Stillwell Store, TX

OK, apologies are in order. We have been on the road a week, actually a little more, and I have not posted to the blog. Truthfully, we have been either a bit busy with family or friends, or had zip in the way of Internet.

We are now at the Stillwell Store Campground at the eastern entrance to Big Bend National Park (least visited of the National Parks). There are three RVs here so the Internet is actually great!  Campground WiFi is usually very slow when there are many campers trying to use it. There is, however, no cell phone service, none, nada!

On our way to Southlake, TX to visit son Christopher’s family, and new grandson Ben, we stopped at military campgrounds in Gulfport and Shreveport. 

 

Gulfport Naval Facility

Both were convenient to the highway and offered an inexpensive place to stop for the night.

We spent last weekend in Southlake celebrating grandson Jack’s fourth birthday and grandson Ben’s one month birthday. We will hit Southlake again on our way home and get a chance to spend more time with Chris and Lisa.

Yea, Cracker Barrel

Another thing to apologize for is the paucity of pictures. Sorry, just have not taken any. We will try to do better as we work our way west.

We stopped in Harper, TX for the last two nights to visit John and Jane Canfield. They have a nice twenty-acre ranch and even have full hook ups for the RV! John is the inspiration for our jeep craze, and was nice enough to spend the day Tuesday helping me install a cold air intake modification to our jeep. This will allow the engine to get clean cool air from outside of the engine compartment where the stock air intake and air cleaner gets so hot. Cooler air is more dense, and more beneficial to the engine. Modest power and mileage gains are possible, but not great. A more noticeable benefit is the modification filters the air coming into the cabin. That is going to be a plus on dusty trails.

We stopped in Fort Stockton, TX on our way to Stillwell today for fuel, and it became a bit eventful. Lining up for fuel at a truck stop is a bit like checking out at the supermarket. We always seem to pick the slow line, and since we are pulling the jeep, cannot back up and change lines. It took nearly thirty minutes to get to the pump, and once done I went inside to pay up (you do not want to know how much). A fellow placing inventory on a shelf behind the counter stopped to check me out and I was on my way fairly quickly. We worked our way through Fort Stockton and proceeded south on Texas 385. About twenty miles out I started logging the fuel figures in the app that I use for such things (Barbara was driving). When I went to enter the total cost for the fill-up I could not believe the amount of fuel could possibly come to nearly four hundred dollars as shown on the receipt! When I looked closer I found I had been charged for a 13” TV! What? Evidently when doing the stocking of the shelves a box got close enough to the laser scanner to tally it up. As I came to the counter my charge card was the first one to come along. Now we were on a southbound two-lane country road with no shoulder and no place to turn the rig around. I called back and was told they could not correct this problem without my coming back with the card. We eventually found a wide enough bit of shoulder to pull over and I disconnected the jeep and drove back to Fort Stockton. We eventually got this all sorted out, but lost an hour of travel time. I guess I should have checked the receipt slip before leaving the truck stop, but when buying gas, who expects to get charged for a TV! The little display that you sign did not show the final charge, so off I went with a bogus charge. Moral? Look the receipt over before you leave the building.

Stillwell Store is just that, a small store like a trading post, out in the most rural of rural areas. 

 

View from our windshield.

Campsites were added years ago to augment the income of Carrie Stillwell the proprietor. We will provide more info on her and the store later. As for now it is time to do the dishes and go to bed having fulfilled my blog obligation. More blog, and pictures, later. Adios.