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On our RV Trip Wizard map it is 3 hours, 51 minutes or 246 miles from Fountainebleau State Park in Louisiana to Postal Point Beach campground at the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. This leg of our journey with our granddaughter would take us on Interstate 10 through the southern part of eastern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the western tip of the Florida panhandle. We traveled just north of Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi, through Mobile, Alabama and Pensacola, Florida. Our plan was to spend two days near Karen's cousin Gary's home in Shalimar, Florida and Eglin Air Force Base was the ideal location. We arrived at Eglin AFB on Monday, April 3, secured our visitor credentials to be on base and drove past the runway as two F-22 Raptors were taking off and WOW. those aircraft are incredibly loud! It took us a while to figure out where Postal Point was located, but when we finally found our campground we were totally impressed with the venue. The campground sits on a peninsula surrounded by the Boggy Bayou to the north and Choctawhatchee Bay to the east and south. This was our view looking south from the campsite. The sea breeze off the water helped keep the humidity and ambient temperature within a pleasant range so we could sit outside, enjoy the view and eat our meals. On Tuesday, April 4 we drove to the Fort Walton Yacht Club and arrived at 10 AM to meet Gary and go out on his 320 Catalina sailboat for the day. Yes, you read this post correctly, Karen was going on a sailboat! We were joined by his two daughters and his three grandkids so we had a full complement of nine souls aboard. We motored out of the harbor and raised the jib only (to keep the boat from heeling too much). We spent about four hours hanging out on the water. Karen and Morgan even walked out to the foredeck to sit on the cabin outside the cockpit. It was a fun time connecting with Gary after so many years and seeing his kids and grandkids. I don't think Karen was ever concerned for her safety while we we our on the water. I think she was distracted by the fearless little ones sitting on the rail!

It means “let the good times roll” in Cajun French, (pronounced lay-say le bon tom roo-lay) and is the official greeting of Mardi Gras. We missed Mardi Gras by about a month but did make New Orleans on Palm Sunday, April 2, 2023. We entered Louisiana on April 1 after leaving Texas and drove from Lone Star Flight Museum, south of Houston the 185 miles to Egan, Louisiana. While en-route we decided to "go native" and stopped for some authentic Cajun food at a local establishment. We indulged in Fried Catfish, Red Beans and Rice, Shrimp Gumbo, and finished off with some Hushpuppies. Thirty minutes later we arrived for the night at the Cajun Haven RV Park. We wanted to get an early start on Sunday to maximize our visit to the "Big Easy"so we left the truck still hooked up to the fifth wheel. Spent the evening watching YouTube videos on raising, harvesting and processing local Crawfish. We needed to also learn how to eat the "mud bugs" at a Crawfish boil. Sunday morning, 8:30 AM we pulled out of site #1 and drove east the 163 miles through Lafayette to Barton Rouge across the Mississippi River (the big muddy) to Mandeville, Louisiana. We had reservations for one night at Fontainebleau State Park. This beautiful 2,800-acre park is located on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, just 26 miles across from New Orleans. The crumbling brick ruins of a sugar mill were built in 1829 by Bernard de Marigny de Mandeville, founder of the nearby town of Mandeville, and suggested an interesting history for this site, and indeed there is. The wealthy Marigny developed this area across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans as a sugar plantation until 1852. The plantation income helped support his lavish lifestyle. He named his large landholding Fontainebleau after the beautiful forest near Paris, a favorite recreation area of the French kings. But our time for seeing this park had to take a back seat to our one day visit seeing New Orleans. This park is a definite "do over" when we come back west in the winter months. We want to have time to explore the many bike trails and historic sights. We set up the RV site as quickly as possible and loaded up the truck to drive the 45 minutes across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway to New Orleans. After finding parking near the French Market in the French Quarter we took off by foot the find the On/Off Tour Bus available to get an overview of the city. This 90 minute tour was the last of the day, so we stayed onboard and made mental notes of the places we'd like to explore on foot. The tour included a live narration of the sights we got to see. Frankly, this is the way to see a big city initially. We avoided the traffic and got a bird's eye view from this double-decker, open road bus. From the tour we walked a section of the famous Bourbon Street. The narrow street is lined with picturesque wooden and brick buildings with stylized wrought-iron fences around their balconies and porches. The city also has "colorful" people ranging the entire spectrum from the sublime to the disturbing. We were warned to be extra vigilant of people of the unsavory type, but we had no problems the entire day. We ended the visit before sunset and drove back to Mandeville to have dinner at the Felix restaurant. There we enjoyed a family-style meal of Crawfish boil, Jambalaya, Crawfish Étouffée, a shrimp PoBoy sandwich with fries, and a Caesar salad. After walking 4 miles in The Big Easy we all had the appetite to eat every last morsel. We finished the night with one last stop to get some beignets for dessert. Louisiana-style beignets are square or rectangular fried pastries made from leavened dough rather than choux pastry. In New Orleans, they are best known as a breakfast item served with powdered sugar on top. They are traditionally prepared to be eaten fresh and hot before consumption. We got plenty in for our one day visit to New Orleans. Morgan (aka Milo) is having a good time on our adventure and Karen and I are enjoying her company.

