Finally the weekend arrives, and with it comes my long anticipated vacation.   Having planned to make a couple of stops in between Balmorhea and Big Bend, I awake to the rock and rolling of a rip roaring wind like I have yet to experience in the Winnie.   I radio Lynne to ask her if she is concerned about traveling with the wind this gusty.   In a landscape as barren as Balmorhea that offers no protection, we can’t be more exposed, so we agree that we are probably better off to get going as soon as possible.  We will just take it slow…

LEDs — Preparing for Boondocking!

Tumbleweeds are flying across Highway 17 like jaywalkers across Broadway in Manhattan rush hour.  I do my best to avoid them, but decide I want a picture.    I see one coming that looks like a small Volkswagen Beetle about to cross the road, so I slow down, grip the wheel with my left hand, and reach for the point and shoot in my lap.   BAM!  My timing is bad.   I obliterate the tumbleweed, and straw sticks go flying over the hood.   Lynne in the two-way asks, “Oh, Luuuucy….did you just hit a tumbleweed?”   “Uh…yep.  It’s now my hood ornament.  Looks like it’s time to put the camera down.”

The original plan was to spend a good bit of the afternoon exploring Ft. Davis.  Having been there earlier in the week just long enough for dinner, there appeared to be a lot of interesting sites, including the Fort Davis National Historic Site, billed as “the best preserved fort in the West.”   The main street alone was indicative of an interesting little cowboy town.   But with the wind picking up speed, we agree to stop only long enough for lunch at the Fort Davis Drugstore and General Store.   After eating my own cooking for a week at Balmorhea, all I could think about was the big fat juicy cheeseburger I had seen on Kimbopolo’s blog, and I remark to my vegan friend, it is worth the stop, wind or no wind!

Kim, if you are reading, this one’s for you!

I could spend an entire day just people-watching in this unique little old fashioned general store.   Between the unique items for sale from Moonpies to Creosote Bush Salve,  authentic “soda jerks” are also serving up malts and shakes made with Blue Bell Ice Cream.    Knowing I am headed back for “remoteness,” I’m not leaving town without a scoop of pralines and homemade vanilla.  😉

Back on the road bound for Marfa, the wind is whipping worse than ever now.  The plan is to boondock at the notorious Marfa Lights Viewing Center before stocking up in Alpine.  We need provisions for the week inside the vast National Park, where little else will be available outside the one convenience store selling baked beans and marshmallows.

Seeing double outside the Fort Davis Library

Jeff Davis County Courthouse

With the Winnie holding her own in the stiff cross-winds, I crank up the music, singing along to Sweet Baby James, when I hear a loud “POP!”   At first, I think it is my skylight that has blown open, but then I look out the side mirror and notice the railing for my awning is rattling back and forth like the rudder on Orville’s first airplane.

I quickly hit the brakes and grab for the radio.   Adrenalin now coursing through my veins, I forget all about our Lucy and Ethel radio “code names” and announce very nervously but authoritatively over the two-way radio,  “LYNNE!  I have a problem!  I am pulling off the road NOW!”   She slows to a stop at the same time.   By the time I get stopped and turn on the emergency flashers, my awning has completely unfurled itself, and is now popping, flapping, and clanging like a giant “in irons” sail turned into a 30 mph wind.

Lynne comes walking back with a step ladder.  After I admit that I foolishly have not yet learned how to operate my awning after living in the RV for a year now, she begins issuing commands.  We each grab a railing as she walks through the steps of trying to pull down the awning, now fully extended over the roof.  We must get it back over to the awning-side of the Winnie first before we can roll it up once again.

Then, as if by some grace of God, as Lynne is my witness, the wind just STOPS for fifteen full seconds.   Lynne shouts, “GO NOW!!!”   We yank it down, and as fast as we can go, roll it back up and secure it, as our grace period is now over, and the wind is once again shaking the Winnie.  But not half as bad as my knees are shaking.

It would take me an hour to clear the adrenalin from my veins, vowing to my friend, “I owe you, and I owe you BIG!”

To be continued…

See them tumbling down
Pledging their love to the ground
Lonely but free I’ll be found
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds ~ Sons of the Pioneers