Roadtrip to Texas: and the High Desert Emergency Room

Chuck, our English Cream Golden Retriever, joined our family in early 2022. By summer of that year, Chuck was still a lot of work, way too much to pass off on some poor, unsuspecting family member, so we decided that the best thing to do was to take him with us on our road trip to Texas. We made it a road trip because Chuck was way too big to fly. Our plan for that summer, was too see as many National Parks as possible, as Roy was eligible for the “Every Kid Outdoors” Program, a program allowing all fourth grade students to see America’s natural wonders and historic sites for free.

In June of 2022, we set off, loading Chuck and the kids into “Big Pearl” (our 2014 White Honda Odyssey) to make the 7.5 hour drive from Sacramento to Riverside, CA, where we would stay for the night. This was Chucks first extended driving experience, as well as his first time staying in a hotel. We had high hopes that he would chew on a bone and fall asleep in the back seat, but learned pretty quickly that this would not be the case. Instead, Chuck sat with his snout on the center console drooling, and pleading with me to allow him onto my lap. We tried cheering him up by visiting a dog park in Los Banos, CA but didn’t stay long as we were pretty sure someone was casing “Big Pearl”. As for the hotel that night, Chuck stayed up all night long, standing over me and breathing in my face. We were not off to a great start, but things were about to get worse.

We left early the next morning destined for Twenty Nine Palms, CA, and Joshua Tree National Park. It was exceptionally hot that day, so there was no one at the entry station to the Park, (who visits Joshua Tree in June?!? Particularly with a dog?) so our “free park pass” was left unused. Because it was so hot, we attempted to put “shoes” on the dog and do the one-mile Hidden Valley Nature Trail, but everyone overheated, and the dog ripped off three of his four shoes, so we returned back to the minivan after 1/4 mile. We drove a little deeper into the park to hike the Split Rock Trail but then Greg took a major tumble off said rock, so we instead found ourselves taking an unexpected (and expensive) detour to the High Desert Emergency Room. It was a traumatic experience for everyone involved, but fortunately Greg walked away with only a skinned-up back and bruised elbow.

The High Desert Emergency Room was great place to spend the afternoon. Because we had the dog, only one of us could go into the ER with Greg, as the other had to stay in the car to keep Chuck cool and hydrated. (Roy just floated back and forth based on where there were better snacks.) After spending four hours in the waiting room, I was able to come to the conclusion that Emergency Rooms stay in business, solely because of little boys. The kid next to us, for example, was there because he had hit himself on the forehead with a rubber mallet. His dad claiming, “I only turned away for a second!”.

Finally we were released with a clean bill of health, and while our nerves were still completely shot, we drove the 3.5 hours to Scottsdale to stay at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort & Villas for the night. Chuck was more than happy to collapse on the cool tile floor (there) with a bowl of ice water. We ordered carryout (that is what you have to do when you travel with a dog) and headed to bed. Luckily, Chuck now accepted that he was on a road-trip, so settled in next to our bed for the night. In the morning we attempted to play tennis, but it was 94 degrees outside at 8:30 in the morning so the game was short lived.

We set out for Tucson. On the way, we allowed Chuck to let off some steam at the Cosmo Dog Park. This dog park had an unnaturally greenish-blue lake for the dogs to swim in, and Chuck was more than happy to oblige (and then subsequently roll around on the beach to thoroughly cover himself in sand). It was all fun and games until the local dogs started to arrive and it was soon abundantly clear that our English Cream Golden Retriever did not fit in.

We stayed at the Westin La Paloma in Tucson that night. As it was June, and not a popular time to visit Tucson, a night here only cost us $150. Greg and Roy went for a swim, while Chuck sat and watched. The fact that they allowed Chuck on the pool deck took “dog friendly” to a whole other level.

In the morning, we left our resort and traveled to Saguaro National Park to admire the cacti (cactuses?) there. The giant saguaro is the universal symbol of the American west and found in, and around Tucson. We visited from the West Side of the park, and did very little walking as it was, again, quite hot.

Our next stop was Tombstone. Tombstone, the “Town Too Tough to Die”, is like an Old West Theme Park. At “high noon” in the middle of June, we basically had the place to ourselves. We explored this authentic town with its well preserved landmarks, took pictures outside the O.K. Corral, (but did not witness the staged “gun fight” because of the dog) and then strolled past the Bird Cage Theater. The Bird Cage Theatre opened on December 26, 1881 and was owned by Lottie and William “Billy” Hutchinson. Its one claim to fame is that the longest poker game in history (24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 8 years) was played here? Random.  