Before leaving for Cozumel I got a call from an old Navy buddy, Paul Clasen from Minnesota. He and his wife Cynthia were traveling down to Galveston, TX to escape all the snow and cold weather up north. Turns out they were arriving the same day we got back from the island. We had already made plans to visit our friend Suzy Wheat in Houston on Saturday that weekend. We met her on our dive trip to Roatan, Honduras in December 2022 and wanted to get a visit in before leaving the area. Paul and I thought it would be fun to get together on Sunday. So Saturday, March 25 after spending the day before unpacking and cleaning scuba diving equipment, we ventured out yet again to head south. Suzy was tied up with commitments until the evening so we headed to the Lone Star Flight Museum. We have a Harvest Host reservation there for Friday, March 31 and I wanted to see it up close and ask their staff some questions about our stay. Our granddaughter Morgan aka Milo is flying from Sacramento on Saturday, April 1 to spend a week traveling with us during her spring break. The air museum is a short drive from Houston Hobby Airport and I wanted to make sure we could detach the truck from the trailer, leave it there to drive to the airport and pick her up. Thankfully, they were accommodating and no problem with our plans at the Lone Star Flight Museum. We spent the rest of the afternoon driving to the Houston Space Center to check it out and then headed to Suzy's place. And what a blessing we saw her! I have had severe allergies since returning to Texas and I was at a loss what to do. Besides being such a fun and gracious person, she is also a Nurse Practitioner and she knew what to do. She informed me that many Texans suffer from "Cedar Fever" in the Spring due to the high pollen counts. To mitigate the symptoms she recommends a natural remedy from Allergena called "Texas Trees, Weeds and Grass". It is a Homeopathic remedy for 100 allergens in drop form. After a nice dinner out she took us to the store to get some. I've been using it since and what a relief. The next morning we walked to a taco deli for breakfast and coffee and I felt much better. From Suzy's place we drove south to Galveston Island. First to Galveston Beach State Park to check out RV site #017 we booked for Wednesday and Thursday, March 29 and 30. We will be a stone's throw from the Gulf of Mexico. Looking forward to falling asleep at the sound of breaking waves and sea birds again! Karen and I and drove to the other end of Galveston Island to meet them at their hotel. It is amazing to think that 50 years ago, January 23, 1973 we met at Navy Boot Camp in Company 030 at NTC Orlando, Florida. We later attended Fleet Sonar School in Key West, Florida from March 1973 until May 1973. After 'A' school he got orders to Midway Island and I got orders to Adak Island, Alaska. We'd only see each other twice in 50 years. Wow, I still can't believe how the years have passed by. Our wives met for the first time and then the stories started. A lot of catching up to do after fifty years! We picked up some deli sandwiches and headed back to the state park to eat. We walked and talked, but barely scratched the surface after so many years. Paul and Cynthia are retired now and have a home on the shores of Lake Superior in Wisconsin. We talked about keeping in touch. It looks like a trip with our rig to their home is in the future.

