Tuesday November 3-Moving Day-Stephen F. Austin State Park to Johnson Creek Resort, Ingram TX

It was very foggy this morning but we were all up and ready to go pretty early this morning. We were way a little after 9 and soon on the highway heading west to Ingram, which is a small place near Kerrville.

The cloudy and foggy morning makes photos difficult to do well. In the foreground is Dave and Nancy's Big Country. Behind them is Mike and Peg's new Bighorn and behind them is our Landmark. The white unit on the right is Lin and Debbie's Landmark. George decided to leave before us and said he knew the way to the park.

Remember what I said yesterday about the jungle-like condition of the park? The grass is long and shaggy outside the actual sites and there are several dead trees nearby.

Here we are, taking our lunch break at the Buccee's in Luling. Everyone loves Buccee's for their clean restrooms, their food and their shopping experience. They have just about anything you could want in their stores and their fuel prices are usually the best in the area.

After lunch, we continued on down the road, making good time and I thought to myself that this trip was certainly going well. We had made it through Houston with no problem and skirted San Antonio on Loop 1402 and were soon to arrive at our destination. About 12 miles from Kerrville, I heard the dreaded BOOM and saw rubber flying from the right side of the trailer. Oh no, a blowout! I quickly pulled over along with my friends and went to check out the damage. Luckily for us, we suffered little physical damage to the trailer and of course, the tire is ruined, but we have road hazard warranty from Discount Tire. We'll go see them tomorrow to see about coverage. It only took Dave, Lin, Mike and me to get the tire changed out and we were again on our way. 

There had been some discussion on the route to take to get to the park. Stella and I have never been here but Mike said he has, so we finally decided on the route we were now taking. I followed the GPS directions, which had been verified by both the address and the GPS coordinates, but we drove down a very narrow road to a dead-end at an RV park. The problem was, this is the wrong park! Wow, how did this happen? After lots of discussion among ourselves and consultations with GPS units, we decided that we could wind around through the neighborhood and get to the right park. We made it through the hood and over some deep dips in the roads. The last obstacle was a hairpin turn to get to the exit road. Mike and Dave successfully made the turn, but Lin hung the rear cap of his trailer on a landscape timber and tore the cap off the trailer while breaking the back window. Big whoops!

After finally getting around the corner we pulled over to survey the damage to Lin's trailer. We decided to secure the cap as best we could do and continue on the to RV park for the night. He will call his insurance agent to see what they want to do to make repairs. We used good old duct tape to close up the cap and limped on into Johnson Creek RV Resort, our home for the next few days.

This park is nice and has won honors for best small park in Texas as well as having won a 10-10-10 rating from Woodalls. That pretty well makes this place as good as it gets in Texas. We are looking forward to our stay here and the last rally of the season.

We hope tomorrow is better than today has been!

So long.

Moving day-November 2-Cajun RVera to Stephen F. Austin State Park, San Felipe TXh

A group of us that were in New Iberia LA for the rally there are going to the rally in Ingram, so we decided to convoy down together. We started out this morning with five of us, Stella and I, Mike and Peg, Dave and Nancy, George and Lin and Deb. We got away right on time, about 9AM, and after a short but bumpy drive down Louisiana Hwy. 90, we made it to I-10 west bound for Texas. Actually Interstate 10 wasn't bad in Louisiana and we made good time. We stopped for a break at the Texas Welcome Center just after crossing the border into Texas. We stopped for lunch at Buccee's in Baytown and Lin bought some fuel while there for $1.91 a gallon, a great price!

I had convinced the rest of the unbelievers that Houston traffic wouldn't be too bad at this time of day, and luckily I was proven right. We breezed through without slowing down and we pulled into the Stephen F. Austin state park about 4. The main road into the park is closed down due to the replacement of the bridge into the park. The park still looks terrible to us with high grass and downed trees and tree limbs but I guess they like the "natural" look. 

Mike & Peg and Lin and Debbie chose to stay home and eat but the rest of us went to one of Stella's favorites, Orlando's Pizza in Brookshire. After finishing our meal, we discussed the world problems which we were able to solve and it was time to return home to rest for another trip tomorrow. 

So long.

Wednesday October 28, 2015-Cajun RVera RV Park

A group of us went to Avery Island to tour the Tabasco factory and the rest of the island. 

The front door entrance to the factory for the tour. We went through with a group or about 30 people, which was much larger than the tour we took before but it wasn't a problem, just a bit ore crowded.

The entrance to the gift shop. They sell everything imaginable that is related to Tabasco from clothing to ice cream. I tried most of the flavors of Tabasco including some new flavors, both ice creams-both delicious, but didn't get to try the Coke with a Tabasco flavor. The lady attendant disappeared before I could ask for it.

This photo is really about the factory building behind this display. The building appears to be original but they are making some new additions using bricks which look the same as these, so I'm not sure.

This is the restaurant where we had lunch. The huge oak tree in front is just one of many on the island. 

Another shot of this huge tree. 

One of several alligators that we saw sunning itself along one of the ponds. 

Another gator by the pond.

I got out of the truck to see this one a little closer. 

