Socorro, NM - Roswell, NM - Brownfield, TX - Aspermont, TX - Jacksboro, TX - Wylie, TX

October 2 - 11, 2024

We've been doing more driving from campground to campground than we have been sightseeing.  We left Bear Paw RV Park in Eagar, AZ on Thursday, October 3.  We stayed at Perry Farms Desert RV Park in Socorro, NM for one night.  It was a dirt parking lot with full hookups for $30 per night.  The owner, Vanetta, was very nice and gave us information about the area's restaurants and things to see.  Since we were only there one night we didn't go out.  We also didn't get any pictures of the campground, but here's a satellite view.

Our next stop was Wild Willy's RV Park in Roswell, NM.  We were also there for only one night.  It also was full hookups for $30 per night. It was right on the highway but had a nice gravel pad and the owner was very nice.

We've seen YouTube videos of Roswell so I thought there would be space aliens all over town.  It was actually just a regular town with some alien sightings around the downtown area.

On Saturday, October 5 we made it to Texas.  We've been taking US Highway 380 all the way from Arizona.

We went to Terry County RV Park in Brownfield, TX for two nights.  It was full hookups for $30 per night.  It was recently purchased by new owners and they are trying to improve it.  It was still mostly a dirt parking lot but it served our needs.  We forgot to get pictures.

From there we went to Rain Tree RV in Aspermont, TX for one night.   They keep two sites just for overnighters.  Both sites are full hookups for $30 per night, but one is 50 amp and one 30 amp.  It was by the highway but wasn't that noisy.  The owner came by and said hello and was very nice.  I think the owners of these small highway campgrounds are happy to get customers and the prices are reasonable.  There was one other trailer there that looked like a seasonal one.

On Tuesday, October 8 we drove to Fort Richardson State Park in Jacksboro, TX for two nights.  It was 50 amp electric and water for $30 per night.  Our site was nice with some shade, but it was too hot to sit outside for long. 

Here there was a little sightseeing to do.

Fort Richardson was active from 1867-1878.  The U.S. Army stationed over 5,000 troops here, with a standing force of almost 800 soldiers at the height of its power.  It was originally established as an "occupational fort" to enforce martial law and the reconstruction policies of the federal government.  This lasted until April 1870, when Texas was readmitted into the Union.  After 1870 the Army's focus turned to Indian War Campaigns.  Three major campaigns and hundreds of scouts and patrols were launched from Richardson.  Although the fort originally had over 60 buildings, most were only temporary structures and were torn down by locals after the fort was decommissioned.  Most of the remaining original buildings are below.

The Fort Richardson sign was erected in 1936 to commemorate the Texas Centennial.  The sign is not at the original entrance to the fort.

The Barracks.

The magazine walls are four feet thick with a vaulted ceiling, which as designed to implode in case of fire.  The original door was six inches thick and made of cast iron.

The Guardhouse.

The guardhouse originally consisted of four stone cells, four feet by eight feet, in which three soldiers were confined to each cell.  The guardhouse was nearly always at full capacity and additional rooms were added.  The post reportedly lost 246 soldiers through desertion.

Can you imagine three men to one of these little cells?

The Bakery.

The Post Hospital was the largest building on the fort grounds, completed in 1869 at a cost of about $150,000.  It is made of sandstone quarried from a neighboring county.  The walls are 18 inches thick in places.  

On Thursday, October 10 we drove to East Fork Campground, a CoE park in Wylie, TX for three nights.  It's 50 amp electric and water for $15 per night with our senior pass.  The sites are spaced apart very nicely.

Although the traffic on US 380 has been minimal, it changed when we got close to Denton, TX.  Then it was just traffic, lights, and construction.  It was nice while it lasted.

Tomorrow we'll be...

Roving on...

"In the beginning GOD created the heavens and the earth".

Genesis 1:1

Grand Canyon South Rim - Grand Canyon Railway - Bearizona - Montezuma Castle - Tuzigoot - Jerome - Blazin' M Ranch

September 24 - October 1, 2024

What a busy few days!  We've done a lot in the last week and I didn't have any time to do the blog.

Tuesday, September 24 we took the Grand Canyon Railway to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.  While we were waiting for the train to depart they did a cowboy show and it was really cute.  Later these guys 'robbed' the train.

