As I went walking that ribbon of highway, I saw above me that endless skyway; I saw below me that golden valley This land was made for you and me.
I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps, To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts; While all around me a voice was sounding, Saying this land was made for you and me.
The sun came shining, and I was strolling, And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling; As the fog was lifting, a voice was chanting, This land was made for you and me.”
Original by Woody Guthrie. This version by The Travellers, 1955.
In over six years of full-time RVing, Betty & I have been excited to tour places we have never visited before. Of course, the North American continent is so vast that there will always be new spots we haven’t seen. But we have been doing our best. Lol.
Betty captured another sunrise, before we left Mission, Texas.
This portion of our overlandish odyssey took us, for our first time, down the banks of the Mississippi River. And we hope it will take us through Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming – three of the four contiguous states we haven’t yet toured on this trip.
But there’s something satisfying and calming to return to locations we have enjoyed in the past. Because we don’t yet know whether this will be our last hurrah, so to speak, Betty & I decided to forgo an adventure on the Blue Ridge Parkway through the Great Smokey Mountains. Instead, we are re-visiting some of our favourite spots from previous trips.
Since we left Winnipeg, we have made return visits to Buccaneer State Park in Mississippi, New Orleans, Galveston Island, and of course South Padre Island, which comes in at the top of our favourites. No doubt the icing on the cake was a fabulous visit there from our family in February!
A bottom bracket on our awning broke shortly after the new awning was installed in Mission. Even though we thought it was secured, the awning started to come out in heavy winds through the Rio Grande Valley. We made an emergency stop on the side of the highway, at the end of Heriberto Castillo’s driveway. He came to see what we were up to, and was so excited to meet us that he gave us his contact information and asked for a picture with him. What a wonderful encounter during an otherwise unintended stop!Betty & I spent our first night after Mission in the parking lot of the most attractive Texas Welcome Center, just north of Loredo, a location we had visited on a previous trip.For a long stretch westbound on Interstate 10 Betty took the wheel. Despite the look on her face in this pic, she drove very well.The road had its ups and downs, but the rock cuts levelled things out quite a bit.Despite being an Interstate, there were still lots of interesting sights along the way.Our next stop was Monahans Sandhill State Park, still in Texas. We stayed in the same site we occupied on our visit six years ago. It included water and electricity for $15. We didn’t have to pay an $8. entrance fee, as we have a Texas State Park pass.The campsites at Monahans are all nestled in the sand dunes, providing a nice quiet setting.Betty hiked to the top of one of the dunes for some peaceful meditation.The mountains in the El Paso area were a little steeper, but the old boy still made it!Oliver Lee State Park, just outside Alamogordo, New Mexico, is definitely one of our favourites. The sites are nestled into the side of a mountain; are well spaced apart; and all have fabulous views.Our first night was in site 11, loop A. It includes a shelter with picnic table, and a fire ring. This unserviced site was $10. plus a $4. entrance fee – a great price for a large spot with 360 degree views.Betty couldn’t resist a selfie showing her happiness in returning to such a beautiful location.Yesterday we returned to site 31 in loop B, where we stayed six years ago this week. This sunset pic isn’t quite the one posted in March, 2018. Maybe I’ll duplicate it tonight!Today we returned to the White Sands National Monument, a few miles west of Alamogordo. This national park includes 245 sq. miles, with a road through the dunes, parking areas, and hiking trails. Flying saucers can be purchased for slides down the talcum powder-like dunes. This pic is similar to the one posted in March 2018, capturing the spectacular fine-grained gypsum sand.As on the dunes at South Padre Island and Monahans Sandhill SP, Betty stopped to ponder life in the gorgeous location.She can be seen on the top of one of the White Sands dunes. Btw, that white stuff is snow on the mountain in the back left of this pic.
A new campground this week will be City of Rocks State Park in New Mexico, before hopeful visits to Gilbert Ray campground in Tucson, and BLM land in Quartzsite, other favourites.
As is always the case, our journey through life is a combination of new and exciting experiences, and ideally some satisfying and calming return favourite times, people and places. Here’s hoping you get a suitable balance of both new and familiar adventures!
“This land is your land, and this land is my land From California to the New York island From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters This land was made for you and me….” Written by Woody Guthrie, 1940.
Cheers!
If you want to return to “the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts”, this could be a favourite spot!UPDATE: Last night I tried to replicate the pic from March 2018, which I had enlarged and added to our living room wall in Winnipeg. The sky in this pic isn’t exactly the same, and the bird is facing the other way. But those were two aspects of the shot out of my control. lol. Otherwise, it is an evocative image from a favourite spot.
