.   (I almost stepped on the darn thing --  D.)

This morning we hiked to the amazing pictographs under a mammoth overhang in Seminole Canyon.  The only way to do this is on a guided tour.  Our guide today was the interesting Ranger Dan.  

Ranger Dan explained that the difference between pictographs (here) and petroglyphs (other places) is that the pictographs are painted and the petroglyphs are carved.  The amazing ancient art that we viewed was essentially in red, black, yellow, and white pigment.  Some of the pictographs date back 2000 years.  


I'll try not to overdo the pics here, but it will be difficult.

One of my favorites was, "the ghost", painted in white.

Just to add some perspective,  here is a shot of the entire overhanging shelter....

Dianne here:  I'll interject the photo below that I snapped at the interpretive center.  It shows what life must have been like in these cave overhangs.  Not a bad idea; in the hot sun it was shady and cool inside, and the opening faces away from the north winds for winter warmth.  

Notice her grass mat.  The photo below shows actual remnants of layers of grass mats still visible in the floor of the cave.  

Hard to believe items like that would be preserved for over a thousand years, but our guide explained that if you were to dig down, you'd probably also come across portions of sandals and other artifacts preserved by the dry climate.  Back to Roger....

On the way into and out of the canyon we passed one of the coolest sculptures I have ever seen.  The "Shaman" is at least 20 feet tall, and is patterned after the pictographs you have seen.  The Shamanism religion of ancient American cultures clings to the tenet that through meditation (and psychedelic drugs (peyote), you can travel to the next level of existence through a hole in the Earth.  Not sure I buy into all that, but fascinating to be in a place where it was practiced in prehistoric times.


I love the Shaman statue.   Again, too many pics.  Loved hamming it up when no one was around.

We crammed A LOT into a two-night stay.  Had we known how interesting and beautiful this place is, we would have stayed longer.  I am going to let Dianne talk about the museum and what I am sure she will refer to as a death ride (on bikes) to the Rio Grande.

Dianne here:  After our morning guided tour, we decided to ride our bikes on the six-mile round-trip Rio Grande Trail.  All was well and we made the first three miles without incident, even though it was loose and rocky at times.

The trail ends at the confluence of the Pecos and Rio Grande Rivers. 

 We walked down a short trail to get a closer view of the Rio Grande and, of course, a peek at Mexico on the other side.

The interesting plant in the foreground was in bloom, so I found another one close to the trail for a close-up.  

There is beauty to be found in the desert scrub, if you keep your eyes open!


The three-mile bike trip back wasn't as much fun, because many of the loose rock areas that we were able to ride over downhill proved impossible to navigate uphill -- especially since it was HOT by then. 

As this photo of Roger shows, we resorted to walking our bikes across large stretches of uphill large, loose rock.  Note how far back I was...the heat was really affecting me by then.  (Translate that into "I thought I was gonna die!"  Note to self:  One bottle of water is not enough for the desert.

I did stop long enough to photograph a cool cairn along the way:


We loved our stay here at Seminole Canyon State Park.  It reminded us of why we started this lifestyle in the first place.  And after 2 1/2 years, I still feel as though we're just getting started!

The whippet photo of the day shows our very laid-back Chaplin basking in the sunlight inside the motor home.  I'm glad we chose not to take the dogs on our hike; between the rocky trail surface surrounded by cactus and thorny brush, and the extreme sun and heat of the afternoon, they were better off in air-conditioned comfort at home.


Check back soon, for tomorrow we drive to Lajitas for a one-week stay near Big Bend National Park.

On the Road Again...

Hi all, Dianne here.  We started our five-month road trip Thursday by following the Rio Grande River north and west on our way to Seminole Canyon State Park near Comstock, TX.  

Near Laredo, TX we stopped at this lovely stop that reminded me of the Taj Mahal.  Guess what it is?   A Texas REST STOP!  

How many rest stops have you stopped at to use the facilities, eat lunch, get travel info or whatever, which include a Koi pond, mosaic-tiled picnic shelters, fountains, topiary, a beautiful state-inspired sculpture -- I could go on and on.  Texas pride at its best!  

Even the picnic shelters in the trucker's section had mosaic tile and lovely landscaping.  Here are some additional photos:

Another very Texas sight we saw along our drive was this HUGE high school football stadium being built in the small town of Eagle Pass, Texas.  If any of you saw the excellent series "Friday Night Lights," you had a taste of what high school football means in the state of Texas.  It's no myth, as this photo proves.