For Doug the most intriguing part of Tombstone was that (today), you are allowed to carry a gun without a license or permit, but back in the 1880s, when Billy The Kid, et. al. roamed the streets, you couldn’t. On our way out of town that afternoon, we stopped for a can of “World Famous Sarsaparilla” sold from a stand where the owner was, uh, very difficult to wake up. Once he was (awake) he insisted on us taking a picture with him and his dog. It was a little over a four hour drive to Las Cruces, NM, where we lodged that night at the Home2 Suites by Hilton, Alamogordo.

After spending the night in Las Cruces, we hopped back on I-10 heading East. Almost immediately we came across a sign advertising the World’s Largest Pistachio and Pistachioland, which obviously peaked my interest. It was perfect timing as Chuck needed to go potty. We stopped, purchased a plethora of Pistachios, and hit the road destined for White Sands National Park.

White Sands National Park, with its glistening white color, is one of the world’s great natural wonders. The name is confusing though, as it is not made of sand, but instead is the world’s largest gypsum dune-field. Gypsum is actually a clear substance; the dunes appear white because the gypsum grains are constantly banging into each other, and the subsequent scratches they receive reflect the sun’s rays making them appear a bright white. Unlike silica sand, gypsum doesn’t absorb heat from the sun, so even in June, the dunes are cool and comfortable to walk on. This made Chuck a very happy dog as he frolicked from dune to dune.

From White Sands, it was a long seven-hour drive to the town of Terlingua. Terlingua is on the border with Mexico and the closest “town” (I use this word loosely) to Big Bend National Park. This drive helped us to understand how vast our country truly is as there was just a whole lot of nothing. About an hour away from our destination, we came across a pretty intense thunderstorm. Thinking nothing of it, we continued on until we reached Terlingua, where we planned to grab something to eat. It was surprisingly crowded, so we instead opted to drive on to the Lajitas Golf Resort, our stop for the next two nights.

Checking in, I found the front desk to be a bit dark, but assumed that it just must be their vibe. They took my credit card, charged me, gave me our room key, and then proceeded to hand me two small lanterns. “uh… what are these for?”, I asked. It was only then that the front-desk girl informed me that the lightening (from the storm) had cut their power. Because of where we were, we now had to wait for the local power company to hike deep into the middle of nowere to fix the transformer. It could be fixed by the next day, or by the next week, no one had any idea. And now I had to go and explain this to my family.

It was raining, and getting dark, so we rushed over to the restaurant at the resort to order something to eat before it was too late. Then we took our food, and our lanterns, to our room, which we could barely make out. The style of the resort is described as “Old West History”, but I would describe it as haunted house like. To add insult to injury, the storms started up again, making it extra creepy. We debated sleeping in the minivan. After sitting outside listening to the pouring rain, thunder, and lightening, we resigned ourselves to returning to our room to attempt to fall asleep.

It was very warm that night and we did not have air conditioning (because we did not have power). Typically, we would have propped the door open, but with Chuck, that was not an option. Instead we suffered. Every hour or so, the power would flicker back on for about forty-five seconds, enough time for us to think, “yes, they did it!”, only to go out once more. Roy was the only one who slept that night. Chuck was particularly restless, waking up every hour or so to go outside and investigate (who knows what).

We woke up early the next morning with the sun shining but we still did not have power. We drove into Big Bend National Park and planned to hike the Boquillas Canyon Trail. Dogs are not allowed on this trail, but since we had only witnessed one other car in the entire park, we thought we would be okay. We started down the path, but because of the massive amounts of rain the night prior, we were going to have to forage a path across the Rio Grande to continue. Doug felt this would be way too risky, so we turned back. Not one to give up that easily, Greg waded into the Rio Grande just far enough to completely cover himself and his crocs in mud, before returning to the car.

We returned to the resort for a swim and a nap, and were pleased to find out that we now had power. That afternoon we had planned a horseback ride, but because none of us had the proper attire (pants) this didn’t happen. Instead we strolled down to the Rio Grande allowing Chuck to declare himself an international traveler by stepping his paw into Mexico. We then walked around our resort that evening, until Greg sat down on a bed of fire ants and all “heck” broke lose. Being seven hours from anywhere, there wasn’t much we could do for him, but I did get cell coverage long enough to read that dabbing toothpaste on the bites could lessen the pain and so that is what we did.

The next morning we packed up our things to make the eight hour drive to Boerne, Texas.  Boerne just happens to be the preferred location for those taking part in the mass exodus of California. I had reserved a several night stay at a “ranch” house on seven acres, in the hill country. The property also included five border collies  – perfect for Chuck and our two boys. Greg immediately took a liking to the tree swing and Roy declared, almost instantly, that he preferred “Suka” (one of the border collies) over Chuck. Chuck was just happy to finally be out of the car.

