Sunday, April 19th
After a great time birding and meeting new friends in the Mission, Texas area it was time to head home. We felt rushed on the way to the hop and that is NOT the way we want to travel. Our bodies are much happier when we take our time and go slow. We decided not to rush in any way on the way back to Arizona. We have plenty of time to make it back by the 1st of May, so will go slow. We headed out late Sunday morning and spent the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Alice, Texas. We had stayed there on the way down, so figured it would be a known stop on the way back.
Monday, April 20th
It was on to the Escapees Park in Hondo. Fairly equitable day of sharing the driving. Connie drove further than I did but not by much. I made a mistake and forgot to put the gas cap back on the RV when we filled up with gas so had to go find a new one upon arrival in Hondo. Lucky for me, the local Napa had one in stock. We decided to spend two nights here and rest up a little. We really are not into driving hard every day and want to enjoy the journey. On Tuesday we took the CRV for a drive around the area and ended up in Castroville, TX. Castroville was settled by folks from the Alsace region of France. We wanted to try Haby’s Bakery, and boy are we glad we drove there. What a place, if you are ever near Castroville you really need to give it a try. On Wednesday we left the Escapees Park and travelled to Sonora, Texas. Another parking lot night. The drive from Hondo to Sonora was pretty windy and at times rainy; it was also very pretty with all the Texas wildflowers on the back roads.
Thursday, April 23
Hard day of travel in the winds today. We had thought we would make it to Balmorhea State Park. Unfortunately, the winds that come roaring over the plains had other plans. Connie drove the first 75 miles and I was due to drive the next. The winds were to strong for me so Connie took over and got us the rest of the way to Ft. Stockton. Very difficult to control the RV when the wind is blowing hard enough to send it off the road. We settled in to an RV park on the outskirts of Fort Stockton and made arrangements to stay until Saturday morning. We are hoping that by staying we might miss some of the super strong winds between here and Van Horn. It is supposed to be blowing in excess of 40 mph on Friday and later Saturday afternoon. If we get out of here early enough Saturday we can beat the late afternoon winds to Van Horn. Pepper took all of the wind and hard driving in her usual “it is a riding day” style.
Arizona Lizards 
Very enjoyable read! I liked hearing about the bakery treats, too, and the gorgeous wildflower pictures. Your pup looks like a perfect travel companion!
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Thank you, Marylin. she is a great traveling pup. She actually thinks the RV is solely for her pleasure.
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Thanks for reading and commenting on our blog Marilyn. We just got back to the house and will be RVing in the front yard until we auction our belongings and put the house up for sale. There may not be too many exciting things going on to write about but we are going to post at least once a week to keep family and friends in the loop. We are having fun with it and hope others will enjoy keeping up with our travels. Hope all is well with you and yours, Connie
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Glad you guys are safe. Looking forward to seeing you when you get home. It has been really windy here as well.
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We are taking it easy, if it is to windy we just pull off. Connie is great at driving in the wind, Lisa not so much.
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Sounds a little rough but fun…………………….Love MOM
jmhadd
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This has been a little rough. Just one more reason to really follow the weather. In a normal year we would be heading up to the Northwest right now.
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Also, no pictures of birds???
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We promise more pictures from now on! No pictures of birds on these days.
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So what goodies did you buy at the bakery??? Liked the pictures and sorry you had to drive on those windy days.
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John, we bought way to much! Two lemon filled long johns, an eclair, macaroons, oatmeal cookies, chocolate chip cookies, turtles, and some sort of chocolate cake with cream filling incased in chocolate! And it was all great.
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I’m glad you asked this question, John. I think that most people are interested in hearing about places you’ve eaten, Lisa, especially if it’s your first time there or if you ate something new. Since you were in an Alsatian-founded town, I thought they might have some Alsatian specialties in the bakery (like kugelhupf or onion tart). Pictures wouldn’t hurt either. Make us want to be there too!
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Jackie, you are so right. we promise more pictures from now on. I think we were at the bakery to late in the day. The lady behind the counter said we should have been there earlier.
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