America's Favorite Pastime

When we were young, baseball was America’s pastime. Now it’s TV, video games and I-Pod downloads of strange music! But baseball is big in the life of Lincoln, our eight-year-old Texas grandson. Lincoln is named after Jerry’s grandfather, who was born during the Civil War. Young Lincoln is third baseman for the Reds in the local Pony League. Each game is limited to five innings or to one hour and 15 minutes; whichever comes first. We have had the privilege of seeing him play four games. He gets better with each game. Now he is fielding well, and he is consistently hitting some good line drives. His team is winning most of their games. They even beat a previously undefeated team.

We had planned to go camping with our family, but the area is getting twice as much rain as usual. Rivers and streams are running over, and there is an abundance of mud holes. Therefore, we continue to stay in the RV park located across from the Airstream dealer. It has concrete pads and WiFi; its location next to Cabela's makes it a desirable place to stay. We see our daughter’s family everyday and have at least one meal with them. The other night we drove to Austin to see “Mummies” at the I-MAX. We also play table games and were privileged to watch Ohio State thump Georgetown in the NCAA semi-finals. Did we watch the finals with Florida? ….Naaah

The Joyful Ride To Del Rio, TX

The volunteer assignments during our month at Hueco Tanks State Historical Site were enjoyable, but we must admit that it feels good to have no daily schedule. Upon departing our rocky Hueco hideaway, we drove southeast by taking a series of back roads through small, friendly, dusty towns, watching the long Union Pacific trains that track along the highways. We grew nostalgic when viewing the many abandoned old ranch houses and fallen barns that had given up the struggle for survival in a vast, hot, arid land.

After driving nearly 300 miles, we camped at one of our more memorable campgrounds. We had stayed there on New Years Eve 2003. It is located several miles due north of Big Bend Nat. Park in the quiet little town of Marathon. After our setup, we walked for a half-mile to the town’s main attraction, the famous old Gage Hotel built by Alfred Gage in 1927-28. He was a banker and cattleman who came to Texas from Vermont. The hotel was Gage's temporary residence during times when he left his San Antonio offices to visit his huge spread of over 600 sections of land around Marathon. It was also the place where he entertained his many friends and colleagues. One can still rent an expensive room or suite at the grand, historic Gage with its beautifully decorated Old West lobby and lounge. Believe it or not, reservations are recommended for a weekend dinner.
The next day we drove through Langtry, where Judge Roy Bean once held his own version of court and built a small theatre named for the famous actress, Lily Langtry. He was infatuated with the world-famous Lily but never had the privilege of meeting her personally. She eventually did visit the town named for her, but the good Judge had died without meeting his dream lady.The prettiest site along our way was Lake Amistad, a National Recreation Area. Amistad means friendship, an appropriate name because our neighbors to the south cooperated in the funding and building of the six-mile-long dam across the Rio Grande River. Two huge, bronze eagles rest in the center of the dam symbolizing the cooperation of two nations, Mexico and the U.S. The common purpose is to control floods and provide water when and where it is needed on both sides of the border. On the U.S. side of the dam, the Pecos and Devils Rivers merge to help form the huge reservoir. This remarkably clear, blue lake, often frequented by high winds, is one of the premier sites for Texans and winter snowbirds that are interested in fishing and boating.

Goodbye to Hueco Tanks

We are now ready to depart Hueco Tanks. During the past month, we have generally worked four hours per day, five days a week. One of our jobs here has included working in the interpretive center (orientation video included). Jerry provided a safety class for the staff and volunteers on rattlesnakes. We have gone on foot patrols to ensure that the climbers are obeqacrkikying the rules and are also safe. We have often worked in the office greeting new visitors, monitoring radio messages from the guides, answering myriad questions from telephone callers, and most important, made the morning coffee. There are many rules which help the park staff protect the historical nature of the park and ecosystem for future generations. Now that we are ready to leave, we know most of them.

Looking from the porch of the Escontrias House (home of the former ranch owners converted to an interpretive center) one can imagine the Butterfield Stage bouncing over rocks and through ruts to get to the Tanks with the Mescalaro Apaches in pursuit. “Hueco” means hollow and tanks, either natural or manmade, are places for water to gather. Thus Hueco Tanks was a valuable stop for travelers and native Americans. The stagecoach traveled from St. Louis through the West to San Francisco. The Escontrias family had a working ranch here with several thousand acres. A family member occupied the ranch house until 1954. In 1998 the Texas State Park Authority in conjunction with the Texas Historical Society instituted the present system of maintaining the park due to the vandalism, graffiti, and other abuse to the area. The new rules reduced many fatal rock climbing accidents in addition to protecting the historical artifacts.

