As usual, I dramatically underestimated the amount of time it would take to drive from Junction to the TT Medina Lake campground near San Antonio. The Garmin directed me off I-10 at Kerrville and onto back roads for about 50 miles before arriving at the site. It may have been the shortest travel distance but it sure did not seem to be the shortest travel duration.
We ambled from Kerrville to Bandera, TX on roads that seemed to go in circles, helices, three sides of triangles and assorted whorls before making a 180 degree turn in Bandera and on to Medina Lake which is in Lakehills, TX.
The really strange part was that Lake Medina does not seem to be a lake at all, having the water sucked out of it to feed San Antonio, some 40 miles away. Perhaps it should be called Former Lake Medina, Medina Trench or Medina Dry Lake because the closest water to the campsite requires a drive on not less than two Texas highways to be seen.
The camping area is quite nice and it is lousy with deer, just no lake. Clearly visible in the area are floating docks resting on earth, boat launch ramps that run downhill to drop off to nothing and the upper end of bridges that used to extend to floating docks.

We departed Brantley Lake after being awakened by a spectacular sunrise at 6:25 AM MST. We drove south on FH 285 through a bit of NM before entering Texas. There is absolutely no indication of the fact you have crossed a state line or a time zone boundary; no signs, lines across the road, agriculture checkpoints.
There were abundant field oil facilities – burning stacks, well pumps, pipelines, oilfield equipment and trucks everywhere despite it being Sunday. Oil profits wait on nothing.
We initially thought we would drive from Carlsbad, NM to Fort Stockton, TX, a distance of some 175 miles or so. Peg attempted to make a reservation in an RV park in Fort Stockton but apparently they only answer the phone during certain hours of the day and one of those hours wasn’t when we called. Peg left a nice message on their answering machine leaving her phone number. A lady at the park finally called back but only after we had fueled in Fort Stockton and were heading east since she had not called while we were inbound.
We knew the next available park was in Junction, TX, some 180 miles east. Without much discussion we took off going east on I-10 through West Texas. It was not as miserable as I thought it would be but it still is a bleak world. They do have a very reasonable speed limit of 80 mph and the road surface is fair or better but what I thought would be flat is actually quite rumpled up terrain with lots of relatively short up & down sections. We also crossed a time zone boundary so we pulled into Junction North Llano River RV Park after 4:00 PM CST.
The park is pretty nice with pull-throughs and full hookups, CATV and very slow wi-fi. No streaming video here. The park is also not a member of any of our park organizations so we noted it was a Good Sam site & we got 10% off the rate of $38.
Long drive today since I’m chicken and only traveled at 65 to 70 despite the reasonable speed limit. However, tomorrow we go to a park near San Antonio and the drive will be short – maybe 2 hours.

We woke up late (8:30) and mostly loafed for an hour or two while gulping coffee. The we popped over to the park restroom/shower facility for hot showers with limitless water. Then we did our horrible every-two-weeks ordeal of laundry.
Fortunately, the laundry in Carlsbad had great washing machines and very efficient dryers and we were out in less than 2 hours. However, the people we encountered in the laundry were almost all funny-looking, had humps or spoke a language I could not understand. Nevertheless, we escaped without harm and promptly entered an Albertson’s store. We stocked up on the few items we needed, topped off Charlotte’s diesel tank and drove back to Brantley Lake.
Peg returned the clothes to their rightful locations and I dropped the slide-out stabilizers, the gooseneck stabilizer and topped off the fresh water tank for travel tomorrow. Dump tanks and hook up in the morning and we are off to East Texas.

We drove back to the caverns again because we had only taken one of the two walks that one can take w/o supervision. The first day was the Big Room and today we took the Natural Entrance path which starts about 200 yards from the visitor’s center and winds 750′ down into the main cavern. When we initially arrived at the visitor’s center, we were able to see a sign indicating the Natural Entrance was closed to the public due to slippery conditions from last night’s snow. We inquired at the desk and found that the info on the sign was not entirely correct and we would be able to head down our chosen path after a 20 minute delay.
We nosed around the visitor’s center for a while and then started down the long route to the Big Room via the Natural Entrance. The path down is very scenic but it slopes at about 20% all the way down except where it has some steps going both up and down. There are some neat spots on this excursion but, being lazy by nature, it seemed pretty hard on the knees and thigh muscles to me.
If I were to suggest one of the two trips that can be made to someone who only had one day at the Caverns, I would surely recommend the Big Room. Elevator both ways and spectacular views make this the top choice.
Interestingly, we encountered two or three park rangers going up the steep entrance path at different times. One ranger stated that he can eat whatever he wants because he goes up the path a couple times each day. Another ranger indicated he liked going up better than going down because it is easier on the knees.
We rode up in the elevator.
After leaving, we bought diesel for Charlotte and headed home to Brantley Lake. Still cold at night – high 20s.

