TEXAS - heading east

We're headed east and it will take 3 days to get to our next stopover, 90 miles east of Dallas, where Tony wants to look at some RV lots near Lake Fork. Today was a long drive, and the area was studded with cattle ranches, oil well drilling rigs and not much else.  

My Coach Butler had plenty of time to ........well, you know:

Notice the open mouth  :-0

We pulled into our campground, and had to search to find a site with running water.  Finally, we decided on a spot, but the overhanging tree branches were about to scrape the motorhome, so Tony had to get out the ladder, and assemble his trusty little saw, and cut down the branches.  It was about 80 degrees in the sun, and he was NOT a happy camper, but.........alas!  Success:

I must say, he has everything he needs in the rig. After this exercise, he needed a shower and a bourbon!
We found a very nice resort - Holiday Village of Lake Fork (hvfork.com), which offers building lots, condos, and an RV Park, with amenities of a pool, fishing ponds, clubhouse and a huge lake with what is called the best bass fishing in Texas - we saw photos large mouth bass of over 18 lbs!!!  (Are you getting this, Dick ?)  Tony settled on a great property, facing east, and in a nice quiet area with very friendly neighbors, who just happen to have a motorhome similar to ours.  Here he is with the paperwork officially making him a Texas landowner:

No more "TZ"....now it's "Texas Tony"

The following photo is of our new neighbors, and after we have the cement pad poured, the plan is to put up a "car port" like this:

Our next stop will be in Little Rock, Arkansas, on the way to Alabama.

NEW MEXICO-On the way east

We started driving east, but we're in no rush ........ Still cold and snowy back home in CT!  
Tony, the Coach Butler, found some time to catch some zzzzzz's, his favorite pastime.

We allowed a full day in Deming, to take the long drive to the Gila ("Hee-la") Cliff Dwellings.  Along the way, we came upon the Santa Rita Copper Mine - an open pit mine one mile wide and 1600 feet deep.  

The mine is active 24/7 - since 1910, 2 billion tons of material has been moved.  Each year, 200 million pounds of copper are produced.
We crossed the Continental Divide along our route - at this elevation, it was quite cold, and there was snow on the roadside.

We came to a small mountain town called Pinos Altos (Tall Pines).  Here, there were a number of attractions:

The site of Judge Roy Bean's Store

The Old Opera House

An historic Museum

And of course, a Saloon

The drive to Gila National Park and the Cliff Dwellings was named the "Trail of the Mountain Spirits" National Scenic Byway; here's a peek of the beauty we saw along the way:

The scenery was breathtaking, with rolling mountains and steep drop-offs.... and no guard rails.  It seemed we were on top of the world.
The Gila Cliff Dwellings are a group of caves and are some of the most spectacular archeological sites in the area.  It is believed that they were formed about 28 million years ago, as the result of two large volcanoes erupting.  Artifacts and studies on the wood used to form the wall supports suggest that Native American tribes (originally the Mogollons) lived here as early as the 1200's.  

We hiked along a half-mile trail to the caves, then 175 feet up to the caves, which sit at about 5900 feet elevation.  The trail was rough, uphill and grueling, and we utilized the benches along the way.  

Tony Z doesn't look too happy -
it was a long day,
and he missed his nap!!

We're smiling, because it's now downhill all the way!