Spring On To The Road

Early March found us getting ready for Easter weekend, our planned outing to shake out the cobwebs gathered as the RV sat in storage for almost 2 years. The RV was put into an authorized Spartan repair shop for a working over that lasted 3 weeks.  It came out with new airbags, battery, alternator, repaired leaky seal on one wheel, replaced brakes on the same wheel and a few other needs with a big bill, oy vey!

April 13^th we’re packed up and ready to go to our outing at Port Aransas here in Texas. We went to hook up the car and found the transfer case would not go into neutral, uh oh! Well we want the car with us so, Pat will follow me with the Jeep to the campground. Off we go to the Pioneer Resort in Port Aransas. We are joining our friends Al and Mary. Do you remember them from last summer’s blog? I caught Mary with the “font of all Knowledge” looking up answers to one of our many ponderings as we sat around BSing.

There can be no doubt we’re in Texas. Most times when you find a flag flying you will also find the Texas Flag.

It’s getting time for happy hour. Al, Pat and I headed into Port Aransas for some appetizers.

Where else would we get some freshly caught shrimp but from a local shrimp boat. There is a sign on the pier telling you what time the boat will be in. We arrived a few minutes early and were 4^th in line. After everything is properly stowed, they open the side ramp and you go up and purchase the shrimp. Wow, were they good.

The next day we took a little time to walk around the Port and caught these shots, I hope you enjoy.

I wonder if the fishermen in the boat are aware of the dolphins.

Fishing seems to be the sport for everyone and one pelican and his buddy.

This looks like grandpa grey heron reflecting on the fish in the sea.

Our last view of the harbor showed some oil platforms being prepared to go out in the Gulf.

Our stay was for 4 days of having fun with Al & Mary and a new couple we met Larry & Evelyn. We had an Easter Ham dinner cooked on the grill. Other events we did were the guys going for a round of golf, walks on the beach by all but yours truly. And of course one night of hand & foot (card game). We got another surprise upon leaving for home, the RV steps would not come in.  April 17^th - Yes, we drove home with them out.

The Jeep ended up spending a week at the dealers while they tried to figure out the problem. After the 3^rd try for repair they were successful. I had an RV repairman out to fix the steps and all is ready for the next adventure.

April 9^th – 15^th was spent loading the RV with all of the essentials and closing the house. It was the night of the 15^th when we moved into the RV and spent the night making sure we had done everything that needed to be done. We only went back to the house 4 times that night and once the next day before we pulled out.

April 16^th damn, the jacks won’t come all the way up. They seemed to stop about 1” from the stored position. Of course, if we turned on the coach with them in that position, the alarm would sound. After tinkering with them for ½ hour, I decided to leave them alone, pull the fuse to the alarm and off we went. We are stopping in Lake Braunig RV resort in San Antonio and meeting up Pat’s sister Marie and her husband Govert. It’s their first time in San Antonio and we are going to show them around.

We got in around 1pm and Marie and Gov were already there. We visited for a bit and then took them to one of our favorite BBQ joints called Texas Pride. It’s still as good as I remembered it to be. After dinner, we took a ride through the center of town and went to the head waters of the San Antonio River or very near it. Then, it was back to the RV for the night.

Ok, here come some more pictures.

Pat’s got a great smile, eh?  In the background is the first of our missions visit, Mission San Jose. This is the one that has the most restoration done to it. After watching the movie about the missions (which is new and not as good as the old one), we went inside and walked about.

Inside the Mission San Jose, they have really gussied it up. What you are seeing here a lot brighter than our last visit.

I love these arches which are part of the ruins behind the mission church.

Here’s Pat with her sister Marie and Govert inside the walls of Mission San Jose.

As we enter Mission Espada, you can see that Pat still has her smile on.

I really love the three bell configuration on Mission Espada.

Inside is very simple but brings forth the historic feel.

From here we continued on to Mission San Juan.

I would have loved to include a picture from inside, unfortunately it was locked.

Oops, I was just informed that I have them out of order Mission San Juan was our second stop, oh well you’ll have to deal with it.

