Houston to Del Rio

"My needle ... always settles between west and south-southwest. The future lies that way to me, and the earth seems more unexhausted and richer on that side" - Henry David Thoreau 

Hitched, packed up, and ready to roll out

We departed as the first crest of sun crept over the horizon...

Or at least that's what I would have liked to have been able to say. 

In reality, I have two young children and a wife who likes her beauty rest. My days of doing much of anything at dawn are well past me, at least for now. 

Some day I plan to turn into one of those doddering old retired men who are out of bed before everyone else - the kind who stir around at the hardware store and have done more of absolutely nothing productive by 8am than most folks will do all day.

For now, I get my day started when all of the pertinent stakeholders are good and ready. 

Yes - the dogs are coming too.
Their accommodations might be comfier than mine...

So we didn't depart at sunrise. Instead, let's say that we left at an appreciable time to avoid too much traffic and arrive well rested and ready for the first night of the journey. 

Our trip westward - which Katherine has deemed "Chickens Ride West" (in homage to a children's show my children have probably seen several hundred thousand times) - is set as a grand, fitful adventure for a family of four (+ 2 dogs). 

After breakfast, we loaded down the trailer on an almost unbearably hot and humid morning. Between the stress of trying to make sure everything was loaded, and the house was situated, and everyone was comfortable it was clear our vacation would start with some tension. 

Ready to roll! Both Aria and Ian are
great on long car rides - if only a bit noisy 

The first leg of was scheduled to bring us from home to Del Rio - a Texas border town nestled along US route 90 and the Rio Grande. 

Our route brought us out along I-10 from Houston to San Antonio, where we diverged onto US 90 and generally followed it to our destination. 

The journey itself was almost perfectly bifurcated, in climate, scenery, distance, and emotion. 

Rolling out I-10 mid-morning, we were beset by 4-wheel and 16-wheel traffic on all sides. And of course no car journey with a family of four can be complete without multiple refueling stops, at two separate Buc-ee's no less. 

We all have things we love about trans-continental travel.

Katherine loves the snacks.

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As a novice "RVer", pulling along a busy interstate with copious road-work and negotiating crowded gas-station parking lots had me subconsciously tensing my muscles, and muttering under my breath for some time. 

No "white knuckle" moments, but simply uncomfortable, stressful driving. 

Still, the truck and trailer performed admirably together -  pulling straight and true, temperature gauges refusing to budge even in the oppressive heat as the Titan's venerable 8-cylinder engine let out its signature guttural mid-RPM highway growl. 

Once we crossed San Antonio and found ourselves headed West on 90 the entire theme changed. 

The traffic dissipated to an almost imperceptible level, the road narrowed. Straight, lowland topography morphed into twisted rolling hills, rising and falling.

We climbed several hundred meters, and local flora shifted along the highway. Sub-tropical trees and foliage slowly gave way to, cultivated farmland, then to mesquite and cottonwood, and eventually into a mixture of short, stout high-desert shrubs and grasses. 

 

With the change in scenery and traffic, I began to relax and let myself fall into the vacation mindset. As my mood shifted we transitioned from our highway playlist to an audiobook: Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides. This book, handpicked by Katherine, is a phenomenal and thematic, even-handed historical retelling of the story of Kit Carson, John C. Fremont, Manifest Destiny, and the bloody conquest of the North American West by the United States. 

After several hours of peaceful, near-empty highway driving and one more refueling stop (this time not at a Buc-ee's - much to the children's chagrin) we arrived at our destination.

The Broke Mill RV park in Del Rio was expansive, and almost empty upon our arrival. We came in later than expected (about 5 pm) - and followed the "after hours check-in" procedure - which was basically to just set ourselves up and worry about paying in the morning.

This Journey's First Campsite

It's been clear, from the outset, that there's less formal structure with RV travel than with other vacation styles - something that's a welcome change for me. 

Our small, makeshift camp was set up in minutes. We took to preparing the necessary provisions, and getting the children and dogs fed, and everyone settled down.

At night, once everyone was bedded down, I sat down in my camp-chair with a cocktail, watching and listening as lightning crackled and sparked in storm clouds on the desert horizon - lightning the night sky. 

The great journey had begun, and it was clear - this was precisely what I, and what our whole family needed desperately. 

Today's Travel Statistics:

Distance Traveled : 345 miles

Fueling Stops : 3

Longest Distance Between Fueling: 183 miles

Today's Song(s): 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuFZElUoKG8 (Ryan's Pick)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLL7Eu7mdIo (Katherine's Pick)