San Angelo KOA

On this trip to San Angelo, we decided to stay at the local KOA. This is our second time to stay at this campground.

San Angelo lacks a really good RV park. The ones that are here are merely adequate. We've paid the same fees -- or even less-- to stay at some really good campgrounds, like Fernbrook and Sundance. I'm not sure how campgrounds such as the ones here in San Angelo and nearby Big Spring justify charging the fees they do.

Now, that's not to say that San Angelo KOA is a bad campground. It certainly provides all the necessary amenities RVers have come to expect. In fact, the wireless connection I enjoy here is probably the best I've experienced at any RV park. And cable TV provides more than 60 channels. The laundromat in the back of the office is clean and comfortable, and a television is provided for viewing while waiting. However, the dryers do not provide sufficient heat, so it does take longer to dry a load than normal. Propane is available. There is also a pool located next to the office.

Office. Restrooms located behind tree on right. Laundry is in back. Pool is to the left of office.

Sites are very close together. During our stay, we had several different overnight neighbors. We were able to hear furnaces fire up and water pumps in use. That's just a bit too close for us. RVs park back to back with only utilities separating them.

Our site -- # 52 -- to the left. Each site has own utilities.

The main interior road is paved, but the remainder of the park is pea gravel. Numerous mature mesquite trees dot the park, but they provide scant shade in the summer. Sites with tend pads and cabins are also available.

Sites with tent pads

Cabins

The folks running the park are friendly and helpful, like most folks in West Texas. They will guide you to your site and pick up your garbage from your site each day. One of the unique features of the park is that a subscription to the local paper is included in your fee. 

The park is located in the Lake Nasworthy area on Knickerbocker Road. The location provides easy access to the lake and major highways. In addition, there is a 2 mile loop next to the KOA where locals walk. It is not an official walking path, just a nice paved road along the bluffs overlooking Lake Nasworthy that locals have adopted as a favorite place to walk and jog.

Geese in Lubbock

While in Lubbock, Donna and I were entertained daily by the geese that make the area their home in the winter. According to my research, they like the Lubbock area because of the weather, the availability of water, and the stray grain in the fields following harvest. There are a number of playa lakes in the area. These shallow lakes are ideal for the geese, who sleep on the water and then venture out in search of food and water during the day.

Sky over Lubbock filled with geese

We really enjoyed hearing the geese "talk" as they flew above us, heading first this way then that. Some experts believe that as many as 100,000 geese make the area home during the winter; it just depends on the resources that are available for that particular year. According to my research, the species usually represented are Canada, Snow, Ross, and Specklebellies.

A closer shot of some low-flying geese

Running from the Cold

It's 22 degrees as I write this on an early Tuesday morning, and the temperature should drop a few degrees more. And tomorrow night, the low is expected to be 24.

We are in San Angelo now. We left Lubbock Sunday morning. A heavy north wind pushed us down here. We were trying to get away from the cold front that pushed through the South Plains Sunday night, which brought temps in the low teens and a dusting of snow to that area.

It's actually warmer in San Angelo, but not much. It will warm up today, freeze again tonight, and then a warming trend will arrive on Wednesday and temps will be much more tolerable.

Donna and I don't like cold weather, and cold weather is worse in a travel trailer.

Our heater works great, thank goodness. But as soon as it turns off, you can feel the cold creeping in again. There just isn't much you can do to insulate an RV. Our furnace runs off propane, and we are using quite a bit of that fuel these days. We are probably going through a 20 pound tank every 4 or 5 days. For the 10 days we were in Lubbock, we bought 3 tanks at $16 a tank. Now, 1 tank was empty when we arrived, so we didn't actually use 3 tanks while there, but we used a lot.

Our trailer is equipped with two 20 pound propane tanks. I keep both of them turned on. I can designate which tank is my primary tank. Once it empties, the system will automatically begin pulling from the other tank IF that tank is open. I also carry a spare tank, and I refill any tank as soon as it empties. We should be in good shape there.

Living in an RV in this type of cold weather is a bit challenging, and I really don't know if I'm doing everything I need to. My biggest concern is freezing pipes and hoses. We get our water via a hose that runs from a spigot of some sort to a connection on the side of our trailer. I have wrapped that hose in insulation, but I don't think that is enough for temps below 25 degrees. So yesterday, I disconnected that hose and drained all the water out of it to prevent it from freezing. I added about 15 gallons of water to our fresh water tank. Since our fresh water tank is within the exterior walls of the trailer, I expect it to benefit from the heat of our trailer and not freeze. To use this water, we have to activate our pump.

