Not an easy start. Hello Texas & New Mexico.

Yes, now we are in the USA and suddenly everything was different. We had spent the last week close to the US-Mexico border in Mexico. We knew that the USA would be different, but like this? No! As soon as we crossed the border, the landscape changed. No greenery, nothing. Just nothing and a lot of it. No beautiful houses. No water. Nothing at all. But, most importantly, the roads changed. The roads became wider, longer, longer, and longer. Welcome to Texas, the state that Americans call the Bavaria of the USA and where everything is bigger than elsewhere. We didn't understand at first.

We had chosen a small town not far from the border. Not far meant about 160 km. The road seemed never-ending and it became uglier with every kilometer. Okay, don't get nervous. We just arrived. Let's give ourselves and the USA some time.

Our first stop was Uvalde. We had chosen a "green" Walmart parking lot. Convenient, because we needed to do some shopping and there was a laundromat nearby. The town was a pass-through with several fast food restaurants, supermarkets, hardware stores, etc. It suited us well since we had some things to take care of.

When we arrived, we did a little check of the town. And here we encountered a particularity that would accompany us for the next few months - nobody or hardly anybody walks here. We felt really strange, and we also felt that people were a bit surprised to see pedestrians. Although this was only our feeling.

We were hungry and went to have our first burger. Ordering was challenging. We speak English well, but we could hardly understand the waiter. Texans have an interesting accent combined with mumbling. In the end, we got our food, 2 minutes later new drinks, and the bill. Huh? We didn't order any new drinks and we didn't want any. It is common for drinks to be refilled once they are empty (for free). This is part of the service here. We didn't know that. The bill is also brought quickly, but that doesn't mean you have to rush. Also normal.

W. urgently needed new shoes, so we went to the shoe store. Of course, on foot. We talked about the shoes and immediately two people approached us, asking where we were from. Kind of nice, we thought. We briefly told them and then continued on. We also went to the supermarket. To buy some things that were taken from us by customs. Here too, we were greeted warmly and asked how we were doing. In the end, it felt like all 150 employees asked us. Mathias got into a conversation with a woman who was originally from Ireland and was happy to hear a European accent.

Back at the motorhome, we parked again, a bit more in a corner. The first night was relatively quiet and relaxed. The next day, we went to the laundromat. We spent most of the day there, but we were also very happy to be able to wash our laundry independently with our own detergent. A highlight after 4 months.

Our spot at Walmart was great, but we thought something greener would be nicer. So, we drove to the city park that day and wanted to spend the night there. It was green, and we had a playground right next to us where W. could play the next day. But it turned out differently.

We were lying in bed when we heard a strange noise. But we couldn't see anything outside. But it kept happening over and over again. It sounded like someone spraying our motorhome with a spray can. And then we received an SMS on our phone from someone we didn't know, in English. He/she asked how we were doing and that he/she needed our help. It was already 11 pm. Mathias replied and asked who it was and then our phone rang. We answered, but besides breathing, we heard nothing. And the noises from outside. In our three years in the motorhome, we had never felt so uncomfortable. Not a single minute in Mexico, and now we were experiencing this on our second night in the USA. We hung up, packed up, and left this place. As we were driving away, we saw where the strange noise was coming from. It was sprinklers that went off at regular intervals and sometimes hit our motorhome. The number messaged a few more times, but we didn't respond anymore. We positioned ourselves back at the Walmart parking lot directly under a camera. It felt safer and better.

We stayed one more day in the parking lot and tried to adjust. Caro, however, couldn't adjust. I was unhappy, dissatisfied, and wanted to go back to Mexico. I wanted beautiful nature, beautiful places, and the latter was almost impossible to find in our surroundings. Especially if you are spoiled by boondocking. No matter which place we looked at, in our eyes, it wasn't beautiful. Okay, especially not in mine (Caro). We didn't have a plan for the USA, but we generally don't have plans for the countries we travel to. We always let ourselves be carried away.

We aimlessly drove towards San Antonio the next day. We saw a lot of nothing. Many messy yards. Many huge RVs and trailers. Many RV parks located right by the road. One uglier than the other. For us, it was incomprehensible why people would stay there. The parking lot of a supermarket is often more attractive and especially cheaper. It was soooo stupid. Everything was stupid.

