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!

View from the Back - Cranes Mill Park, Canyon Lake

Cranes Mill at Canyon Lake

We had a better spot reserved with a view of the lake but when we changed our reservations, that space was booked for part of our visit.  But we didn't mind this view at all.  The whole park is beautiful and each space has a different and a beautiful view.

Dinner with Friends

Mac and Consuelo were there the week Kirby and I met in Mexico and we have been fortunate to see them a few times through the years.  They live in New Brunfels, TX, which is near Canyon Lake so they came for a visit yesterday!  What fun to see them.

Our friends Michael and Dar are still here at the park with us also and Kirby grilled Chorizo Burgers for everyone.

Today we are off for Lake Buchanan and my friends from high school!

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.

Like It or Not, We Are In Houston!

This is the view out the back of our rig.  I don't know how Kirby did it but he got us parked in this very crowded space!

We are in a town called League City, TX.  It is just part of the sprawl of Houston.  We have always had a hard time liking Houston but for us there was a big draw and we had no choice but to be here.  Our very dear friend, Virginia, lives here and we just had to see her.  No choice in the matter.  She is a very important person in our lives so here we are in the middle of urban sprawl!

We are sitting at Space Center RV Park.  Not a first choice - but the only choice if we wanted to be anywhere near our friend.  The little roadways/alleys are very narrow but the spaces are unbelievably narrow.  The people next to us have their slides out and we are only about 8 feet from their slide.  And there are many people here - it is packed.  Lots and lots of people LIVE here as permanent residents.  I don't know how they can stand it.  But on the upside, the management was very nice, helpful and friendly.  The showers and bathrooms are individual, not a wide open free for all.  And - the laundry was the least expensive we have seen!  So of course I had to do a couple of loads today.  Oh, and no mud!!!!!  Yea!  Paved and grass!  Love that!

So, yesterday, after getting settled in, we found our way to Virginia's Assisted Living home and spent some time there with her before bringing her back here so that she could see our new lifestyle.  We first me Virginia when we were all in Mazatlan, Mexico on our boats back in the 90's.  Then when we lived in San Diego, she and her husband, Jay, (deceased) lived in the Baja of Mexico and we got together regularly.  When Jay passed away, Virginia moved to Texas to be near her family.

Ah, and then supper time found us at a wonderful Mexican Restaurant!  Lupe Tortilla Mexican Restaurant may not be THE very BEST but let me tell you, for us former SoCal folks, it was awesome and then some!! After living in South Carolina for almost 6 years we were in dire need of good Mexican food.  We both ate way too much but I didn't care!

This is me with Virginia.  I love her so much!

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.

View From the Back

This is the view out the back window here at Hidden Oaks.  They rent out cabins - like the blue one on stilts above.  And just beyond that line of trees, you can't see it, but there is a small lake and we watched people fishing there all day long.

We are still in Hammond, LA at the Hidden Lakes Family Campground.  It is so lovely here and we are enjoying relaxing.  Yesterday we spent a couple of hours down at the river with our chairs and our Kindles.  The birds are very noisy and make for some nice music along with the slowly moving waters rippling over the rocks.  I think we needed this.

We did get some chores done – Kirby scrubbed the roof and I cleaned indoors.  I can’t believe the dust that collects and how fast!  Of course having a 60 pound dog may have something to do with it.

Today Ray and Lucy are going to be our tour guides and we are going into New Orleans.  They are locals and know NOLA like the backs of their hands.  Ray said he can get us around with his eyes closed – well, not literally!  So – off to begin this new day!

Just a Movin' On

After 2 1/2 weeks we left Meridian, MS behind us and headed south on Hwy 59 towards New Orleans.  We will miss the family at Bonita Lakes RV Park.  Beverly McDevitt and her son, Kelly, were awesome in taking care of us and made a point to come over and wish us well as we hitched up to go yesterday morning.  Thank you to the whole staff there for taking such good care of us!

So we drove a little less than 4 hours and are now parked in a beautiful lush green park in Hammond, LA.  We really enjoyed our drive yesterday with all the trees leafing out and the first wild flowers of the season growing beside the road.  And we are really enjoying the green grass of Hidden Oaks Family Campground and the big towering trees all around us.

Our friends Lucy and Ray are here with us too!  The reason they are here is sad news but being together is awesome.  We were going to meet up in Texas but they had a family emergency here in Louisiana so we decided to rendezvous right here for a couple of days.  They will be busy with family but we will get to see each other some and will enjoy each moment.

After arriving yesterday (within 30 minutes of each other, I might add)  the four of us immediately set off in search of some of Louisiana's famous food.  Being locals, they know where to go and where to find the good places to eat.  Their favorite place only serves lunch until 3:00 and we just missed that but they knew of another awesome place in Covington.  The Chimes was a perfect choice.  Beautiful, great food and right on the bayou!

Kirby and Ray - friends for over 20 years!

Ray and Lucy both got an oyster Po' Boy which they said was one of the best ever!

We hadn't been out to eat in several weeks and besides that, I was starved.  I ordered the Jalapeno Bacon Burger and my, oh, my but it was good!

This was the view off the back porch of The Chimes.  Beautiful!!

Day One of Month Two

Today is the first day of the second month of my retirement.  I think I should celebrate or something.  Retirement has been really great.  Sorry all you folks that I used to work with but I don't miss SRC at all.  I do miss you but not the job!  I am loving my life!

