A real gem: Holbrook Park, Sulphur, Louisiana

My back yard

 

Holbrook Park is located on the Calcasieu River, in Sulphur, Louisiana. There are so many things that make this a special place to relax and enjoy.

 

 

Mr. Harry, the caretaker, welcomed me warmly, in spite of me being a Yankee. Actually, he did more than welcome me. He cooked me and a couple other "foreigners" a delicious Cajun style dinner of sausage, pork beans and rice. Mere words cannot do that meal justice. I'd return to the park ,again, just for the pleasure of laughing with Mr. Harry and listening to his stories and/or eat his cooking.

 

Many of the guests return, regularly, to enjoy the tranquility and beauty. I was welcomed into this extended family with true Southern hospitality.

 

 

The park itself is beautifully kept, with 13 RV sites with electricity. A few of the sites are on the water, but all are within spitting distance of the river. There are sites to fit any size rig. I believe each site has a pad, grill and picnic table. The campground amenities include restrooms with showers, a dump station, covered picnic areas and a fenced playground.

 

The sunsets on the river are gorgeous!

 

 

At $10.00 a night it's a real bargain! It is first come/first serve, however. I pulled in on a Wednesday and there was plenty of room. By the Friday night the RV spaces were filled, with locals coming over to pay for and reserve their site, on Thursday and Friday.

 

Holbrook Park

Google Map
1868 Holbrook Park Rd, Sulphur, LA

(337) 721-3700, Monday thru Friday, 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM or send an email.

 

 

 

Just one more New Mexican Love Story (Chloride, a ghost town)

The highlight of my stay in Truth or Consequences was a visit to Chloride, a ghost town about 40 miles northwest of Tor C.

Did you know that American ghost towns are rapidly disappearing from the map? As a child, do you remember watching the westerns and dreaming of living in the era of the pioneer of the old west? I don't think that dream has changed for the younger generations.

Mr.  and Mrs. Edmunds, visionaries both, are working hard to make sure future generations have the opportunity to experience the old west. They've spent their retirement, literally, rebuilding Chloride.

My pictures can't do Chloride, or the Edmunds justice. Please visit their website, The Pioneer Store Museum, for better pictures and  more information.

J.M.House visited Chloride in 2012. She (or he, as the case may be) documents Chloride's history in a blog post City of Dust, A Resurrection: Chloride, New Mexico. By the way, the blog City of Dust, is a wonderfully researched and written resource for you lovers of history.

Store fronts: the Monte Christo gift shop and Galley (left) and the Pioneer Store Museum (right)

 

Inside the Pioneer Store Museum, the Edmunds give us a real taste of life in the Wild West 

 

When the Edmunds purchased the building it was inhabited by bats,rats and other vermin. They literally had to scrape the guano off of everything. You can see the damage, caused by the guano, on the front of this safe.

 as opposed to the nearly pristine interior.

 

A complete, authentic postal service counter, from back in the day.

 

The sorting case is just a tiny bit smaller than when I delivered the mail

 

Mrs. Edmunds is a wealth of information. We could have easily spent days listening to the stories she has put together through records found in the store. Among them, purchase and credits found in this antique billing system.

 

Native artifacts are also on display.

 

What used to be the local bank is now the cafe.

 

The cafe is lovely inside.

 

 

 

 

These lamps, found throughout Chlorides' restored buildings, were made by Mr. Edmunds' father, from the bottom of bottles.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Edmund have built a small RV park with full hook ups and the pull through sites will accommodate any size RV.

 

There also guest cabins, available  for those traveling without the comfort of an RV. The Pye Cabin is a restored miners' cabin with all the comforts of home.

 

The Edmunds' daughter tells the story of the Edmunds' discovery of Chloride.

(blogger won't let me embed the video. Grrrrrr!!!)\

http://youtu.be/myQmoOON-5A

 

The Edmunds do, on occasion, have volunteer opportunities. Currently, a couple is finishing up their commitment with a few months left. They liked it so well they stayed for a year!  Contact information is listed on the website.

 

Chloride is a special place and the Edmunds are very special people. Their passion for Chloride and preserving American history is apparent. Mrs. Edmunds was so generous with her time and more than willing to spend as much time as we wanted, sharing what she has discovered about the town and it's earlier residents.

 

Although the town is a bit of a drive it's worth every second. Next time I visit I'll be bringing the moho so I can spend even more time there. The immediate area surrounding Chloride is very pretty and it's barely a mile from the Gila National Forest.

 

 Thanks, Alan and Joann, I really enjoyed our sight seeing adventure!