Wednesday morning, March 29 we departed our Rainbow's End RV site in Livingston, TX and drove south with the fifth wheel in tow to stay for two nights at the Galveston Island State Park on the Gulf of Mexico. We traveled to the park earlier in the week to visit friends from Minnesota, so we knew the park's basic layout ahead time. We arrived around 2PM to breezy conditions and humidity after our lunch break and a few errands along the way. Our site #017 had partial hook-ups (electricity and water), a large concrete pad, BBQ and picnic table under a covered shelter. Very nice accommodations for two nights at $54. We visited the long white sand beach which is just a short walk away from our campsite. The waves break quite a distances from the shoreline indicating a long, shallow tidal zone. It definitely would make a great location for belly boarding. The beach was deserted except for a lone couple surfing and us. The water was busy with tidal birds and an occasional flight of Gray Pelicans flew over our heads. Later that first evening we ventured to the western end of the island through Jamaica Beach across the bridge to San Luis Island and the town of Surfside Beach. We took the bridge towards Freeport to looking for a local seafood place for a shrimp dinner. We stopped at a bar and restaurant called La Sirenita Seafood N Grill. My goodness, this restaurant has tasty food . We ordered the Fried Calamari and the one pound (21 tails) Gulf Shrimp Boil and everything, absolutely everything came out delicious. We had the mild house garlic butter in the boil which made the corn and potato super yummy. Needed to shell the jumbo shrimp by hand; a very messy meal indeed, but a real culinary delight. Thursday, March 30 on our second day, Karen had to do some work in the morning. Later in the afternoon we drove to the Galveston Naval Museum at Seawolf Park. It is home to two Historic Naval Ships listed on the National Register of Historic Places and we toured both the USS Cavalla and the USS Stewart. While en-route we saw the USS Texas (BB-35) in a floating dry dock being repaired and restored. She is a museum ship and former United States Navy New York-class battleship. She was launched on 18 May 1912 and commissioned on 12 March 1914. We boarded the USS Stewart (DE–238) first and explored this Edsall-class destroyer escort, the third United States Navy ship so named. This ship was named for Rear Admiral Charles Stewart (28 July 1778 – 6 November 1869), who commanded USS Constitution during the War of 1812. The ship made me think of the movie, "The Enemy Below" with Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgen, a film I watched as a kid many times. We sat in the 3 inch forward gun mount and Karen was taken by how exposed and difficult it must have been to man that position at sea and in the elements. Not to mention being shot at during combat! Later we boarded the USS Cavalla (SS/SSK/AGSS-244) (named for a salt water fish), a Gato-class submarine, which is a submarine of the United States Navy best known for sinking the Japanese aircraft carrier Shōkaku. Karen was amazed how "tiny" the spaces were and couldn't imagine the lack of privacy living in this confined space with the smell of BO, diesel fuel, lubricating oils mixed with cooking odors and the tobacco smoke of 6 officers & 54 enlisted aboard during a WW II combat patrol. Makes our RV seem like the Ritz Carlton Hotel! We both left the museum with a profound appreciation for the sailors that served on these two vessels and the veterans of that great conflict. There is also an amazing memorial to all the submarine and personel losses - 52 submarines with 3,506 lost crew members during World War II.

On May 7 of this year Karen and I will celebrate our one year anniversary on the road as full-time RVers. And, after ten months of living this lifestyle I have made some interesting observations about the RV culture we are experiencing that I would like to share. First and foremost I am amazed at the overall friendliness of the people living this lifestyle. Regardless of age, gender, nationality or ethnicity most of the people we have encountered have been genuinely engaging and willing to share their experiences, ideas and suggestions. Perhaps because we all share the common desire to see new places and experience new adventures, we are by nature "simpatico" spirits. It is so enjoyable talking with total strangers we meet whenever we spend time at a new site. Neighboring RVers will initially wave a greeting to you from their site or acknowledge you while walking their pet by your rig. A spontaneous conversation almost always gets started. "Where did you come from? How long have you been here? Any recommendations we should know about?" The list can go on and on. We have yet to meet any curmudgeons! The variety of educational and professional backgrounds is as diverse as the types and cost of the rigs you see. And the rig is no reflection of their socio-economic position either. Some like to keep it simple and go the minimalist route and others want all the "bells and whistles". But don't make the mistake of judging a book by its cover in this world. Case in point, we discovered in conversation that our neighbors here in Livingston, a simple retired couple, picked up a $300,000 plus Newmar Class A Bay Star 30' model for a cool $30,000 from a generous, wealthy gentleman they met who was done traveling with the rig. What a blessing for this salt of the earth husband and wife. Another couple we met at Chosa Campground near Carlsbad Caverns was sleeping in the back of their Subaru Outback. He's an attorney and she is a nurse who like to keep it simple just a step above backpacking. Sunday night we attended an ice cream social and met many new members of the Escapees community. Most of the attendees are individuals or couples that live full-time in the Escapees Rainbow RV Park. It appeared that Karen and I were some of the youngest attendees and I turn 70 this May! We sat at a table with a couple who had travelled to Alaska on the ALCAN highway something like eight times. They were a great information resource. Another couple from Michigan (Brad and Bonnie) recognized us from last year's Ally Rally and we will visit with them Monday. Overall ,we are enjoying all the experiences in this park. Tuesday March 14, we will leave the rig in Livingston for a ten day diving trip. We are packing and getting ready for the morning drive to Houston Hobby Airport. Despite the problems the State Department is concerned about regarding the cartels, we are flying to Cozumel, Mexico. Our friends from Santa Rosa, Jeff and Dana Guidi, are meeting us there and we are sharing a two bedroom suite at our favorite place to stay, the Villa Aldora. Should be a blast hanging out together again.

