March 2003

The end of March the Bluebonnets and other wildflowers emerge in fields and along roadways throughout this central portion of Texas. They are just beginning to show up now, so on our way home from Austin we snapped these few photos. The wildflowers will max out in a week or two, so we'll travel around as much as we can to see the beautiful views all over the Texas Hill Country.

The first part of March was spent traveling from the "liquid sunshine" of Oregon to the real sunshine of Texas where we'll travel around for awhile. The trip couldn't have been prettier...once we left Oregon's rain and cold. Just across the CA border, we found early Spring and warmth. Redding is a lovely town, one we marked for a future trip to stay around longer (Mountain Gate RV Park is worth a stop.)

After that, an early stopover in Dunnigan at a nice RV park that had its own par 3 golf course that Chris played. The next night was at Bakersfield's Orange Grove RV Park where we again stocked up on their fabulous oranges...but we were just in time. The professional pickers were coming soon, so by the end of the week there would be no oranges left. We left a few for the pickers...but not many. A gorgeous drive over the Tehachapi Pass early in the morning was a real pleasure. The hills were brilliant green with some kind of small yellow flower that was blanketing some of the hills...a real picture not taken. Oh, to be an artist! This is a lovely route to get to Barstow and beyond (Vegas) on. we found a gem of a KOA park in Needles that will will try to stop at again...large spaces, lovely people, very nice facilities, and spotlessly clean. Call ahead to make sure they have 50 amp spaces if you need them.

The next stop was at Leaf Verde just west of Phoenix from where we headed south on 85 to meet up with I-10 again.

A stopover in Las Cruces at Hacienda RV Resort showed us that we'll allow more time there next time. The RV park was terrific and one to definitely stop at if you are in the area. Plan to spend a few days, since there's a lot to see there.

Our best place of all on this trip though was the Buckhorn Lake RV Park in Kerrville, TX...an outstanding park that depicts all that an RV park should be. The hookups were excellent and the sites spacious and comfortable. This is a destination RV park and one we plan to return to for a couple of weekends while we're in the area.