Day 11: Should we stay or should we go: Kerrville, TX to Fort Stockton, TX
Truth: We are not in Fort Stockton, TX, we are in the Highway Safety Rest Stop about 23 miles east of Fort Stockton.
This day, like many days, began innocuously. A late rise, gab the map of the campground trails and head off for a walk. The goal: The lookout on the “Orange” trail. Warning, the Orange trail is difficult. No worries, I’m bringing a map! It was about 1.75 km to the start of the Orange trail (I’m not sure why I keep capitalizing the “O” in orange). And then up we go. I have a map! Not too far into the Orange trail there is a sign about trail rehabilitation with a detour arrow. No worries, detours are always well marked. Next group of detour signs are laying on the ground. Hmmm. I continue on that way. Next group of signs are on the ground. I shall go that way. Eventually I scared up 3 deer that were probably trying to have a nice chat when they heard me coming. Off they ran. Hopefully they know the trail cause those detour signs are not accurate! I caught up with the proper trail on the return part of the loop and went backwards to the lookout. All if this mucking about shortened the route by about 2 km. But, I did get to the lookout!
Upon returning to the van, Mrs Milddogs had cooked up some cornbread. Mmmm.
We had breakfast, I had another shower as had Mrs Milddogs and then we cleaned out the van. We hung up some laundry by combining two clotheslines and using the mirror of the van as one anchor point. Not too self, If you open the van door, the line will sag.
After a clean and uneventful emptying of the tanks (still not the one covered in feces!) we departed at 1205 and set out to do some provisioning. At the local H.E.B. Mrs Milddogs picked up some essentials while Amy and I hung out in the van.
Kerrville was nice. The campground was nice. Quiet. Good trails.
OK, there are a lot of people in Texas that look like Darlene from Ozark (Netflix, show) and frankly, I’m afraid to talk to them.
Lunch: Cold leftover Sonic. We are suckers for punishment.
On the road we go. Goal, that rest stop just past Fort Stockton. Pretty uneventful drive. Mrs Milddogs was researching side trips and suggested we head to Fort Lancaster. Not far off the highway and well reviewed. Oh my, what a great decision. We never mad it to Fort Lancaster. WE stopped at the lookout about 2 miles short of the fort and just stared. Wow. Just wow.
None of those pictures do it justice! But now the debate. Do we stay here, 2.5 hours shy of our destination or move on to make the Thursday drive more reasonable? Factors to consider: Forecast said heavy winds (~50kmph) overnight at the lookout; Drive on Thursday would be 6.5 hours plus breaks; can’t change the target for Thursday as we have a reservation; It is amazing beautiful at the lookout; our target location for the night is a road side rest area.
And the answer was, move along to set up an easier Thursday. The good news is that the rest of our drive was through amazing scenery. Texas has been awesome and more time should be spent in west Texas. We are trying to avoid the long drives as it precludes some side adventures, like the winner today. So here we are at the rest area with our truck friends. They let us park away from the trucks in the car area as we are just little š
I’m wasting speed limit. Highway 10 has a limit of 80mph or ~140km/h. That’s an invitation to speed. But in our little van I trudge along at about 65mph as I am not in a rush, the wind has a large impact on our happy driving time, and (oxford comma) there are dead deer every 5 km or so along the highway. So, we shall poke along as long as we are not creating a hazard for anyone. We were actually passed by another Travato today. First one we have seen on this trip and they just blew by. Good to see them.
Dinner: Leftover curry for me and Mrs Milddogs had the sushi she picked up at H.E.B.
This evening, Amy got a haircut in the van as it is getting hot out. It was 32C as we were driving but has cooled off nicely. Should be about 18C overnight. We have to close up the van as the trucks idling are a bit loud.
Tomorrow is a special day. We have booked a KOA in Las Crucas, NM. We will be in New Mexico!!!! We will gain an hour!!! It’s only about 4 hours from here!!!! It’s Mrs Milddogs birthday!!!! It’s Saint Patrick’s day and my people will be celebrating all over the world!!! There is a Ross Dress for Less in Las Cruces and I can’t say no. Oh no!!!!!
Hoping we get a decent night sleep here beside the highway. In fairness, we passed a number of campgrounds just as close to the highway as this free spot is.
We had a small breakage today, the chain lock for the back van doors broke. It’s a security thing that allows you to “lock” the bathroom doors from the inside. I have repaired it with a piece of paracord and a nite-ize mini carabiner.
Out! Peace!
