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.

San Angelo State Park

After leaving Conroe Sunday, November 25, we spent the next 2 nights at San Angelo State Park just outside of San Angelo, Texas. We had never stayed at the park prior to this trip, though we have visited the park extensively over the years. The park has an extensive set of hiking/biking/equestrian trails, and Donna and I have hiked just about all of these. You can view my blog entries about those hikes beginning with http://ramblin-gamblin.blogspot.com/2012/01/san-angelo-sp-december-30-2011.html.

San Angelo does not have many RV parks. The leading competitors are the KOA park on Knickerbocker and Spring Creek RV Park on Lake Nasworthy. Although both parks have full amenities including WiFi, cable TV, and full-hookups, we decided to pass them by this trip. We've stayed at both of them in the past, and feel they are overpriced for the quality of services they provide.

So we opted for San Angelo State Park this trip. And what did we get? A good experience.

The park does not have full hookups, but it does have electric and water. Sites are spacious, and we enjoyed our pull-through site. We were also surprised to have WiFi at our campsite. In fact, I'm publishing this using the park's Internet services. The park does not provide cable TV, but we were able to pick up several local TV stations using our antennae.

Campsite # 4 in Red Arroyo Campground. Lots of room between sites.

There is precious little shade at the campsites, and the only trees in the campground are from mesquites. But during the winter, lack of shade is not a problem. Our site had a nice concrete picnic table on a concrete pad with a metal cover. Camping fees for our stay were $20 per night, almost half what other parks in the area charge.That's a nice little savings.

We stayed in the Red Arroyo camping area, which is nearest the entry gate at the south entrance. If shade is a concern, you might try the campsites in the Bald Eagle camping area in the north entrance. (See map)

The park was originally an Army Corps of Engineers park (see history). The state converted it into a state park in 1995. Almost all of the facilities are left-overs from the Corps days, and they are showing their age.

Even if you're not a hiker, there are plenty of paved roads near the campground that are perfect for daytime strolls.

The weather was nice during our stay. The wind blew both days, but temps reached the 70s both days, allowing us to sit outside some. A cold front moved through the area our second day, and that dropped the night temps into the 30s.

Winter sky moving in over San Angelo State Park; it'll get cold tonight!

Online Tools for RVers

I rely on several online tools as we travel about in our RV. If you RV or are considering doing so, you might find these useful.

To help plan where we will stay, I rely heavily on RV Park Reviews. This is an easy to use website that provides reviews and details about RV parks. The parks are grouped by city and state, so you can see a list of all the RV parks in an area where you are interested in staying. The site also provides details about the amenities available at each park, such as cable TV and WiFi. A link to the RV park's website -- if there is one -- is also provided. Reviews are provided by RVers, but they should be taken with the proverbial grain of salt.

There are other sites out there to help you find RV parks. Members of the Good Sam Club, for example, may refer to that organization's web site to locate parks. KOA, Escapees, Passport America and other organizations maintain similar sites to help you locate parks that belong to their group. I like the RV Park Review site, though, because it will list all parks regardless of affiliation.

When planning my route, I refer to http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx to help me locate the best fuel prices. There are numerous web sites devoted to gas prices out there, but I like this one because you can drag the map along your route. You can also select a gas category (unleaded, plus, premium, or diesel) to make viewing fuel prices even easier. Fuel prices fluctuate widely from area to area. We have found they can vary by $.40 or more in just 30 or 40 miles, so using such a site can save you considerable money.

I probably use Google Maps and Google Earth more than any other online tools. I use Google Maps to plan my route, check distances, and locate places. I use Google Earth to to actually see what a place looks like once I've located it. I really like the street view feature in Google Earth. When you are traveling to areas unfamiliar to you, it's nice to be able to see what the place actually looks like. You don't want to end up staying in an RV park that backs up to a junk yard, for example.

Both Google Maps and Google Earth also will show what businesses are located nearby. One of the reasons that I selected Sundance RV Park in Cortez, Colorado, for example, was that Google Earth showed it was within easy walking distance of a number of eating places.

Google Earth view of Sundance RV Park

In the image above, you can see numerous fork and knife icons, which represent eateries. If you hover over one of those icons, it will bring up the name of the eatery. If you click on the icon, more information will be provided, including a link to the website if there is one.

You can also enter a business type in the address bar in Google Maps, and it will return all matching businesses in that area that it can find.

Screen capture from Google Maps of RV parks in Cortez, Colorado

In the screenshot above, I entered "RV Parks" in the address bar while centered on Cortez, Colorado, and you can see what it returned. The map on the right shows the location of RV parks, while an equivalent list is provided on the left. You will often find parks this way that are not mentioned in the RV Park Review site listed at the beginning of this entry.

There are, of course, numerous other tools I use, but these are the ones I use regularly. There are websites, for example, that provide information on road conditions. Weather sites are invaluable, especially this time of year.

Happy Thanksgiving

By the time this is posted, most of you will have probably embarrassed yourselves at a Thanksgiving dinner table. You've probably eaten far more than you should, and the men among you -- and perhaps even a few of the fairer sex -- have unhitched the top button on your pants and have settled back in an easy chair to watch a football game. But that's alright; you've earned this right. There's no harm in going a bit overboard on this day.

Donna and I took our trailer to Hayes RV in Longview for some maintenance on Monday. We had some free rooms at the Horseshoe, so decided to use them while repairs were being made. We really expected Hayes to take a few days to do everything we asked, but they called us late Monday to report everything was done. We pick up our trailer tomorrow morning, then head to Conroe for a visit to Donna's mother.

