Hiking in Coronado National Park

Map of this blog's locations click this link to open the map

We had really nice weather our first full day in Rodeo. We needed to burn off some of our calories we took in at dinner yesterday so we headed to the Coronado National Forest. We noticed that there are several forest areas in southeastern Arizona that have this name. Not clear to us why they couldn't come up with unique names but the one we are close to is near the little town of Portal.

Being the Monday after Christmas, we really weren't expecting the visitor center in Cave Creek to be open but it was. It used to be the ranger station but it is now staffed by a volunteer and the ranger station is 50 miles away. The volunteer was quite helpful in explaining the hiking options in the area. They have a pretty slick setup with a computer feeding a big TV so we can sit and hear the description while the guy pulls up various maps, pictures and even drone videos of some of the areas. They even have pretty decent wifi there if that becomes a necessity.

Pretty Cobblestone Building Next to Visitor Center

Our first stop is just a little bit beyond the visitor center at Cave Creek Vista. It is a short walk up to a point that is mostly open to the surrounding mountains. There is even a spotting scope there if you want to see something up close. From there we headed down the road just a bit further to a trailhead that our next door neighbor mentioned during dinner - South Fork Trail. Our neighbor is from Iowa but has been coming back to Rusty's for several years now over the winter months so he has seen a lot of the surrounding area.

Rugged Mountain View at Cave Creek Vista

Apparently the road used to go back to a primitive camping area and then the trail followed a small stream back up into a canyon. But a couple years ago there was a big storm that more or less flooded the area and wiped out the road. The trail follows the remnants of the road for a short bit to the old camping area which still had a working outhouse. We followed the trail out just over 2 miles. It was very pretty and since we were near the creek the whole way, there was the constant sound of flowing water that added to the soothing nature of the hike. We lost track how many times we crossed over the creek during the hike after it got above 10 times. Fortunately the water wasn't very deep so the crossings were uneventful. Even though the trail continued on, by the time we were 2.2 miles out, the trail itself had become a stream and it was no longer any fun trying to hike and not get wet feet so we headed back.

Colorful Rock Formations Along South Fork Trail

More Pretty Views

Tree Limb Frames the Mountain

One of the more challenging hikes in this area is the Silver Peak Trail. I wouldn't say it is one of the more popular ones simply because of the difficulty of the hike. The trailhead is less than a 1/4 mile from the visitor center but it might be wise not to park there since the gate is locked after 4 PM. The trail starts at an elevation of 5000 feet and in the posted 4.5 miles, it climbs to 8000 feet. We have done some hikes with an elevation gain of 1000 or even 1500 feet and have done shorter hikes at higher elevation during a trip to Colorado but we cannot think of any other single hike we have done of this magnitude.

Our Actual Track from GPSr

We start out at 9AM in the cold and shade of the nearby mountains but after about 30 minutes of climbing, we had already started to strip off layers as to not overheat. The trail continues up while it skirts around one peak called the Fingers. Once we get up to about 6500 feet we start to run into snow covering the trail. Being on the north side of the mountains, the sun really didn't have a chance to melt the couple inches of snow that dropped on Christmas Eve and morning before we arrived here.

Near the Start of Our Climb - We Are Headed Up There Somewhere

Nice Distant View Possibly with Our Campgrounds Visible 9 Miles Away

The Fingers

Snow Covered Trail

Initially the snow wasn't really an issue but based on the tracks, somebody and their dog had hike here yesterday and we were finding many spots where their footprints had partially melted and frozen again leaving ice. As we continued up and around the other mountains the trail seemed to become just a series of switchbacks. Chris had found a good trail description so we roughly knew what was coming up.

Dried Up Yucca Plant

Interesting Tree Marking 1000 Feet of Climbing Remaining

Great Views at Every Turn

By the time we hit 4.5 miles we still had a little over 1/10 of a mile to get to the peak. Of course we also still had a few hundred feet of elevation to climb so it took 1/2 mile of switchbacks to get to where we could see our final destination.  Part of the reason for doing this hike was to get the geocache that is placed up here. So we even though there were times where we both thought about giving up and heading back, neither of us verbalized that.

