A Chip of Bad Luck on the Road

As we got up and ready for another day on the road, Mark saw a herd of javelinas crossing the road in front of our motor home. They came in assorted sizes, and there was a long line crossing the road as he took this picture from the windshield.

By the time Denisa got the camera from the car, she caught only the last of the group, meandering through the campground. This picture shows the diagonal line on their necks, so we knew they were "collared peccary." If you've ever been down-wind, you might agree with their common nickname, "skunk pig." As judged by sight or smell, they are not the most beautiful creature around.

As we drove out of the park, we saw another of God's (ahem) less beautiful creatures. This vulture had his wings spread, enjoying the warm sunshine of South Texas.

We're not sure if having a herd of javelinas or a black vulture cross your path is akin to a black cat, but we are sad to report that we had a touch of bad luck on today's journey. The black smudge in the center of the picture is not the usual bug splatter.

After two years of driving some tough roads across the United States, we got a rock thrown up on our windshield. We were on a smooth Texas highway, and it was a pickup truck passing us that threw the rock. We got an instant star-shaped chip. 

Now we'll be looking for some best advice on ways to repair that chip, and we're certainly hoping it doesn't include replacing that huge windshield!

We normally drive 2-3 hours between camping destinations. But we have to be honest--there's not a lot to see in west Texas. There are a few charming towns along the way, like Leakey, Texas. We had to giggle as we passed the Leakey Inn and wondered if there were buckets set up in every room to catch the drips. We also had to laugh at the school mascot, thinking it wouldn't be fun to play ball against a Leakey Eagle.

But we have learned that instead of pronouncing the town name "leaky," the locals say "lakey" and all our jokes no longer made any sense. We have already stayed in this part of the state two years ago, so we found that we needed to drive 4 hours to get to a new location that we wanted to visit. It was a long day driving through mesquite and cactus. During the last hour, however, the scenery changed into junipers and live oaks as we entered the edge of Texas Hill Country.

We made our way into South Llano River State Park, using our fourth (and last) half-price camping night since we purchased our Texas state park pass. It took us a while to find the best camping spot. We are always looking for a level site with good space, but today we were also hoping for the tiniest of phone signal as well. The ranger had already told us that AT&T has no coverage here, but we found that site 52 has a tiny signal. With our cell phone booster, Mark was able to get us enough signal to make phone calls and use our data plan. In fact, this blog is typed in the motor home in a park that is supposed to be off the grid. Have we mentioned that we love our cell phone booster?!?

As soon as we got set up, we noticed a neighbor out patrolling the area beside the motor home. Denisa ran out with the camera, in order to take this picture of the resident armadillo lit up by the setting sun.

Armadillos don't have very good eye sight, and this guy headed towards Denisa as she continued taking pictures.

So we've had an interesting travel day that started and ended with some of God's interesting creatures, with a chip of bad luck in between. We're planning to be at South Llano River State Park for several days, hoping the rest of the surprises will be good ones.