2021 Road Trip to Texas - Back to California

We left home on a Friday (July 16) and got to my daughter’s house Saturday night. We spent four days there. If you have followed along this was the last blog post you saw.

We started the long drive back to California on Thursday.

This time the trailer was empty but we had a back-seat passenger. This is Kirby, age 6.

As usual I entertained myself with photographing things I found interesting or amusing. Kirby entertained herself mostly with her tablet. Normally I’d object to hours of electronic entertainment, but there are exceptions. I was truly impressed with how Kirby handled the drive. Our truck doesn’t have a full back seat and Kirby was in a carseat, so she didn’t have much room. She was more patient that I was.

I’ve lost track of where I took some of these photos.

On the road in Texas.

We stopped more frequently for gas than we would have on our own. Usually we stop only when absolutely necessary for gas or for an interesting diversion of a historical marker or scenic overlook. The frequent gas stops allowed for more bathroom breaks and food. McDonald’s at the first stop was a big hit.

I always follow along with the big map books. I found what looked like an interesting diversion that didn’t take us too far off of I-10. We had been driving about 3-1/2 hours and took Hwy 290 to Fort Lancaster State Historic Site. First there was a overlook with picnic tables and a wall to keep people (especially 6-year-olds) from falling down the steep drop-off onto the road below.

The remnants of the Fort were in the flat land that you can see in the left of the photo. I always think about what it would have been like to be on a horse or in a wagon in “the olden days” and to travel over this kind of terrain.

The State Historic Site “preserves the remnants of the only post established in 1855 to protect the Lower Road between San Antonio and El Paso”. There is a small museum and the remnants of some of the 25 buildings that had been constructed.

Signs inside the museum told of the camel experiment in the mid 1850’s when it was thought that camels would be more suited to the area than horses and mules. As government attention turned to the more pressing issue of Civil War and Texas seceded from the Union in 1861 the camels were sold to private parties.

We went outside to walk around the fort and saw this bug (dead) that was the size of…well, the size of a little girl’s hand.

The site is 82 acres and includes remnants of officers’ quarters, a hospital, commissary, barracks, bakery, and more.

This is what is left of Officers’ Quarters, each with two rooms separated by a double fireplace.

The brochure I picked up says that by 1858 “Fort Lancaster housed approximately 150 enlisted men and three officers…opportunities for soldiers’ recreation were rare and frequently revolved around drinking and gambling.” The day was getting hot so our timing was good that we had stopped here in the morning. After walking around awhile we got back into the AC of the truck.

This bug hung on to the windshield for quite awhile.

More of Texas.

We saw three of these trucks over the course of several miles. Each carried one of the huge blades of the windmills that are prevalent between Sheffield and Fort Stockton.

I have my big map books and I had bought a kids’ atlas for Kirby—it has maps of all the states and notes details (state bird, state animal, etc) for each.

I was impressed with this tile mural in the ladies’ restroom at one of the rest stops.

We planned to visit White Sands National Park the next morning and we wanted to spend the night nearby. Some of you know that on our typical road trips our night-time stops are usually impromptu and “rustic” . I had packed the tent and camping gear with the hope that we would enlighten Kirby about what it’s like to travel with Mama Robin and Papa Dan (as we are called). But better sense prevailed. It was hot, even at night, it was difficult to find a suitable place that was not privately owned, and we had a 6-year-old with us. We decided on a motel. We stayed at Alamogordo, New Mexico, but didn’t get there until well after dark. My frugality overtook better sense and I got a one bed room thinking that since all we were doing was sleeping, what would be the problem. To be continued.