Apparently there used to be some sort of fire observation building up here complete with a cistern for water and an outhouse where somebody would live for some period of time. The building was struck by lightning in 1992 and burned down so only the cistern and foundation remain. The only real problem for us was the final approach to the foundation was up a series of 51 very steep steps. the first half of these were snow and ice covered with no railing. The second half of the steps had melted clear and had a railing. We literally climbed on all fours over the snow covered steps and then proudly walked up the remaining steps (while firmly holding the railing) to the peak and onto the foundation which was surprisingly large - maybe 12' by 12'.

Looking Down Section of Stairs from Platform

The hike turned out to be longer than posted, coming in at 5 miles but the elevation gained was right at 3000 feet. Before eating our lunch or taking pictures, we decided we had to find the geocache to remove the pressure from our minds. We looked and looked and I crawled around outside the foundation, holding on for dear life but we kept coming up empty. The hint and prior logs from others that found it were not really helping. I decided to see if I had any cell coverage although given how remote this area is, I wasn't too optimistic. I guess being above almost all other peaks in the area, we had a good line of sight to some tower and I was able to check the cache page for any additional clues. Fortunately somebody had posted a spoiler picture. Generally I avoid looking at these, wanting to be able to find the cache on my own, but this was an exception given the magnitude of the hike.

The picture was reasonably close up of the cache location so it took us some time to even isolate what location the picture was from. My fear was confirmed when the location pointed to a two foot wide gap between two big rocks. I had tried looking there earlier but with all the snow covering the ground and the huge fall if I were to slip, I had given up on looking there. But now that we know the cache is there, I slowly worked my way out until I came upon a couple rocks that looked out of place in a crevice. Sure enough the container was hidden there. There was not a whole lot of room to do much other than sit in the snow so I could sign the log.

Jack After Finding the Geocache

After enjoying our sandwiches and just relaxing, I tried to decide which view was the best. The problem was, there isn't a bad view regardless which way you look. We were not looking forward to the return trip. Yes, it will be downhill the whole way, but the concern was our footing with the snow and ice. After coming down the first section of steps with the railing, we were greeted with the next set still snow covered. I went first but realized I wasn't going to be able to just slowly walk down them. I suspect the fact that you could see how far you would fall if you were to slip wasn't helping at all. I decided to basically crawl backwards on all fours. That snow was freezing my hands but they could still get some grip. Once I made it past the stairs it was Chris' turn. She got about halfway and then just froze. I could hear her hyperventilating and was worried I might need to crawl back up and assist. Fortunately she must have been wearing her "big girl pants" and she made it the rest of the way down the steps without incident.

View from Up Top

Looking Back Towards Our Route Down

Selfie Time

Looking Down Snowy Steps

Chris Braves the Stairs

Looks Like a Head with Big Nose

The rest of the hike down wasn't too bad from a footing standpoint and by then we were starting to get some decent colors from the sun. The last mile to the parking lot was tough for me. My legs were in bad shape. It wasn't clear whether they were going to cramp up or just buckle, but it sure felt like I wasn't going to make it. I slowed my pace dramatically and managed to make it back to the Jeep. A round trip distance of 9.9 miles taking us a total of 7:40 with about 2 hours of that being stopped. I suspect we will sleep well tonight!

View Just Before Parking as Sun was Setting

Goodbye Texas, Hello New Mexico

Map of this blog's locations click this link to open the map

Our stay in Van Horn would be the last night in Texas for some time. We have had a good time for the past 35 nights while in the state but its time for us to move on. We don't have that many plans as we head into New Mexico but we will be there 9 nights. Eight of those nights will be in a very remote area of southwestern NM very close to the Arizona border. We need to stock up on groceries before heading there but it is Christmas Eve day so we need to be aware of store hours. We get a reasonably early start out of Van Horn and in just a few miles on I-10 we are in the Mountain Time Zone which gains us an additional hour.

We need to fill up the motor home with diesel. With a 100 gallon tank we can easily go between 600 to 800 miles if we need to. Fuel prices were quite high in the Big Bend area and won't be much better in the remote area of New Mexico we're heading to so we will fill up on this leg of the trip. We know we can easily fit the rig in any of the Flying J or Pilot truck stops but the fuel prices there are usually significantly higher so it is worth a little investigation to find a less expensive place that we can fit into.

Unlike when needing to fill up the Jeep, the planning for getting fuel for the motor home can take some upfront legwork. The price from state to state can very immensely so it is usually worth figuring out which state to plan on and which to avoid. My first go to place is GasBuddy.com because it has a trip calculator tab that the app doesn't have. I will put in a starting and ending location and put in 8 MPG for city and highway and tell it I only have a 20 gallon tank. This forces it to come up with much more frequent filling stops allowing me to see how the pricing will vary over the next several hundred miles. This especially works out well when in the smaller eastern states where we might have several states to choose from.

