We headed off to Texas last Friday for a one week family reunion/vacation at the Flying L Guest Ranch in Bandera, Texas. The trip started off very smoothly with me picking up Steve from work at 4:15 and our heading East on I-10 towards Texas. We made a longer than planned stop in Lordsburg, NM at the Love’s Gas Station. We got dinner at the Subway inside and there was quite a line and only one person making the sandwiches and one person working the register.
After we got our dinner, we were back on the road and made it all the way to El Paso before we were ready to stop for the night. We had a bit of trouble finding a room as the first three hotels we stopped at were filled, but we hit the jackpot when we tried the Hampton Inn. They only had one room available, a suite for $109. We gladly took it and enjoyed the added privacy of two separate rooms, and the extra space it afforded. It had a kitchenette and a refrigerator, as well as two TVs. We also liked that the sink was in a separate dressing area from the bath and toilet. Steve and Savannah enjoyed their free WiFi, and I took the kids down to the pool for a quick swim.
After enjoying the free hot breakfast, we loaded up and got on the road towards Bandera. The drive would have been rather boring had we filled up with gas in El Paso, but instead we decided to wait until we were a bit lower. Well, we ended up being a bit lower, and near empty, right in the middle of nowhere. It was a little dicey as the signs said that Ft. Stockton was 22 miles away and our on board computer said we had about 26 miles to go on our current amount of gas. Needless to say, we took the first Ft. Stockton exit and as we pulled into the gas station our computer said we had “0 miles” to go our our current tank. We all breathed a big sigh of relief.
We got lunch at “Kentucky Fried Bell” and headed East again on I-10. We enjoyed the increasingly beautiful scenery as we entered Texas Hill Country. We found the Flying L right away, and were very pleased with our roomy accommodations. We had the one bedroom side of the duplex with a King size bed, small bath, kitchenette, living area, two TV’s and a sofa bed. Mom and Dad had the two bedroom side with a larger bath, full kitchen, larger living area, sofa bed and a small bunk room. The kids took the bunk room.
Next we headed over to the RV park to meet my sister and see her camp site. I was pleasantly surprised at how luxurious and roomy her “pop-up” camper was, only to then be told by my Brother-in-law that this was actually a new camper that they had just traded in for on Thursday. The new camper is a hybrid, hard shell with two fold out sleeping areas, a sofa, kitchen table banquette, large kitchen and a bathroom with a complete door, toilette and shower. I never knew camping could be so luxurious. The new camper is really beautiful.
Coming soon – Part II featuring Bandera Shopping and Barbecued Shrimp.
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