I walked around this one a lot and he kept his eyes on me the whole time. Just after this picture, he jumped into the water. Maybe I frightened him?

This is a shrine that contains a centuries-old Buddha figure inside.

Buddha

This is one of two elephant figures beside the Buddha house.  People have left change on the trays on the elephant's back as a wishing well.

I was interested in the landscaping around the Buddha house. There is no telling how much labor was involved in stacking the rocks and grading the terraces.

These are bird nesting areas for the egrets that come to this area. I am told that alligators are plentiful under these, trying to find any young birds that fall into the water.

This area is another alligator nesting area. We were disappointed that we didn't see any large gators or any other wildlife. Otherwise, we enjoyed our visit to Avery Island and now we have a reason to return.

So long.

Tuesday October 27, 2015-Moving Day-Bluebonnet Ridge RV Park to Cajun RVera, New Iberia LA

We had made arrangements with Dave and Nancy to meet on the highway to make the 370 mile drive to New Iberia Louisiana, the site of the next rally, for the Louisiana chapter. Nancy called as they left their home and we finished our loading and drove out to I-20 to wait for them to arrive but as soon we arrived at the meeting area, there they were! We could not have planned this any better, and we were on our way. 

We made great time on I-20 across Texas and then turned off onto I-49 n Louisiana. We only stopped for comfort stops along the highway, but things slowed drastically when we got to Lafayette. The roads  became very bad and we had to slow down dramatically. And beside that, there was heavy traffic and construction in the area. 

We made it in about 3:45 and were soon set up and ready to go. There were several rigs already here, so we spent time seeing and chatting with them. It's the beginning of another good Heartland Owners club rally.

So long.

Monday October 26, 2015-Bluebonnet Ridge V Park

It's been  a long time since we've had rain like we had from Thursday evening until Saturday morning. It rained constantly during this period, first a light and soft rain, then much harder and finally a downpour! I was surprised that we didn't float away! I didn't have my rain gauge out but wish I had because the only report from the Terrell area was that we had about 9" of rain by Friday noon. I'm certain that this amount was doubled or more by the time it ended.

We have had a great visit with Jennifer & Jay and of course, Ian, plus Melissa. We went over to Jennifer's house on Saturday morning, expecting to drive through huge amounts of water, but it wasn't really bad after all. The rain had just about stopped  by the time we got to their house in Garland. We sat around visiting with them for awhile before loading up to go to the Perot Nature and Science Museum in Dallas. My ex-wife Kay works there and got Stella and I some free tickets to the museum (Thanks Kay!) and the others are Museum members and got in free also. 

We all enjoyed the museum, although I thought that it was more for children than adults, it was still fun and interesting. Ian impressed us with his baseball pitching abilities in a sports display in the basement of the museum. I don't know how to download the video clip from my phone or I'd show it to you. He really does have some good moves as a pitcher. 

The kids took us to a new-to-us restaurant, the Cane Rosso in Dallas. This was some of the best pizza we have ever had and if you're in Dallas, craving pizza, try it out! 

Monday we had another meal with Jennifer, Ian and Melissa at the Rio Lerma restaurant in nearby Forney. This new restaurant has had good reviews and is about half way between Garland and Terrell, cutting down on the traveling for all of us. The meal was good and we enjoyed a lot of fun and laughter. We stayed there for a couple of hours, but still, all too soon, it was time to break up the party. They had to get back home, since it's a school and work night and we had to get fuel for the trip tomorrow and then get chores done back at home. With lots of hugs, we said so long to them until next time. Love ya kiddoes!

So long.

Thursday October 22, 2015-Moving day-Center RV park to Bluebonnet Ridge RV Park, Terrell TX

We were up at our normal 7 AM to start the moving process. Since we only have about 160 miles to drive today we were in no big hurry. I didn't go outside until 8:30, just not in the mood to pack up, but I finally went out and got going. We pulled out around 10, and by using the newly-opened loop that is outside the park, we were off. By taking the loop, we bypassed downtown Center. Now Center is not a huge city, but driving around the town square towing a 39' fifth wheel is not a fun thing to do. 

We made excellent time with no stops, actually we did stop at a highway rest area for about 10 minutes, we were in Terrell! It only took a short time to get checked in and we were soon set up and home again! Gotta love these short trips!

So long.

Wednesday October 21, 2015-Center RV Park

Stella and I took a drive to downtown Center TX where many of my relatives are from. Most of them are gone now but my Aunt Janie is still there with a few others. We went to visit her for a few days and had a great time visiting her.

Stella found a man selling fruit and vegetables on the square so while she shopped, I took some photos of the old County Courthouse and the grounds. The old courthouse is now a museum but I didn't go inside.

This appeared to be the main entrance with flagpoles, benches and a statue in front.

This is the opposite side, and appeared to me to be the back side of the courthouse.

A side entrance with the year 1885 above the door.

A building with barred windows, that I assumed was the old jail. T on it.here was another building on the square with no markings or signs

The Texas Historical Society seal on the building.

Look very closely at the rings on the concrete curb. I assume that they are the old tie rings for horses around the courthouse.

As I said, we had a very nice visit with Janie and wish that there was more time to visit with all our relatives but we do the best we can.

So long.