We have met many interesting travelers, some from Fairfax County, VA and have enjoyed great hiking trails on sunny days. We stepped out of the trailer into three inches of snow one morning and have driven in drenching rain on our way back to camp from the eight mile drive to the mailbox. We have had no cell service, no internet availability, and few newspapers. TV is typically a wiggling, psychedelic design on a blue screen. On occasion we did get to see some news, and once in awhile we were able to watch Jay Leno at night. The scenic, historic grandeur of the area, however, compensates for the lack of modern technology. We have enjoyed a beautiful campsite that looks out on mountains from all sides. We have observed many interesting birds and foxes but missed seeing the resident mountain lion, rattlesnakes and javelina. All in all it has been a most interesting educational month. We depart believing that we have made a contribution to a unique and beautiful place. The photo at top left shows Gloria on patrol with one of the volunteer park guides. On this day Diana showed us some wonderful Native American rock art that we had not previously seen. Both of us were delighted to be out on the trail looking for violators rather than being stuck in the headquarters building.

Airstreamers: Dick and Jane

The couple in this picture with Gloria are Dick and Jane, members of our Northern VA Airstream Club. We had not seen them since our International Airsream Rally, which was held in Oregon last summer. We were so pleased when they called us saying they were on their way through El Paso. It was fortuitous that we were in the city for a couple of days. Otherwise, we would not have connected via cell phone at our remote park. Of course that was the very time when some guy elected to leap from an overpass onto the freeway. Our friends had to take a circuitous route due to traffic being diverted. Eventually they made it to a local Flying J truck stop where we enjoyed a snack with them and exchanged news concerning fellow club members. We wish they could have stayed longer, but the "horses were heading to the barn" in Spotsylvania, VA.

As an aside, one of our rock climbers recently entered our park pulling a 1957 Airstream. We especially liked the red curtains.

Volunteer Life at Hueco Tanks State Historical Site, TX

On January 17 we drove into Fort Bliss Famcamp, one our favorite places, as we watched the darkening sky. The forecasters were predicting a severe snow, sleet storm. El Paso had already closed schools for the next day. We were truly thankful to be warm, safe, and dry. The Fort’s Famcamp sites have spacious, concrete patios and level parking pads. The clubhouse has a user friendly multipurpose room which includes a fully equipped kitchen. WiFi as well as dial up Internet access are available. Several pieces of exercise equipment and comfortable furniture are situated in the large room along with a big-screen TV, and reading area. We used several days to catch up on correspondence, shopping, and laundry (conveniently located next to the multipurpose room) before beginning our 30 day assignment at Hueco Tanks State Historic Site (HTSHS) near El Paso.

Although the weather was threatening, with snow and/or ice predicted, we drove east of El Paso 30 miles to the park on January 20 as scheduled. We were assigned a lovely campsite with a mountain view located .8 miles from park headquarters. The sun was bright, but the weather was cold. Several undaunted young rock climbers were in the office waiting eagerly to get on North Mountain. Many of the climbs are vertical with only small hollows to grab. Gym chalk is used to help get a grip. The guided tours leave every morning, weather permitting. Many of the climbers go without guides.

We met the staff and watched the orientation video. Because the park is an historical park, visitation is restricted to 70 people in the self-guided area, which includes North Mountain. Danny, one of the rangers, drove us around the park and pointed out the self-guided areas and the guide-only areas. The park has thousands of petroglyphs and pictographs as well as flora that grow only in the Tanks. In order to protect the ecosystem, the park is building and maintaining trails with the help of prisoners from a nearby correctional facility. The Hueco Mountains border one side of the park with the Franklin Mountains in the distance looking over the Huecos. We hiked part of the trip with Danny and broke the ice on puddles in places. The next day the ice and snow came, and we lost electicity for most of the day. Note the photo of our Airstream and Yukon top left. We really know where to camp in the winter. They DO call El Paso the "sun city."

The weather dipped to 12 that night, but by 8:30 the next morning it was on the way up to the 50s; we decided to walk to work. The mountains reflect different colors as the day progresses from dawn to dark. At times they even look purple; later as the sun disappears and the temp falls quickly, they go from a greenish gray to dark gray. These magnificent rocks were belched from the earth with a force only God could provide. They have evolved over the 35 million years of their existence into a world-class rock climbing (called bouldering) location. The climbers come from all over the world to demonstrate their skills, learn to climb, and provide guided tours and classes. Many are paid by the manufacturers of climbing apparel to demonstrate the quality and functional utility of their wares. Male climbers here outnumber females by five to one. They are excellent young athletes with tall, lean bodies and thick crash pads. There are no old or fat bolderers! So far we have had only one serious accident. A girl fell on a climb and broke her ankle in three places. She had to return to California for surgery; friends volunteered and drove her home.