 

 

 

 

Texas

We spent a week in Texas. It seemed like mostly driving. Texas is one big state.

Free, overnight camping was not easily found. Our first night was spent in the Saddleback Mountain RV Park (EXIT 212 I-10, Balmorhea, TX, 79718 (432) 375-2418.) It's a bare bones site with full hook-ups. The park is clean, attractively landscaped and has a nature walk.The campsites were level. The park is right off the interstate, but the noise level wasn't too bad.There are no facilities and although I read on line that free WiFi was available, I was not able to connect to the internet on their network. Check in at the convenience store. $20.00/$10.00 with Passport America.

We made our way through the Texas Hill Country.The Texas wild flowers should have been in full bloom, but due to the devastating drought throughout, Texas things were looking pretty brown.

 

I didn't take into account spring break for both the colleges and grade schools. The Texas state parks were packed. For the next week I camped at privately owned RV parks.

Our next night was spent at the Roadrunner RV Park in Johnson City (501 S. US HWY 281

Johnson City, TX (830) 868-7449) This park provides your basic side by side camping, full hook-ups, free WiFi and a host of other amenities. The sites were level and it was clean and quiet. $25.00 a night and  the Good Sam's Club discount was honored. No pictures, though! I just wanted off the road and to take a shower!

 

I met and camped with a high school buddy in Wimberly, TX.  Wimberly is a pretty cool town with a pretty cool vibe. We, especially Stumpy, enjoyed the Blanco River.

 

Water! At long last!

 

 

 

 

We stayed at Green Acres RV Park. (340 Wayside Dr Wimberley (512) 847-3772.) LaVonne, the park owner is wonderfully friendly and accommodating. The park is very clean, with full hook-ups but there are no facilities. There are some larger sites, but I was in the smallest site I have ever seen, anywhere. I was fortunate, however, to find a place to park, anywhere, due to school holidays.

The deer visited a couple times a day.

 

I'm still seeing cactus, though.

 

MUST. GET. FURTHER. from the DESERT!!!

 

I left Wimberly and spent one more night in Texas.

 

 

 I found this rest area o-line and the setting was described as camp-like. NOT!!! I was surrounded by 18 wheelers in a matter of hours. I parked at the far end of the rest area in order to give them as much room as possible. One parked so close that I could not get out my door, in the morning.

 

Buh bye, Texas!

 

Thanks, Denise, for driving up to meet me and showing me  the Texas Hill Country. I can't wait to see you, in October!

 

 

 

A Love Story: Truth or Consequences (New Mexico, pt. 2 )

I LOVED Truth or Consequences! Enough so, that I will consider it as a possibility for my home-base, when I am ready to make that decision.

We stayed at the Artesian Bath House and RV Park. The park and facilities are older, but very clean and the owner, Bill, is awesome! He will go out of his way to make sure his guests are happy and comfortable. The rates are beyond reasonable.

·$100.00 per month plus electric

·$65.00 weekly plus electric

·$20.00 Nightly full hookup

·$15.00 Nightly electric only

·$10.00 Nightly dry camp

 

The park is situated close enough to the downtown area that you can walk, everywhere: to the grocery store, the post office, the galleries, restaurants and museums.

It's also only a block from the Rio Grande. At the water front park there are hiking trails, fishing and the unofficial dog park.The Rio Grande was much grander at this point.


To top off a wonderful week, my friends Alan, Joann and Snickers joined me for a few days.

They took me out sight-seeing (next post), fed me, allowed me to watch TV in their big, comfortable 5th wheel and spoiled Stumpy rotten. Best of all were the multiple daily dog walks along the river.

Just when I thought the whole Tor C experience couldn't get any better we met up with local resident and my RTR buddy, Bri and his lovely wife Kit, who I had been dying to meet for years. They were kind enough to give us a tour of their lovely residence and their many wheels.

Joann, Alan, Bri and I then went to Maria's, a wonderful Mexican Restaurant, in the Williamsburg section (Thanks Bri!) of Tor C, for lunch. One day, I swear, I am going to order something other than Chile rellanos. But, GAWD! I just can't seem to help myself!

Thanks to my good friends for a great time, lots of laughs and memories to last a lifetime!

As a side note, Briii has a sweet, older, converted short bus for sale. You can contact him through his blog.


And
PS
I am done trying to align things in this blog. Blogger can do whatever it likes (and does.)

 

 

Enchanted (New Mexico, pt. 1)

Each time I visit New Mexico I become more enchanted by it's beauty, the people and everything the state offers.

This visit was no different; begining with my first night.

 

New Mexico offers shaded respite, along Interstate 10. You can overnight at these rest areas and I did. (Thanks, FreeCampsites.net!)