Upon arriving in San Antonio, we visited a huge RV dealer out of sheer curiosity. We climbed into RVs that sometimes resembled trucks and had marble floors, sofas, armchairs, kitchen islands, etc. Crazy, what is possible. In some cases, houses and apartments are not even as comfortably furnished/equipped as these vehicles. They all have multiple air conditioners and televisions and huge refrigerators. All powered by generators. In our opinion, this has nothing to do with camping anymore. Especially since the generators are running continuously and standing next to such a vehicle is terrible. Not to mention the environmental aspect. Here in the USA, it seems that we completely disregard this. It's absolute madness, and we have the greatest incomprehension for it.

Nevertheless, it was interesting to see, because so far we had only seen them in Mexico but had never been inside such a vehicle. We will now see these vehicles in masses here, and we mean it exactly as we write it. Here, it feels like 80% of the people have a trailer or an RV the size of a coach or truck.

We now made our way to acquaintances we had met online in Mexico. A German couple who "lived" nearby and had invited us to come by. So, we found a place to stay for the night. Actually, we had found a place by the river. It was already dark, but it didn't matter. We had arrived. We heard loud live music in the distance. A festival. How nice. Or not! Some kind of ranch or something was celebrating a birthday and many bikers had come. Of course, they took nocturnal trips on their minimally loud motorcycles. Our place was the turnaround loop. Yeah!

We still tried to have a relaxed day the next day. We even had lunch by the river. The motorcycles, campers, and more drove past us and found their way home. So, it had become quieter. In the late afternoon, we went to Sonja and Jochen. Finally, the nature became somewhat nicer. It even became green. We arrived in a small remote settlement. The two welcomed us warmly and showed us around a bit. They even had a highlight for W. The neighbor had goats, and they had recently given birth. We drove with a small golf cart to the goats about 500 meters away. They were very tame. W. was happy, and so were we. We petted them and even held the kids in our arms. They didn't smell at all. It's definitely different from living confined in a zoo or having plenty of space in nature.

Back at the motorhome, we prepared dinner and ate alone. W. went to bed, and we went to Sonja and Jochen to talk late into the night. Or rather, into the early morning hours. It was nice to exchange ideas with like-minded people and hear about their journey.

We spent the next day bird-watching. Mathias and W. went to look for fossils in the dry riverbed. They came back very excited and showed me their treasures. Petrified wood, fossilized shells, and a bone. The latter is Mathias' highlight, and he is convinced that it is a dinosaur bone. We spent the rest of the day painting, playing, and talking, and spent two more incredibly quiet days on their property. We visited the goats again, this time on foot. For Sonja and Jochen, it would be time to return to Germany in two days. And for us, it was time to move on.

Our destination was the north of Texas, the Caprock State Park, and then onward to New Mexico. We had already had W.'s wish to spend a few days with horses in Mexico, but we didn't find anything suitable. Now we wanted to change that. After some research, we found a ranch and contacted them. A few days later, we had a phone call and agreed on April 8th. So, our route was established. From our standpoint, it was over 800 km to the state park, so we planned to make a few stops along the way. But that didn't work out because we couldn't find anything we liked. So, we drove the distance with only one stop.

We encountered our first sandstorm on the way and saw several tumbleweeds blowing across the road. That's also how the landscape looked. We finally found a place right by the lake near Abilene. It was officially allowed to stay with the camper for two nights. And we did. It was already dark when we arrived. We cooked dinner and went to bed. While we were lying there, we heard howling, "No, seriously... dogs"... but somehow, it didn't sound like dogs, and they howled all night long. The next day, we were sure they weren't dogs but rather coyotes. Crazy. We heard coyotes. Besides these animals, there were many more here. We saw a type of mouse. We could see diamondback rattlesnakes and a water snake on the signs, as well as a few birds. But we couldn't go swimming. We were almost alone here. Another family arrived with a tent next to us. We think it was a father, mother, and adult son. What they did was absolutely insane. They parked next to us, set up their tent right by the lake, went fishing, and enjoyed the day by the lake. They got hungry and drove off to get something to eat, okay. The next morning, they drove off again to get breakfast, okay. At noon, they drove off again to go to the bathroom, which was 100 meters away from us. Not okay. We were really shocked. They came back and then left again to get food. And that didn't turn out to be a one-time thing.