But that is not to say that it is all roses and wonderful things.  Right now as we sit in our RV in Meridian, MS, there is a trailer parked next to us that came in yesterday.  I feel like I am in a first floor apartment with someone over my head.  It is really weird but they have a least one small child over there and when he/she runs (which is constant) the booming takes us right back to apartment/condo living.  Explain that to me!

I expected not to have stress in my life but we have had so much of it, I might as well still be working.  Of course some of my stress is self induced and wouldn't bother someone else at all.  Kirby has done a great job of pulling the 5th wheel, changing lanes, merging and all of that.  But because I am not in control, I get to be the one stressing over it - and I have to keep my mouth shut!

We have learned so much over the past 2 or 3 months!  OH, my, I didn't realize how little I did know!  I have started a list of Lesson's Learned and it is a very interesting little list!  And it is just for me!

You should have seen us up at Lake Hartwell.  We could have entertained a great audience but luckily there were no other RV'ers there.  The pull-through that I reserved was way too short for our long rig.  Finally Kirby ended up pulling all the way through and then backing up.  It was very narrow also so that made it even more stressful as I watched him (him being in control and me just an onlooker).  He didn't think it was a big deal.  Oh, how I miss being in control, which I was when I worked!  But of course I am not willing to learn to drive the rig!

Traveling through Atlanta is way high on the stress list.  It is one of the worst cities in the country to drive in and there we were!  But, no mishaps, no missed freeway changes, everything went perfectly.

At the top of the list of course was when we got stuck in the sink hole.  That one even made me cry and want to sell the RV!!  Having things break in our brand new rig has been a big disappointment.  We have day and night shades that are really, really cool - until the strings break.  One is completely ruined and the next is on the way.  We need to get some string and learn to fix them as it is obvious that this is going to a constant in our lives.

Ah, but the good does out-weigh the bad.  I love being in new places.  I love seeing beautiful parks and having new views out my windows.  I love meeting new people.  I really adore spending each day with the man that I love.  I married him because I enjoy his company so much and when I was working I didn't get to see him often enough.  We have such fun together.  And I love my home and living in a small space.  I have everything that I need right here! I can get the whole place cleaned up in not too much time at all.

It will be fun to see where my 2nd month of retirement takes us and what kind of adventures we will have!

Other RV Blogs

Good Morning!

I have added another feature to my blog.  On the right hand side I am going to list blogs that I read from other folks who are out there doing what we are doing....running around the country having fun in their RV.  Sometimes my reading is limited by our internet plan and other times I can get on the free internet provided by the parks and read them all.  My list will grow when I find blogs that I like!

Have a good day!!

Out There

There we are with our bicycles on the back.  I feel like we are living in an RV Sales Yard!  At least we have a cement pad which helps so much with the dirt and we have free cable for the first time.

 When was the last time you watched “Captain Ron”?  We watched just recently for the umpteenth time and enjoyed and laughed just as much as every other time.  My favorite quote from the movie is, “Well, Skipper, if it’s gonna happen, it’ll happen out there.”  And sure enough it did.

We were all set to leave Meridian – we had picked up a few items from the store and washed the rig and the truck.  And then the rain came.  Did you read about the horrible rains in Mississippi and Alabama and the winds and hail?  We were lucky here in Meridian – we only got the rains.  Lots of rain and a bit of small hail.

So on Tuesday we hitched up and departed for our next stop.  But, we didn’t even get out of the RV Park. Did I mention that it had rained the night before?  Well, this soil is pretty weird.  What looked like a little puddle was a sink hole and we sunk almost up to the axle – over a foot and a half! The rig was leaning at such an angle I was certain the slightest movement would tip it over.  It was a very unfun experience and this morning my back and shoulders are stiff and sore from the stress.  It took about 2 1/2 hours but they managed to finally get us out. (I couldn’t watch so I waited in the office) They tried to use the back bumper even when Kirby told them it was not strong enough and they bent the bejeebers out of it.  The folks here at the RV Park are being wonderful about the whole thing. They are paying for everything with a smile.  If it weren't such an ugly place it would be fantastic. So we are working on getting the new bumper.  Since they are paying we want to remain here until it is fixed and we don't have any idea when that will be.

Redeeming Qualities

Life would be pretty miserable if we couldn’t always find some sunshine amid the clouds.  We have found 2 major redeeming qualities in Meridian, Mississippi.

This is a picture of the office here at the park.  Quaint?  Is that the word I am looking for?  Friendly works!  Very friendly folks!

 First is the staff here at the park.  Beverly is the manager and she is a sweetheart – they don’t come any nicer - a true southern lady.  She was so supportive of me when I was having my crying episode yesterday.  I really appreciated her kindness.  And everyone worked so hard to get us out of the mud, shoveling the goo being the worst of it.

The second redeeming quality is the Bonita Lakes Park which is just across the main road from us.  We went today and checked it out.  We had walked half way around the lake when we saw a sign that said, NO DOGS.  So we finished on the street.  But we have found picnic areas all over the place (where dogs can go), beautiful trees and ducks and geese.  Now we just need nice weather so we can have picnics.

We have no idea how long we will be here.  One week, two weeks?  Who knows so we need to settle in and make it home.