East Bound and Down

Friday, 22 March

We were up at first light (and 39 degrees) to prepare to depart.  An unexpected surprise was that our batteries were not as charged as normal - likely the result of overcast skies yesterday and the cold temperatures.

We were headed out before 7am headed for Deming, NM to play golf at Rio Mimbres Country Club, a golf course we played on the way out (and overnighted there via our Harvest Host membership).  Picking it 200 miles to the east had the benefit of letting it warm up some while we were driving.  Unfortunately, the wind was also increasing by the hour.  We enjoyed a tailwind for a change.

After hitting a small bucket of balls on the range, we headed out.  Being a week since we last played showed, especially with Darrell’s game.  We both made par on the first three holes, although you would never have predicted that seeing the tee shots.  Kris got a stroke ahead on the 5th hole, Darrell tie dit up on the 8th, and we made the turn with Kris up by one stroke.  On the back nine, we both struggled with the wind which was gusting to about 30mph.  Darrell lucked out with a birdie on the 17th, and that wound up being the deciding hole for him to have honors today by one stroke.  Kris was hitting her drives well, but found a couple of sand bunkers.  She was somewhat pleased that her score was better than the last time w splayed the course.

Finishing earlier than we expected, since there were very few golfers playing today, we decided to drive on instead of staying in Deming again.  We picked the Hacienda RV and Rally Resort in Las Cruces that had nice reviews to see if they had a site.  Alas, when we arrived, they were full.  We went a few blocks away, and the Siesta RV Park had a couple of water/electric sites left - perfect for us.  And saved a few dollars.  Pretty basic campground, but it is fine for an overnight.  And further from the I-10 noise.m and closer to historic Mesilla if we wanted to walk into town for dinner.

Saturday, 23 March

By driving to Las Cruses, NM after golf yesterday, we only had just over an hour to drive this morning to Horizon City, TX, south of El Paso, to play golf.  We found a GolfNow Hot Deal at Horizon Golf Course for 1130.  Even with the time change, we were up as normal (about 7am), lingers in the campground for things to warm up from the overnight low of 35 degrees.

We left with extra time in case we encountered traffic issues.  We did not, but the westbound folks on I-10 were being diverted off the Interstate due to construction - when we passed by, the backup was only 5 miles or so.

When we checked in, the Pro said to check back with him, that he might be able to get us off early.  He did - almost an hour earlier.  We played at our pace for 13 holes, and followed a men’s group for the final holes.

We both hit nice opening drives, but Kris was ale to convert hers to a par, while Darrell walked off with a bogey.  Darrell was able to tie it up on the 6th hole, and at the turn, Kris was clinging to a one shot lead.  On the back nine, we went back and forth.  Darrell briefly was up by one stroke, but Kris tied it up with a par on the 16th, and we finished tied.  Both of us played better than yesterday, with Kris hitting every fairway, and posting an average drive of 167 yards.

The only Starbucks near Horizon City were in El Paso, so we elected to continue east instead of back tracking over 5 miles.  Our destination for the evening was Van Horn RV Park, a campground we stayed at in December.  It is likely a former KOA, and was just fine for our needs passing through.  A nice full-hookup, pull-through site for $36 using our Good Sam discount.

The campground has a tent area which was filled with bicyclists who are riding across the United States, west the east, led by Adventure Cycling.  One of the cyclists walked by admiring Sprinty’s good looks so we invited him in for a closer look.  He is just starting to consider getting an RV, so he had lots of questions.

Sunday, 24 March

A pleasant event at Van Horn RV Park, just like we remembered.  If we strained, we could just make out some highway noise and the occasional train.  We were up before the sun which surprised us a bit as we have lost two hours (making two time zone changes) in two days.  After breakfast, we hit the road.

We picked Reeves County Country Club as our first destination.  From the reviews and satellite view, we knew it was a minimal west Texas course.  We figured something was amiss when the on-line tee time system showed every tee time available, as well as a significant price mis-match with the posted rates.  After driving 80 miles, we found the course closed for aeration.  Perhaps just as well.