When we awoke we found that the weather forecast was correct. It was snowing at sunrise and sticking not long after. Our weather station in the Invader indicated an outside temperature around freezing when the sun came up. At 11 it was still snowing little bitty flakes and the weather station indicated 35 degrees, 96% humidity and a trend guessing at more of the same. Fortunately, we have an electrical hookup in Brantley Lakes State Park and, consequently we can run both indoor electric heaters and the furnace comes on every couple hours when the t-stat is set to 70. This staying in a 5th wheel trailer sure beats tent camping, particularly when the weather is shitty.
Good day to catch up on the filing, computer entry, maintenance and romantic wrasslin’ if I can catch Peggy. Her options for escape are not good in a 8’x33′ space. I’ve slowed over the years but my reach and grip remain undiminished so Peg’s ability to remain untouched for long is slim.
I also figured it would be a good day to rest our legs since we took a good, long walk in the cavern yesterday. As it turned out, resting our legs was pretty unnecessary because most of the way we went yesterday was flat and my legs felt fine.
Very cold at night – 26 degrees.

Started the day in the park’s shower facility. The showers are quite nice with ample hot water and gimp stalls with both overhead and hand-held water nozzles. The clear weather of yesterday is gone; overcast skies.
Peg & I drove the 35 miles or so to Carlsbad Caverns so we could give it a sniff. We were not disappointed. As a matter of fact, this is a destination for the bucket list.
In the visitor center we found that since we bought the federal access pass (way back in Gold Beach in July 2014) we again got to go in w/o charge. It is only $10 a head (for entry over three days) which we discovered is about one of the best ways to spend money, bar none.
The caverns are truly magnificent. We started the excursion with a 750′ ride down a shaft in a freight elevator that moves along at a nice clip. I think the ride down takes less than 2 minutes. There is an airlock door system to the elevator lobby and once passing that one emerges through to an underground snack bar, small gift shop and restrooms in a side tunnel.
Peg & I took off from this subterranean lobby on a trail of the Big Room. The Big Room is pretty big – the loop pathway (Portland Cement Concrete paved with stainless steel handrail both sides) is a bit more than a mile back to the elevators. The cavern trail winds along the edge of the cave offering lots of different views of everything. The lighting installed is gorgeous although you can see some panels and wiring installed on the surface throughout the cave. The conductors on the ground and the panels do not interfere with the spectacular views in this wonderful place.
I cannot adequately express my wonder at this place so I won’t try. I could go into the Caverns a lot and still be happy. I tried to take pictures but I do not know if they will turn out. Exposure times were long and I stupidly did not bother to carry a tripod. A flash is basically useless in the caverns because the spaces are truly enormous and items close to the lens are overexposed to the point of arc welding.
Once we finished up our circuit of the Big Room (which took us 3.5 hours) we re-boarded the freight elevator for the trip up. The elevator cars do just as well going up; less than a two minute ride to re-emerge at the surface. Peg snagged a few postcards in the gift shop and we departed the building. It was quite a bit colder than we we went in when we emerged. Glad we bought propane yesterday because it is going to be cold tonight. We speculate we will lay low tomorrow because the weather report says snow’s coming tonight.

Departed Stinky Lakes because the nifty smell and because, other than the stenchwater, there is little here to recommend. We drove about an hour and a half south to Carlsbad, NM. Roads were good all the way south from Roswell to C’bad.
Set up the trailer for three nights at Brantley Lakes State Park N of C’bad. It is another NM state facility and costs the same as Oliver Lee and Bottomless Stench; $10 for tents, $14 for W&E and $18 for W,S & E. We then drove south for 10 miles or so to C’bad for a look/see. We initially stopped at the C’bad Ford dealership so we could buy two new windshield washer nozzles which miraculously both failed within about 5 minutes of one another while I was breaking stuff under the hood in Oliver Lee a few days ago. Then we found a laundromat which we will need to visit in a few days.
We also found a Wallyworld and a place that sells propane, which we needed because we were empty on one cylinder and the weather is supposed to turn cold. It is about 77 degrees today, depending on which bank sign you believe. We found a drive-in called “Becky’s” where we decided to eat.
Becky seems to be a male, dentally-challenged 43” tall curmudgeon who alleges he makes everything himself. There were other employees at Becky’s who seemed to have their noses to the grindstone so I wonder if Becky is a liar, a megalomaniac or missing other senses.
In any event, Becky’s served us chicken-fried steak strips, complete with a cup of gravy, fries, ketchup and Texas toast which is merely a thick slice of ordinary toast. It was pretty good despite the stature of the operator.

