Driving Ms. Daphne

We are at our home in Central Texas and have pretty much unloaded the truck and trailer. I thought I would give my take on the overall adventure and mention the pluses and minuses of our six months on the road.


We left June 6 and returned on December 2, 2010. We traveled 11,537 miles, burned 1017 gallons of diesel and averaged 11.3 mpg on the trip. We camped in primarily state and county parks in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Oregon. We spent a few nights in federal parks, private parks and Elks Clubs in our travels. We were fortunate to be able to spend some nights with friends parking on their property. We averaged $490 per month for camping or $17.00 a night. We spent an estimated $3500 for fuel.


Camping fee's were varied and seemed to get more expensive as we went west. The lowest state park fee was $14.00 a night and the highest was $28.00 which was charged in both Idaho and Washington. These were full hook up sites. We paid a low of $8.00 in a BLM campgroud in Oregon. Overall, most state parks were nice but Oregon had the best parks on the trip. We did not stay in a California state park on the trip so can't comment on that system. One of our favorite parks was Armitage Park in Eugene, OR. We stayed there several times this while attending National-Championship-Bound Oregon Duck football games early in the season.


We had no problems with the truck ( a 2003 Chev. Silverado Duramax Diesel.) It pulled our 2003 Arctic Fox 30 U well. I had to replace the toilet in the trailer as the flush cables broke. The front jack shear pin broke and I repaired that. Everything else worked with no problem.


In accessing the equipment used on this trip we found that having AC was nice while in the South West, the Olympia Wave gas heater coupled with an electric oil heater worked well for those chilly nights without and with hookups. The Vu Qube 1000 Sat. antenna performed flawlessly and the Dometic 3 way cooler worked well after we got used to it (I figure we saved about $600.00 for ice purchases since we acquired the unit in July.) The unit was around $400.00. The Dometic/Sea Land residential type bathroom throne is a nice upgrade. I used a Delorme Topo navigation system with a small Dell laptop and maintained communications with a Verizon Cell phones and Broadband Card with Cradlepoint 1000 router and Cyfre amplifier. One of the biggest problems was a switch from Dish Sat. to Direct TV. It is a very long story but has turned out OK in the end. When I compare the two services there isn't much different.


My power system consists of a Progressive Dynamics converter w/ charge wizard when hooked up. I have a 100 watt solar panel and a 2400watt Yamaha Generator for off-grid camping. We currently have 4 Group 27 12v batteries monitored by a TriMetric 2020 and have a 1500 watt inverter. We are definitely going to upgrade the solar system this winter and access our battery condition. I will build a 180 watt portable panel system and replace the batteries with 6 volt batteries.


It was a great trip where we maintained connections with family and friends and reconnected with other friends we haven't seen since junior high school.

"Driving Ms. Daphne, the 2010 Edition" was great start to "living the dream".

South Llano River State Park, Texas

South Llano River State Park, right outside the little town of Junction, is our last stop before arriving “back at the ranch”, and what a treat this has been! When we stayed here back in early March the only wildlife we saw was birds, but this visit was different. As we rolled slowly through the campground looking for our assigned site an ambitious little armadillo welcomed us. He was mining for his dinner, and completely oblivious to my cautious approach to take his photo.

All afternoon and again in the early morning light we were surrounded by grazing deer. These Texas deer aren’t very meaty compared to those we were used to in Oregon – and we can’t figure out why all the pickup trucks here have such enormous grill guards. You probably wouldn’t even get much of a dent hitting one of these little guys. They’re so dainty they look like lawn ornaments! And they are a soft gray-brown, making them almost invisible in the brush.There's a small arrow over the one looking at the camera in this photo. You can click on any of these photos for a larger version, making it easier to see the critters.

We’re quite a ways from city lights, so last night when we stepped out to check out the stars we had an amazing view of the sky that included the milkiest Milky Way I’ve ever seen. Too bad it wasn’t just a bit warmer, we would have stayed out a little longer. When we checked in the office staff mentioned the temperature had dipped down to 15 the night before, so before we went to bed we took the precaution of putting the water hose in the shower. ‘A good move, as it did go down to 28 during the night and froze the faucet.

This morning over coffee we watched a flock of wild turkey’s work their way around our site. This is a wild turkey nesting area. From October through March a large section of the park is closed off to people so the turkeys aren’t disturbed while they raise their families. There are other areas to hike, and a really cozy bird blind set up for those who want to photograph or just observe. The blind is a little wooden building with nice big windows and several theater style seats – very comfy! There are feeding stations right outside the windows, so there’s a good chance of getting close-up views of the visiting birds.


It’s a beautiful park, with the amazing Hill Country mix of red oak, mesquite, cedar and patches of prickly pear you can’t beat the contrast. The river is not only beautiful it’s a great fishing spot, so there’s something for everyone here. I know we’ll be back, probably some time in the spring when we can check out wildflowers and the spring birds. The only down-side to this area is that we have no cell/Internet access, so blog updates and phone calls have to wait until we’re back in range.

Balmorhea State Park, Texas

Yeah! We're back in the Republic!
We spent the very chilly night (25 degrees) at Balmorhea State Park. At least it was calm and sunny when we arrived so we could enjoy a bit of sunshine before sundown, when the temperature started to fall.

We stopped here last trip through, as it's location seems just about right for a day's drive. It's a rather small park, as state parks go, Balmorhea State Park is located on 45.9 acres in the foothills of the Davis Mountains southwest of the town of Balmorhea, for which the park is named. Though the name sounds somewhat Scottish, it has entirely different origins. The town dates from 1906 when someone decided the presence of water warranted a settlement. The unusual name is an amalgam of letters from the names of the land developers Balcome, Moore and Rhea. It's pronounced "Ball-more-A"


The park was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the early 1930s, when the land was deeded in 1934 by private owners and Reeves County Water Improvement District No. 1. The park was opened in 1968, and though it has camping and a few little motel type rooms for rent, it is largely a day use type of park.

With pristine waters supplied by San Solomon spring the beautiful swimming facility and multiple canals that attract wildlife are the primary draw. The spring produces a million gallons per hour (less during drought years) so the canal waters move fairly quickly, keeping the water clear. There's a nice viewing and information area at the Solomon Cienega (spring) viewing area, which also makes for great wildlife photo opportunities.

 The swimming area has sandy beach areas, picnic tables and a concession area. Though we've only been here in cool weather when swimming isn't so appealing, I can imagine that in the summer the place is a favorite with families.

The nearby Davis mountains are worth exploring too, as well as the University's McDonald Observatory which is locate up in the mountains. It's on the list to visit next time we pass through. This time we're just gettin' on down the road.

visit the album  Balmorhea