March 22, 2026 Day One: I've always wanted to see Texas! Here I am! Finally! I drove from The City of Rocks in New Mexico to El Paso, then Balmorhea State Park, Alpine, and Marathon the first day.
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| Unbelievably F-Ugly. Am I jaded from living in Washington State all my life? |
Yeah, I told myself I wouldn't do marathon drives, but it's HOT! I got to Balmorhea and it was 100 degrees! Now I knew between El Paso and just north of Corpus Christi it would be in the 90s or higher, but it's one thing to know and quite another to FEEL IT! While driving the air conditioner is on full blast, but once I stop to eat or sleep, there is no AC and it's like a sauna! Or an oven! Frying my brains. So I kept going thinking later in the day it should cool down. Again, just theory, it's 7pm with the outside temperatures around 95 degrees which is slightly cooler than 100! The inside temperatures are roasting.
My first impressions of west Texas...I think the drivers here are worse than Massachusetts, and MA had the worst! Interstate 10 was mostly good and smooth, better than Arizona. At least in Texas they are trying to maintain them with lots of construction. The highways are in good shape, again, much better than Arizona. The landscape is New Mexico f-ugly. I always pictured Texas with green cow pastures, some trees. Nope. (Not yet.) Price of gas was about the same as New Mexico or $1 less per gallon than Arizona (about $3.69 gallon), but the further in the state it went up to $4.29 then back down to around $3.39. The highways have picnic areas all over with garbage cans and one is allowed to stay for 24 hours. The interstates have rest stops and one is allowed to stay overnight. So far no BLM land! I was told because most of Texas is privately owned. The flies are relentless, swarming your face. Maybe they think I'm a cow. My sinuses are killing me! Something in the high desert does not agree with me!
The people (so far) are fucking rude! Negotiating a grocery store parking lot is a hazard. They do what they want and ignore anyone else around. Same inside the store. They step in front of you, cut you off, and never apologize as if everyone else is invisible. It's very strange and jarring. I've always been told Texans are incredibly nice. Hmmm...
Then there are the Walmart checkers. Dumb as dirt. I bought three gallons of water refills from the machine. That would be .54 cents each or for a total of $1.62. The checker doesn't speak English. The register says 3 @ 1.62. I try to tell her that would be incorrect. She stares at me as if I'm stupid (or speaking a foreign language). I walk over to the water refill machine that is about 10 feet away, point to the huge 54 cents and say "54 cents each". I point to the register that is now giving me a total of $11 which is about $5 over what it should be (I bought a case of Spindrift, too).
She has no clue what I'm saying so she calls in a young girl who can't be more than 16 years old, but who speaks English. I tell her what I just told the other checker and add, "She has charged me for three gallons of water refills at 1.62 and tripled it." The girl looks at the computer and says, "Oh, no it's right." I explain again, in great detail, pointing to the machine price, pointing to the register and repeat I am being charged triple what it should be." She looks again, points to the register so I can see it, and says, "Yes, it's right." I give up because my only option at that point is to cancel the sale, take everything to the self-checkout and start over. I would have been in self-checkout if there weren't already five people in line waiting. So I cash out with my credit card, get the receipt and find another employee walking around like she's a manager. I explain, show her the receipt and she immediate understands what the problem is. She gives me a full refund, and has me ring it up again at a self-checkout register she opens just for me.
As I start to leave the girl walks by so I show her the refund and say, "The checker was charging me three times the amount it should have been." She says, "Well, you should have said you were being charged triple." (Oh, for fuck sake!) I said with a smile, "I did say that and explained many times." She walked away and I yelled at her back, "Thank you for your help!" OMG! Is this ALL Texans? If so, it might be a very quick trip in order to get the hell out of here!
I went to the Balmorhea State Park which has a huge mineral-spring-fed pool, but it was so crowded. The line to get in was about six vehicles deep., but I do realize it's a Sunday. No thanks. I thought I would come back the next day but the only available free overnight parking were rest stops twenty-five miles in either direction, right on the interstate. I HATE rest stops with the RV generators and the semi-trucks idling all night. I left, driving through Fort Davis and Alpine. Alpine is an adorable town.
I kept driving and ended up overnight at a picnic area just east of Marathon. There is an RV from Oregon here and a guy on who I thought was on a motorcycle. Why does he have solar panels charging? What is he charging? The next morning I see him riding an e-bike! He's pedaling to Florida!. The sign says no more than 24 hours and no tents or camping. It was a very windy night!!
March 23, 2026 Day Two: Headed to the beach via Del Rio, Uvalde, San Antonio and Corpus Christi. The temperatures ranged from early morning 72 degrees to 100 degrees in the afternoon. In Del Rio I started sweating, but it was still only 72 degrees? Oh! Humidity! I forgot about the humidity.
I'M AT THE BEACH!! It is so WET...not the water, the air! 92% humidity! Whew! It's about 79 degrees and cools to 71 degrees at night. Beautiful white, soft sand that reminds me of sugar cookie dough, lots of shorebirds: pelicans, avocets, stilts, plovers, yellowlegs, sandpipers, willets, and a really beautiful seagull but I can't remember what it's called. (See below.)
The first thing I did is walk the surf. I stopped to talk to my French neighbors and asked about high tide since we were parked only 100 feet from the water. They said no problem. I double checked. High tide should be around 10am tomorrow according to online information. There is a 14 day camping limit. The American the Beautiful pass works to cover the entrance fee although there were no kiosks or info centers around to confirm this. No one bothered to check to see if I was legal although plenty of rangers driving around.
March 24, 2026 Day Three: I could not get to sleep last night. Was it the constant roar of waves? The swealtering heat? Or all the Benadryl, Ibuprofen and Sinus sprays I loaded my body with before bedtime? (That should have put me to sleep. Sinuses and shoulder pain are better though.)
Got up early and walked the surf. This time I picked up garbage. I figure nothing is for free and to show my appreciation for 14 days of free camping, I'll do my part and payback or pay it forward. Every beach has garbage recepticles. I love this state! So eco-friendly! I was rewarded with a handful of beautiful shells and a little girl's unicorn googles!
It's so darn beautiful here!
March 25, 2026 Day Four: It is just so WET! My glasses fog up all the time. It's really hard to type on my laptop because my fingers are wet and sticky and stick to the keys! None of my window covers will stay on the windows because the windows are wet! Everything is wet in the morning. It's a little better in the afternoon when the sun has dried so much, but then night hits and I feel like I'm floating in my wet sheets, wet pajamas...the t-shirt I have been wearing is so wet it hangs nearly to my knees. But my hair is crazy curly which is so different from the dry air in Tucson!
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| Sunrise at Pedro Island National Seashore |
Attempted to head east then north, but decided not to drive all day long after getting up so early. I stopped just east of Galveston. Galveston is a beautiful city with gorgeous huge old houses! Google Maps took me on a ferry that was free with dolphins playing in the water as we sailed! I ended up at Bolivar Flats, a free camping beach near the ferry landing. A white transit pulled up and parked next to me and I met a lovely couple from Florida who are headed west.
This beach is bigger so there is no risk of a high tide sweeping me away, the sand is more tan in color, it's a lot more crowded, a lot more garbage, and a lot noisier with the freighters moored nearby. But it's just for one night. Online comments warn about the humidity so I expected I'd wake up to wet everything inside and out, but it's actually less humid here!
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