Wednesday, March 8 we arrived at Rainbow's End - Escapees Rainbow Park in Livingston, Texas. Rainbow’s End has everything you would expect in a full-hook up rv park. They have a swimming pool, but it is closed until Memorial Day. A fully stocked video library, clubhouse with frequent social activities, a thrift store and more. This is where Karen and I established our domicile status as Texans back in May 2022. Our mailing address is here and this is where we have our Amazon packages delivered. We are staying here for the rest of March, about three weeks. We paid the monthly rate of $340 because it was less expensive than the 3 week rate. That's an incredible $14.78 a day plus electricity at $0.123 per kWh (about another $3.50 a day)! Our back-in site #72 has plenty of room between neighboring units with trees and a small creek behind us. A nice lawn area out our front door which faces predominantly south so we are using the awnings for shade if the wind isn't too bad. Wednesday was a long driving day from San Antonio so we relaxed after settling in by having an early dinner. One of the activities here is Bingo on Wednesday night at 6PM so we went to check it out. We played 5 games total until 8 PM. Karen won the third game and the pot of $5! I had a hard time staying awake during the riveting and intense pace of play...NOT! We decided, despite Karen's incredible prowess at Bingo that night, to pass on any future games for now. Thursday we got into our Thule roof rack storage pod on the truck to start pulling out our scuba diving gear for the upcoming trip to Cozumel, Mexico next week. We will have to do some creative packing this time around because we left all our large suitcases back in the storage tailer in California. We finally needed our air conditioners the last two days. The daytime temperatures outside have been in the 80's with about 70-80% humidity. Unusual for this time of year. but the forecast indicates we will see a cooling trend and some possible thunderstorms. For now I'm sitting outside composing this post at 6 PM on Friday, March 10 and it is a comfortable 72ºF under overcast skies. After driving halfway across the United States we are looking forward to this planned hiatus from 3 to 4 hour driving days to staying put in one spot. We getting to know the neighbors and spending more time relaxing and reading.

Is it still called a vacation when you travel during retirement? Karen and I left our rig in Livingston, TX for a ten day trip away from our fifth wheel home and traveled to Cozumel, MX on March 14. We drove two hours south past downtown Houston to the Houston Hobby Airport for a direct flight on Southwest Airlines into Cozumel. The flight was less than two hours long and an hour after landing we met Jeff and Dana Guidi, our friends from Santa Rosa, CA to start our grand adventure. We rented a beautiful two bedroom suite at the Villa Aldora for a song; it's just north of downtown San Miguel. The Guidi's had never been to the island so we rented a car for two days and a Jeep for one day to spend some of our time showing them around, seeing the local sights, enjoying the wonderful food and drink. They are not scuba divers, but Karen and I did 8 morning dives on four of our 10 days and then hung out together in the afternoons. We drove around the island twice including a stop at the famous "Coconuts" restaurant and bar. We traveled to Punta Sur near the end of our stay in a beat-up red Jeep. Jeff and Dana were a joy to hang out with. We walked and rode bikes or hailed a taxi on the days we didn't have a car . One of the fun activities we shared was eating in the many places and experiencing the variety of food. We ate out at restaurants most of the time, but we had a full kitchen in the unit so we went grocery shopping for limited provisions. Jeff and Dana are great cooks and they fixed some wonderful breakfasts; we also enjoyed a couple of BBQ dinners at home. The highlight meal of the trip was when we celebrated Karen's birthday dinner at Buccanos Beach Resort. She was able to get her sought after cucumber margarita and had butter lobster with ravioli ($27) and I had lobster mac and cheese ($25). Jeff and Dana shared a lobster Caesar salad and lobster mac and cheeseGreat location, excellent weather, good food, and good friends; it just doesn't get any better! We left Cozumel on Thursday, March 23 and flew back to Houston Hobby Airport. We deplaned, cleared immigration, got our luggage, picked up the parking shuttle and were back to the truck in the long term parking facility within 45 minutes! All in all, it was a great trip and we look forward to vacationing with the Guidi's again down the road.

