What is the Worst Place You have Visited?

Not long ago, a new friend was asking for travel advice. We're used to question like, "What's the favorite place you have visited so far?" We always struggle with an answer because we have been blessed to see so many great places in the last two years. We are also amazed at the neat places we have found when we weren't even expecting it.

Then our new friends asked a unique question, "What is the worst place you have visited?" That's another tough question, as we always seem to find something fun to do wherever we land. But then Denisa remembered our stay two years ago in Van Horn, Texas. This tiny town along I-10 has a multitude of hotels and RV Parks for an easy overnight option traveling through west Texas. But they don't seem to have anything to tempt you to stay for more than one night. 

We stopped here to do our taxes two years ago, because we needed a place so boring that we wouldn't be tempted to leave the motor home until we got them filed. Van Horn completely fit the bill. There is no hiking, no waters to kayak, no biking trails. The town museum was free, and worth every penny. So we told our new friends that Van Horn, Texas was the worst place we have visited.

Guess where we are now?!?! Welcome to Van Horn! In our search for some warmer weather, we landed here at the same RV park we visited two years ago along I-10. Actually, Desert Willow RV is a great park with full hook-ups, 50 amp power, free wifi, and cable TV for a bargain price. We even have a view of the mountain range just south of town.

With full hook-ups, we got caught up on the laundry that has been stacking up since we left Mission, Texas.

We planned to visit Guadalupe Mountains National Park--about an hour's drive to the north. But with temperatures AND winds in the 30's, we decided not to make the trip to the mountains where it is even colder and windier.

So we are getting good experience in how to prepare the motor home for cold temperatures at night. Mark drained the water lines, disconnected the water and sewer hoses, and turned off the ice maker with its tiny water line. We kept the slides in so we have less space to heat and have less open wall space to get exposed to the cold. We don't run our electric heat pumps with their venting in the ceiling. Instead, we are running our propane heaters with floor vents that also warm the bays where our water lines are hiding. With night-time temperatures in the 20's, this is the most serious cold spell we've run into since we've been full-timing. We even bought a thermometer at the Van Horn hardware store with a remote sensor. Now we can monitor the temperature in our water bay where many of our water pipes run.

As you can see, running our propane heater is keeping the temperature in the water bay at a balmy 39.2.

When we thought the weather couldn't get worse, it even started snowing big white snowflakes one evening!

So we enjoyed another day of rest and relaxation, glad to have HBO--compliments of the RV Park's cable system. We aren't movie-watchers, so we can always find movies that we haven't seen before. We watched "The Intern" and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" just a couple years behind the rest of the world! In between the two movies, we ate at the highly recommended local restaurant--Lizy's.

So we no longer consider Van Horn, Texas, as the worst place we have visited. It obviously couldn't be the worst place if we chose to return! It's actually our favorite place--to get things done and relax.