PS:  If you noticed the blog was missing this weekend it was!  Paul had a little internet glitch and I was sure all this was lost in Web land forever!  That was close,  better back up more often.  I wouldn’t want to loose all this valuable information!  Right!

We left my sisters house early on Tuesday and made our way towards Austin and Georgetown where we will be staying at a Winnebago Dealer to get a couple of warrenty issues taken care of.  A nice peacefull night in their lot near the interstate.  The good news is it was so windy that we didn’t want to open the windows so we didn’t here any freeway traffic.

Wednesday I loaded Duke and my ipad and into the dealer we go to sit and wait while they work on our RV.  The plan was it would take a couple of days but we get to stay in our home at night.  They worked on Wednesday and I was out of the dealer by about 2 pm.  Thursday I planned to ride with Paul to dealers located near here so they could have the RV all day.  Everything went as planned until after they fixed the slide that wasn’t going in all the way it decides not to go in again!  The short story is on Friday they tell us it will take almost 2 weeks to get the parts they need and they have to remove the slide so when they fix it we will have to get  motel!  Yuck!  We don’t want to hang here for 2 weeks and wait.  The wind is still blowing like crazy!

After much thought and debate we decide to go ahead and drive the 1000 miles north to the factory and have them fix it.  This will save us over a week and if things don’t go as planned we will be at the factory and they should have any parts or resources to get us going.  This will add about 900 miles to our trip east to North Carolina but we think it will work out better.

Paul already had work lined up for Monday and Tuesday so we spent the weekend here.  Friday afternoon we had severe weather warnings from both the north and south.  We got a little hail and lots of wind but nothing compared to where Paul was at a dealer 12 miles north of here!  He saw golf ball sized hail and it was at least 4-6 inches deep on the sidewalk.

Saturday was a beautiful day so we got out and saw a bit more of Texas.  Georgetown is a cute little community north of Austin.  We took a drive just west of town to Lake Georgetown to do a little walking/hiking.

Interesting lakeshore

The lake had several boaters on it and lots of kids along the rocky bank who were sunbathing and a few guys were jumping into the lake although they said it was really cold so they were really resting between jumps!

Bluebonnets everywhere

The wildflowers are really starting to bloom.  You see these everywhere along the roads where they have a patch of grass.

We didn’t walk too far as there wasn’t much to see and the sun is pretty hot where there is very little shade.  So off we go to check out the downtown of Georgetown.  Southwestern University is right in the heart of town and we saw lots of students relaxing along the river enjoying the water and sunshine.   First we find the San Gabriel River which runs near downtown and was a very nice place to take a walk.

Anytime we find a town with a river nearby I love to take a walk and find a nice bench to just sit and enjoy.  So does Duke!

We found another Geocache here along the river but the most interesting thing today was a new sport I have not heard of before!

Hang the bobber in the tree!

We are sitting on a rock and I see this bobber in the tree right infront of us.  There was at least 3 bobbers in this tree.  I guess when you hang your bobber up or see that someone else did you have to try again!

For the first time since we have been here the wind is not blowing us all  around!  But never fear, it only stopped for about 4 hours Saturday evening and Sunday all it did was blow!  This is a very nice part of the country but I couldn’t handle the wind and those weather warnings are crazy!  You watch the tv and wait for it to pass over you and then you carry on with the rest of your day!

So we are off to Dallas on Wednesday and then to Forest City Iowa!  Pray there is good weather for us.

Crawfish, crawdads, mudbugs, whatever you call them they come boiled!

Poor little guys!  It’s crawfish season and they are serving up platters of these tasty little guys everywhere in the Houston area this month.  Known as mudbuds and served by the pound at local bars to fine dining spots everyone is eating them.

Boiled with corn and potato!

We had ours at the Kemah Crawfish Festival  where we drank pina colada’s and waited for about 30 minutes to receive our styrofoam container of mudbugs and started the task of removing the “good” part from the rest; you only eat the tail or at least that was all I was eating.  These critters are so small that each crawfish only provides one bit of the tasty meat, hence why you need several pounds per person for a meal!

