Lizards and Rivers

Our trip to Junction, TX was short and uneventful.  We traveled the backroads and enjoyed the desert vistas of west Texas.  We are staying at a lovely RV park called Junction Llano River RV Park.  The management was the best we have run into and the park is just so nice.  Being as how we are in the desert, we didn’t expect any green but that is OK, these browns are just fine as the park has great character and the diligent maintenance is obvious.  We don’t have wi-fi though as Junction is so remote.  But it is a charming town and we enjoyed checking it out.

This was the view out the back.  You can almost see the river. 

The Llano River runs right behind our back window so we took Jake down to see if he would like the water.  I don’t think he has any lab in him at all.  I did coax him into the water – maybe 2 inches!  He just had no interest.  But we had fun skipping some rocks and enjoying such a different atmosphere from our home in South Carolina.  We have hills here!  We have sky and fresh water streams.  And the air is so dry.  It is also hot.  April 15^th and it is 97 degrees out.

 As soon as I finish writing this we are going to get a cold drink and go sit in our private pergola.

Land of the Bluebonnet

The Bluebonnets of Texas

The Hill Country of Texas is so colorful this time of year.  There are bluebonnets and other wildflowers all along the side of the road.

We left Canyon Lake for the short drive up to Lake Buchanan where we were planning on visiting some friends.  I went to high school with Annette more years ago than I can remember and we found each other again about 15 years ago.  She and her husband Billy live on Inks Lake in a beautiful waterfront home.

Me with my dear friend, Annette

 Once we got settled into Big Chief RV Park, (which was one of our least favorite places) they came and got us and toured us all over the area.  We stopped for lunch at the Tamale King.  Oh, my, the food there was out of this world.  Certainly not a place I would have stopped without knowing about it but  Kirby and I were in Mexican Food Heaven!

Lake LBJ

 I had no idea there were so many people in the Hill Country.  Such gorgeous homes and so much water.  I can see why it is such a popular place and a great vacation destination.

This is just a part of the view from Annette and Billy's back terrace

After all of that touring we returned to their lovely home for a pitcher of Kirby’s special Margaritas and sat out on their porch to watch the sunset together.  Thank you Annette and Billy for such a wonderful day exploring your world!

They have "pet" geese and ducks that they feed daily.  Jake loved them!

Kirby and Billy inspecting one of Billy's toys.

They have huge catfish in that lake.  Billy has a light under the water and feeds them at night.  What fun it was to watch them swarm!

Canyon Lake, Texas

This was the view from our campsite.

Finally we feel that we are in a different area.  Gone are the swamps, the marshes, the bugs and the humidity.  In its place is the crisp dry morning air, the cactus and the hills.  We are in the southern end of the Texas Hill Country at a Corp of Engineers park at Canyon Lake and it is wonderful!  We are enjoying the arid country – such a change after living in the south for so many years.  Big sky here.  Maybe we are just lucky with our timing – but there are no bugs.  We are spending a lot of time outdoors which pleases Jake. 

Each day we have taken bike rides around the park with our friends Dar and Michael who live in the Austin area and have come here in their motorhome to visit with us.  There are a lot of deer and we had them running all around us.  It was thrilling to watch them so close as they leaped though the brush.  (the bike rides give us better nights sleep also!)

We have had lots of cocktail hour and lots of food.  I am stuffed!  The space we were assigned has a large picnic table with a shelter and we have really enjoyed that.

We have to leave tomorrow as we are running so far behind schedule.  But we will certainly come back to this lovely place!!

This part of the park is for tent camping.  I love these trees.

Beaumont, TX

This is our current view out the back window.  Nice big Texas sky!

We drove on to Beaumont, TX yesterday.  Beaumont is at the far eastern end of the state very near Louisiana.  It seems like a nice little city and the fact that it is in Texas has to mean something.  I spent most of my childhood in Texas and still feel a deep love for the state.

We made good time even though the roads at times were miserable.  Shook the heck out of us and our rig. ( I am wondering if we will find this all the way to Arizona.)  I think that the trucks that move the country might be causing it or maybe is it just the lack of money for maintenance.  Possibly we should keep some of our money in our country to repair our roads rather than give it to other countries.  Novel approach don't you think?  Anyway, Interstate 10 reminded us of our travels in Mexico.

We arrived here at Hidden Lake RV Park about 1:45, got all set up and headed off in search of a grocery store.  The nice lady in the office sent us to HEB and wow, what a lovely big store it was.  And - the price of wine!  Wow, much better than South Carolina and much, much better than Mississippi where the prices were through the roof!  I think I might have to drink more wine while in Texas!

I did a couple loads of laundry here also as it was almost half what I have been paying.  Nice clean facilities and cheap.  I HAD to do some!

Allergies are bad here - my eyes are so sore and swollen.  I was hoping it would get better but guess I will have to wait for Arizona which is not too far off.

We are off for Houston in a couple of hours!  Just hope we don't get stuck there with the rain and winds that are expected.