We enjoyed our time by the lake as much as possible. However, I, Caro, was still annoyed with the USA. And it got increasingly difficult for me to adjust here. Mathias had to endure a lot of complaints and nagging. Although secretly, he was also struggling. After all, this trip was his childhood dream, and now everything was different than he had imagined. After three days, we continued driving. First, we went shopping, and then we headed towards the state park. We originally intended to make another stop here, but we didn't. We arrived at the parking lot in front of the park in the late evening. We had high hopes. In the evening, I said to Mathias, "I wish to wake up in the morning and see bisons from the bedroom window."

The next morning, I woke up, opened the window, and there they were, a whole herd of bisons grazing in the distance during sunrise. It could only get better from here. While W. and Mathias stayed in the motorhome, I walked outside and enjoyed the light, the landscape, and the animals. Shortly after, the park opened. We got our tickets and camper permit. We will now be staying here for five days. The campsites in the park were fully booked, and we just got a "primitive" spot. Which we definitely recommend if you don't need electricity or water. It's like boondocking. The path to our spot was a delight in itself. We saw more bisons. Red rocks. Mountains. Some greenery. Once we arrived, we set up and had breakfast outside with a view of the canyon.

While we were sorting things out in the motorhome, something stomped, "Mathias, what is that?" And there they were, four bisons walking right past our motorhome. What a sight. What an experience. These four stopped and used the posts around us as scratching posts, nibbled on some dry bushes, and watched us as we watched them. Almost every day, the same or different bisons came. Ate and scratched on our spot.

We spent the days in the park trying to settle in. Letting everyday life set in, playing, painting, and hiking. There were several trails that could be walked. It was a paradise for W. because she is a great finder of things. She actually always finds things everywhere. Everything can be used. The first thing she found here and put in the treasure chest was bison wool. Yes, we are now carrying bison wool along with sheep's wool and cow hairs. Of course, we also have several feathers on board. W. found more - quartz, feathers, stones, sticks, and cactus spines. The canyons and paths were also good for climbing. We are very grateful that W. likes to walk and doesn't need much motivation other than what she can discover and find. A picnic, of course, is a big motivation, probably like with all other children. The sun was scorching from above. The air was extremely dry, and we had to constantly stop to drink. We could feel our bodies losing water. We looked for a shady spot to have a picnic. This wasn't so easy. In the end, we ended up at a small waterhole under a tree. We saw that there must be more water here during the rainy season. The different layers in the rocks were beautiful to see. W. continued to climb around and stuck to the waterhole, of course. We all would have liked to go swimming. But the water definitely didn't suffice for that. We continued and saw something coming towards us on our hike. Other hikers? It could also be described that way – it was two bisons. We saw another four on our right in the bushes. Okay. What did they say again? "Give the animals enough space"... we were feeling a bit nervous. We decided not to approach them further, but also to stand aside and hope they would pass us. Besides the bisons, there were, of course, other animals here. Those that like to sit in the bushes and rattle when you get too close. In my, Caro's, mind, there were already plenty of horror scenarios playing out. Actually, there wasn't a snake there, at least not visible, and the bisons all passed by us properly and in a row. We decided to turn around because it was getting hotter and hotter. We passed by our waterhole again, and who was there now? The bisons. 15 minutes ago, we weren't sitting there. We had good timing both with the animals and with ourselves.

We had almost reached the motorhome and stopped for a refreshment at a horse trough. Anybody can go swimming in a pool, but we refreshed ourselves there.

We were very relieved when we could take off our hiking boots. Our feet weren't used to them anymore. Most of the time, we walk barefoot or wear sandals.

We ended the evening with a beautiful sunset.