We are staying in Baytown Texas and moochdocking at my sisters home.  Her driveway is plenty wide enough for our huge new home although getting in under the phone wires and avoiding the drainage ditch out front required both my help and Curtis’ (Karol’s husband) to guide Paul into place.  The wires are raised by two poles on either side of the drive just for us and rise almost 14 feet while our new height is almost 13 feet.  Plenty of room except for the little detail the driveway slopes down into her yard!  The good news is we made it.  Next step is getting out.

Friday night was the crawfish festival and a walk on the Kemah Boardwalk which was full of folks enjoying the warm weather and the end of spring break in Houston.  Paul and I only walked and watched the people scream on the rides!  The highlight after eating crawfish was feeding the catfish!  You put a quarter into a gumball machine and it spits out about 6  pieces of catfood which you toss into the waters and watch hundreds of catfish scramble for a morsel!  We had a great time and spent 25 cents!

Saturday we lunched at the Monument Inn near the San Jacinto Monument, the monument of the battle for Texas independence.  Again I had a crawfish bisque, this time the mudbugs were already cleaned and again quite tasty.  Lunch was another chance we had to meet up with people we would not get to see if not for this crazy life we live.  We met George and Carol.  George is from Pauls years living in Old Forge, NY.  We met George last time we were in the Houston area. George and Carol shared lots of stories and lunch was very nice, overlooking the shipping channel which closed right after our lunch because of a Oil Spill cause by two boats colliding near Texas City .  So close but no idea!

There is no end to the fun we are having, Saturday night Paul talked me into going out and dancing!  Square Dancing that is!  We danced with Bob Baier who we have danced many times in California.  We enjoyed an awesome pizza with Bob and Dena after a great time of dancing.  I am thinking we need to dance more often as it is getting harder to fake it when we go months without dancing!  Paul will like to hear that.

Sunday was stay home and relax day except for a little gardening until it got cold and started to rain.  Crazy weather we are having, Saturday we needed the air conditioner and Sunday evening I turned the heater on!

This week we go to Austin and then to Dallas.

One hour west of San Antonio sits the Cowboy Capitol of the World,  Bandera Texas where we enjoyed an afternoon of Texas style family fun at the Wild Hog Explosion.  Bandera is in the Hill Country of Texas and it is definitely a cowboy town.  The Western Cattle Trail started here and headed north into Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska.

The Wild Hog Explosion is a weekend festival like no other we have been to.  The main event is  the wild hog competion complete with light, medium & heavy weight catagories along with children, couples, mixed teams, mens and womens catagories.

Two or Three against one wild hog!

The festival also has several other contests where we got to sample all their bests for just our entrance fee of $7.00 each.  The whole day costs us $21 dollars,  thats food, drink and lots of entertainment.  There were lots of BBQ’s and smokers set up like a tailgate party where they were handing out large samples of each.  We sampled each catagory of:

BEST BLOODY MARY*BEST BEANS *BEST CHICKEN*BEST PORK RIBS *BEST PORK BUTT*BEST BRISKET*

*BEST MARGARITAS*BEST PIT  and some of the best Armadillo eggs!

The mascot of one of the BBQ teams!

The Wild Hog Competition was the hi-lite of the afternoon.  Teams jump into the arena and try to catch a hog, hang onto him and put him into a sack.

Here little piggy!

3 against 1 seems a little unfair! But the pigs are pretty fast

Hang on tight while the other guy gets the sack

Now, just try to stuff the hog into the sack!

The first group I felt sad for the little pig cause he was a little one and you could here him squeeling so loudly as they stuffed him into the sack but as Paul says “they let him out and set him back into the pen where he peacefully ruts around for a morsel of food!”  I guess that is like catch and release?

Bandera is definitely still very much about Cowboys even with downtown lined with little shops and lots of places to get some southwestern eats.  They have a gun fight twice a day in the town plaza each weekend and you can take a wagon ride through town or just walk the two blocks and enjoy thinking about the 1800’s a simplier times.

The Western Cattle Trail

Center of town, The Courthouse

Want to try out being on the wagon trail?

