April 8-9, 2013 – Windy, Stormy, and a Back Country Byway

On Monday we woke to calm skies but by 11 AM the winds picked up.  By noon, we pulled our slide in and it stayed that way until Tuesday morning.  So we just kept ourselves busy by updating the blog, planning our next couple weeks of travel, reading, and watching TV.  And the winds continued all thru the night.

I did receive a comment on my blog from DNPC “Damn Near Perfect Couple” - http://dnpc.blogspot.com/

Do you remember this picture from April 5th?

Well, here is what they are - “The white cone-shaped things you see are a "VORTAC" (Variable Omni-Range, Tactical Air Navigation) sites. They provide bearing/distance information for aircraft and form airway intersections or fixes. (I'm a retired air traffic controller).”  How cool is that .  Thanks so much DNPC.

This morning the wind had died down so I went for a haircut and to do laundry. (Yesterday I cut Andy’s hair so we are now both clipped – :-)).  After lunch we decided to go do something after our day inside yesterday.  We made a stop at the BLM office and picked up a map for the Quebradas Back Country Byway.  It is a 24 mile long dirt road and goes thru both public and private lands.  We were not sure how far we would get since we saw some dark clouds coming over the mountains but decided to chance it anyway.  And the scenery was SPECTACULAR!

We crossed the Rio Grande at Escondida:

  And started on the Byway:

Storms ahead, oh my:

 

 

 

 

That white stuff is hail melting.  We were very blessed to have missed the storm in this area.  When we saw the white, I had to get out to check it – almost thought it was snow – LOL:

 

Our greeter at the end of the trail:

And, yes, I did all the driving

We ended up on US380 and then headed to the Wildlife Refuge south of San Antonio.  Alas, the visitor center was closed.  We decided to use the bathrooms there and when we came out, our Tracker tire was flat – oh oh!  Andy used the compressor and added air.  We headed back to San Antonio, stopped at Buckhorn’s for dinner and then headed back.

The tire was still losing slowly so we put on our spare.  When we get to our next Wal-Mart, we will get it checked.

The weather has turned much colder – even had to put on the heater this evening.  We hope to head east tomorrow so stay tuned for our next adventure.

Enjoy today!