Monahans Sandhills State Park, Texas

On Friday afternoon after my Sweetie got off of work, we made our way to a small state park not too far from our house. As it turns out, Monahans Sandhills State Park (MSSP) seems to be a place we might want to camp at again.

I spent most of the day getting the foodstuffs ready and packing the essentials for our one night stand at MSSP. I even hooked up the PuP and brought the entire rig to the house so we could leave quickly.

Relaxing

We wasted no time getting to the park and setting up for the night. To me, it seemed that the entire process of setting up the camper was quicker and easier than normal. Then, my Sweetie reminded me that we were setting it up in less than 100 F which is not what we normally have been used to doing. Still, I felt the time from backing up to sitting down was significantly reduced.

Critter tracks in the sand

My Sweetie took off to climb the dunes and check out what type of critters may be living there. She took a few pictures but it was starting to get dark so we settled down to have our supper of shrimp tacos (medium shrimp, warmed on the grill with sliced green cabbage, guacamole, pico de gallo, and fish taco sauce). After clean-up, we relaxed in our chairs and watched the sunset. 

A really nice evening for star gazing as both Venus and Jupiter were very bright (and high) in the western sky while Mars was easily visible in the eastern sky. Later, Saturn decided to join the party. The light pollution wasn't very much (mostly from Odessa and some from Monahans) but the half-moon was giving us enough light to watch to the restrooms without using our flashlight.

Sometime around 0445, our fire alarm abruptly awakened us!   Panic! Wait, the heater is on. How did the heater come on? Hell, I don't even know how to turn the dang thing on to begin with. I yank the battery out of the fire alarm, removed the booties which had fallen in front of the heater, and eventually turned the main breaker off to stop the heater.

Then, we noticed that it was bloody cold! We found out later that it had dropped to around 40 F. Also, later on, I found that we had inadvertently turned the thermostat from "OFF" to 50 (which, by the way, is the lowest setting). 

So, we get up later (the sun was up) but really don't want to do that because, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, it was bloody cold! I drag myself out of bed and dress in my cutoffs (no long pants for me since I'm a 'real tough dude' and I didn't pack any) so I could whip out the Keurig and fix some coffee real quick like. Only thing is once I try to use it, the dang thing doesn't work. So, either I put too cold of water in it (ice water) or I didn't work it in the correct sequence of steps.

Eventually, I get the Mocha made for my Sweetie (who is still huddled with the sheets, blanket, and comforter and clearly has a lot of 'sleep' left in her). 

She gets up, dresses, and we share our breakfast of whole wheat bagels, low fat cream cheese, and thinly sliced smoked salmon along with fruit smoothies and a small cup of fruit chunks (pineapple, pear, etc.). [BTW: I'm thinking of writing a recipe book of Gourmet Camp Cooking. I'll probably make it part of this website as an additional 'page.'] Afterwards, she grabs her camera and takes off to see more of the park.

---

Park Rating

Getting to the park is very easy as there is an exit on I-20 which takes you directly to the entrance. We arrived after the office closed so we had to fill out our little envelope to let them know we were there. Normally, I wouldn't find that a problem but, the next morning, the Park Ranger (Mr. Fuentes) stopped by our campsite to let us know that the Scouts had ours and the one next to us reserved. Well, none of the Scouts said anything to us when we pulled in so we assumed the site was available. Good thing we were only staying for one night as we'd probably be asked to relocate.

Other than the less than professional way of allocating the 'first come first served' campsites, we had a great time here. The star gazing was great, the hill climbing was good exercise, and the facilities were decent. Other than coyotes howling, one loud pumpjack in the distance, and the occasional train running by (on the tracks you cross right at the entrance of the park), it was very quiet during the night.

Even with these detractions, I rate this a border-line 3 campers.