Once again our $44 yearly Passport America membership has paid for itself. Last Tuesday after a sad goodbye to my family in Los Angeles, we headed south to San Diego to see Tripawds friends.

Our destination was Mission Bay RV Resort, which offers 50 percent savings to Passport members during winter. This coastal campground is normally $50 a night for a bare bones back-in RV site, but with our Passport America membership we got our sweet spot for half off!

Many of Passport’s affiliated RV parks are located in smaller towns that want to attract more tourists, but oftentimes you’ll find gems like these in major destinations.

We’re always super frugal about paying for campgrounds, but since joining Passport in 2008, we’ve never once regretted spending the money on this membership. It always seems to come in handy whenever we need full hookups.

If you’re on the road and haven’t joined this club, do it today. I guarantee you a Passport America membership will pay for itself the very first time you use it!

Along the way, we made time for one attraction that’s been on our bucket list, the Alley Oop Fantasy Land and Museum of Iraan Texas.

If you’re stuck on I-10 between El Paso and Austin, don’t miss this quirky little roadside attraction!

Iraan Texas Museum: a Big Gem in a Small Town

When you find yourself driving one of the loneliest stretches of I-10 between El Paso and Ozona, take a few hours to go 13 miles north on Texas Highway 349.

Here you’ll find one of the Lone Star State’s most rustic old towns featuring an abundance of dinosaur-era fossils and a larger-than-life monolith tribute to Alley Oop, that popular caveman comic from the 1930s.

And just as entertaining is the Iraan Texas Museum’s curator Edna “Snooks” Collett, an 85-year-young cowgirl dynamo.

Here’s a short video about this off-the-beaten path West Texas attraction that shows some of the highlights that make this offbeat spot so much fun. The park is always open but the museum hours are from 1 to 5 pm (closed Mondays and through Christmas to March).

Click here to view the embedded video.

 Ira-Ann, Not Iran

Iraan sits atop one of the richest oil field deposits in North America. During the early 20th century, oil was discovered on land belonging to Ira and Ann Yates. When a contest was held to name this newly formed town, the winning result was “Iraan,” a play on the couple’s first names.

During the late 1920s, local artist VT Hamlin was fascinated by the bounty of prehistoric dinosaur-era artifacts found in the Permian Basin lands surrounding Iraan. This was during a time when fossils were dug up and discarded without any real regard for preservation.

In 1932, Hamlin gained worldwide fame when his comic strip Alley Oop caught the eye of newspapers around the country. The comic chronicled the time-traveling adventures of Oop, a burly, axe-wielding caveman, his curvaceous girlfriend Oola, a pet dinosaur Dinny and their kingdom, Moo.

To honor VT Hamlin’s contribution to putting Iraan on the map, locals created the 7-acre Alley Oop Fantasy Land Park, featuring ginormous statues of Alley Oop characters Oop, Dinny, oola, Dr. Wonmug and Oscar Boom.

Snooks’ Museum Walks You Through Time

In keeping with the time-traveling spirit of Alley Oop’s adventures, longtime notable resident Snooks Collett created the Iraan Texas Museum.

This free attraction features hundreds of local artifacts from prehistoric times to the town’s oil boom heyday to the modern era of alternative energy development.

You can spend hours examining these treasures and learning about the region, but you’ll want to reserve even more time to chat with Snooks, who at her advanced age is still running the museum and going on field digs for local artifacts. This rugged but charming western cowgirl who actually lived on the ranch where oil was discovered in Iraan, can tell you endless stories about the region’s rich western history.

If you don’t have enough time to get to know the museum, you can spend the night in your RV. Iraan has two city parks (one located adjacent to the museum) with full hookups for just $12.00 a night. Visit in the springtime, and Snooks, along with the local archaeological association, will welcome you to come along on a real fossil dig.

Our visit to the Alley Oop Fantasy Land and Iraan Museum was too fast, since we were booking it west to California while trying to beat an oncoming winter storm. But we’ll definitely return; this little western outpost is too entertaining to miss whenever we’re on I-10.

Get off the interstate and see the real Texas. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind attraction.

Recommended Reading

Caveman: VT Hamlin and Alley Oop
Roadside America: Alley Oop Land
Texas Escapes: Iraan, Texas
Texas State Historical Assn.: Iraan, Texas

Our workamping gig at Hill Shade RV Park in Gonzales, Texas has come to an end. Yesterday we said goodbye to owners Michael and Christine Moers and their awesome family. If you’re ever between Houston and San Antonio, stop by and say hello. You’ll love their park.

We can’t thank the Moers enough for being so good to us. They are two of the most genuine, funny and down-to-earth people we know, and we hope to be back at their quiet little retreat again in spring.

Today we’re at lovely Landa RV Park in New Braunfels to hang out with NuRVers.  Oh how we missed the serenade of the train that runs through the back of the park. Despite how dissed it pretty hard in this blog post during our last visit, it’s not a bad place to be. Compared to some of the dumps we’ve been in, this one is first-class!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tomorrow we’ll be boot scootin’ in Luckenbach for their annual Christmas Ball. Then Sunday, we’ll be blazing across I-10 out to the coast, for some sunshine, warm temperatures and family.