Friday was a day of golf, while the ladies worked on their crafts. Gov and I headed up to New Braunfels to play at one of the courses I really liked when we were living here in SA. The course is called the Bandit which is an apt name with its difficulty level. All I can say about the wind was, Welcome to Texas!

The Saturday found us back on the road (with our tour) to Fredericksburg with a stop in Luckenbach. I’ve never seen so much activity in Luckenbach, it seems they were setting up for a big charity bash for the weekend. Our tour there was short, which it usually is. We showed Gov & Marie the post office and the dance hall. Ok, so that’s all there is but we did see them moving large limestone rocks around (a new look).

In Fredericksburg we went to lunch at the Auslander Restaurant followed by a tour of the many stores along the main drag. We decided it was too late to start a tour of either of the Museums. We came back to the Campground for a light dinner, total driving was about 170 miles, we took a different route home. Overall it was a good tour in the Hill Country.

Govert and Marie catching up with email.

Sunday the bad weather is holding off, so the guys are heading for the River Bend Golf Course in Floresville and the ladies are headed back into SA to the Botanical Gardens.

They thoroughly enjoyed the gardens and returned with many pictures, the following are just some of them.

There were so many to pick from, I thought these the best.

Back to Braunig Lake RV, It’s Monday time to get ready to go.

Gov is putting the camper back on the truck while I’m working on some other problems in the motor home. Tomorrow we expect to be on the road between 8 and 9. Gov & Marie are going to work their way back to NJ while we will turn northwest to Denver.

Tuesday morning found us off and running. Govert and Marie were on their way to Waco and Pat and I were on our way to Big Spring.

While I’m driving, Pat will sit and do something crafty.

What do I do when Pat is driving? Yes, she does drive.

And now you know what I do when she is driving. Take pictures and nap, I’m really good at napping.

As we drive through the small towns in Texas, especially county seats we have found some wonderful court houses.

This one is in Mason, Texas. What do you think, 1930’s?

Our next stop is in Big Spring, TX. As soon as we had set up the RV for the night, we took the car and went exploring in town. We needed a few things from the local HEB and then we headed for a place for dinner that we thought might be very interesting.

This is the Hotel Settles, built in 1929. It closed in 1980 after the closure of Webb Air Force base and the oil field crash. Evidently when it closed they sold everything they could including the toilet paper. In 2006, Big Spring native Brint Ryan purchased it for $75k. you can tell that he put a lot more than that into the restoration. Anyway, this is where we had very good dinner.

Two telephone booths in hotel lobby with actual pay phones (do you remember them?)

After dinner we went out and Pat noticed this.

“A Bob’s Bail Bonds,” it caught her fancy.

On to our next stop, Amarillo. We’ve stopped here before but never really explored the town. Pat wanted to stop at Walmart to get some paint. She wanted it to create some graffiti.

This is a local landmark the many of the locals would rather see gone.

Yes, this is the famous Cadillac Ranch and Pat doesn’t just want to see it.

She wants to leave her initials and…

A little advertising of her Black Dirt Artisans.

From there we went to the historic route 66 to see what they had done to preserve the past. We were not impressed. If you want to see a nice preservation of the old RT66, go to Tucumcari in New Mexico where you find all the wonderful neon sign still lighting the town. Back to the RV, with dinner in.

Let’s see, when are we? Oh yes, it’s Thursday, the 25^th of May and we’re on our way to Lamar, CO. This is a favorite stop of mine. The Elks Lodge is on the top floor and below it is the pro shop of one of the best 9 hole golf courses I know called Spreading Eagle. In front of the Lodge parking lot is a strip of RV sites with 50a hookups. I just have to walk to the pro shop, get a cart and drive it to the RV for my clubs.

We arrived early enough, due to the fact that we entered into Mountain Time and get an extra hour to play. So, off I went to play a round of golf. The course was in great shape, the golfer not so much. Ahh, such is a golfers life, eh?

The final step of this leg of our summer journey found us on I225 in heavy traffic as we crawled along to our 2 week+ stop in Denver. I think we will look for another campground for our next stop, but we are here to visit family and friends. I’ll catch up with you again on our next leg of the Summer Journey.