LYNN VISITS THE BIG BEND

Lynn at the Persimmon Gap entrance to
Big Bend National Park

Pam's very good friend of 27 years, Lynn Lockard, left the cold winter in Jackson, NH and headed to Far West Texas for a change in temperature....not to mention scenery.

Pam met Lynn's plane in EL Paso, TX where they spent the night before beginning the 3 hour jaunt south and east to Fort Davis.   After a tour of the "highlights" of Fort Davis (population give or take 1100 folks) Pam and Lynn loaded up the Jeep Trailhawk for a two day excursion that began in Marathon, TX to show Lynn where Pam and I were married at the Gage Hotel last April.

Chisos Mountains in the Big Bend NP

From Marathon they entered the National Park at the North Entrance and were rewarded with views that take your breath away.  Lynn was impressed with the "big skies" of West Texas as well as the scenery in general.

Following a nice lunch at Chisos Mountain Lodge, they drove further West toward the small, quirky towns of Study (stoody) Butte and Terlingua where they checked into their motel.  Dinner at the funky Terlingua Starlight Cafe was on the agenda...and was thoroughly enjoyed.....

Good food and spontaneous entertainment await
at the Starlight Cafe

                     Lynn outside the Candellia Restaurant
                                 of the Lajitas Resort

Here Lynn is smooching it up with a colorful female of the bovine species that stands in a portico in the Gage Gardens.

After leaving the Lajitas Resort Pam and 

Lynn proceeded to make many stops along

FM route 170, one of National Geographic's

ten most scenic routes in America!!   This 50 mile

drive is simply gorgeous...much of it right
alongside the Rio Grande, with Mexico seemingly within reach.

                                   

Back in Fort Davis the next day it was time for a 

visit to the famed McDonald Observatory.  We

enjoyed a nice lunch followed by a brief tour of the grounds of the Observatory.  It was a gorgeous day with wonderful views from atop Mount Locke.

Pam and Lynn outside one of the three very large (multiple story) telescopes at the Observatory.

Lynn's visit brought the full gamut of Davis Mountains weather....from gorgeous sunny 70 degree days to ice.. yup, ice on the trees to the right.

Oftentimes we are rewarded with sunsets
in technicolor....like this one from our "front porch".
on the 3rd night of Lynn's visit.

We are very happy Lynn made the trip....she and Pam had some wonderful times during the week Lynn was here....jam packed with activities.

OFF ROAD IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS

We like the West for several reasons....milder and dryer climate is one of them....another is the "big sky" you get out here.  Not many trees to get in the way of what the Malaysians call "saujana"....as far as the eye can see!!

We departed the mountains of Fort Davis for very southern Texas and Big Bend country just after Christmas.   Our plan was to be here for 5 weeks....and we have been here 3 1/2 so far.  We have enjoyed the 50 mile drive from Lajitas to Presidio....ranked in the top 5 scenic drives in the country by National Geographic...simply gorgeous.

The FM (farm road) 170 drive is like most of this region...offering views of mountains in every direction.   The drive to Presidio also puts you right beside the Rio Grande river...in many places it is less than 100 yards to nearby Mexico...and for those of you who are curious about it, there are no border fences along the way!

Throughout the region the rock formations in the mountains are many and varied....and many, like this one, show gravity defying balance of rocks atop one another.   Another amazing thing is the strata of the rocks....oftentimes offering up multiple layers of color.

The Big Bend Region is like a magnet to us....the National Park is just under 1 million acres and is very wild and beautiful; the State Park, formerly a 265,000 acre private ranch, is in some ways even more remote; and the roads that cut through the former Terlingua Ranch are awe inspiring at every turn.

These mountains are part of the Chisos Range in the National Park...and the light reflected from their rocky surfaces changes dramatically as the light of the day changes.  This happens to be an early to mid afternoon view.

This formation is known as the Mule Ears and is also in the National Park.  

Also in the National Park, this is looking into one of the most photo- graphed scenes in the Park.....Santa Elena Canyon.   The Rio Grande, over the course of hundreds of thousands of years, carved this Canyon....in the beginning the river flowed along the top of the canyon walls you see here.  Just amazing what nature can do!!

To really get "off road" and see the splendor of the back country you need to have the right vehicle....and this is where our Jeep Cherokee Trail Hawk comes in.   We have taken the Jeep tens of miles back into canyons on some very rough roads indeed...one of our journeys took us 27 miles into Big Bend Ranch State Park and the roads were such that it took us an hour and a half each way!!  The rewards along the way are many....views many people never get to see...

This photo shows the dirt road (it turns into a trail a couple miles further in) heading into one of the many canyons in the State Park.

Here is a view down through "smuggler's canyon"...the mountain in the background is in Mexico.   The Jeep trail here is actually in a dry river wash..rough going with lots of rocks to watch out for....and a place you certainly don't want to be if the heavens open up with rain.

Here we are coming up out of one of those dry river "washes"...the rutted hill incline was no match for the Cherokee's Select-train 4WD system.  

