Wild Weather and Repairs at Amistad Reservoir: Slim's 2024 Travels Part 5
after leaving Falcon State Park I sailed under the Streets of Laredo and over a lake near Del Rio well I've made it to Spur 406 somewhere on the end of this is a camping spot at least I hope the lake I passed was the Amistad Reservoir home of the Amistad National Recreation Area one of the largest lakes in Texas it is fed by the Rio Grande and straddles the border with Mexico while popular for boating it also has several very accessible campgrounds I however was looking for a more remote location which is why I chose spur 406 well this section is a little rough primitive camping means primitive roads I guess oh this might be looking nice whoa! I hope I can get out of here again oh no oh no hold it dead end hold on a sec I'm going to get stuck it looks really good but except I have to back in there's just no turnaround at the end so I'll take my time hopefully I can do it almost level nice view this post confirmed it was a designated campsite well this is all kind of new to me you got to pay by Electronics it's not cash in an envelope even though over there it says cash in an envelope I guess they just installed this so oh boy little complicated but I think I should be able to get it how many days let's say three okay okay whoops swiperooni well look at that success well I'm all always happy when I get to see the local Wildlife but somebody left dog kibble at a campsite and this gray fox found it this is a really bad idea as they now come to campsite seeking human food and not their own native diet but despite this careless act it was still a magnificent animal to observe when I backed in here I heard a little ding so I thought I'd come out and investigate here's what I found out that's the ding right there uh looks like I've bent the tailpipe not very good get out my tarp crawl under see how bad it is yeah definitely bent and the hangers come off as well so it's hanging real low what I need to do is lift the tailpipe up it's way too low it's just going to get worse I've got a uh a jack for that right here however it's also too far that way the hangers don't line up so it's got to come back that way as well I've got a tow rope I can use to uh just pull it that way and then I can jack it up it's that bend that's not very good that's got to be restricting the amount of exhaust the engine can uh expel but I can't fix that right in here not with what I've got but I can at least get that uh back up on the hanger it broke not an expensive component but I just don't have one so get out the wire oh boy once I got the two hangers positioned properly I reattached that broken hanger Rubber and proceeded to wrap rebar wire around the two hangers to keep it all together not pretty but it should work now that I've got the hanger wired up up I can let this down see what happens well looks like it's going to stay there okay okay that's on there pretty solid I should be fine it bides me time until I can make it to a muffler shop didn't take a lot of tools stuff everybody should have a jack I always bring wire you never know what you're going to need it for pliers a rope of some sort although this was my tow rope and a tarp pretty easy Band-Aid solution done in 20 minutes now I can carry on it was a little toasty today didn't really want to go too far out when it was so hot but there's this beautiful Cool Breeze blowing in right now so it's time to take that other form of travel a little walk there was a deer staring at me when I entered the dry riverbed he seemed a little nervous at my presence it's so quiet quiet nice spot for a sunset that's it it another day gone the Stars shone brightly that night but in the morning I set off to the boat launch area although there are swimming areas in Amistad this area wasn't suited for it it is mostly for boaters it did however have an interesting landscape with Groves of submerged dead trees by the time I returned to Camp the weather became a lot colder this looks like a good spot I needed some shelter today it's windy it's cold cloudy kind of looks like it's going to rain looks like my winning streak of weather is over um last few days it's been sunny and hot but you can't blame me for this one\ I blame Scuba Steve because uh he sent me an email and he said bad weather was on my way it was going to be cold he's in Arizona and so don't blame me blame Scuba Steve but that's okay I I blame Scuba Steve because uh he sent me an email and he said bad weather was on my way it was going to be cold he's in Arizona and so don't blame me blame Scuba Steve but that's okay I need these cooler windier days which I'm not really going to shoot much because that gives me some time to do some editing in the camper you know I'd love to just chill out and enjoy the view but you guys keep wanting more videos but you know what I'm totally okay with that there's a bit of an updraft it's uh starting to swirl around a little bit bit I've seen those types of clouds many of times in my travels and they're not what you call your fair weather clouds this one looked like a giant T-rex ready to devour me whole soon the clouds began to rumble and Flash as the heavens above closed their door that familiar pitter patter could be heard [rain] it was time to view from indoors Devils danced on the horizon until an angel appeared there's the rainbow it was a battle between Sun and rain and the storm gods were not through yet and let it be known finally the storm Gods conceited with an eerie Retreat their robes fluttering behind them The Parting storm cloud was like a fierce Dragon bearing its fangs at the Sun but not before posing for a family photo the next morning I woke up to a baby crying a herd of goats had taken over my Sunset spot I don't know what that lead goat yelled but I think it meant "get moving" as they all followed this little kid was stubborn and wanted to stay and that Cara Cara bird couldn't be happier as that kid looked kind of tasty! well the bonus with this place is the air so dry I dried out my shower curtain within a minute don't have to hang it up well the goats went home it's quiet again but the winds picked up which is something different I seem to have a real mix of weather the last 24 hours but it is sunny it is hot so I'll take that and by the way I want to sort of uh clear up some misconceptions some people have this is not "boondocking" and the reason it's not boondocking is I paid for this campsite now I didn't pay a lot uh I think the regular price is $6 a day uh if you've got a senior's pass or or a Texas park pass uh it's half price $3 um that's pretty reasonable you get a spot on the hill which is is what I've got I would call this primitive camping not boondocking let's let's be clear on that and uh there's not much here uh there is uh two Vault toilets which are in good shape but there is no running water if you if you need water you got to get it elsewhere there are other places in Amistad that do have running water uh I think it's $10 a night but I wanted the Privacy the intimacy with the with the Wilderness and nature and so I chose this one and I'm cheap let's face it! well it's late in the afternoon and I'm getting kind of hungry almost supper time and I'm thinking lately I've been eating a little too healthy you got to do everything in moderation to remember that everybody says that so uh tonight I'm going to go for one of my gas station Creations you know stuff you could get at at a little gas station or corner store or something as you're traveling through town and I think I've got just the right ingredients first you start off with a great big bean and cheese burrito chop it up into little squares fry it up on the stove with a little bit of oil top it off with a salad and then you add a few fixins and here's what you get oh yeah this is going to be tasty Mmmm oh the salt! the preservatives! love it ! so if you don't have a microwave for a microwave burrito just fry it up in a little chunks it works wonders oh come on don't be too judgmental!!! you know you want to try some here... isn't that good? ah that was a good meal Sun's gone down it's getting cool you're probably thinking this is the perfect time for a beer however not this time I'll save that to later right now I got a little cleaning up to do before it gets too dark as the goats Trot off into the sunset a deer looks at me with sad eyes sure wish I could take her home to play with Prudence in the morning as I packed up I took one last view of the sunrise before I headed off I really enjoyed my stay in Amistad but further travels await me I hope you enjoyed this video and will continue to follow me as I explore new trails
2024-02-17 00:43