Map From Gas Buddy Trip Calculator

Gas Buddy Suggested Stop with Pricing - Stop in Texas not New Mexico!

In this case, it looks like I want to fill up while we are still in Texas. Next I switch to the GasBuddy app and pan along our route looking for stations that have both a decent price and what looks like a layout large enough to get the rig in and out of. Once I have a possibility or two, I switch to some other app that permits aerial views (boy I wish GasBuddy did that). If the aerial view looks good I might even drop into street view mode just to confirm the orientation of the pumps. In this case, I find a Shell station just north of El Paso off I-10 with separate diesel pumps and a clean approach in and out. It was 55 cents cheaper than the truck stop pricing just down the road.

Does the effort I put into finding the right fuel stop always pay off? Nope! Once the station was out of diesel but didn't even have a sign at the pumps. Another time, a construction crew was working in the parking lot that was to be my approach to the pumps. And other times there are too many cars in the lot to navigate. I suppose it is one of those mental challenges that I enjoy.

Our next stop was to be at another Escapees park in Deming NM - Dream Catcher RV Park. It was a bit further than we had planned to drive, originally thinking of staying near Las Cruses. But this would get us closer to our next stop where the park was putting on a Christmas feast and we didn't want to be late. Dream Catcher was a reasonable place although it is admittedly just one huge gravel lot with utilities poking out identifying the spots. Before we even set up, Chris was off to get groceries before places close for Christmas Eve.

As I was starting to setup, I realized this thing hadn't been washed in quite some time. So after getting permission from the office, I spent the next hour or so washing the rig. That night a weather front moved through and although it didn't get too cold, the wind was really strong. It continued into the next morning and was so bad that we didn't want to drive this thing. The warning on the weather app specifically mentioned high profile vehicles - I don't think they get much more high profile than this thing. We sat it out and by late morning the winds were down enough that I knew the drive wouldn't be too bad since we only had 90 miles to go.

Off of I-10, just before crossing into Arizona, Rusty's RV Park is about 25 miles or so south. There isn't much along this stretch of road in fact I joked with Chris that we might be the only others eating Christmas dinner with Rusty. We pulled in and found 15 to 20 rigs which meant there would be lots of sides and desserts to go along with the prime rib the owners were providing.

The campground and the immediately surrounding area is flat, but nearly every direction you look, there are some good sized mountains. The closest ones are just to the southwest across the border in Arizona - Coronado National Forest.  After getting setup and settled in, we head over to the small clubhouse to meet some of our neighbors and eat too much food. Some of the others camped here are just passing through, like us and others that were staying here for the rest of the season. One of the guys we talked to had come here to stay a week, liked it enough and extended to a month and has been here 5 years now!

View Looking Back at Camp with Distant Mountains

This area attracts lots of people for two reasons. One is birding although this isn't the best time of year for them. Apparently this is on the migration path for many types of birds. The second reason is for the dark skies. There aren't many people living around here so light pollution is at a minimum. In fact, the rules for this campground include some we have never come across before. At night you aren't allowed to have on any exterior lights. Plus you're not supposed to have any interior lights on without your shades pulled. Part of the reason for us being here is to be able to take advantage of the night skies. We even timed our trip to be here during the new moon.

After the dinner Xmas night, I came out and setup the camera and tripod to try my hand at photographing really dark skies. It is nice that I really don't need to got too far from the rig to setup for pictures. If the skies cooperate, I think this will be a fun stop.

The Milky Way (Click to see full resolution)

Our Dutch Star Amongst All the Stars  (Click to see full resolution)

Amazing Dark Skies  (Click to see full resolution)

We walked around the camp and discovered what had been making all sorts of noise. They have a couple geese and a bunch of ducks in a fenced in area with a pond. There are chairs inside but the two geese seemed so aggressive that we decided to leave them be. Just then one of the workers drove up in his cart and told us they would not bother us if we went in. We were less than convinced and just took pictures from our side.

Noisy Geese

One of Many Great Sunsets Over the Mountains

6 Months on the Road

Camping stops during first six months click this link to open the map

It's our six month anniversary since going full time. We might celebrate just not with the usual champagne toast. Seems we neglected to pick some up the last time we were in a civilized area and we won't likely find some anywhere near our current location in Rodeo New Mexico. Heck we needed milk yesterday but the nearest store wasn't open until today. A $7 gallon of milk is still cheaper than driving 50 miles to find it at lower price. That's just the price one pays for desolation I guess.

