The Great State of Texas

This is the first time Lance and I have been in Texas (except Lance flying in to San Antonio for a program). As we have found everywhere, there are always some things that distinquish each area from another.

The first thing I noticed was there were trees. There are still cactus especially Pear Cactus. All of these are on these endless rolling hills -- and, of course, there are endless rolling highways.

Can you believe it??? The speed limit is 80 mph!!!

There are oil wells all over the place, too!!

Of course, things are BIGGER in Texas!

And....some beautiful flowers....along the highways

We noticed, too, that Texas has a big bunch of turkey vultures...everywhere....

Then there is the Legend of "Don't Mess with Texas"

In December 1985, a bumper sticker bearing the words Don't Mess With Texas began appearing on pickup trucks across the Lone Star State. There was no explanation, no sponsor, just those four words and a small red, white, and blue Texas flag.

Fast-forward twenty years to 2006. Today, the longest-running public service campaign in Texas is also the most successful antilitter campaign in history. Until now, only a handful of people knew the true stories behind the legend: the stories of famous commercials and the stories about dozens of the biggest and brightest Texas stars who donated their time and considerable talents to help Texas reduce litter on its highways by an astonishing 72 percent.

I had no idea!!!

We stayed at the Cavern's of Sonora for a couple of days. Here are a couple of our neighbors. And, a fountain.

We noticed that Texas highways were lighter in color than we had seen along our travels.

Then we noticed the use of similar colored stones in buildings and houses.

And, assorted other things.

Not to mention that every ranch has a gate here in Texas.

Including the Buckhorn RV Resort in Kerrville where we are staying for a month.

We love it here. It is one of the nicer rv parks we have stayed at. Here is a picture of it lit up at night. This is the view from the front of our motorhome.

You will want to put the Carlsbad Caverns on your itinerary

I did some research before we went to Carlsbad Caverns. I felt I could manage going to the Big Room. They have an elevator that goes down over 800 feet -- 80 stories -- and the path has rails and is only around a mile long. I did it and it was well worth it.

Although I did not take one loop of the Big Room, Lance took it and got some additional great pictures. They say the Big Room is about the size of 14 football fields.

Along with all the various formations the Big Room has a number of crystal clear pools.

International UFO Museum and Research Center

When you come to Roswell, New Mexico, you will not be able to go through without noticing the outer space theme. Apparently, in 1947 a space ship landed in the desert near Roswell and the rest is history. The Museum has documentation from all types of sources "proving" that a UFO did land there.

Even ancient cultures talk about space ships.

Not to mention the comics and newspapers.

Okay, I am open to the possibility of life in outer space -- however, when I saw this cloud -- I was thinking maybe space ships hide in inconspicuous places.

Roswell Museum and Art Center

Roswell's Museum and Art Center had a great variety of historical artifacts and current art work. It also is a planetarium (does not open to May so we could not see it). Here is a sampling of some of the works we saw.

I saved this piece until the very end....yes, it is really just a canvass painted green. I think I am taking up painting. It might be fun....

This is some artwork found on the sidewalk. It could be inside as far as I am concerned.