Thursday, December 8, 2016

BIG BEND TO THE RANCH

Leaving Big Bend a day early, we were on our way to The Ranch, one of the few SKP parks we had not visited.  We had a couple of stops on the way in an effort to not exhaust the driver.

In an effort to eat healthy, we often bring snacks with us.  Looks like a fridge in the glove compartment.

We overnighted at Walmart in Fort Stockton, Texas.  We have done this several times.  Fort Stockton seems to be a resting spot for many rvers traveling east, west, north, and south.  There were about 20 rigs overnighting.  It's relatively quiet there as the Walmart is not a 24 hour store.


Walmart, Fort Stockton, Texas in the rain
Many years ago we explored Kartchner Caverns near Benson, Arizona and were told that Carlsbad Caverns in Texas was much better.  We stopped at Carlsbad Caverns, in Carlsbad, Texas.  (travelers - Hwy 285 from Pecos to Carlsbad is terrible)
We don't agree that Carlsbad is better.  Bigger yes, but not better.


Doug did most of the exploring while I waited.  I do not care for the dark and I hate bats.  I get to enjoy the pictures.





To be fair, Carlsbad Caverns is much older than Kartchner Caverns.  Kartchner is so much better lit.  Kartchner Caverns has a lot of colours in the stalagmites and stalactites. The very enormousness of Carlsbad is overwhelming.  The is a gift shop and a small snack bar in the cave at Carlsbad.

Okay, tick that one off our bucket list.

We headed up the highway to the Escapee park whose friendliness is supposed to outshine the friendliness of Rovers' Roost.  Yes, indeed it is friendly.  A bell is rung as you arrive and people come from all over the park for hugs.  We were introduced at the Happy Hour (daily at 4:00 is a bit much).  I always find the laundry room is the best place to make friends and here was no different.

The weather here right now is not nice.  It is cold and dry.  There aren't many people out and about.  We have 2 heaters running all day and the blinds are closed.  However, WiFi here is free so we are watching Netflix a lot.

We haven't taken any pictures of the park or the people due to the nasty weather.  However yesterday we ventured out to nearby Artesia and found this rather funny.  A pit bull guarding a goat in a yard.  The dog was barking like crazy but it didn't even faze the goat.



4 comments:

Linda Sand said...

I often waited in the passenger seat while Dave went in to register. At the Ranch they rang the bell and people came. I felt compelled to get out for a change.

Paul and Marsha Weaver OCT. 17, 2009 said...

We loved Carlsbad Caverns. I haven't nothing to compare it to but enjoyed it so much.
Yes, the Ranch is a very friendly park. We only stayed overnight, but they treated us like we were staying a month.

Traveling Along said...

We didn't love Carlsbad Caverns but we didn't hate it either. We both walked into the caves and then elected to take the elevator back to the top. The best we ever saw was Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. We also enjoyed our time at the Ranch, however when we were there in 2008 the wifi was terrible and our Verizon phones were spotty. Glad to hear they have that issue fixed.

Wanderin' said...

We did Carlsbad many, many, many years ago. I thought it was great but that's about all I remember about it.

Hate the cold weather. Hope you get to something warmer soon .... And, we've been to the Fort Stockton Walmart a few times too!