Mileage:  61,973 Paisano RV Park Alice, Texas

I got up as the sun was rising.  The light was soft and the air was cool and clean.   I had my coffee and watched deer grazing in the campground.  The birds were twittering in the trees.  This was a nice way to start my day.

We dropped down from the center of Texas on 83S.  We had enough of driving on interstate 10 yesterday.  I took a turn driving again today.  Tim has been very patient with me.  We both know that I just have to put in more hours to get more comfortable.  That being said, I felt like I was able to look around a bit more today.  I had been so totally focused on the road directly in front of me…now I can see the bigger picture a bit better!

We drove through Texas Hill Country.  It seems odd to us that everything is so green.  Suddenly there are trees and hills.  We can’t see the whole sky.  The mountains are gone.  There are cheerful wildflowers in rainbow colors lining the roadside.

Last evening in Junction, I saw a sign advertising big game hunting.  Today I saw a sign for Trophy Exotic Hunting and Texas Exotic Hunts.  I googled this.  For a fee of about $250.00, you can enter the ranch and hunt for exotic game.  One ranch that I saw offers a choice of 60 different species of game.  Turkey, whitetail deer, and much more.  What is the much more???  Gazelles, hogs, sheep, impala, sika, antelope, goats, emu; animals from all over the world. We saw lots of ranches that raise exotic animals and I started to think about the zebras I saw the other evening.  Yes, you can even hunt for zebras and kangaroos.  They are all grazing animals; no predators were listed.  At one particular place, there are luxury accommodations, including an air-conditioned bird blind with a bar, and direct TV.  I am not sure I consider shooting exotic wildlife in an enclosure a sport…

We passed lots of ranches.  Some with simple entrances and others more elaborate.  This was a more moderate entrance.

This species of prickly pear blooms with yellow flowers, we saw it everywhere.

We arrived in Alice, Texas around 4 pm. We got propane and set up at the campground.  We started the laundry and went to get supplies.  The clothes are in the dryer and it is almost dark.  Today was a very long day, but tomorrow we are going to the beach, so it is completely worth it!!! For the next several days we will be in Padre Island, Texas. We have heard that we will have no internet or cell service…so no worries if you don’t see a post for a week or so!