Our plans to continue west along Interstate 10 as we head to Quartzsite AZ have been going pretty well. One thing we can definitely say is Texas is one BIG state. We camped a total of 35 nights in Texas and only within the last week have we gotten beyond its borders. Some more stats from the last 6 months:

• We have spent 184 nights in the motor home.
• This has included camping in 17 states.
• We have stayed at 37 different locations during that time.
• If we remove the 9 overnight stops in Walmart etc from the mix, our average stay per location is a little over 6 nights.
• We have traveled 5900 miles in the motor home.
• On travel days we average 161 miles.
• Averaging about $0.28 per mile in the motor home.
• Our average cost per night remains $27.
• We have driven the Jeep about 8600 miles.
• We have found 1091 geocaches in 19 states plus DC, Canada and Mexico.

I have changed the way I show our travel map by including the route in between our stops. This should help to show roughly where we have been even if it isn't the exact road we took to get somewhere. The following map shows each state we have camped in and how long we were there.

We have discovered that the Newmar Kountry Klub (our motor home manufacturer's social group) is having a rally in the desert for the Quartzsite RV show. Over 100 rigs are signed up to be there. We likely won't know anybody else there but it will be nice to hang out with other Newmar owners to swap stories. Since it will be our first true boondocking experience, having others there to share knowledge and advice will be nice.

We are getting better at meeting our neighbors at campgrounds. Many of the people we are running into now are also either full timers or are at least snowbirds escaping the cold and snow up north before they head back home in the spring.  It is easier to talk with these folks since we have more in common with them. When we are camped in a state park in the middle of August, the majority of our neighbors are simply out for a weekend camping trip and many of them cannot believe we do this full time. We had a nice discussion with one couple that were staying at a motel adjacent to our campsite. They were very interested in the whole lifestyle of full timing. They asked lots of good questions and we tried to help answer them as best as possible. Maybe we will see them on the road sometime in the future.

So what lessons have we learned since starting?

• We have too many warm weather clothes. We have been experiencing a bit more cold weather than we may have expected. We both should have kept one of our warmer coats. Layering 6 short sleeve t-shirts only goes so far to keeping you warm on a cold day's hike.
• There are lots of places where having any over the air TV reception is a pipe dream. Watching the evening news had been our way to stay in touch with what is happening in the rest of the world. Heck the evening news was how we knew what day of the week it is!
• We miss Wegmans (our grocery store back home). Most normal grocery stores don't compare and when you get to some small town they seldom have good fresh fruits and vegetables. So far we haven't stayed put in one place long enough to become familiar with the store's layout so shopping is a hide and seek game for Chris.  Good thing she is a geocacher.
• I need to do a better job of rotating my clothes inventory. Since we have been in locations where we can run the washer and dryer and since there isn't infinite space to store dirty clothes (like there seemed to be at home), Chris has been keeping up on laundry. Thus the top layer of shirts, socks, etc keep getting worn over and over.
• We are pleased with our motor home choice. 38 feet seems to be a good length. We still may want to add solar panels, wifi and/or cellular boosters, and water softener to make more situations pleasant. But probably won't add a satellite system for TV. Nor do we see the need to upgrade to some 45 foot, bath and a half model.
• It is easier to say we are going to travel more slowly than it is to actually do it.  Maybe by the time of our next update, we will have picked a place to stay a whole month.

Highlights of the first six months:

• Most unexpectedly interesting stop - Bob Evans Farm in Rio Grande Ohio. Only intended to be a location to get geocaches in some less traveled counties in Ohio. Turned out to be a neat spot with quirky charm. May not be someplace we need to visit again but worth the stop for a day or two.
• Great little county park - Hagan-Stone Park near Greensboro NC. Small campground area but lots of hiking trails in this beautiful little park. 
• Favorite campground - Davis Mountain State Park in Fort Davis Texas. We never have picked a campground based on the amenities. It is nearly always based on location. This place is surrounded with beauty. Lots of hiking. It also helped that this state park had full hookups and cable TV.