From Buda, Texas to San Antonio is about an hour and fifteen minute drive. After saying goodbye to our new RVICS friends we got on the road relatively early for us, around 9 AM. Our first stop was the visitors center at the Walter's Gate to JBSA Fort Sam Houston. Each time we visit a new military installation, we need to check in to get my VA card registered and Karen a pass for base access. It's a minor inconvenience but worth it because the RV camping facilities are first class; we have commissary and exchange privileges. Not to mention you're living in a gated community with armed security! We drove through the main gate 30 minutes later to the RV park grounds. We paid $60 for two nights; a bargain so close to downtown San Antonio. Our set up was completed before noon so we decided to drive into San Antonio and check out the Alamo and River Walk area. We found a church parking lot for all day parking at $15 and walked to the Alamo historical site. My first impression was how small it looked. Surrounded by towering high-rises didn't help. On February 23, 1836, a Mexican army, variously estimated at 1,800 to 6,000 men and commanded by General Antonio López de Santa Anna, arrived from south of the Rio Grande and immediately began a siege of the Alamo. Estimates of the size of the small defending force (including some later arrivals) usually vary between 183 and 189 men, though some historians believe that figure may have been larger. That force was commanded by Colonels James Bowie and William B. Travis and included the renowned frontiersman Davy Crockett. At the beginning of the siege, Travis dispatched “To the People of Texas & all Americans in the world” an impassioned letter requesting support. For 13 days the Alamo’s defenders held out, but on the morning of March 6 the Mexicans stormed through a breach in the outer wall of the courtyard and overwhelmed the Texan forces. Santa Anna had ordered that no prisoners be taken, and virtually all the defenders were slain (only about 15 persons, mostly women and children, were spared). The Mexicans suffered heavy casualties as well; credible reports suggest between 600 and 1,600 were killed and perhaps 300 were wounded. Ironically, Karen and I visited on March 6, exactly 187 years to the day these brave men died defeating the Alamo. While at the Alamo I asked one of the security detail for a recommendation for barbecue. He told us to go to the County Line restaurant located in downtown San Antonio on the historic River Walk. It was an easy 6/10th of a mile walk from the Alamo. We shared a 1/2 rack of pork ribs appetizer and some beverages. Karen had a prickly pear Margarita and I had an Arnold Palmer (iced tea/lemonade) since I was the designated driver. From there, we took a river boat ride along the River Walk and learned some colorful downtown San Antonio history.