We've been using Hayes RV for years, and we've never been disappointed in their work. For any of you who RV and happen to pass through this area and need some work, I highly recommend Hayes. They are located in far north Longview. They do good work.

The colors in East Texas are beautiful right now. This is just about the height of their color. I do enjoy this area at this time of year. People not familiar with East Texas would probably be surprised at the good color available here this time of year.

Time to Move On

We've been in the Longview area for nearly a month now. We've taken care of some business, visited a few friends, had some dental work done, and donated some money to the boats in Shreveport/Bossier City. It's about time to move on.

We are taking our trailer in for some repairs in a couple of days. We have a few free nights at a Bossier City casino, so we will stay there while the work is done on our trailer. We'll pick it up the day after Thanksgiving, then head out. After a short visit to see Donna's mother, we'll head west again and follow the sun. We're seeking warmth right now.

It's a might cold to be staying in a trailer in this area. Days are pleasant enough, but the nights surely do get cold. We need to find someplace a bit warmer as the nights get colder and longer and the days grow shorter.

It's been great seeing the trees again, especially with many of them with their fall colors. I do enjoy fall in East Texas.

We don't have a plan for where we will go; we just plan to head west where the days are sunny. There will be times when we have no internet access, but I'll post entries whenever I can.

We'll see you on down the road.

Good Eats: Lil Thai House, Longview, Texas

Donna and I love Thai food. We fell in love with it the first time we ate it while living abroad many, many years ago. We are always on the lookout for a good Thai restuarant.

Longview has a good one, the Lil Thai House.

We have been eating at the Lil Thai House in downtown Longview for about 5 years or so, I guess. It is a little "hole in the wall" restaurant with a Bohemian spirit, and it seats probably no more than 25 people or so.

On this particular trip, I ordered the Red Curry with chicken, my traditional favorite, while Donna tried the Pad Thai with chicken. The Red Curry has a rich curry sauce. It is served with steamed rice, which I heap in the bowl to soak up that wonderful sauce.

This was our first visit to Lil Thai House in almost 2 years. I felt that the quality of the food had declined some during that time. Don't get me wrong; it was still good, but not at the high level we had experienced in the past. The bowl my curry was served in was smaller as well, and I felt the portion was smaller even though the price was higher than what I had paid in the past.

I was also disappointed that the restaurant is really only open a total of 18 hours per week (see hours of operation on website). It's almost as if that by charging higher prices, they do not have to open as much.

The restaurant does draw a loyal base of customers, and many are greeted by name. Employees are friendly, and I have seen many of the same faces over the years.

Lil Thai House has the Thai food market in Longview wrapped up. I do not know if there are any Thai restaurants in nearby Tyler. I feel that some competition would be good. I do not find the food any better than what we enjoyed at The Best Thai Restaurant in Canyon, Texas, where we enjoyed a great meal in August. The Best Thai Restaurant also has a more varied menu and a much better dining room.

But if you do hanker for some good Thai food, you can find it at Lil Thai House.

RV People

Prior to the start of our adventure in late July, we hadn't spent much time in our travel trailer. In fact, when we did go out, it was for short weekend or vacation trips, usually lasting no longer than a few days or 2 weeks at most. And most of the time, we tried to stay in state parks. Our goal then was to get away from work, get to natural outdoor locations, do a bit of hiking, enjoy a campfire, and do a bit of fishing. The way we camp today is a lot different, and the other campers we encounter are certainly different.

Today, we spend most of our time in commercial RV parks. The campers we encounter here are different from those who usually frequent state and national parks.

In almost every RV park we've visited, there has been a sizable number of long-term or permanent campers. Many of these are workers who live in their RVs as their jobs move them about from place to place. Most of the time, the workers live alone in their RVs while their families remain at a permanent home. Each weekend, these workers return home to their families for a brief visit before returning to their RV for another week of work. Sometimes the workers are a bit older but not yet retirement age, so a husband and wife whose children have already grown will travel about in their full-time RV. Quite often the wife spends her days in the RV park while the husband goes off to his job. We occasionally do see a young family with pre-school children living this lifestyle, but those instances are pretty rare.

Some of the long-term occupants of RV parks are full-timers who are retired. They find a park they like and stay there for extended periods of time, especially if there are good services nearby. These services include groceries, dining, entertainment, and similar businesses. As long as the weather is good in a locale, these full-timers will hang around, especially if the park is a quality place and the price is right. In Colorado, we saw lots of folks from southern climates who return for several summer months year after year to enjoy the cooler temps of the mountains. During winter months, some of these folks will find a warm location while others return home to Texas or Florida or wherever their brick and mortar home is.

Then there are the short term and overnight visitors. These are the people who pull in for a night or two on their way to a more permanent destination. For example, we had an older couple from up north pull in next to us last night for an overnight stay on their way to the Texas Valley. The gentleman said he stops overnight here twice each year, once going to the Valley and once on the return trip back north. I visited with another couple earlier in the week who had come through on their annual trek from Denver to Florida where they winter over each year.

So, some parks are called "destination" parks, while others are simply overnight stays while on the way to destinations. Destination parks are a stop where people will spend longer periods of time. Such parks offer good weather for the season, activities, and conveniences. Overnight parks usually offer few if any of these, but they do offer adequate amenities for overnight stops.

RV parks can become little communities, especially if the park managers/hosts plan activities, such as weekly lunches, happy hour get togethers, or other events. Even without these events, people walk around the parks and get to know their neighbors. We often see our neighbors at the laundromat. RV folks like being outside, for the most part, so we spend as much time out of doors as possible. This allows us to come into contact with others.

One of the great advantages of RVing is getting to know the people who share this lifestyle with you.