We pulled off at a remote campsite on the Rio Grande to let the doggies stretch their legs....You can just see Chica in the left back ground...and Ali is her ever watchful self.  At this stop we saw a section of trees with a yellow and an orange balloon hanging from them....this was several miles from the main road and right alongside the Rio Grande....a route for the Mexicans to come across....??  hmmmm.

This sign greeted us near the West end of the River Road...a 40 mile rough stretch that takes 5 hours to travel West to East!

GPS comes in handy...as do a map and compass...when traveling these back roads...and mountains like these help with orientation too.
The bottom line for us is that we love coming to this remote area of Texas to explore...and when we do we normally use the Maverick RV Ranch in Lajitas as our base....

The Lajitas resort is way off the beaten path....note that Big Bend NP is by far the largest of the country's National Parks...yet because of it's remote-ness, it is the least visited.   Next week we move from the comforts of the Maverick Ranch to the Easternmost  end of the Park and a campsite with no hookups.  For a week we will rely on our generator and our solar panels....with no TV....no internet...and very sketchy cell service.   More back roads beckon....will report on those in a later blog......all the best from remote SW Texas!!!

A NEW ADDITION.....

Well, folks.....I am back, having taken the month of December off from blogging....well, it IS a holiday month.....well, I AM retired...anyway, it's good to be back.

As the title says, Pam and Ali and I brought a new addition to the Cameron Family about a month ago.....here she is

.......with her "mum".   "Chica" as we named her, is a 10 pound Shih-Tzu that we adopted from the Grand Companions Humane Society in Fort Davis, TX.   She came to Grand Companions by way of a shelter in Pecos, TX....which picked her up off the streets. The Veterinarian reckons she is 2 to 3 years old....so we are saying she was 3 on December 4, the day we picked her up.

Before adopting Chica, who was given the temporary name "Boodles" by the shelter, we took Ali to the shelter so the two could meet.  While Chica wanted to play, Ali satisfied her curiosity via a few sniffs and then was rather ambivalent about the whole thing.   As you can see here, they do pretty well together.   So now we have a 100 pound dog and a dog with a 100 pound attitude!!  (If you look closely, you can see Chica's little "bull dog like" underbite....cute).

Another test for Chica before we made our commitment involved barking....little dogs can be "yappers"...and we did NOT want one of those...so we took her home on a trial basis.  While she does bark and yap on occasion, it is almost always "for a good reason" and not just for the sake of doing it.  So we are happy to report the trial period is over and Chica is now Chica Cameron!

Chica is not so laid back as Ali.. but is any dog for that matter?? As a young, small dog she is energetic and wants to play much of the time....something that is totally foreign to Ali, who prefers to take the Pyrenees approach to life....the occasional walk, lots of sniffing and naps....lots of naps.  Despite the differences, they get along just fine.  Ali seems to have almost become a "surrogate" mom to Chica.

Don't let this cute little bundle fool you....when not napping she is usually playing with her toys and / or on the go like a wind-up toy.  She could easily keep up with the "energizer bunny".

A mid afternoon treat keeps everybody happy.   At Chica's feet you can see her Kong ....where you can put in small amounts of food with a bit of peanut butter, and she will play with that for an hour at least... and occasionally enjoy the reward that pops out.

At the end of a long day, it is time to take a nap with Mom.  She seems happy to be a Cameron, don't you think!   Stay tuned for more blogs soon....many of which will surely involve Miss Chica.

DENTAL TOURISM

A few months ago a piece of tooth filling in one of my front teeth broke off....leaving a jagged edge.  It had to be fixed.   We drove to the small, nearby town of Valentine, Texas to see a lady dentist who operates out of a single wide trailer.   I was in the chair less than an hour and the bill came to $340.00.   The fix involved only a small amount of drilling and a small amount of filling.   Outrageous dental prices have become the norm in this country.   I vowed right then that I would travel to nearby Mexico for future dental work...at a fraction of the price.

Bridge to Ciudad Juarez from EL Paso

More recently, one of Pam's molars broke off and had to be surgically removed.   After a thorough examination in EL Paso, it was noted she required a 3 part procedure to "fix the tooth".  First was the surgical removal and bone graft; a few months later would be an implant; and this would be followed a few months after that with a new crown.   Quotations from the dentist in EL Paso were in the $5000.00 range for the 3 part procedure.   So we looked into dentists in Mexico.....once again, the internet is invaluable.   We found two that had very high ratings, both in Ciudad Juarez; but only one did dental implants.   After further due diligence Pam decided to "take a chance" on having the work done in Mexico.  Here is how it worked out:

We drove from Fort Davis to EL Paso TX and booked a motel room, discounted given our affiliation with Rio Grande Dental.  The following morning at 8:30am Rio Grande's driver, Ozzie, picked us up at the motel and drove us directly to the dental office in Juarez.

                        The entrance to Rio Grande Dental.

The dental practice is co-managed by brother and sister, both fully licensed dentists.   Jessica Nunez and her brother Eduardo both graduated from the dental school in Juarez and then pursued additional, specialized training in the US.   He does general dental work as well as endodontics, while she specializes in dental implantation and mouth reconstruction.  Both receive excellent reviews from the many US and Canadian patients they have treated in the past several years.