My holding tanks also have heat pads to prevent them from freezing, and I turned those on last night. I closed all the valves to my holding tanks last night so that no liquid will be in the drain hose causing it to freeze.

I'm not sure what else to do except find a warmer place to stay.

Maharaja Indian Restaurant

From the first time Donna and I were introduced to Indian food at Indian Gardens in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, way back in 1983, it has been one of our top 3 favorite international cuisines. Since then, we've sampled Indian food anytime we've had the opportunity. We've had Indian food in Houston, Dallas, Shreveport, Austin, Santa Fe, Ft. Worth, Midland, and anywhere else we've come across it. Recently, we tried Maharaja Indian Restaurant in Lubbock.

We've had better. Having said that, though, I might say that bad Indian food is better than no Indian food because we do enjoy it that much.

The first clue that the food might not be that good was the small number of diners in the restaurant. We dropped in just before 12:00 noon, a busy dining time in any city, large or small. The lunch hour is normally a time of hustle and bustle at any restaurant, but things were pretty quiet at the Maharaja. As evidence of how slow business was, I saw only 3 employees. A young lady seated us, served us our drinks, and took care of our pricey bill of $23.71. A young man wrapped silverware and cleared tables. Occasionally, an older woman would step out of the kitchen to check items on the buffet.

After being seated and ordering water to drink, we stepped up to the buffet hoping for the best. The food was okay. I can't say it was bad. There were even some good dishes, such as the chicken tikka. But most of the food was uninspired. The rice pudding was extremely soupy and lacked the strong cardamom taste that Indian rice pudding is normally noted for. I do not believe any heavy cream was used, and there was no evidence of raisins or pistachios. The raita had a strong cooked onion flavor. Normally, I enjoy this condiment, but not this time.

There were limited dishes available, with only 2 chicken dishes on the buffet. There were no beef or lamb choices that I saw. Choices were not replenished until completely gone, so you might have to request that a certain option be refilled.


The building is nice and modern, and the location is excellent, being located on a side street off of Slide and 82nd Street. However, this is not enough to make us return. We were very disappointed.

Lubbock, Texas

We're in Lubbock right now; we've been here for almost a week. It's almost like a homecoming for me. I'm not sure that Donna feels exactly as I do, but she does like the town.

We moved out to this area in the late 1970s after I completed my MA degree. I landed my first full-time teaching job at Olton High School, about 50 miles or so northwest of Lubbock. We fell in love with West Texas from that experience, and we've come back to this part of the world again and again over the years. Our daughter was born about 30 miles north of here in Plainview, Texas, and I did another teaching stint about 50 miles southwest in the small community of Wellman. We do have some roots here.

Lubbock has grown dramatically over the years. The population now is over a quarter million. Now, that's not Dallas or Houston, but it's big enough for us. It has a sprawling university (Texas Tech) as well as the smaller Lubbock Christian University. Dining options are great, including options for some of our favorite international cuisines, including Indian, Greek, and Thai. Shopping opportunities abound, medical facilities are superb, and there's just a lot to do here, at least for folks like us.

I've always been impressed by the music scene in Lubbock. It is the hometown of Buddy Holly, for example, and his influence is still felt in the music industry. Others who have grown up in Lubbock and the surrounding area include Waylon Jennings, Mac Davis, Roy Orbison, and the Maines family. The Depot District near downtown is an outgrowth of this musical heritage.

I don't know how long we will stay in Lubbock. So far, the weather has been nice. The days have been warm (70s or so) while we've not had a freeze during our stay. I do not know how much longer the weather will hold, though. We've had a lot of that West Texas wind while here, but not a drop of rain.

But we'll hang around here a bit longer and enjoy ourselves while the weather is good.

Mesa Verde RV Park

We're in Lubbock, Texas, right now, enjoying a stay at Mesa Verde RV Park, located along US 62/82, locally known as the Brownfield Highway. Technically, the park is located in Wolfforth, a small but growing community on the southwest outskirts of Lubbock.