So we reviewed our other options, and selected the Comanche Trail Municipal Golf Course in Big Spring, TX, another 120 miles east.  As we cruised down I-20, we saw lots and lots of gas drilling, some oil wells, and started to see windmills.  And lots of bugs.  As we passed by Odessa and Midland, TX, it was pretty obvious that the oil and gas business was booming.  When we arrived at Big Springs, we saw a more typical small town whose better times were in the past.  Lots of shuttered business, and signs of economic struggling.

We arrived at the course after 12 noon.  We had planned to hit on the range to get the 220 miles of stiffness worked out, but they offered us to go right away, or go after the mens group.  We knew from the reviews that five-soles and six-soles were typical at this course, so we opted for right away.

With no warm up or practice putting, we were off.  Kris decided to challenge herself by hitting from the mens’ senior tees with Darrell as the ladies tees were only 4,800 yards.  She opened with a 163 yard drive.  Darrell opened with 251 yard drive.  Darrell made par to start two strokes up.  He gave one back on the next hole, then made birdie on the third hole.  Kris continued to hit well, and tied it up by the 8th, and Darrell had only a two stroke lead at the turn.

On the back nine, Darrell was hitting and scrambling well - was at one over par for the back nine going into the final hole.  Despite a double bogey on the final hole (a tree reached out and snatched his tee shot out of the air and hid it someplace), he picked up five strokes on Kris to finish 7 strokes up on the day.

No Starbucks in Big Spring, TX, and it was too late in the afternoon for the jolt of caffeine anyway.  We then turned southeast and headed for San Angelo State Park near San Angelo, TX.  Along the way, we saw more oil rigs, lots and lots of windmills, and Sprinty added to his squashed bug collection.

We arrived at the south entrance to San Angelo State Park after the office had closed.  We made a note of available sites for the night, then went down to the campground loop to pick one out.  $20/night for water-electric site overlooking the lake.

Maybe Texas has been reading Sprinty’s blog about Arizona sunsets and decided to show Sprinty a mighty fine Texas sunset.

Monday, 24 March

We decided to make today a no golf day.  Instead we filled the day with getting laundry done, haircuts, and a trip to Starbucks for Darrell to pay up for playing well yesterday.  After that, we headed east, with an intermediate stop in Killeen, TX to assess whether we stopped there for the night, or pressed on.  We decided to press on, but took a break to walk about 1/2 mile in the Walmart to stretch a bit.

From San Angelo, the landscape transitioned from near desert to Texas Hill Country.  We saw things we have not seen in awhile.  Like rivers with actual water in them.  People mowing their grass.  Trees with their early spring green color.  Another thing is the lack of golf courses in this section of Texas, which contributed to the decision to make today a chore and driving day.

Another big change from Arizona (except Tucson) is how much more aggressive Texas drivers are.  I‘m sure they think they are driving normal, but Sprinty has been cut off aggressively almost a dozen times in the last few days.   Tailgating seems to be the norm here as well.  It is very, very different to what we experienced on the trip.  Although, drivers in Las Vegas and Tucson were also aggressive.

Using the AllStays app, we picked an RV park in Kosse, TX, even though it only had one review, and that review was over three years old.  Their web site made it look like it was a jewel.  Well, it was no jewel.  It was a lot next to a gas station with about 50 permanent residents.  All the RVs had covers over them indicating they were quite permanent.  We drove through to see if there were any available site - saw only two that might be sites, and based on the lack of grass mowing, they had not been used in a long, long time.  So we passed.

We found Fort Parker State Park about 20 miles north and headed there.  We arrived after the office closed, so we expected to do a self-registration like we did last night.  While we were looking at the bulletin board, the Ranger come out and said we could just pick an available site and settle up on the way out tomorrow.  After looking at the options, we picked a spot right on the lake.