We arrived at the Abilene State Park on March 1 coming in from the west on back country roads labeled FM (Farm to Market). I really like these back roads. Beautiful country views and little or no traffic to deal with along the route. The park is located some 16 miles south of the town across from Lake Abilene and was a great location for the two days we planned on staying in the area. After setting up camp we headed into Abilene for a date night. We had dinner at a local Texas barbecue joint and went to see the movie Jesus Revolution. The film brought back a flood of memories of my coming to be a disciple of Jesus Christ around my high school years. The second day we ran some errands then returned early so Karen could work online. Got back just in time to batten down for some serious thunderstorms. I thought the rig would get a good wash down but the trees around us were full of accumulated dust so in the end we got raindrop shaped dirt spots all over everything. March 3 we departed for Riesel, Texas just south of Waco for two days. We had planned a get-together with Karen's cousins Nina, Frank, Doug, Melissa and her Aunt Annie on Saturday, March 4. We stayed at the Brazos Trail RV Park and discovered it is right next to a very active railway line. Trains go by about every two hours so sleeping during the night was difficult. Not a do over location. Had a great brunch and visit with Karen's family then later we contacted a friend of Karen's she met on a mission trip to Brazil. Lisa Stary lives in Waco and we also met her parents at their beautiful home renovated by Magnolia Homes. Karen had some extended girl time and I went to look for a new toilet seat at Home Depot. Later I met them at Magnolia Press where they had gone to chat and have coffee. We returned to the RV park to do some needed laundry before hitting the road again the next morning. Our goal was to meet up with the team leader of our RVICS project that we missed because of the tank repair delay. Gary and Margaret Jardee kept in contact with us throughout the ordeal and we wanted to meet these wonderful people. They had moved on to their next project at the Twin Oaks Ranch Retreat Center in Buda, just south of Austin, Texas. We were headed to San Antonio and Buda was on the way so we called them up. They were thrilled we called and invited us to overnight that Sunday at the retreat center and meet the team. It was great to finally meet Gary, Margaret and the rest of their crew. Karen and I sat in on a meeting with the camp director and we later played a card game with all of them that night. On Monday morning, March 6 we attended their devotional time before getting ready to leave for San Antonio. It was great to get a flavor of the RVICS community, the type of projects they work on and their fellowship together. We felt so welcomed; Karen and I would have loved to stay and help out. Gary jokingly threatened to let the air out of our tires so we would have to stay. I hope our paths with RVICS cross again, he and Margaret would be great to work with and get to know even better.

Leaving Andrews, Texas on the morning of March 1, 2023 marks the beginning of a new month in our adventure across the country. Our destination for this day was Abilene, Texas, 176 miles away and about three hours of driving time. The scenery initially consisted of more of the same oil field paraphernalia but slowly transitioned from flat, dry red sand plains to gentle hills and a mixer of wooded trees and agricultural pastural fields. The biggest technological change was from oil rigs and pump jacks to wind generators or windmills. For hours we observed row after row of these massive windmills as we rolled down the highway. Literally thousands of these structures dot the landscape as we past through small towns like Sweetwater in this part of Texas. According to Wikipedia, "Wind power in Texas, a portion of total energy in Texas, consists of over 150 wind farms, which together have a total nameplate capacity of over 30,000 MW (24% as of 2020). If Texas were a country, it would rank fifth in the world. Texas produces the most wind power of any U.S. state." As we drove across west Texas on our way to Abilene I couldn't help but think of the literary character of Don Quixote. Chapter 8 of Cervantes' novel contains one of the most notable scenes in literature where Don Quixote mistakenly perceives windmills for giants and attempts to fight them. Don Quixote "tilting at windmills" has come to represent our own impractical battles with imaginary or over-inflated enemies. As Karen and I reflect on our decision to sell our home of 23 years in California, downsize, simplify our lifestyle and set out on this "quest", I'm feeling a kinship with the Man of La Mancha. Don Quixote teaches us that life is to be challenged. That passion and discipline of a determined soul are a foundational element of being a leader. Quixote does not accept his current reality. He forces his creative imagery, his commitment, and his happiness on it. After dealing with our two most recent "giants" at the beginning of our travels, We're seeing our perspective on a crisis changing and learning to embrace the unexpected challenges. And as this adventure continues we will use this new perspective to sally forth... "Sancho! My Armor! My Sword!" 'I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.' John 16:33