The offices are rather "spartan" compared to those in the US...but they are clean and well equipped.

The waiting area is attractively and comfortably set up....and one of their signs says "a smile is the same in any language".

Here is Pam being examined by Fabiola, the receptionist / dental assistant / dental hygenist.   (talk about many hats!!)

Here Fabiola is cleaning my teeth.....a cleaning is $35.00.




The first part of Pam's 3 part procedure is complete....the broken tooth has been surgically removed and a bone graft stitched in.  Next step in February 2015 is to have the implant done....and then 4 months or so after that have a new crown installed on the implant.  And all for about 1/3 the estimated price we were quoted by the EL Paso dentist.   Needless to say, we will frequent Rio Grande Dental in the future whenever we need dental work.

After our procedures, Ozzie took us to the pharmacy to get Pam's prescriptions, and then back to the main bridge / border crossing, where we walked across back to the US while he took a special bridge with the car.   After going through US Customs (not the most pleasant of experiences) we once again joined up with Ozzie for the ride back to our motel.   Mission accomplished and without any qualms whatsoever.   

Here are photos of a Jeans shop and a burrito / clothes shop on the border....you are "mildly assaulted" by hawkers on the walk back over the bridge....but you simply say "no, gracias" and move on.

Some of the best burritos are found in non-descript places like this.

And what a way to advertise the Jeans.....this really made us chuckle.

The end of the story is that dental tourism is alive and well in Mexican border towns.  You simply do your due diligence and go from there.

NEW WHEELS

Wow......has it really been a month since the last post???
Well, we have been busy.   We departed Texas October 14 for New Hampshire....to pick up our new vehicle, have annual doctor visits and visit a few folks, including my 90 year old Mom....who is still going strong.

               Here is our new (2015) Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk.

It hasn't always been convenient to have just the Mini Cooper here in Far West Texas.   That plus the fact there are many off roading opportunities out here, led us to order this jazzy new Jeep so that we can travel the good roads and the not so good roads in relative comfort.   The Trail Hawk is the only Cherokee with the Trail Rated designation....complete with high clearances, skid plates and special incidence angles for serious off roading, this Jeep can literally take us almost anywhere.   It sits above in the lot at Crosstown Motors, awaiting our arrival from TX.

Here we are.....Pam and I with Steve Northrup, who sold and ordered the Jeep for us.   (Yes, shorts even on October 15 in northern NH).

This design of the new Cherokee and the Trail Hawk model first appeared in 2014 and represented quite a design departure from Jeep's historic round head lights and standard front end grill.  Critics mostly praised Jeep for the interior upgrades, but they split over the front end design in particular.....many thought it was too dramatic a departure for Jeep to make.   Pam and I are obviously in the group that loves the new design and praises the Jeep folks for being bold enough to think out of the box and do something dramatically different.

The new front end.....no typical round Jeep head lamps....and the eyebrow running lights on the top were disdained by many....and the Rubicon Jeep folks (top of the line Wrangler) were particularly upset that Jeep adorned the Trail Hawk with the red tow hooks, hitherto found only on the pricey Rubicon.

So, joined by Amy Remick (Pam's daughter) we drove the 2400 miles from NH back to West Texas and couldn't wait to get the Jeep off road in Big Bend National Park.   Here we are putting the Trail Hawk through its paces for the first time....with the Sierra del Carmen escarpment in Mexico in the background.   We look forward to all kinds of off road experiences....and will blog about same.   Great Stuff!

PAM'S BIG DAY IN HALLOWEEN LAND

Welcome to Halloween Land....is the "witchy message" you get when you visit Sarah and Sam Kent of Limpia Crossing.  Sarah has 6 or 7 bins of Halloween "stuff"  she keeps in storage only to have it come out and end up in every nook and cranny of their house.  It's great!

We went down for dinner with Sam and Sarah on the 9th of this month....Pam's birthday.  Sam made a southern fried chicken dinner with garlic mashed potatoes.....talk about good....I made a loaf of sweet butter bread to go with dinner and Sarah, bless her heart, made this huge, 3 layer spice cake with THREE cans of butter frosting on top and between the layers.  YUMMY!!!  

               Here Sarah and Sam welcome the birthday girl.

Halloween decorations on a corner table.....many lighted with candles....note the Halloween  art hanging on the walls too!!

Dracula's cape hangs in the corner.....he is out and about biting far west Texas necks.

Sarah really gets into the spirit.

         The Halloween pumpkin complete with witches hat.

Back to the birthday party.....here is the cake Sarah made, complete with candelabra....and a home made gift for the birthday girl.

Pam blowing out the candles.....hurry....cut the cake...Sam and I are                                                waiting!

          Halloween even made the "Deity Shelf"....good stuff!

It was a great night with the Kents.....as usual.  We had many a good laugh, sang to the birth day girl and enjoyed a chiminea  fire on the patio after dinner.

My favorite Halloween-scape is Sam's matinee case, all decked out with funky stuff Sarah put together.

            Happy Halloween.....and Happy Birthday, Pammy!