Marshall! That’s how you know you are in cowboy country!

I am starting to really appreciate Texas!  Hill country could easily be one of my favorites.

Today was a very busy tourist day through Texas Hill Country.  We started our day heading toward Fredericksburg on the Texas Hill Country Trail with a couple stops along the way.  Early into our trip I suggested that we Geocache today so I get out the app and find us one near Pipe Creek right next to the Post Office.  It was pretty easy to find although Paul had to stomp through the bushes as I am just not that interested in sharing the brush with who knows what!

Churches Chicken
I like their advertising venue

Next stop was a ways away and Paul finds this neat little spot that has apples.  This place served anything apple, sold apple trees,  had a full gift shop and the dog was welcome!  While we were enjoying out apple strudel we noticed the sign at the road. Who knew people ate catfish?

Paul “Do people really eat catfish?”

We will never know if it was any good,  the strudel was excellent.  I got apple butter for my toast tomorrow.

We passed through a couple really cute towns which we may visit another day,  Kerrville was the next large town that we were looking for.  Seemed large compared to what I was expecting but it had it’s charm.  Driving through Kerrville I found the best spot for lunch,  Bill’s BBQ!  But before we stopped for lunch we have to find what I have been wanting to see all morning!

Stonehenge II and Easter Island Heads 

Al Shepperd bankrolls his neighbor David Hill to build a replica of Stonehenge in his yard in Texas!  This replica is 2/3 the size of Stonehenge and has been relocated from Al Shepperd’s property to the Hills Country Arts Center after he died in 1994 and his property was sold to someone who was going to tear down Stonehenge II!  He also had two 13 ft Easter Island Heads as part of his display.

Pretty cool for those of us who probably won’t see the real thing.  We also found another Geocache here which it was inside an electric box of a street light!  The wiring was very iffy so we just noted we saw it and left it alone!

The Arts Center was having a weaving demonstration and we wandered over.  Amazing to watch women spinning and weaving.  It looks very time consuming but I bet you could watch all those mindless tv shows and create something amazing instead of eating!

The grounds had a few interesting sculptures outside.  A fun, interesting stop for our day.  Now back to lunch!

Bill’s BBQ in Kerrville,  very good BBQ.  This is our second BBQ and we have only been in Texas a couple of days.  Our first was with Paul’s uncle Ben here in San Antonio at a spot called Choke Canyon BBQ.  Both had awesome BBQ, although I think the atmosphere at Bill’s was definitely the most interesting!  We order inside a tiny little room where you start at one side of the u-shaped counter and order, then you get your bbq and head to the sides which you serve yourself whatever you like,  potato salad, coleslaw, bbq beans, green beans, and of course the bbq sauce!  Then you proceed to the other side of the U and that is where you get a drink and pay.  My favorite part of this joint was when Paul is asked if he would like bread with his ribs?  Of course!  White or Wheat?

White please!

They bring you the whole loaf and you just get yourself a slice of cheap, white, doughy bread and slather some of the whipped spread they bring you and that is how you eat BBQ in Texas!

Shiner Bock

A very good local beer to chase down the white bread and the excellent BBQ.  As we were leaving the patio area we checked out the pits that they cook your lunch in.

Hmm, I wonder when that was cleaned?

A little Texas culture, a great lunch now for some spirituality!

Empty Cross

Everything is bigger in Texas!  The Empty Cross is right off I10 in Kerrville and the view from the hill it sits on is pretty amazing itself.  The foundation is raising funds and is in the process of building this spiritual area on private land.  When it is complete (it is under construction now, complete with large equipment working while we tried to enjoy the peace) there will be a sculpture garden around the cross.  The whole thing is free to the public and you are encouraged to participate in the garden!.

The paths are lined with stones that you use provided permanent markers to write a message and then place the stone along the path.

I’m wondering how long my message will survive in the elements?

A really nice idea in the midst of all the craziness of life, now it is back to some Cowboy stuff!

We spent a little while checking out the shops of Fredericksburg but the big attraction in this area for me was Luckenbach, Texas and a little country music!  We saw a couple of boys playing some decent music but Waylon and Willie were missing!