We passed through two Border Patrol checkpoints along our drive on Roads 83, 277, and 90.  We were, after all, following the Rio Grande River, which meant we were just across the border from Mexico during most of the drive.

 Here's a blurry photo of a very large Mexican flag that flys near Del Rio, TX, right across the border in Mexico.  I took this photo from the RV as we drove through town.


One interesting side note about Del Rio, TX is the little-known fact that the movie Lonesome Dove was filmed on a set built on private ranch property near here.  Lonesome Dove is one of our favorite books of all time (we both read the entire series), and after reading the books we rented and watched the entire movie series, as well.  Whenever I think of Robert Duvall, I think of him as "Gus."  Now that we spend six months of the year in South Texas on the Rio Grande, I decided to re-read Lonesome Dove and downloaded it to my Kindle a few weeks ago.  I enjoyed the book even more this time!  


I also came across an interesting web site of a man from Illinois (an extreme fan) who had made a pilgrimage to Del Rio to see the movie set.  There are photos of how the set looked at the time he was there, and at the end another set of photos taken in 2005.
http://www.lonesomedoveremembered.com/  


Here's a link to Amazon if any of you are interested in the DVD (I'm not hawking this, just putting it in for convenience's sake for anyone who might be interested in it.)  

Here's a link for the novel (both the book and movie are excellent): 

There's even a book out now of just photos taken from the filming of the epic movie:

Okay, enough product placement!

This photo isn't interesting in itself, unless you consider the fact this is the first rain that Roger and I have seen since we arrived in Texas December 30! Unfortunately, this also turned out to be a "12-incher", meaning that it's about 12 inches between drops. I only wish some of that Mississippi flood water could make its way to South Texas.

We'll probably be updating our blog more often, now that we're traveling and actually have things to write about.  This is, after all, our "virtual scrapbook."

The pet photo of the day shows Bandido and Chaplin enjoying the desert scrub at our campsite at Seminole Canyon State Park.  We pretty much have the entire park to ourselves.  We are so out in the middle of nowhere that we should have some major stargazing in the night sky.  Check back soon as we write about our short stay here at this Texas state park, including our guided tour tomorrow to see ancient pictographs.  Then it's off to Big Bend National Park...

New Experiences on Our Last Day at Retama

Roger here....    Well, the kids have gone back to their lives.  Dianne and I have been working like dogs to get ready for new travels.  Lots to do to get the coach house and motor home ready for our departure -- most of it done :-).


On our last day at Retama Village, we decided to experience a couple of new things before leaving civilization and traveling to the wilderness of West Texas.  


Our first new adventure involved getting our teeth cleaned.  Oh, we have gotten our teeth cleaned before (twice a year for many years), but this time it was in Mexico!  Lots of Winter Texans do this, so.... with some encouragement from new friends, we decided to give it a try.  It was a good experience.

The first step was traveling to Progreso, TX and parking on the U.S. side of the border.
Love the sign and the laid-back attitude.  (We did pay the $2 :-)


Dianne took a picture of the bridge over the Rio Grande and we walked across to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico (a safe haven in a dangerous area) after dropping a quarter into the turnstile.

There are literally dozens of dentists in Nuevo Progreso.  Friends gave us several recommendations.  We chose Dr. Mustre, whose office was a half a block from the bridge.  See the sign on the right side of the photo?

Our teeth are now sparkling and for only $20 per person.  Please don't tell our dentist (and good friend) back home.  No appointment, up-to-date equipment, and the wait was only five minutes.

After the cleaning, we wandered across the street and made a couple of purchases.  The first was a set of Talavera tequila/cordial glasses.

The second was an impulse buy by Dianne, the stoic, "don't-buy-anything-we-don't-need" person.  She saw a Mexican pottery Nativity Scene for only $14.  So cool.  

Clean teeth, Mexican tequila glasses, a new Nativity scene -- time to celebrate.  No better place than the Happy Dentist Plaza, where Dianne and I had the best margaritas ever (for three dollars).

The friendly (everyone here is friendly) couple at the bar were waiting to see their dentist.  The guy, with a smile, told me that the margaritas looked "dangerous."  

