Category: Holidays on the Road
Plowing for Diamonds in Arkansas
November 20, 2012 by Rex Vogel · 2 Comments
Crater of Diamonds State Park is the world’s only diamond-producing site open to the public. On average, two diamonds are found each day at the park. The state park’s policy is finder-keepers. What park visitors find is theirs to keep. Diamonds come in all colors of the rainbow. The colors found at the Crater of Diamonds are white, brown, and yellow, in that order. The search area at the Crater of Diamonds State Park is a 37 ½-acre plowed field, the eroded surface of the eighth largest diamond-bearing deposit in the world in surface area. Why plow the search field at the diamond mine? The practice of plowing the diamond field goes back to the earliest days of commercial diamond mining, according to Park Interpreter Margi Jenks. In the early 1900s miners used a mule team and farming plow to dig trenches. After tourism began in the 1950s, Millar’s Crater of Diamonds used a road grader to turn over the dirt on what is now the north end of the present diamond search area. Today’s... [Read more...]
What Are You Thankful For?
November 19, 2012 by Cynthia Baum · 7 Comments
What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? How do you remember those you have loved and lost? How do you keep their memory alive? Around this time of year, with holidays fast approaching and family making their arrivals, is when I really start remembering and missing the loved ones I have lost. I am not sure if it is because of the holidays and having family around a lot or if it is because today is my late father’s birthday: probably a combination of the two. The way that I remember him and all those who I have lost over the years is to do things that remind me of them and of who they were. Whether that includes seeing the Nutcracker ballet and accompanying symphony in their memory, because he had always wanted to take us kids (and never did), or going golfing in the rain because you have sweet memories of doing just that with them when they were here. There are so many things you can do, including the more traditional outing of going to the cemetery with flowers. In... [Read more...]
Thanksgiving Traditions
November 9, 2012 by Cynthia Baum · 1 Comment
How do you spend your Thanksgiving weekend? Camping in your RV, at the beach, in the mountains, or elsewhere? Do you spend it with extended family or close friends? My family has some fantastic Thanksgiving traditions, including a 33-mile bike ride, a camp-out on the beach in the RV, basketball and chess tournaments, followed by a competitive race on the bike ride home (for another 33 miles). The weekend of fun begins on Thanksgiving Day when we meet up for a delicious turkey dinner, complete with tons of mouth-watering homemade side dishes. My younger sister famously bakes these “Out-Of-This-World” Pecan and Pumpkin pies and we finish off the last hours of daylight with a basketball game at a nearby park, while the annual Chess Tournament takes us into the wee hours of the night. The following morning, we get up early and take a brisk 33-mile bike ride, along the scenic Southern California coastline, to Carpinteria State Beach. Those who choose not to ride,... [Read more...]
Lose Now, Eat Later!
November 7, 2012 by Cynthia Baum · Leave a Comment
Do your clothes fit too snugly lately? Does it feel like you put on 5 pounds by the end of each and every year? If so, it is time to start losing some of those extra pounds before this year’s “Holiday Eating” even begins. Pondering my schedule for the holidays this year, I couldn’t help but think of all the eating I am inevitably going to be doing. Because I, like so many Americans, LOVE to eat! Given the opportunity and availability of delicious food being set out before me (think holiday parties), I tend to overeat. So by the time I am ringing in the New Year, I am a good 5-10 pounds heavier than I was when wearing my Halloween costume. If you, like me, are not looking forward to the inevitable holiday weight gain, join me in my new found personal weight-loss challenge. My goal this year is to do what I can to curb my appetite and exercise in the few weeks I have left before Thanksgiving. Since we all know, there is no dieting during Thanksgiving dinner. ... [Read more...]
Still More Reasons to Love Texas Food
November 5, 2012 by Rex Vogel · 1 Comment
Texans take their food as seriously as they do their football. Many Winter Texans and other visitors to the Lone Star State have the good sense to agree with them—that Texan food is that of the gods. 1. City Market Barbecue fans head to downtown Luling to satisfy their craving for City Market’s succulent brisket, hot links, and pork ribs. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved One of the great joys of RVing is visiting new places and making interesting discoveries. Another is just the opposite—revisiting those places that demand a closer look. Sometimes that second chance leads to a third—and a fourth. City Market in Luling, is such a place. The meat-market-turned-barbecue-restaurant started in 1958, and over the years has become a barbecue icon. This is the arguably the best barbeque in all of Texas which helps explain why Luling is perennially included on our Texas itinerary. 2. Lockhart: Barbecue Capital of Texas A short hop, skip, a jump from Luling is Lockhart, the Barbecue Capital... [Read more...]
