Early Wednesday
morning, 18FEB, we departed Houma, LA, after saying goodbye to Joe & Tasha;
with Ed & Elaine following us in their car.
Since Ed & Elaine were here to visit & sightsee, the question
was where to go in Texas & how far to drive the first day? Since we needed to renew our Texas vehicle
registrations & get our vehicles inspected by Texas, we headed to
Livingston, TX; planning to spend two nights there, giving us all of Thursday
to get everything done. See below BLOG
link for our last visit here.
After six hours on
the road we arrived at Escapees Rainbow’s End RV park, & Ed & Elaine
continued to their motel in Livingston. Rainbow’s
End is the National HQ for Escapees RV Club that we belong to. Our yearly visits allows us to renew our
membership, update our mail forwarding service, & keep the vehicles
registered. After setting up camp Dan
headed to the DMV in the Toad & got new vehicle stickers for the RV &
the Toad.
Dan then went to the
vehicle inspection facility & learned that because of changes in the law, our
vehicles were exempt from inspection for one year. And next year it will be one stop for both
items, & one sticker on the windshield instead of two? So we didn’t need to stay for two nights
& could leave now. But everyone was
still a little tired from the last three days in Houma; & Corrie is still
not feeling 100%, so we decided to just stay & relax before getting back on
the road.
Thursday we headed
into Huntsville, TX, with Ed & Elaine for a walk about. The real reason for our sightseeing was to
have a BBQ lunch at the New Zion Missionary Baptist Church’s Barbecue open
Thursday to Saturday only, from 11AM to 5PM.
Although we arrived soon after opening, the very small place was filled
with a 20 person group tour; but we got our food in about 20 minutes. We were last here at this nationally
recognized BBQ establishment in 2008 (see below BLOG link). Dan thought it was sad that they now use a
modern digital controlled smoker over the old fifty gallon drums they used to
us, but the BBQ is still excellent! Then
it was back to Livingston for some short naps before re-gathering at the RV for
cribbage. Dinner was at Popeye’s which
Ed & Elaine had never been to before.
Friday morning the
plan was to get an early start at 8AM, but when the RV key was turned – absolutely
nothing! First thing Dan tried was
jumping the starting batteries – still nothing! Corrie then headed to the RV park office to
find if there were any RV mechanics in the local area that would make service
calls? There was only one shop, but they
said they were too busy. But Corrie
convinced them to send a mechanic who found a defective starting solenoid. He didn’t fix it, just hit it with wrench
& we were on our way at 9:30AM; with Ed & Elaine following us in their
car. Down the road Dan noted a one of
our air tanks was at zero pressure; but determined the gauge must be bad,
because zero pressure means the brakes would lock up – oh well? The traffic from Houston to San Antonio was
nothing but crazies; & at one point we witnessed a semi lock up his brakes
& jackknife his rig just missing several cars. We all finally made it to Kerrville, TX, for a
light dinner & more cribbage.
Early Saturday
morning Corrie was still very ill, so it was off to the local “clinic” to see a
Doctor; followed by picking up a prescription.
The decision was then made for her to stay home, while Dan took Ed &
Elaine to his sister Sharon & husband Tim’s house. Followers of our BLOG know we see them once
or twice a year as we pass thru Texas on I-10 heading to or from the Pacific
Northwest. (see the first BLOG link
above for our last visit) After visiting
a little at Tim & Sharon’s, the five of us took the very scenic route to
the Alamo Springs Café in a remote/hard to find location outside Fredericksburg,
TX, for burgers where “Anybody is Nobody”!
After that it was short drive to Luckenbach, TX, where “Everybody’s
Somebody”! By late afternoon it was back
to the RV where Corrie was still feeling ill.
Sunday, 22FEB,
Corrie was still really under the weather, so Dan took Ed & Elaine to Fredericksburg
for sightseeing. First stop was the Old
German Bakery for pastry. Followed by a
walkabout of Fredericksburg. To Dan the
town has changed significantly from his last visit in 2010 (see below BLOG
link); now most of the town is devoted to art galleries, high end boutique
tourist shops (some closed on Sunday), & wine bars? Next up was a German lunch at Der Lindenbaum
(but it says Lindenbain on the receipt???), the restaurant still only takes
AMEX? Then it was back to the RV &
hotel to just do nothing. That evening
Ed & Elaine come back to RV for a grilled hamburger dinner & no cards.
Monday morning we
awake to freezing weather & drizzle; Corrie is still sick & makes an
afternoon doctor appointment. Meanwhile
Dan, Ed & Elaine head toward San Antonio to do a little shopping. First stop was Costco; followed by lunch &
shopping at Pro Bass; last stop was Javelina Harley Davidson. That evening we all got back together &
opted for Chinese food at Soaring Dragon followed by more cribbage.
Tuesday we all
decided to not do anything until after lunch.
Corrie feeling better ran a few errands & Dan got the necessary
“starting” part for the RV. After lunch
Ed & Elaine joined us (including Corrie) for some sightseeing in the local
area. First stop was Camp Verde. We haven’t been here in over seven years (see
below BLOG link); & the place has definitely expanded but much of the
general store “feel” has been lost & it carries mostly boutique tourist
items now. Camp Verde was followed by
Dave’s Place (aka Backdoor Pottery & Botanical Gardens) at Center Point. Dave’s unique to say the least, being a combination
bar, pottery shop, green house, exotic bird sanctuary, etc. The below BLOG link also has our first visit
to Dave’s. After our first visit we
returned later that week for Dave & Shelley’s wedding on 10NOV07! Last stop was a walk about in the town of Comfort.
In Comfort is a little known National Monument we discovered
during our first RV trip in the summer/fall of 2004. “The German language Treue der Union
Monument (loyalty to the Union), is located in the Kendall County community of Comfort in the U.S. state of Texas.
It was dedicated on August 10, 1866 to
commemorate those who died at the 1862 Nuances Massacre. Thirty-four were killed, some executed after
being taken prisoner. With the exception
of those drowned in the Rio Grande, the remains of the deceased are buried at the site of the
monument. It is the only monument to the
Union on formerly Confederate soil, and only the sixth mass-grave burial site
to fly the American flag at half-staff in perpetuity. Designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
in 1968, Marker Number 15. Added to the National Register of Historic
Places listings in Texas November 29, 1978.”
Early that evening we
all met Sharon & Tim at the Grape Juice Restaurant for dinner – excellent! After dinner Tim & Sharon came by the RV
to visit.
Wednesday, 25MAR,
Corrie awakens back under the weather, the decision is made to take the day
easy until we get together for steak night in Bandera, TX, at the 11th
Street Cowboy Bar. Dan starts prepping the
RV for tomorrow’s departure. He soon discovers
one rear tire pressure cannot be checked? A&A Tire sends out a service truck &
discovers the tire valve stem is bad, problem solved! In the afternoon Ed & Elaine come by the
RV & we all head off to Bandera, TX, for a walkabout & steak night (see
below BLOG about steak night). We then
meet Sharon & Tim at the 11th Street Cowboy Bar; & at 6PM
the giant BBQ’s were going strong & the band was playing. Once again showing our age, we all called it
a night at 7:30PM. Upon our return to
the RV we said a tearful goodbye to Ed & Elaine, since tomorrow morning they
will head north to Canada & we will head west.