This is a nice little RV park. My only complaint is the location. There is a bit of noise from the highway, but not nearly as much as we've experienced at some other parks located next to busy highways. But the noise is rather constant, though not overwhelming. Also, the frontage road along this freeway style section of the highway is one-way, so you have to go past the park then back whenever you return from Lubbock, so it is a bit inconvenient.

Interior roads are paved while sites are gravel. There is grass between the sites, and a few trees have been planted around the park. During the summer, there will be very little -- if any -- shade, though during cooler weather the sunshine is welcome. We did have to level our trailer, so our site is not level. We were assigned site 16, which is a pull-through site. By parking to the extreme side of the site, we were able to park our truck in the site. Not all sites are as roomy.

Site 16, near the front of the park

A rather unique feature of the park is the utility hookups at each site. They kind of remind me of the hookups at Sam's Town RV Park in Las Vegas. There is a utility box at each site where you hookup to electrical and cable.

Utility box

In addition to the hookups, the utility box also has a light and hooks for neatly hanging cables and hoses. Near the utility box is the sewer hookup and the water hookup. In the photo above, note the blue-handled water hookup. I had not seen any water hookups like this until I began traveling in the west, but they are rather common in this part of the country. For people with arthritis, they certainly are easier to turn on and off than the old twist handles.

WiFi is available in the park, as is cable TV. However, fewer than 30 channels are provided, and PBS was not available in the lineup. We enjoy PBS, especially numerous British comedies and dramas that usually run on the weekends. So, we simply raised our antennae and then switched back and forth between cable and antennae as desired. Several channels are available via antennae in the Lubbock area.

Restrooms/bathrooms were very well-maintained. They are located in the rear of the main building where the office is located. The laundry is also located in this building. The laundry, though neat and in good order, contained only 3 washers and 3 dryers. There is also a small exercise room with 3 pieces of equipment located in the main building.

Main building with bathrooms facing the camera. Laundry room and exercise room on left. There is a pool inside the fenced area on left. Managers live in house behind building. Office is on opposite side of this building.

The park has about 14 pull thru sites and roughly 35 or so back in sites. Long-term residents occupy many of the back-in sites, while pull-thru sites appear to be saved for overnight and short term visitors, like us. There is a dog-run at the front of the park and another along the north perimeter, and dumpsters are located throughout the park. Propane is  not available in the park, though tanks can be refilled at a business located next door.

Row of pull-thru sites. Note utility boxes, grassy areas, and small trees.

One word of warning. As you approach the RV park, there is no large sign indicating the park, so it can sneak up on you.

If It's Tuesday, This Must be Big Spring

In 1969, a movie called If It's Tuesday, This Must be Belgium was released. The movie, starring Suzanne Pleshette, followed the adventures of a British tour guide who would take Americans on whirlwind tours of Europe. During these tours, tourists would visit a large number of countries in a relatively few days, leading some to be confused as to just where they were at any given time.

I know how they feel.

Since November 19 -- a period of roughly 9 days, depending on how you count -- Donna and I have stayed in 5 different towns, usually spending no more than 2 nights in each place. Yesterday, we arrived in Big Spring, a place we've stayed numerous times while visiting our daughter and her family. Despite our familiarity with the area, we experienced a bit of confusion last night and momentarily forgot where we were.

This is not unusual, I suppose, but it seems to be happening to us more and more. When we began this journey in late July, we were traveling rather fast. From August 9 to August 26 -- a period of about 17 days -- we stayed in 8 different places, yet we didn't have this feeling.  From August 26 until early October, we began staying longer at campgrounds, usually from 1 to 2 weeks at each one. Then from October 11 to October 19, we began moving quickly again. During that 8 day period, we stayed in 5 different places, and we got that feeling of confusion for the first time.

And what's funny is that this confusion is happening to both Donna and me at the same time and at the same places. Now, we have been married for 35 years and we tend to think more and more alike with each passing year. I guess that explains a lot. But it is a bit disconcerting when we think about going to the grocery store and have to stop and figure out where we are first.

I suppose you could chalk some of this up to senior moments, but it's odd that we are having the same senior moments at the same time. The good news is that these moments happen only a few seconds, though they may recur several times in a single day. We are probably being told we need to find a place to settle for a while.

Gosh, I hope we don't get lost down the road.