Free Parking and Great Beer

We stumbled across this jewel when we were wine tasting in the Sonoita Wine Region last winter. Love the image etched in our minds of the young lady in overalls running from the hops field to serve us beer! Enjoying some amazingly good chocolate porter, we got to know a little about Mel and the Copper Hop Ranch Farm and Microbrewery. She invited us to stay at the farm the next time we came through. Free parking and great beer, of course we took her up on the offer.

Unlike our previous visit, it was a warm weekend which brought folks out to taste beer and enjoy the sunshine.

Inside the tasting room.

Our host, Tom

Around the farm,

For fellow boondockers, it is a fun place to land while visiting the wineries in Sonoita, to do a bit of quail hunting or to stop over as you make your way across southern Arizona. The beer will not disappoint! Here is a link to Copper Hop Ranch Farm and Microbrewery where you will find directions and contact information. Just call ahead to see if a spot is available (BTW, as of this time, Copper Hop is not a part of Harvest Hosts.) Tell them Chris and Randy sent you.

Wine tasting at Rune Winery; photo courtesy of Benjamin Bennett

Cheers!

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Why Rodeo?

Rodeo is a small town burg along NM Hwy 80 in southwestern New Mexico, with a population of 101 (at the 2010 census.)   Exploring on foot,

ABN was pleased to find a nice little co-op art gallery

showcasing very talented artists in a variety of mediums.

Down the street road a piece we found

Beer Collection

which Captain found more interesting than ABN. 

That plus a grocery, post office, and a swap and shop was about all we found in the town of Rodeo. So why were we here?

It was the surrounding area that captivated us.

We parked The Wanderer at Rusty’s RV Ranch

about 10 miles north of Rodeo in a high valley surrounded by mountains. There are no commercial establishments to be seen for miles; no billboards, no traffic signals, no restaurants, no big box stores, no artificial lights. Just wide open space with a big sky. And that, friends, is what brought us to Rodeo and Rusty’s. A magnet for astronomers, Captain wanted to see the stars clearly. Rusty’s is a dark sky campground which means outside lights are forbidden and windows must be covered at night. Captain got his wish.

You can see the Milky Way above The Wanderer.

The Chiricahua Mountains gave us a great place to hike.

Cathedral  Vista

Sharing the trail with about half a dozen locals.

On the Silver Peak Trail (those of you that have hiked the trail, the answer is "no"  we did not hike to the peak as that would be well beyond our current level of fitness.)

We have not had any more trouble from The Wanderer but are keeping our fingers crossed.

The weekend will find us boondocking at Copper Hop Ranch in Elgin, Arizona.

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Let the Winter 2020 Adventure begin!

Well actually the adventure began about a month ago when we left home. Yep that was us you saw sitting on the side of Hwy. 45 near Mayfield. Remember the tire issue we had last fall, after having new tires put on The Wanderer? Well we continue to have tire issues. Apparently there is a slow leak for which no one can find the cause. (Fingers crossed, the leak was around the valve extender which Captain tightened.)

In addition, the check engine light came on putting The Wanderer in the hospital garage for about two weeks. She was discharged after a new transmission temperature sensor was installed and the transmission serviced. Fortunately this happened while we were in College Stations so we were able to stay with Mom during the confinement.

And then there was the drive shaft on the towed vehicle that didn’t want to engage when we were in Fredericksburg over New Years. After multiple attempts (and a few choice words) it engaged. Captain lubricated all the moving parts and, so far, it is working fine.

The Wanderer has a new water pump replacing one that was leaking.

Our College Station stay was not as much fun as usual because of Suddenlink. If you are not familiar with Suddenlink Cable Service, we hope that never changes for you. Mom has had a “code 225” digital signal interruption causing intermittent outages for a few years,  getting more frequent and for longer periods of time. When she missed 2 field goals and a touchdown during a football game, she had had enough. Long story short, many phone calls to tech support, 3 trips to the Suddenlink office, 4 service calls, new cable boxes and new cable lines, the problem continues. We left her in the hands of the last service technician, Jose Perez. Jose is a bright young man who is determined to get this resolved.

With sadness, we made a trip to Tyler to say good-bye to Captain’s lifelong friend, Christine, who passed away in her sleep on New Year’s Eve. We hugged our College Station friends and family a bit tighter when we said good-bye this time.

In our frustration, we questioned if we were suppose to continue our travel adventures. Starting our journey west, we stopped at a Harvest Host winery in Fredericksburg. Sipping wine at Messina Hof Winery, we looked up to see another Lazy Daze had pulled in behind us. 

We took that as a good omen as you rarely see a Lazy Daze in Texas. (They are a cult, you know.)

However, when ABN’s jacket caught fire while she was fixing dinner, we had second thoughts about the omen. (No worry, she wasn’t injured and Captain refrained from saying “I told you so.” Admittedly, on more than one occasion he requested ABN to turn the flame off when reaching for dishes above the range.)

Our desire for adventure overruled our hesitation, so we are motoring through West Texas.

We have had a full day with out a beep from the tire sensor, no “check engine” light, no evidence of a water leak and Mom reports she has watched sports all afternoon with no disruptions.

And we saw another Lazy Daze on the road!

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New Friends, New Experiences and a New Year

Giving mom a break, we wandered over to Texas Hill Country to hang out with about sixty other RVers at the Escapees New Year Hangout. (No, as far as we know no one had been in prison, just escapees from ho-hum, no fun lifestyles.)

Based in Fredericksburg, we explored nearby attractions; our favorite was the Garrison Bros. Distillery tour in the little town of Hye.

We are not bourbon drinkers, but seeing how the spirit is made and bottled was very interesting and the distillery staff 

Scooter, one of our guides.

was quite entertaining with the dispositions you would expect in a Texan.

From the parking lot we cozied up in wagons with folks we did not yet know for the ride to where the action takes place.

Corn, barley and wheat, the only other ingredient is rain water

The cookers

The mash

Yep, Captain stuck his finger in the bubbling mash for a little taste. (Actually we were told we could do this as the high alcohol will take care of any type of contamination.)

In case you are wondering, we do not have any intention of developing a taste for bourbon.

Down the road from Fredericksburg is the little town of Luckenbach, (think Waylon, Willie and the boys.)

Unfortunately, they were not there but a nice little band was performing in the dance hall

and the town says Texas.

The event wasn’t all about dance halls and libation, we did get a little history review. As most of us in the group remembered the President Lyndon B. Johnson era, we appreciated seeing his ranch, 

the Texas White House (from the outside, as it is not open at the present) 

and his eclectic collection of cars.

The amphibian

Hunting car equipped with a bar and a gun rack.

With other history buffs in our group, Captain explored the very detailed National Museum of the Pacific War. 

(ABN hit the highlights and headed downtown Fredericksburg to do a bit of shopping.)

On this escapade with rigs of every style, a diverse group of travelers, and well planned activities, we explored the Fredericksburg area, celebrated the New Year with new friends, and

(Yep we stayed up past midnight!)

and made a Tipsy Tuesday introduction.

Now it’s back to College Station to spend a bit more time with mom and catch up with Aggieland friends before we turn The Wanderer westward.

But first, one more stop, there happened to be a brewery in Fredericksburg; we had passed it several times and it called to us. 

Yep, it was the 290 Jitters (Pecan Coffee Imperial Stout.) 

Awesome!

Happy New Year to all of you; if you are in the path of this year’s adventure, we are looking forward to seeing you!

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