Driving day. We drove over a 7500’+ pass on our way out of Alamagordo up Hwy 70 to Tularosa, Ruidoso (home of Ruidoso Downs Race Track at about 7000′ elevation) and then east to the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation and on through Roswell, NM to Bottomless Lakes State Park.
Although we thought we got a good deal on fuel in Alamagordo, we were subsequently mildly disappointed when we saw diesel for $2.049 on the rez. Since we did not need fuel at the time, we passed the good deal.
Bottomless Lakes are not actually lakes but water-filled sinkholes although they exist right adjacent to the Pecos River. Water is fed into the lakes underground through limestone/gypsum deposits so the water ain’t too potable in some of the holes. They look neat and the adjacent cliffs are a work in motion as they collapse. The sinkholes are believed to be collapsed caverns.
One strange notation about this place: WHAT IS THAT FART SMELL? The stench of farts or pig shit or upwind cattle feed lot operations permeates the place. I was going to blame it on Peggy because I couldn’t remember farting but even when she took a stroll the stench remained so blame was out of the question. We could not see any pig farms or cattle lots around so we finally figured out it was the lakes. Maybe they should rename the place “Bottom Lakes” or “Turdfondler Shores” or “Stenchville.”
We went to the visitor’s center for the park and met Jim, the docent. Since nobody else was there, he took us through the place and showed us the good stuff. He is quite a character and reminded both Peggy and me of Peg’s dad, Sam. He has some strange little props to greet you at the desk like dollar bills folded into little frogs, a tennis ball that he squeezes to make it talk and alleged alien turds. He also pointed out to us a secondary road we could drive to see most of the lakes w/o getting out of Charlotte so we drove all of it.
This park is another NM park and cost $14 a night for W&E and $18 per if you want sewer. The highways coming in are a bit bumpy.

Popped into Alamagordo to catch the Space Museum. It has stuff my folks worked on when at JPL shown (Viking) and a shitload of military rockets out front. The museum looks medium-sized from the outside but is even smaller once you get into the building. It is only $6 a head so it is worth every penny but, considering the size of the building the displays are pretty sparse. The stuff they have is neat but you can easily be in and out in 2 hours. Most of the inside of the building’s space is cleverly wasted on neat sloping ramps running diagonally through the center of the structure such that there is some display space and a myriad of views through enormous glass building walls to the outside.
The museum does have a bunch of rocket engines on display which I found fascinating but may not have had the same effect on Peggy. They also have an Apollo capsule, a tail section from a V-2 and a cutout of the ESA’s space station and a bunch of other pre-1970 technology.
From the museum we popped into a Valero for fuel and Wal-Mart for entertainment prior to returning to Oliver Lee State Park. Once there, we visited the visitor’s center, took a look at the creek behind Frenchy’s cabin and had a possible lebanese woman give us a tour of the old Oliver Lee ranch. This house was almost entirely restored from almost complete ruin so most looks pretty new but the stories about the owner are pretty good. There are rumors of escape tunnels and a pretty good guess he smoked a few folks. Pat Garrett wanted him but was disappointed.

Drove into White Sands National Monument. The place has a wonderland of bright white dunes maybe 30 feet high consisting of gypsum sand. Apparently hard rainstorms in this area wash available gypsum down creeks into a giant basin when the water ponds and promptly evaporates, leaving the gypsum behind to be blown by the prevailing wind into the dunes. The dunes are pretty active because we drove about half of the way from the highway to the end of the road in gypsum sand that now covers the road. It was a bit damp so it splattered all over the truck and dried into little gobs of weak plaster on the fenders, chrome and running boards.
The dogs we saw in the park were quite delighted to run around in the sand but, unfortunately the owners were being bad because unleashed dogs are supposedly verboten. I must have seen 20 dogs and maybe three were leashed so maybe enforcement isn’t a big issue. I liked the look of the unleashed guys best.
We took a spin through Alamagordo after the park and found it just as unremarkable as Deming. They both do have outstanding sunrise and sunset light shows and maybe that is the magnet because Alamagordo proper is plain.
One redeeming feature we did find in Alamagordo was diesel for $2.399/gallon, definitely the cheapest we have seen since June 2014.