Day 141, Monday, March 20, 2017, Sagebrush Campground, Palo Duro Canyon State Park, TX

Sagebrush Campground, Site 129

Monday, March 20, 2017, Sagebrush Campground, Palo Duro Canyon State Park, TX, 37.8 Miles, 6,235.4 Miles For the Trip

I left the Oasis around 10:00, and made a couple of stops along the way to Palo Duro, first at a Walmart for some supplies, and at the Canyon Post Office to mail the grandkid's postcards & the build sheet confirmation to Escape.

It was still a short trip, and I arrived at the park around 12:00. It might have been better to get here a little later. I wanted to stay at the Mesquite Campground, which had been recommended by more than one, but they assigned me a spot in Sagebrush since they didn't know which sites at Mesquite had been cleared.

I'm in site 129, a water & electric site for $29.00 per night (including the $5.00 per day park entrance fee Texas parks add to all campers). I'm not too far from the bathrooms & showers, have a large grassy area next to the trailer, and a fire ring & picnic table, although the picnic table is a bit of a walk from the trailer. There is an unusual fire ban at the park - no outside fires, period, including gas stoves. While I've run into many that banned campfires & charcoal grills, this is the first park that included anything that makes a flame. I guess I'll do my cooking for the next three days in the trailer, or bake things outside in the toaster oven!

After setting up the trailer I ran out the awning & sat under it to try to find some shade. It is hot - 98°F on the outside thermometer, which, I have to admit, is in the sun under the propane tank covers. Still, in the sun it is hot! I did fire up the air conditioner. I'm beginning to understand why Texans say air conditioners are a "must have". I read for awhile, then checked the internet. While my AT&T phone shows between 1 & 2 bars, it isn't doing data. The Verizon Jetpack shows no connection without the amplifier, and switched back & forth between a 1X & a 3G connection with it, although web pages & posting from Dreamweaver isn't going to happen. I am getting chunks of email every once in awhile. It will probably be a couple of days before I post any of the pages from here.

It is still 98°F out at 4:40, so I'm going to set up my roll out table and set up the toaster oven outside. By the way, the 11,000 BTU air conditioner has no problem keeping the trailer cool (currently 75°F) set on low & the dial about 1/2 way to full. I still don't like the noise, but do appreciate the cool!

Dinner was a couple of El Monterey Chicken Empanadas. I bought a package back at the beginning of the trip, haven't been able to find them since, until today. Evidently, some RVers don't believe in the fire ban - 2 of my neighbors are cooking dinner on gas camp stoves outside their vehicles. Neither are from Texas...

At 6:15, it has cooled down to 97°F. Of course, I could be in upstate NY where it is in the 20's.

Until the next internet connection -

Well, I can't upload the large version of the campsite photo, but the thumbnail & this page got through.