Big Bend Wrap-up and Moving On

Map of this blog's locations click this link to open the map

Our stay in the Big Bend area was coming to a close but there were a couple more days to fit some more adventures in. We decided to try a desert bike ride since we haven't tried one of those yet. Some of the better biking trails are located in Big Bend Ranch State Park. I had found a detailed set of bike routes with maps, descriptions and trail ratings. We picked an 11 mile loop off the West Contrabando trailhead. Since we had to stop at the visitor center to get our window sticker for the day, we told the one ranger what we were planning. He asked another ranger in the office to come out and discuss this with us.

After telling her of our planned ride, she shook her head and told us that was a bad idea.  Possibly she had sized us up and decided these two were not in any condition to try our route. The description we had found was out of date and did not rate the trails very well. She instead suggested a ride out of the East Contrabando trailhead just a few hundred feet down the road from where we were. It is basically an out and back route along what had used to be a road. At multiple points along the way, there was a singletrack trail to follow that more or less was parallel with the direction of the road. In fact she told us that some sections of the road were in such rough shape we should only consider the trail.

After getting over to the parking area and getting the bikes and our food and drinks loaded, we were off. The temperature was pleasant and not too breezy. I had my GoPro set to do a 2 second time lapse video. It was strange to be riding in the desert but the trail was easy enough to identify so as to not just wander off aimlessly. After the first 15 minutes of riding I found I needed to walk my bike over/thru/up a few obstacles and Chris was needing to do so even more often. And here the ranger had said this was the easy trail - guess we should be grateful we didn't go with the original plan. We decided to push on and just take our time.

Beautiful Views Along the Way

The views were stunning but desolate there were no signs of others anywhere to be found. If something bad happened, who knows how long before we would be found? Our goal was to make it out to an old abandoned mine about 7 to 8 miles from the trailhead and have our lunch. About 1/3 of the way there, I had my first 'incident'. I was heading up a short steep section of singletrack and thought I was successfully navigating the fist sized rocks. But at one point my front tire hit a big enough rock squarely and it brought me to a standstill. With my feet clipped into my pedals, there wasn't much that could be done but to do a slow fall onto my left side. The good news was I only fell on dirt and rocks. A cactus would have been so much more painful. I slowly got up, checked for blood and decided I would live.

Chris Crossing a Big Field of Feldspar

About halfway to the mine, we were back on the old dirt road and it was now in mostly good condition or at least it was wide enough that you could pick your preferred path while riding. The number of times we needed to dismount had reduced dramatically. The route was never very steep but it seemed like we gradually gaining elevation. By the time we got to the old mine, we had climbed 600 feet according to my GPSr.

Distant View Near the Mine

The Whit-Roy Cinnabar Mine isn't as old as many others in the general area. Most of the other cinnabar mines were from the time of WWI and WWII. This mine was opened in 1970 but only ran for a couple years before the demand for mercury had declined. It was interesting to see the old structures and abandoned pieces of machinery and vehicles.

Good Fixer Upper

Part of the Mine

Pickup Complete with Engine

Other Side of Mine

We found a bit of shade to eat our lunch before we hopped on the bikes and headed back. The ride back was much easier. The gradual downhill made many of the sections more rideable and no additional falls took place. After loading the bikes on the car, we stopped in the small town of Lajitas. We had heard of a good bakery in a little town square but alas it, like most other stores there, was not open this afternoon.

Our Shady Lunch Spot - I Only Take Chris to the Finest Places!

The next day we decided to return to hiking. The road rash I received was not too bad and there were more trails in the National Park to check out on our last full day here. First stop was Chimneys Trail. This trail is 7.4 miles one way, but we really only wanted to check out the 'Chimneys' a mere 2.4 miles from the trailhead. This is a trail that heads mainly downhill but we will only lose ~400 feet in the distance to our destination. We ran into one family heading back as we headed out. Other than some birds, the only other creature we saw was a tarantula. It was just heading down the trail.

Tarantula Hiking With Us

The 'Chimneys' are some large rock outcropping jutting out from the desert floor. Miles behind them you can pick out Santa Elena Canyon and its massive walls. The trail goes between a large singular chimney that has old Indian writings on the rock face. Good thing decoding it wasn't needed since we couldn't make heads or tails of it. 

Approaching Chimneys with Santa Elena in the Distance

Chimney and Wispy Clouds

Indian Writings

On the other side of the trail are a series of chimneys. The closest one had a need stone window that needed to be photographed. While we were exploring these, a couple women with backpacks were heading past the chimneys and apparently are doing the full length of the trail. Hope they have a second vehicle at the other end. The walk back to the car was not too bad even though it was uphill. It wasn't until we were within the last 1/4 mile that we could see the Jeep sitting there waiting for us.