I continued on to Truth or Consequences and was, again, enthralled by New Mexico. For some great information and pictures about T or C check out Happy Trails' post about their home town.

Truth or Consequences seems to be very RV and Van Dweller friendly. One morning, I was walking Stumpy and there was a Class A rig, parked on the side of the road, it's generator and a propane tank were set out on the sidewalk. I also noted a couple of vans and a fifth wheel parked in the same spot, by the river, almost the entire time I was in town.

My first night in T or C, I stayed in Elephant Butte State Park.

 

At $6.00 a night for primitive camping and $10.00 for the amenities, including a shelter and fire pit. This is a nice little wayside camping spot. The campground overlooks the Rio Grande River. It's open year round, has 17 (I think) shelters, is big enough for most rigs and has porta potties and restrooms/showers (only open from May through October).

I was thrilled to see my first Great Blue Heron, in two years.

The Rio Grande was not so grand, at this point. People were fishing and it was teeming with birds but was not running and was murky and algae-filled. Stumpy didn't care. She would have swam in it in spite of being advised not to, by the locals.

Had I not already made reservations, elsewhere, I would have been happy to stay here for the duration of the 14 day limit.

The campsites are first come/first serve and can't be reserved. I arrived on a Saturday around 4pm and only 4 of the 17 campsites were occupied.

Thank you, Pascua Yaqui Tribe

Or in the language of the Pasqua Yaqui, "Kettu'i" meaning, "How kind!"

I spent three days as the guest of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, at the Casino Del Sol, in Tucson, Arizona.

Never having casino camped,before, I was a bit leery. But, I was made to feel welcome and very comfortable by the other RVing guests, immediately.

Still, I thought I would leave the next morning, since I am not a fan of pavement camping.

I wasn't in the mood to drive the next morning so I decided to stay one.more day.I visited with the other parking lot inhabitants and really enjoyed their company.

Besides really nice neighbors we had a great view

And there were plenty of places to walk Stumpy. The Tribe is building a golf course which made for a really nice walk.

 

 



Waiting another day had it's perks.

I got to meet Roxanne, of The Good Luck Duck blog (Annie chose dumping tanks over meeting me. HMPH!!! Don't worry, Annie, I am over it.)

 

And then two of my RTR buddies showed up!

Tish and Ryan

 

Actually, Ryan, a nomad who blogs at New Age Nomad, was at the casino before I arrived. I just didn't find out until the night before I left.

 

I stayed three nights at the Casino Del Sol and really hated to leave.

 

Looking forward to seeing all of you again. And next time, meeting you, Annie! I told you I was over it!

 

Post RTR fun

 

By now, you've read all about the RTR on other blogs. If you haven't, a list of blog posts about this years' Rubber Tramp Rendezvous can be found here.

A number of us stayed on (and on and on and on) in Quartzsite, after the RTR. The party continued and the RTR just kept getting better.

Days often began with coffee, in front of Theo

Tish's mornings began later than ours

There was plenty of good food. Lesa made some tasty breakfasts; pancakes one morning and biscuits and gravy another.

 

I made a couple of meals for the gang


Among them a breakfast consisting of fry bread and sausage gravy

 

and a chicken curry dish

 

Brian made pot stickers and others contributed various dishes to make a really tasty dinner.

 Kev hosted a Super Bowl Party. Bryce made a delicious sausage soup.Steve brought chips and dip. Lindzee made humus and Brian made a cake.

 

 

 



The party continued until after dark.

We celebrated Brian's birthday with pizza and cake

 

 

Jenn was awoken on her birthday with  a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday that wouldn't end until she made an appearance. And we delivered breakfast, coffee and brownies. I know Jenn will be real sad to find out I can find those pictures anywhere.

Max and his wife, Bev, invited us down to his place for a fire, one night. Max is my hero. He's 86 and had both knees replaced about 10 years ago. He's put over 80,000 miles on those knees. His goal is 100, 000 miles. I hope to match his spirit and his miles!

I left Scaddan Wash and set up over at the Roadrunner BLM

My buddy Gilbert, from Dirtville came by

Gilbert let me win at poker, but he'll tell you I cheated.

Linda and D joined us

Who knew you could cook spaghetti squash on an open fire? Nicely done, D!


Linda made us Bangers and mashed, one night (that's sausage and smashed taters, Brit style)

Jenn and Brian (the Younger)came by and spent a few nights before heading to... who knows where?

I left Quartzsite on February 26 heading south and east. Many thanks, once again to D, for all his help with my rig; And to Gilbert and Brian for their help with Theo's solar set up!