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Published: March 5th 2019
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blog 03-03-19 The Desert Is Blooming!
After taking a few pictures I left the campground and headed into the town of Sanderson. It used to be a thriving metropolis with a population over 2 thousand, now they are down to about 200, the railroad left town. Life is hard enough here with the heat, wind and dry conditions, it takes a special kind of person to stay. Kind of rough when there is no work.
I stopped at a store in town just too different to pass it by. Picture. I walked out with a horn lizard. He is made of metal and has such an attitude, I love it.
On the road again, gased up and headed west on 90 then south on 385. There isn't anything around for over 100 miles, what do the poor cowboys do on Saturday night?
Here is a good place to interject a few tidbits I learned here in West Texas. Always carry 2 of everything. Always be prepared for anything. The people are like the vegatation, tough and prickly with a soft inside. There is a draw, a slough, a wash and canyons and signs that say "Don't mess
with Texas". (littering sign). The biggest surprise of all is that they obey the speed limit. No, not on the open road that's only 75, but in towns, even down to 25 that's what they do.
As I approached Big Bend I saw some flowers and realized the desert was in bloom. There are really big white flowers shooting up from the middle of a spiny plant that are scattered in certain areas. There are clumps of yellow sometimes white mixed in and along the road the blue bonnets flourish. I drove up to the poor young ranger and had to explain why I was crying. He said yes it is beautiful but wait til you get further into the park. It hasn't bloomed like this since 2015, they had plenty of rain. Wow, how lucky am I!
I stopped at the visitor center and asked about different activities and sights and came away with a months worth of fun things to do and got my Nat'l Park book stamped. I took a few pictures there then headed south for Rio Grande Village. I kept wanting to stop but it is a 2 lane road and the pull-offs
were rough so I opted to wait til I parked the camper and used the car. The car was again so dirty I had to wash the windows before it could be safely driven.
Watson and I walked around a bit to stretch our legs but it was so hot, I didn't know who was panting harder. I parked the camper, plugged in and started the ac, settling could wait.
I left Watson in the cool camper and he seemed to be happy enough for the peace and quiet. I found out that there is no cell service here, I have to go about 6 miles for a so so signal then if I want a fairly good one it's a 20 mile trip. I'm hoping to be able to send a blog or 2 while I'm here, it might not be possible. But I will write one each day and save them for later. I have to share pictures. As with everything there is a learning curve about picture taking in the desert. The light is so bright it's hard to get the exposure right and to capture the color of the flowers isn't easy. I think
the morning and evening lighting will be best. I have to experiment.
As I was driving back to camp I noticed the wind had really picked up and it was considerably cooler. OH NO, I left the awning out! I have one that is supposed to retract automatically if it gets windy but you never know if it will work right. The awning was in when I got back and found out that the entire camp was scurrying around securing awnings and personal belongings for those who were absent. Mine did work properly and put itself away but later I noticed the tarp that was on my chair was stuffed behind the spare tire in the back. God only knows where that was. So I benefited from the good Samaritans.
There is a cold front coming through and it's supposed to be 30 tonight and tomorrow night with a high of 58 tomorrow and sunny, that's fine by me.
After visiting with some neighbors we settled in for the night.
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