Sprinty collected an even larger collection of squashed bugs today - the front of Sprinty was almost yellow from all the bugs.  It took Darrell over 20 minutes to get the windshield cleaned.

When we met the Ranger, she said that Fort Parker State Park had the prettiest sunsets.  We to.d her we experienced a very pretty sunset last evening.  She replied theirs were prettier.  Sprinty enjoyed another beautiful sunset.

For reference, Sprinty has sprinted over 960 miles in the four days since leaving Pima County Fairgrounds on Friday.  And still managed to golf three of those days. 

Tuesday, 26 March

Enough of chores and long driving days.  Today we focused on the important stuff - battling it out on the golf course for Starbucks honors.  Golf today was at Tri-County Golf Course at the Vineyards, formerly Big Cedar Country Club, in Teague, TX.

We were up before the sun so we could be at the park office when they opened at 8:30am.  After settling up, we headed for Teague, TX.  As we expected, there were not too many people playing today.  Once we warmed up, we got off before our scheduled tee time.  Darrell picked up a couple of strokes on the third hole to take the lead tied it up on the very next hole.  We battled it out, and were tied at the turn.  Kris played very consistently, and Darrell tried to hang on.  Kris picked up strikes on the last four holes to take the day by 6 strokes.

The golf course has seen better days.  The fairways had not been mowed recently, and it does not look like they have any sort of weed control.  The greens were among the worst we have played.  On the positive side, we played at our pace, never bumped into any other golfers, and enjoyed a warm, sunny day.

Sprinty was kind enough to adjust his route to the campground for the night so as to go by a Starbucks for Kris to pay up.  Our destination was Lake Livingston State Park just outside of Livingston, TX.  On the way, we stopped by the Livingston Municipal Golf Course to check it out and make a tee time for tomorrow.  Somewhat out of the norm for us, we actually arrived at the state park while the office was still open.  We were assigned a water-electric site in Hercules Club Loop for $18/night.  There are maybe four campers in the 75 site loop.  And where Sprinty is, we essentially have this part of the loop all to ourselves.

Today marks the four month anniversary since we left Kris’ sister’s house in Houston.  Four continuous months of living in Sprinty full-time.  Traveling, adventuring, meeting new friends, and golfing in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Nevada.  

Wednesday, 27 March

Something we have been looking forward to since our visit to Houston in November is kolaches.  We saw there was a Shipley Donuts (donut franchise in east Texas) in Livingston, so we decided to have breakfast on the way to golf.  The Shipley Donut place was takeout only, with a few chairs out on their porch for those who wanted stay and eat.  One of the many benefits of driving your home everywhere is that we just took our kolaches out to Sprinty to eat.

Golf today was at Livingston Municipal Golf Course.  It was a nine-hole course that you played twice for 18 holes.  We were the first golfers out for the day, and played at our pace for 14 holes.  We both started well even though the course had some quirks we had to figure out.  Kris was hitting her tee shots very well.  And on one hole, too well as she reached the creek because she hit the ball so well.  Kris’ birdie on the ninth hole put her up by one stroke at the turn.

On the the 15th hole, we bumped into a two-some who was not having as good a day as we were, and they waved us through.  We both played well and were tied up on the 16th hole.  Kris played the last two holes better to take the day by 3 strokes.  It was Darrell’s turn to grouse about shooting a score of 81 and not getting to buy.  Of course, if the trees on the 15th hole had not snatched two of Darrell’s golf balls out of the air and hid the someplace, he might have tied with Kris.

While we were in Livingston, we went by the Escapees RV Park there, which is also where the headquarters for the Escapees RV Park and the Continuing Assistance for Retired Escapees (CARE) is located.  We checked out the facilities and took a drive through for future reference.

Next, Sprinty routed us by a Starbucks on our way to Humble, TX for Kris to pay up.  We arrived at Kris’ sisters house by early afternoon for a weekend family celebration.  Sprinty gets a few days off from golf and sprinting around.