We had a dome car and it was really nice.  What a great view!

Here's a shot of the ride up to the Grand Canyon.

John hiked down the Bright Angel trail to the rest station.  Here are some pictures he took.

Rest station.

The next day we went to Bearizona, a wild animal park.  They have a drive through section and a section you can walk through.  We spent a couple of hours there.

Black bears.

White bison.

Pronghorn.

More black bear.

Grizzly bear.

Badger.

The 26th was a travel day to Distant Drums RV Park in Camp Verde.  It was a very nice park although the sites were a little tight.  It was next to I-17 but wasn't bad at night, and during the day you couldn't hear any traffic because the air conditioners were going full blast all day.  I really don't much care for the 100 degree temperatures.  I forgot to take any pictures.

On the way to Camp Verde we stopped and had lunch with John's step-sister, Lisa, and her husband, Jon.  It was a wonderful time together of catching up on what everyone was doing.

Friday the 27th we boarded a motorcoach bus that first took us to Montezuma Castle.  Southern Sinagua farmers built this five-story, 20-room dwelling sometime between 1100 and 1300.  It occupies a cliff recess 100 feet above the valley.  A short distance west, nudging a cliff base, if Castle A.  Now badly deteriorated, it was once an imposing five-store apartment-like building with about 45 rooms.  They were farmers that supplemented their food by hunting.  Beaver Creek was very close to the cliff dwelling.  There were several reasons why they may have left but no one knows for sure. (Portions from the NPS brochure).

We got back on the bus and went to Tuzigoot, which is the remnant of a village built between 1000 and 1400.  It's at the top of a summit of a long ridge rising 120 feet above the Verde Valley.  The original pueblo was two stories high in places, with 87 ground-floor rooms.  There were few exterior doors; entry was by ladders through roof openings.  The village began as a small cluster of rooms inhabited by some 50 people for 100 years.  In the 1200s the population doubled and then doubled again.  (Portions from the NPS brochure).

From there we went to Jerome.  Jerome is an old copper mining town built on the side of a mountain.  I'm not sure there's a level place in the whole town.  We had lunch at the Haunted Hamburger and it was a good hamburger!  We walked through a few shops but didn't buy anything.

Saturday the 28th we took the Verde Canyon Railroad from Clarkdale to Perkinsville and back.  We had a really nice train car with comfortable seats and a nice snack box.  It was a relaxing ride with beautiful scenery.

At the end of the line the engines go on the side tracks to the other end of the train.

Old Perkinsville train station.  Part of the movie "How the West Was Won" was filmed here and this is where Debbie Reynolds got on the train.

The bus picked us up at the train station and took us to the Blazin' M  Ranch for dinner and a show.  Before the dinner there was ax throwing, BB gun shooting, mechanical bull riding (John tried it and stayed on for 9 seconds - I posted on the Roving Walkers Facebook page), an escape room, miniature golf and more.  We had a really nice dinner and show.  One of the guys could play the guitar, keyboard, harmonica, saxophone, and I don't know what else.  He was really GOOD!

On Sunday, September 29 our Adventure Caravan Grand Circle Tour was officially finished.  It was a whirlwind tour and went so fast.  We saw and experienced so many things we wouldn't have otherwise.  We're really glad we did it, would do it again, and would recommend it, but it is fast paced and you have to be somewhere all the time, whether it's going to a new campground, or going on a tour or attraction.  There's no wiggle room.  A few months down the road we might decide to do another one, but for now we're happy just wandering with no place to be and nothing to do.

Sunday we drove to Phoenix to get the truck tires rotated on the truck, and then we met my high school friend, Claudia, and her husband John for lunch.  It was so good to see them and our time together was way too short!!

Monday, September 30 we drove to Bear Paw RV Park in Eagar, AZ for three nights.  It's full hookups with a pretty view of a pasture out the back window, and is $39 per night.  It was a 230 mile drive over 7,550' at one point.  Campground is much cooler at 7,090 feet elevation.  A photo of our site, and one of the scenery on the way.

I'm spending the day cleaning, doing laundry, baking bread, changing the bed, doing the blog, and figuring out where we're going from here.  Tomorrow I rest!

Thursday we'll be...

Roving on...

"In the beginning GOD created the heavens and the earth".

Genesis 1:1