If you’re also traveling somewhere to see your families for the holidays, hoppy travels!  Where ya headed?

The aim is to unite bloggers of all different topics to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.

Here we go!

Our 7 Links

Most Popular Post: On A Budget, Build Your Own RV

Surprisingly, more than 150,000 readers have seen this brief, 25-word description of resources for building your own van conversion, camper, trailer, or boat, from the long defunct Simple Living Network. The cool homemade fifth wheel video we added must have helped!

Most Helpful Post: Troubleshooting the Norcold N821 RV Refrigerator

The ongoing discussion in the comments we continue to get on Jim’s post about troubleshooting our Norcold RV Refrigerator has proven more helpful than the post itself.

A Post Whose Success Surprised Me: Ringing Up the Dead in Forest Park Cemetery, Brunswick NY

Who would’ve thought our rather uneventful trip to Forest Park Cemetery would stir up so many eerie reports from one of the most haunted cemeteries in America.

Most Beautiful Post: RIP Spoonie Gee

Helpless is the only way to describe the feeling of learning about the death of a loved one when you’re on the road. Oh Spoonie. We wish we could have saved you from yourself.

Most Controversial Post: Stealth Greywater Dumping: Do You or Don’t You?

Only an RVer can talk about sewer dumps and stinky holding tanks over breakfast. Learn who does and who won’t let go of skanky water out in the hinterlands, one of the dirty little secrets of RVers.

 A Post that didn’t get the Attention it Deserved: How to Color Your Hair as a Fulltime RVer

Keeping my hair color in shape while living in a tiny space has been one of my biggest challenges since fulltime RVing. Am I the only one who struggles with this?

The Post that I am Most Proud of: Mad Max Meets Good Sam at the Slabs

Few places evoke such visceral reactions from RVers as Slab City USA. This objective article addresses the surprising, the beautiful and the entertaining aspects of the Last Free Place for weary travelers.

7 Links: Who’s Next?

And now, in the spirit of the My 7 links project, we are nominating the following bloggers to share their wisdom by publishing their 7 links on their blogs:

• Rhodester
• Technomadia
• Manifest Positivity
• Welcome to my Brain
• Tripawds

Watch for the best posts being shared everyday on the Tripbase Facebook  page and Twitter feed at #My7Links.

On Wednesday evenings, everyone gathers on Gold Hill, a breathtaking spot overlooking Lake San Cristobal and the San Juan Mountains.

Slabs of meat (mostly beef) are grilled to perfection on a cowboy-style, wood-flame grill and home-cooked potluck dishes grace the sidelines.

Since 90 percent of Lake City’s visitors consist of Texans and Oklahomans escaping the brutal summer heat, potluck dishes tend to be buttery, eggy, cheesy and fried. . . and usually damn good.

Just two days later, the Vickers family holds another weekly get-together at the Friday night burger feed. You’ll find me babysitting the lonely veggie burger on the grill. Beans with bacon, chips and a five foot table filled with tasty potluck deserts complete our Friday meals.

A vegan can’t fall farther from the wagon than when visiting a dude ranch. Last week, one couple invited us to their cabin for dinner. On the menu: freshly caught rainbow trout appetizers. The husband was so proud of his catch, and the dish really was pretty….how could I resist?

Eating any kind of beef, poultry or other living creature is off-limits for me, but I refuse to be the kind of VegaNazi who can’t be open-minded enough to let loose once and a while and eat vegetable dishes that have been co-mingled with animal products.

I tasted the best homegrown Texas black-eyed peas simmered in a bacon broth this week. Was I going to miss the opportunity to experience a local culinary treasure, home-grown and handmade by a guest? Nope, not me.

Call me a hypocrite, but I’m going out of my comfort zone and loving it. Will this make me a carnivore after 22 years of not eating meat? Never. Just open-minded enough to know a good thing when I see it.

I’ve never liked gin. And tonic water is just nasty. But I discovered long ago that something magical happens when you mix the two and add just the right squeeze of lime.

At some point I learned that Beefeater and the like belong only in the well of a cozy dive bar.

Tanqueray became the gin of choice. Then Christopher turned me on to Bombay and I never looked back. Thanks to the liquor guy at Wilbur’s, Hendricks is now the top shelf gin of choice. And with its sturdy compact bottle, it travels well too!

Debating over the cost of Sapphire at Wilbur’s one day, a clerk noticed us spying the unique Hendricks bottle. He explained the new microdistillery craze and described how Hendricks is handcrafted in small batches, goes down smooth with much less botanical complexity and is great with key limes, or cucumber. How could we resist?

I gave the cucumber a try, but as refreshing as it was, I’ll have to pass. The key limes, however – with Hendricks and brand name tonic over ice – redefine freshness, and they take up less room too! Go ahead, call me a mixer snob too. But it’s true, generic tonic water simply does not do good gin justice.

“Small Batch” distillation typically yields 1,000 or fewer liters. Hendricks is distilled with two distinct spirits in 450 litre batches and infused with rose and cucumber.