Window in Chimney

Chris Checks Out the View

A quick drive to an overlook for our lunch then off to our next hike. Burro Spring Trail is a 2.4 mile loop trail around a smaller mountain peak. We decided to go counter clockwise around the loop mainly since we never saw the trail to go the other way. About 1/4 of the way around, a guy was walking back towards us. We stopped to talk and he asked if this was a loop trail. Yup, that's our understanding. Well he got to the backside of the mountain where the spring supposedly is and lost the trail and opted to turn around.

Flowers Along Trail

Cactus Grows On Top Of Rock

We continued on and in my head I was thinking we will show him and follow the loop around - even though we will never see him again. The views were nice and there were some interesting plants along the way. When we got to the area of the spring, we too were having trouble figuring out the direction of the path. When the trail dumps you into a washed out ravine, it is tough to identify where to pick it up again. We spent a good 15 minutes looking around but at no point could we determine the intended route and most options had very steep drop offs to contend with. We too decided it was best to turn back and retrace our steps.

View From Back of Burro Spring 

Mountains at Every Turn

We had another planned hike, but decided it made more sense to call it a day and head back to camp since we had lots to do preparing for our travels the next few days. Our next significant stop was on the far western side of New Mexico very near the Arizona state line. It would be a few days drive. Normally we might just do boondocking stops at a Walmart or rest stop, but with the cold nighttime temperatures we decided it might be nicer to stay at campgrounds where we could have full use of our rig.

We picked a small campground, Desert Willow RV Park, in Van Horn Texas. The drive there will force us to backtrack about 80 miles north to Alpine before heading along US-90 in a northwesterly direction. Not surprisingly, this route is generally complete desolation with a small town scattered here and there. There were a few sights to see along the way. The first was the town of Marfa. I don't think the town itself is all that big but apparently they have strange lights that show up around the area. Called the Marfa Lights, many people come here to view them. We even stopped at a rest area just outside town for lunch and there were spotting scopes so you could look for them. Being noon, we weren't going to get to experience them, but maybe we will add this to our list and plan an overnight stop in the future.

Another site along the way was a tethered, unmanned blimp 20 miles out of Marfa. I had actually seen a stationary blimp a couple weeks ago when were were in the nearby Davis Mountains but wasn't sure what it was. Apparently it is put up (weather permitting) to monitor for low flying aircraft that would otherwise be missed by radar. Apparently drug smuggling is common in this region. Unfortunately even though a geocache is located along the road, the shoulder here was not quite wide enough for our rig so we only snapped a blurry photo while driving by. I guess the winds were too strong to have it be up.

Surveillance Blimp Grounded

The highlight of the trip was the Marfa Prada "store". Not sure why it is associated with Marfa since it's a good 30 miles away. Oh maybe that's because there is NOTHING else around here. I remember seeing this place on some TV program about odd roadside attractions. Little did I know we would be making it by here someday. Road construction along this stretch nearly prevented us from stopping but we managed to fit in between a couple construction barrels and stay on a firm section of road. Even though we haven't seen many other vehicles along this route, another car pulled in just as we did.

We took the obligatory photos and even got one with both of us thanks to the other visitors. Apparently this is some piece of "art" that actually has a few pairs of shoes and handbags behind the glass windows, but it is never opened. I have included a Google Earth view just to prove how isolated this place really is.

Let's Go Shopping

The Rutters at the Store

Explanation?

Prada from Above

The rest of the drive into Van Horn went well. This stop gets us back onto Interstate 10 so we may continue west. The campground was situated between I-10 and a fairly active train track. Good thing its cold enough the windows will be closed tonight. We had seen that there is a Chuys restaurant in town. We have eaten at ones in Austin and San Antonio and it seemed odd that one would be in this small of a town. We went only to discover it really isn't part of the same chain, but we were hungry and the food turned out to be good. The odd thing about this place is that it had an enormous amount of John Madden memorabilia here. He was known for never flying anywhere during his years in sports, and apparently when he came by here on I-10, he would stop for a meal. Our table was right next to a big mural painted on the brick wall with Madden's bus parked next to the restaurant and Jesus rising up over the mountains just north of town. Just a slightly strange combo.

Mural at Our Table at Chuys