50 Things We Love About Texas
October 23, 2012 by Rex Vogel · 11 Comments
1. Texas Hospitality 2. Paso Del Rio, or River Walk, the Jewel of the City (San Antonio) 3. Fresh from the Gulf shrimp and oysters When in the Clear Lake/Galveston area we head for Rose’s in Seabrook for a supply of shrimp. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved 4. Exploring the pine and hardwood forests of the Piney Woods of East Texas 5. Saying howdy 6. The Alamo 7. Texas’ wide open spaces 8. Hiking Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, north of Fredericksburg 9. Tex-Mex, especially in far South Texas 10. The way small-town drivers wave to everyone they pass 11. The timeless beauty of Presidio La Bahía near Goliad, and its rural setting 12. Stopping for lunch at almost any small-town BBQ joint and sitting elbow-to-elbow with folks you have little in common with except that you all love good ‘cue 13. Blue Bell Ice Cream. Wow! 14. The wind-swept, dynamic rippling sandscapes in Monahans Sandhills State Park is one-of-a-kind 15. Stopping for kolaches at a small-town bakery 16. Driving... [Read more...]
Best Kept Secret in Camping: Maricopa County Parks & BOGO
October 4, 2012 by Rex Vogel · 1 Comment
One of the best kept secrets in the World of RVing is campgrounds located in county parks! But where are they, and how do you find them? A delightful end to another day in paradise at Usery Mountain Regional Park. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved Sometimes they’re located in Woodall’s and Trailer Life Campground Directory. Often times they’re not. County parks are often relatively small and off the beaten path. But if you’re looking for a quiet place to relax, do some bird watching, hike a near-by trail, or do some great sightseeing, it might be well worth seeking out some of these neat spots. A county park system worth checking out is Maricopa County Regional Parks in Arizona. The parks circle the Phoenix metropolitan area and all are within a 45-minute drive from central Phoenix. And unlike Arizona State Parks, no Maricopa County park has been closed or has suffered cutback in services. With 10 regional parks totaling more than 120,000 acres, Maricopa County Regional Parks... [Read more...]
Guadalupe Mountains National Park Celebrates Anniversary
September 6, 2012 by Rex Vogel · Leave a Comment
This year commemorates the 40th anniversary of Guadalupe Mountains National Park, a desert mountain environment with more than half of its 86,000-plus acres designated as wilderness. El Capitan Guadalupe Mountains National Park (Photo credit: Dustin Nelson/NPS) Authorized on 1966 and established by Congress September 30, 1972, the national park lies along the northern limits of the state’s “boot heel” and shares a border with New Mexico. The park originated with a 1959 land gift from petroleum geologist Wallace Pratt, and was supplemented by the purchase of J.C. Hunter Jr.’s Guadalupe Mountain Ranch a decade later. Pratt loved the country’s rugged beauty enough to build a summer home on his McKittrick Canyon property, a riparian waterway in the northeast corner of the park where bigtooth maples attract hikers in the fall. Hunter’s ranch holdings comprise the lion’s share of the national park, forged from several smaller ranches in the surrounding sierras and foothills. Guadalupe... [Read more...]
Birding Hotspot: Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, NM
September 1, 2012 by Rex Vogel · 2 Comments
UFO sightings may have put Roswell, New Mexico, on the map, but at nearby Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, strange creatures are more than visitors. Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge offers a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities. Visitor Center can be seen in the distance. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved They inhabit odd sinkholes, playa lakes, seeps, and gypsum springs fed by an underground river. Straddling the Pecos River the Refuge consists of an assortment of water habitats. Numerous seeps and free-flowing springs, oxbow lakes, marshes and shallow water impoundments, water-filled sinkholes, and the refuge namesake, Bitter Lake, make up these unique environments. Scattered across the land are over 70 natural sinkholes of different shapes and sizes. Created by groundwater erosion these water habitats form isolated communities of fish, invertebrate, amphibians, and other wildlife. Located where the Chihuahuan Desert meets the Southern Plains, Bitter Lake National Wildlife... [Read more...]
Top 10 Scenic Drives in the Northern Rockies
August 28, 2012 by Rex Vogel · 2 Comments
If you are looking for an exciting vacation with beautiful views then consider exploring Forest Service lands in the Northern Rockies for beautiful landscapes, scenic byways, historic trails, and diverse wildlife. For sheer beauty and allure, few regions match the Northern Rockies. Discover a convenient new way to research and plan absolutely incredible Rocky Mountain travel adventures—the Top 10 Scenic Drives in the Northern Rockies. Beartooth All-American Road The Beartooth Scenic Road has 10,000 mountain lakes, 20 peaks reaching more than 12,000 feet in elevation, and 12 national forest campgrounds. Witness the rare transition of lush forest ecosystem to alpine tundra in just a few miles on the highest elevation road in the Northern Rockies. International Selkirk Loop All-American Road The public lands along the loop are home to the largest diversity of wildlife in the lower 48 states. Travel the Selkirk Range of the British Columbia, Idaho, and Washington Rocky Mountains to see... [Read more...]