We enjoyed our drinks while watching a stream of cars crossing the border.

Time to move on to the second new experience...  We have bought phones before, but they were evidently dumb phones.  Our two daughters (and our granddaughter) have been cajoling us to move into the next century.  Since my dumb phone has been turning itself off (without any prompting from me -- evidently, it is also a lazy phone), the time arrived to upgrade.  After a quick drive to McAllen, and some advice from the Verizon salesman, Carlos, we are now the proud owners of a new pair of iPhones.  G-4's, no less (whatever that means.)

The learning curve will be steep (probably not for Dianne), but our kids are s-o-o-o-o proud.  Can't wait to figure out what an "app" is!  

The pet picture of the day shows Bandido, who has now mastered the ramps at the agility course.  Makes a dad so proud!

Stick with us as we leave the comforts of Retama Village and move on to the wilds of West Texas;  hopefully, avoiding the WILDFIRES.

More Family Time in SoTex

Roger here....  I know the picture above is blurry, but what can ya do when the bird is flying?  I know there are answers, but not without an expensive camera.  We don't have one.  By the way, the bird is a brightly colored (florescent green and blue) Green Jay.  Time to move on.


We, sadly, took Robyn to the airport in San Antonio; but happily, Amanda and Kaia were able to spend a few more days with us before Amanda's vacation ended.  The long drive from the Texas Hill Country was just that, L-O-N-G.  The normal five-hour drive took us six + hours in the motor home.  Thank heaven Amanda and Kaia have almost outgrown the "how much longer" syndrome.

The time at Retama Village was much calmer and more relaxing than the continual activity in the Hill Country.  Lots of good meals, including steaks on the grill, beer can chicken, grilled salmon, and homemade maple ice cream.

As a side note... my grandfather, Clarence, loved homemade maple ice-cream.  My grandmother, Hazel, always made it for his birthday.  Later, my mom, Ann, continued the tradition.  Amanda (and me and Robyn) also love it.  My mom gave Dianne the recipe -- so the family tradition continues.  By the way, Kaia is now the biggest fan.  Lots of, "when are we having the maple ice cream?"  


Amanda spent some quality time on my hammock.

Other than the pool and the quiet time on our patio, we had two adventures.  The first was a visit to the Riverside Club, on the Rio Grande, for lunch.  I can't express how many times Amanda and Kaia said, "Is that really Mexico?" on the other side of the river.  We have a cute shot of Kaia checking things out across the river through binoculars.  Amanda and Kaia waved at a Mexican on a bulldozer across the river and happily report that he waved back.

The other highlight was a bicycle ride through Bentsen  Rio Grande State Park, right next door to Retama Village.  Normally, visitors are attracted to the birds, and we have some pictures of those, BUT Kaia was attracted to the climbing trees.

 And so was her mother...  Probably genetic.  (I broke a leg when I was in the third grade while climbing a willow tree at a friend's house.)


There were, of course, birds to see.  Here is a better, though smaller, picture of a green jay.  Plus, assorted birds at the feeder.  Plus, Kaia cavorting in the bird blind.

The short hike to the "hawk tower" was fun.  Mexico was visible in the distance, a continual fascination for our girls.

Amanda (the artistic member of our family -- D.) took a cool picture of a dead tree, probably a victim of the flooding from the last hurricane.

We took Amanda and Kaia to the McAllen Airport Saturday morning :-(.  They are now safely home in Ft. Myers.  Amanda starts her new job (a promotion) on Monday.  Good luck to her!

Dianne here:  I know I mentioned in the last blog entry that Kaia wanted to do a guest blog, like she's done on prior visits.   Well,  between talking on the phone with her little girlfriends in Florida and discovering we had "Photobooth" on our Mac computer (which I didn't even know we had) the blog never happened.  Leave it to a 12-year-old to teach us something new about our own computer.  Oh well, here's one of the 300 "creations" left behind on our Mac:  

We are on the road again in a few days - getting the coach house, and ourselves, ready for a few months away from South Texas.  Avoiding the wild fires, our first stop will be Seminole Canyon State Park (TX) to view the pictrographs.

The pet picture of the day shows Bandido making friends with our new whippet neighbors, Gabe and Click.  (Chaplin was still recovering from his last skin cancer surgery and couldn't play.)  Lots of good times ahead!