The next few days, we played "ranch" outside in preparation for our next stop. Mathias and I were horse and bison. W. was the rancher. Such work can be dangerous, and it was. When W. wanted to bring the horse into the paddock, she bumped her head against the door, and we had a rancher with a hole in her head. The bison quickly turned into a hysterical mom, the horse into Dr. Dad, and the rancher into a patient. We washed everything off. Dr. Dad examined the wound, and we cleaned it with hydrogen peroxide, which had indeed become our magic remedy for everything. We quickly cooled it, and now please stay calm. W. was doing okay. She had no pain, and she didn't feel sick. Nevertheless, we tried to take it easy and not be rambunctious. The next few days, we watched everything and decided that we didn't need to go to the hospital.

On our departure day, we took one more drive through the park with the motorhome and saw sooo many bisons. Plus, there were at least 20 prairie dogs.

Now, we slowly made our way to New Mexico, passing by Roswell, the UFO city, to White Sands. But first, we had to drive through dry and barren land again. The wind got stronger, so strong that there were major drifts and the visibility was highly limited. Not the best condition for visiting one of the largest sand dunes. We ended up in Alamogordo near White Sands, on a supermarket parking lot, as usual. It didn't make sense to drive further in this weather. We took a short walk and ended up in a huge craft store where we were directly addressed again. The saleswoman said we absolutely had to go to Cloudcroft. We had to see it, and it was only 15 miles away. There was a waterfall where we could park right next to it. Oh yeah! We wanted that. So, despite it being 7 pm already, we drove to Cloudcroft. The way there was very, very beautiful. It was a kind of canyon, and the setting sun contributed to the beauty. It was curvy and went into the mountains, and it got cooler and the wind calmer. We were in good spirits. But in the end, we didn't find the waterfall that was mentioned, and actually, we didn't find anything in the darkness. So, we drove the 15 miles back and slept in a supermarket parking lot. At least, the wind had also stopped here, and we hoped it would stay that way.

The next morning, we quickly went shopping and then drove the last 25 miles to White Sands. There were many other people there with us. We watched a film about the formation and history of the dunes at the visitor center and, of course, bought a sled to go sandboarding. Now we drove to the ticket booth. When we arrived there, they closed the window in front of us. "Um, hello?" The employee passed us by. We asked her what was happening, "Shift change, and you can just go in freely. Good luck." She barely finished speaking, and the new shift opened the window. Damn! "Um, can we still go in?" The young woman grinned, gave us the national park pass, and let us in for free. What a surprise. We drove along the national park road and went deeper into the white landscape. Not just a dune here and there, no, suddenly everything was white, about 560 sq km.

We found a nice place to park. Packed our things, prepared the sled, and started hiking. It looked like snow, felt like grit, and was a lot of fun. We spent the day in the park until it closed at 9 pm. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay there overnight. The designated campground was closed. Despite that, we had a great day there. Enjoyed the sunset and the starry sky. We had dinner, and W. went to her "sit bed." We wanted to drive a bit further and not sleep in the supermarket parking lot again. Luckily, we remembered seeing a hiking parking lot signposted in Cloudcroft. That was our destination, and 45 minutes later, we were in the middle of the forest, sleeping soundly.

The next morning, we quickly went shopping and then we drove the last 25 miles to White Sands. With us, there were still many other people. We watched a movie about the formation and history of the dunes at the visitor center and, of course, bought a sled to go sandboarding. We went to the ticket counter. When we arrived, they closed the window in front of us. "Um, hello?" The employee walked past us. We asked her what was happening, "Shift change, and you can just go in freely. Good luck." She barely finished speaking, and the new shift opened the window. Damn! "Um, can we still go in?" The young woman grinned, gave us the national park pass, and let us in for free. What a surprise. We drove along the national park road and went deeper into the white landscape. Not just a dune here and there, no, suddenly everything was white, about 560 sq km.

We found a nice place to park. Packed our things, prepared the sled, and started hiking. It looked like snow, felt like grit, and was a lot of fun. We spent the day in the park until it closed at 9 pm. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay there overnight. The designated campground was closed. Despite that, we had a great day there. Enjoyed the sunset and the starry sky. We had dinner, and W. went to her "sit bed." We wanted to drive a bit further and not sleep in the supermarket parking lot again. Luckily, we remembered seeing a hiking parking lot signposted in Cloudcroft. That was our destination, and 45 minutes later, we were in the middle of the forest, sleeping soundly.