We finished our tour exploring the Carlsbad Caverns early enough in the day to consider getting on the road. We talked about it on the way down the hill and concluded it was better to leave early than stay until the morning. Winds were predicted to pick up and it would make staying at the Chosa campground pretty uncomfortable. Back at camp we had lunch and started securing the rig to get out by 1 PM. The drive through eastern New Mexico to west Texas is not the most scenic part of traveling across the United States. We took a two lane back road from Carlsbad to Jal, N.M. and had to deal with traffic. Most of it had to do with servicing the rich oil and natural gas fields in the area known as the Permian Basin. The Permian Basin is a large sedimentary basin in the southwestern part of the United States. The basin contains the Mid-continent oil field province. This sedimentary basin is located in western Texas and southeastern New Mexico. It reaches from just south of Lubbock, past Midland and Odessa, south nearly to the Rio Grande River in southern West Central Texas, and extending westward into the southeastern part of New Mexico. It is so named because it has one of the world's thickest deposits of rocks from the Permian geologic period. Trucks with rigging supplies, tankers with crude oil and miscellaneous other vehicles lined one behind the other. We must have been the odd-ball rig on the road. To the left and right of us were all the sights associated with the oil industry; drilling rig towers, tank farms and the iconic symbol of the oil field, the pump jacks. A pump jack is a widely recognized piece of equipment used to pump crude oil from underground reservoirs. The founding of the Lufkin Foundry and Machine Company in 1902 led to creation of this oilfield icon known by many nicknames — nodding donkey, grasshopper, horse-head, thirsty bird, etc. Depending on the size of the pump, it generally produces 1.5 to 10.5 US gallons of liquid at each stroke. Often this is an emulsion of crude oil and water. From Chosa campground just south of Carlsbad, N.M. to Andrews, Texas was 157 miles and 3 hours, 24 minutes of driving time. We lost some time due to the traffic on the road and a hour entering the Central Time Zone. We arrived at our stop for the night around 5PM. Karen found this gem called Legacy Park on her computer while I was driving. Apparently the town of Andrews has a five RV hook-up parking lot behind the Chamber of Commerce building off the main highway into the community. She called to ask if we could stay and they were so nice on the phone. Here's the best part...they offer the sites at no charge. Water, 30A/50A electrical for FREE! Now that's what I call "southern hospitality". We unhooked the truck and set up for the night. After a delicious dinner of creamy scallops with spinach over pasta that Karen made for us, we ran errands around town. Filled the truck with diesel, bought groceries and hit the Sonic drive-in for ice cream. The location was 4 stars out of 5 only because of the neighborhood traffic noise, but overall an excellent place to spend the night. We were grateful for this stopping point on our journey and left an optional donation to support their memorial park honoring veterans and first responders.

The alarm went off at 7 AM. After a cup of coffee Karen and I left the Chosa Campsite for our 8:30 AM appointment at the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. There are two options available to visitors when entering the cave system. Visitors to the cave can hike in on their own via the natural entrance or take an elevator from the visitor center. We opted for the walking route down and the elevator back up. The Natural Entrance Trail is a steep 1-1/4 mile (2 km) descent, equivalent to about 79 stories, from the Natural Entrance to the Big Room. The walk is steep in some places, but it is a paved path with handrails to keep people from wandering off. More importantly, it help keep visitors from touching the delicate structures along the way. There are phone boxes along the path to the rangers in the event of an emergency. They can also be used to report any attempts of vandalism. Hiking time to the main chamber was about one hour. Carlsbad Cavern includes a large limestone chamber, named simply the Big Room, which is almost 4,000 ft long, 625 ft wide, and 255 ft high at its highest point. The Big Room is 8.2 acres, the largest, readily accessible cave chamber in North America and the 32nd largest in the world. Since 1984, explorers have mapped over 145 miles of passages and have pushed the depth of the cave to 1,604 feet. As we descended deeper and deeper the structures became larger and more complex. Seeing these incredible structures through the eyes of your imagination can take on the appearance of popcorn, dragon's heads, ghost, bells, and a whales mouth. Photos give only a glimpse of the amazing stalagmites, stalactites, columns and linen sheets in this cavern but hardly capture the beauty and immense scale of these structures! In the image below you're looking at a 30 foot plus stalagmite below the ceiling in just one chamber of the Big Room complex. We spent three hours exploring the cavern complex and according to Karen's Fitbit we walked 14,819 steps and 5.97 miles that day. We concluded our visit and used one of the Carlsbad Caverns' two elevators to return to the surface and the visitor center above the Big Room. The shaft descends 754 feet underground without any stops along the way, through solid limestone. I kept thinking as we went up, "has anyone ever been stuck in this elevator before?" Not a good time for a power failure... What a natural wonder! Definitely make a point to see this incredible place in your travels; you won't regret the time and trouble getting to this amazing National Park.