Bummin’ Around Texas (11-19-14)

San Antonio was next on our list of places to visit. The weather has not been all that pleasant, with some rain and temperatures dipping into the 30s so we keep moving, hoping for something better.  Whenever the weather did cooperate, we took advantage and spent the time outside.








A couple of the old missions, built in the 1700s, are within walking distance of the RV Park we were staying in, which has been handy- it’s nice to have a destination in mind when we go for a walk.



Some parts of the missions are still in ruins, and some have been restored, like this chapel at Mission Concepcion.


 

Of course no visit to San Antonio is complete without a trip to the Riverwalk. 

In between all the history lessons and walking, the 4 of us have just been…..bummin’ around, hanging out and trying not to eat too much!

When we looked at the weather forecast, our plans for Thanksgiving week changed.  We realized we are not far enough south and in an attempt to outrun the cold weather, we decided to head to Big Bend National Park next week.



 
That still left us with a few days to bum around so we headed next to San Marcos, a good jumping off point for visiting numerous hill country towns.

One of those towns is Gruene (pronounced “Green”).  With a historic downtown full of eating and drinking establishments, it was our kind of place! 

When you add in some decent weather, wine and beer tasting and a great outdoor venue for live music,  it makes for an awesome day.

Intermingled with the fun, there are always chores to do.  Mike and Paul took the time to load up both trucks with firewood.  Most of our time over the next 3 months will be spent in the desert, without much opportunity for firewood purchasing, so we took advantage while we can.

Tomorrow we start the 3 day trek to Big Bend National Park- one of my favorite places!

 

 

Salado, TX (11-09-14)

Salado  is a very small town in the state of TX but it has two things going for it as far as we are concerned.



  First is that they have an annual Scottish Festival with Highland Games, and second, our friends Mike and Julie agreed to meet us there.

We haven’t seen Mike and Julie since February, so we had a lot to catch up on. The biggest thing (literally) was their new rig, which is the sister ship to our Mobile Suites.  Its the same floor plan, but with the many changes and upgrades that come with a model 3 years newer.

Its a gorgeous home and we've already shared several meals at the kitchen table!

We all arrived just in time for the festival, which started with a parade, complete, of course with pipe and drum bands.

Once lunch was out of the way ( A very tasty Shepherd’s Pie), we were free to watch the games and listen to the music.

One of the more traditional games is the Caber Toss.  The contestant runs with the pole…















and tosses it in the air.  It has to flip over, end over end, in order to count.












It makes no difference how far he tosses it, only that it flips and how straight it lands.

The final event was a Tattoo- a sampling of music from the day.  By that time it was getting dark and we were ready to call it a night.

Once the festival was over, we decided to move over to San Antonio for a few days.

On a housekeeping note, the small projects continue:

Paul has replaced the door knobs on the bedroom and bathroom doors.  The innards were starting to rattle and he was afraid that one day soon we would get locked in.  He also shortened the shades to one of the windows. He sure does like to be busy!

El Paso (11-06-14)

I don’t know where the last week went, but it’s gone, that’s for sure.  We have been visiting with Paul’s mom in El Paso.




She usually puts together a short list of projects that she would like help with while we are in town, which is good for Paul because he likes to stay busy.














While Paul was occupied, Dozer helped my with my projects.  I got caught up on my paperwork and organized my pictures.

I have also started back up with my genealogy research and recently  made contact with an 81 year old priest, who is my third cousin once removed. He has a lot of family history information and has even written a 200 page “book” outlining the family tree.  He was nice enough to send it to me.  Now I have a lot of work to do!

Actually, he and I are related on both my mother and my father’s side of the family which makes the connection even more fun!



Just like with a house, the trailer has wear and tear issues and needs occasional updating. On the way into El Paso, Paul noticed that the airbags in the hitch that keep the trailer riding smoothly had lost their air.  We can travel without them but prefer not to go too far.

Once he pulled it apart, he could see that the airbags had worn through.  We ordered new ones, and the company who makes the hitch is sending us an upgraded “bed” for the airbags to sit in so they won’t rub.

After spending the summer with AGM batteries in the camper, I knew it was just a matter of time before we upgraded the batteries in the trailer. 
Having dealt with batteries on an ongoing basis on our boats, we long ago instituted a “battery rule”.  We don’t mess around- once a battery doesn’t seem to be holding a charge, out it goes.  Well, that time has come, and the old batteries are out, and new AGM batteries are in. Well, one is in.  Sam’s Club only had one, so we still need a second one.

Both Arizona and Texas have spectacular sunsets and we were treated to some awesome ones while we were in El Paso.