What’s your favorite RVer cocktail? Republic Texas Tea perhaps? Or maybe a Nü Hawaiian? When we hit the road we usually limit the cabinet to one concoction at a time. This season, Hendricks should fit nicely under the couch. And it’s best we do not leave the tonic at home!

We didn’t make our annual pilgrimage to Luck earlier this year. We were nearly in Texas when we had to high-tail it back to Humboldt for our friend’s unexpected memorial. Since we missed out on the cold Shiner, good people and great music, I thought I’d reminisce by sharing this playlist of live music videos from past trips.

A stop at Luckenbach General Store is highly recommended for any full-timer who enjoys authentic American singer songwriter music in an authentic Old West bar, or anyone just wants to see what Waylon and Willie were singing about.

Overnight boondocking is available in the field if no big acts are on the bill. Just don’t get stuck. But if you do, grab another Shiner and realize there’s no better place to be stuck. Can you tell I miss Texas? With any luck we’ll get back to Luck by the year’s end when we head back South again for the winter.

With that said, I’m lovin’ our Colorado mountain summer! And while I wouldn’t necessarily call it “luck” we are very fortunate to be here. With the perfect climate, majestic views, fresh mountain air and occasional moose sighting, what more could we ask for? Except for maybe a couple nights at Hondo’s old hangout.

And with that said, what do you feel fortunate for? And where have you seen some of the best Music Americana in your travels? South by Southwest doesn’t count, that’s a given. Our visit to the Floyd Country Store ranks up there for us.

And now that the ranch cabins are for sale, there’s a lot more people who are going to discover the magic of this 100-year old Lake City legacy.

Recently I talked to Larry and Paul Vickers about the family’s exciting new Vickers Horse River Ranch Property that gives the public a chance to own one of their hand-crafted, historic log cabins.

I wrote about the family’s big endeavor in my latest GoColorado.com article, “Lake City Vickers Ranch: Frontier Spirit Thrives in the San Juan Mountains” but you can listen to the interview I based my article on in our latest project:

Live. Work. Dream on Blog Talk Radio

In this 15-minute intervew we talk with Larry and Paul Vickers, whose family helped establish Lake City during the peak mining years of the late 1800s.

Jim and I worked at their ranch during 2008 when we thought we wanted to buy a small resort.

Then we realized: What, are we nuts?!

Now that we know the realities of the resort life, we can say we’re definitely not cut out for this kind of gig. The work was the hardest we have ever done but the family’s kindness and generosity made it all worthwhile.

Our adventures at the ranch were chronicled in blogs post such as:

The Nitty Gritty Details of Running a Resort: Wimps Need Not Apply

Breakfast Ride Offers Best Biscuits, and View

Ode to the Laborer

Yeah sure, haying is safe.

The Vickers Hay Chronicles

We’ll hopefully be heading back to the ranch in a few weeks to get our share of hay buckin’, cowboy coffee and manual labor, so stay tuned for more Vickers Ranch workamping adventures.

Meanwhile, if you or someone you know would like to be a guest on our Blog Talk Radio show, drop us a line!

Exactly two years later (almost) on the 17th, we were married. It was the happiest day of my life. Really.

Every day together is a reminder of just how happy. Thank you. For everything. Really.

What do you say to them?

I hesitate to tell people how Jim and I live because most assume that we’re loaded (with money, that is). Which we are not. Ok, it’s all relative, but still.

We manage to do what we do because we keep our expenses extremely low and stay debt free. Our wallets are thin but our spirits are not.

Of course explaining this to a stranger takes more than a 15-second spiel, so I usually just say “we’re snowbirds.”

One of the ways we can do what we do and still eek out a living is through our Internet connections and by scouring the countryside for freebie spots like this one in Utah.

Last week, after taking an emotional beating over our dented Dodge, we hit the road and started heading back to our summer spot.

But before braving the Colorado cold, we stopped near Moab to soak up some sun and camp for a few more days.

Spring has sprung here and we wanted to see more. We also haven’t experienced any warm weather whatsoever since last summer, so I was hoping for high temperatures.

Some fellow road trippers told us about this pretty spot, which I’ve since added to the Escapees Day’s End Directory. (go buy a copy to find out where it is!).

These free spots are widely available to wintertime road trippers in Southwestern deserts. Winter brings many more options for finding solitude on the road.

It’s rare that I actually feel like I’m getting something for my tax dollars, but when we camp on free public land like this, I love knowing that my tax dollars paid for it.

As we prepared to leave Moab and head to Red Feather Lakes, news about President Obama’s awesomely stunning move broke on BBC News.

I never thought I would feel any sense of exhilaration over the death of an individual, but I surprised myself with my reaction when Jim screamed “They got Bin Laden!”

“GOOD!” I said. Yes, I was happy that they killed him. Ecstatic that this horrible human being was wiped off the face of the earth. Now it’s really time for the collective “We” to move forward toward better days ahead. Is that so wrong?

Thank you Mister President.

Now if we can just get rid of Fox News, I’d be even happier.

Land of the Free, indeed.