2024 Texas Road Trip: Let's just get to Texas already!!!

On our first day of the trip leaving Issaquah, we had to detour around snowstorms in Oregon, Then it happened again our last day in Moab when we were caught in a mini blizzard in Canyonlands National Park. The next morning, we left early to avoid any more snow but we didn't move quickly enough - it caught up with us even with all of our detouring and extra miles. The photo below is about 90 miles outside Albuquerque! We woke up to snow covered landscape. Luckily it melted quickly and we had safe drive across New Mexico to El Paso.

We made it to El Paso with a few hours of good sunlight left which was unusual for us as it seems as we don't like to arrive in the daylight. That is just our slow DuBois departures and overly ambitious travel planning! In El Paso we drove right next to the Mexico border with its walls and razor wire and could see Ciudad Juarez right next door (see picture below and scroll through).

In El Paso we found an amazing Harvest Host for the night - a local dairy/cheese making facility. It was a really good find as we really didn't want to do an RV park again. The location was a retail outlet for local goods, on premise cheese-making and very large "petting zoo"! We had a great dinner at the on-site restaurant and settled in for the evening. Liz had a lot of fun feeding the animals including lots of baby goats and a scary ostrich (why this animal is in a petting zoo, we don't know). We got to watch the baby goats play from the window ouf our camper. We bought some of their yummy Mexican style cheese and homemade queso, local tamales and fresh salsa!

Our next destination for the workweek was Kerrville Texas in the Hill Country. So peaceful... Well except for the Grackles - a well-known annoying Texas bird (look them up). We will do some video but they love to hear themselves. They are really amazing birds with so many sounds...but then they are birds that never are quiet and really are everywhere, so I guess you learn to love to be at harmony with them even though you really just want them to look nice and be quiet. They also scare Daisy with all their wacky sounds! We finally made it to our resting spot for several days of work and relaxation.

I think it is fair to say this would be a great spot with a little better weather. I can just imagine the summers with all the BBQs, kids and water sports. But for us it was a bit rainy and very grey. We wanted to make it home but on Wednesday when we saw (and heard) the first of 4 motor homes pull in their Harleys and big toy trailers, we knew it was time to leave early and make a dash for Corpus Christi and Padre and Mustang Island. The travel day was very wet (coastal Texas is getting some much-needed rain) but once we arrived, we were blessed with 75 degrees and the best weather of the trip. Really, it was like getting off the plane in Hawaii after leaving Seattle! We just sat back and gave a big sigh of relief. We are really looking forward to exploring and meeting up with family - Liz's second cousin Jim Tyree and his wife Cathy.

Next we will give an update on camping on the island and our time at the beach!

We will post again soon but know we are thinking of you here.

Liz & Clint, Daisy & Skye