The next day we headed into San Antonio, stopping first to see the Alamo, a location we had last visited when Greg was still in diapers. From the Alamo we walked down to the Riverwalk, one of the most visited places in all of Texas. In a prior visit, we took the boys on a River Cruise, but skipped it this time, because the kids just wanted to get back to the tree swing and “Suka”.

Chuck woke up early on Saturday morning, bounded off the front porch, and charged the unsuspecting deer grazing on “his” property. He then tore things up with his five new best friends, before settling down for a rest in a mosquito infested mud puddle adjacent to the house. Chuck was clearly living his best life.

With that out of his system, we all loaded ourselves into “Big Pearl” and headed to Fredericksburg. En route we made a brief sojourn to Luckenbach, Texas, (population 3). Luckenbach is home to a historic dance hall (still in use every weekend), a General Store, and a bar. The latter of which provided both Roy and Greg a “dum dum” lollipop, which they cherished. We took several pictures, visited the kissing booth, and then continued on down the road to Enchanted Rock.

Enchanted Rock is magical, mystical, and apparently enchanted. It is a massive pink granite dome rising above Central Texas, that I have climbed many times before, but it was a first for Doug, Roy and Greg so I sent them up it while I hung back and entertained Chuck. (Dogs are not welcome.) We then strolled the streets of Fredericksburg and grabbed lunch at a German restaurant, where we shared a platter of German sausages. Our final stop before heading home was to “Stonehenge II”. I’m not really sure what brought us here, but the kids needed to go potty so we stopped.

The following day we went to Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels. Schlitterbahn is the “World’s Best Waterpark” and provides a staggering amount of attractions, but we mostly cycled through three of them because the lines were quite long. I had visited Schlitterbahn in the early 2000s, and could have sworn that the water was all river water but that is not the case today. If you go, be prepared for massive amounts of people.

That evening we retrieved the dog and headed to Guadalupe River State Park. We were still wearing our bathing suits, so planned on taking a dip in the water alongside all the majestic old bald cypress trees. Chuck did that as well, and then took off chasing a pack of birds, which was a lot of fun for him, just not for us. When we were leaving the park we got to see a real live armadillo. Mind blown.

On Monday, we went tubing down the Comal River sans Chuck. The Comal River is 100% Spring Fed, so it is crystal clear, and a balmy 72 degrees year round. We did our best to stay completely out of the water. The float trip was mostly flat, but there was a “tube chute” towards the beginning that really got our adrenaline pumping – particularly when we thought we had lost Greg. There is definitely a “party atmosphere” on the river, so it was great for people watching and educating the kids on what not to do. On our way home that night we stopped in Gruene for a scoop of “Big Red Soda” flavored ice cream which was absolutely delightful. Big Red soda is a Lone Star staple which (to me) tastes like bubblegum, but is really a combination of lemon and orange oil, with a hint of vanilla.

Next on our agenda was a visit to Pedernales Falls State Park. This Park is a 5,212-acre state park situated along the banks of the Pedernales River in Blanco County, Texas. Flowing over and around huge slabs of limestone, the Pedernales River can be quite turbulent, but for our visit, was almost dry as a bone. We did a lot of “rock hopping” and checking out of the various tidal pools. We grabbed authentic Mexican Food in Blanco on our way home – and sampled a Mexican Coke.

Later that night Chuck stepped on a scorpion. He bounded out the door in the dark, then leaped back with a yelp. I got my flashlight and low and behold, there it was. We watched him for an hour or so and nothing happened, so we let it go. The only other box we hadn’t checked on this trip was a snake bite. But we still had time!

Our final day in Texas was spent at Jacobs Well and Blue Hole. Both required a pass, that I had purchased months in advance as they sell out. Jacob’s Well, an artesian spring, is a favorite summing spot in Wimberley and also the head waters to Cypress Creek. The water is supplied to the spring by the Trinity aquifer, 140 feet below the surface and the water remains a consistent 68 degrees. There is a cave to explore for professional divers (which we are not), so instead we just leaped from the rocks to the water below.

Nearly Blue Hole Regional Park is a natural, spring-fed swimming hole lined with the iconic Cypress Trees. Here we enjoyed swimming in the crystal clear water, and swinging from the famous rope swings. It was a quintessential Texas experience.

After almost two weeks, we loaded up Big Pearl one last time to set off for home. We planned to make the trip in three days, but did it in two instead, driving fifteen hours the first day and sleeping in Flagstaff, AZ. Our only stop of any significance was in Roswell and at The International UFO Museum And Research Center. The Museum accepts dogs, so Chuck got to see the aliens as well.