Texas RV Travel : Our RV Journey Begins
First Trip - From Denver, Colorado to San Marcos, Texas
This was the journey back with our new van and RV from Colorado. We were snowed on in Colorado, lost our trailer brakes and dash lights in New Mexico, spouted a roof leak in the Panhandle, and our tires starting going flat on the Llano River. I must say, although it was a bit scary at times, we had a great time and saw some of the most stunning scenery, especially in Texas. On the road, we named the trailer, Beauty. The black van we named the Beast.
Colorado
In June of 2005, we purchased a van and travel trailer on eBay. On a wing and a prayer, we flew to Colorado to pick up the 20+ years old rig. The owners picked us up at the Denver airport, drove us to the rig, took our money, gave us keys and wished us well. We smiled, thanked them and blithely drove off.
First stop was Cherry Creek State Park, just south of Denver. We pulled into this park after dark and found a spot. The next morning, we saw bald eagles, golden eagles and red-tailed hawks as we explored the park. This was wonderful park with huge lake, wetlands, model airplane park, archery range and a marina.
As we left the Denver area on the Interstate, we ran into heavy traffic and dense fog. A multi-car pileup delayed us for hours. We exited and made our way to Lake Pueblo. We stayed here for one night, enjoying the view of the Greenhorn and Sangre de Cristo mountain ranges to the south and west and the magnificent Pikes Peak to the north.
Beauty and the Beast in Colorado
Our next and last stop in Colorado was Trinidad Lake State Park. Nestled in the foothills of southern Colorado, bordered by the historic Santa Fe Trail and scenic Highway of Legends, this was a beautiful park. It snowed that night! Now, this was June and we were from Texas, so we walked around and enjoyed more snow than we had seen in Texas during the past 20 years. We decided to stay an extra night and just relax. Little did we know this would be our last relaxing day.
New Mexico
We left Colorado for the Texas Panhandle. Driving through New Mexico, we stopped at Capulin Volcano National Park. We were unable to journey to the top because our RV was too wide for the road. On the way down from the park, we started having problems with our trailer brakes. They were locking up intermittently and we really did not know what to do. We jiggled wires and stood around scratching our heads. When we started up again, the brakes worked! About the same time, we noticed a small leak in our bathroom.
Texas
Our first top in Texas was Dalhart City Park. What a dump! The electrical, water and sewer hookups were broken and the park was a slab of concrete. After all our wonderful experiences in Colorado, we were very disheartened by these facilities. We drove on to Dumas, where there is a wonderful free city-owned park for campers.
Early the next morning, we drove out. We had to stop to disconnect the trailer brakes because they were sticking again. There was nothing else to do. We journeyed to through the Canadian Breaks, crossed the Canadian River and came upon some of the most beautiful country we had ever seen, the Caprock canyon lands.
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We journeyed down a scenic two-lane road, the scenery making us forget how dangerous it was driving with no trailer brakes. For anyone who thinks Texas is flat and dry, you must see the canyon lands of the Llanos. Here you will see the history of the Great Plains, covering six major geologic periods and over 260 millions years. The largest herd of bison in Texas live in the Caprock Canyons State Park where we stayed. |
We journeyed down a scenic two-lane road, the scenery making us forget how dangerous it was driving without trailer brakes. For anyone who thinks Texas is flat and dry, you must see the canyon lands of the Llanos. Here you will see the history of the Great Plains, covering six major geologic periods and over 260 millions years. We stayed in Caprock Canyons State Park, surrounded by majestic colors and a herd of bison.
We did not want to leave the Texas high plains, but we journeyed on, staying at Lake Colorado City State Park for one night. Lake Colorado City, built in 1949, lies on Morgan Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River. It is the largest modern steam electric station in West Texas. What we really enjoyed was the resident herd of Longhorn Cattle.
| We drove south to the South Llano River State Park outside of Junction, Texas. This was a pretty park with Pecan trees. There were many blinds built for bird watching, each featuring a water feature. We have never seen so many hummingbirds! Green, gold and red, they would buzz around our heads. The park closes during Turkey roosting season so as not to upset the breeding cycle. |
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We noticed the tires on the trailer going flat while we were camped. Lucky for us, a neighbor in the campground lent us his air compressor. We decided to head home before something else happened.
We stopped one more time on our journey home--to patch the roof when the small leak in the bathroom turned out to involve the entire rear right side of the trailer. We finally arrived home with our trailer and van!
Updated 01/07/2008