Lets go to Luckenbach Texas with Waylon, Willie and the Boys.

What a fun little spot in the road.  It is no longer a town but a great stop with lots of country stuff. Cowboy hats, beer, music,  bbq, picnic and the dance hall which has music and dance in the evenings.  We enjoyed the music and again some people watching!

You don’t see this very often anymore, or maybe you do in Texas?
I love the little girls have pink cap guns, and the little boy with the big gun in the holster.

Kids running and playing with cap guns while mom and dad are enjoying a beer with friends in a friendly atmosphere of Country living!

Wow,  I’m exhausted but what a great day,  cowboys, arts, god and more cowboys!  Loving Texas.

We made it to San Antonio after traveling for two days on the longest Interstate ever!  Interstate 10 from El Paso to San Antonio is very long and not too interesting after several hours!  The new motorhome rides so smooth I really wanted to take a nap but was worried with it riding so smoothly Paul would also doze off!  That is not a good idea.

Wednesday morning we were woken up to crazy wind!  The news said 25-35 mile winds but I think we had only gusts!  It was so windy.  I stayed inside the motorhome all day until Paul came back around 2 and moved us to a more sheltered area of the Elks Lodge here in San Antonio.

Finally around 4 the wind started to die down and we decided we would check out the riverwalk in downtown.  We were here a couple of years ago and wanted to have dinner on the river this time.  The walk is very charming although we are here during spring break and I think every family in Western Texas has decided to bring the family to San Antonio for vacation and I am sure for the historical education also!  The place is screaming with tourists with a lot of cowboy boots and hats!

You can take a cruise on the river

Or just walk it!

Lots of bridges to cross to the shops on the other side

We spent the evening strolling along the river with a stop for a couple enchilada’s and a margarita at one of the sidewalk cafes.  What a fun place to hang out and watch the people.

East of Houston is a quaint little town on the bay known as Baytown.  My sister bought a home and moved here last summer.   This is where Paul and I met up again on Friday, I flew into Houston and he drove.

Saturday was a day for resting and just hanging out with family.   My sister, Karol and her husband Curtis bought here in Baytown after several trips here with his company.  Their home is on a 1/2 acre in a small development right near the bay.  Lots of green grass and trees and a lot of mosquitoes!!!  I was applying the bug spray like crazy.  Karol signed up for a mosquito service that will come once a month and spray in the hopes that it will reduce the problem so she can get out and enjoy the springtime.

After our day of rest we were ready to get out and see the area.  First stop was the San Jacinto Monument which is a 570′ tall shaft with a giant Lone-Star at the top.  The monument is for those that fought the battle for Texas’ independence.  The site also has the Battleship Texas which we toured.  This ship has 3 stories which you can tour and then to my amazement you could go down 2 more stories and see lots more pipes, wires, engines and who knows what!

Paul and Jeremy 4 stories down!

Battleship Texas

San Jacinto Monument

Finally it was time to pick Karol up from work and head to Galveston Island which I am really excited about.  Getting a late start we took a driving tour of the area and then rode the ferry that takes you to Port Bolivar and back.  Karol promised we would see Dolphins.  The first 1/2 of the ride we saw nothing except we did see a Royal Caribbean cruise ship setting out to the caribbean but no dolphins.  Just before we landed in Port Bolivar we finally saw several families of dolphins swimming, playing and fishing.  Watching dolphins swim makes me want to take a dive and swim with them.  They look so relaxed!

Can I come?

Port Bolivar

After our tour of Galveston we were on our way to Tbone Toms for dinner where Paul was meeting up with an old friend from Old Forge.  Paul had not seen him since before he left town in 1982.  George met us in the bar and then we sat for dinner.  This place is huge; they have patio seating which is as big as most restaurants, then they have this covered outdoor eating area that must have 200 tables or more, a dance floor with band and another bar, then they have an indoor seating area like a real diner for those that are looking for a more intimate dining experience!

Notice the shirts! That was how we found George!!!

We ordered Armadillo eggs and fried pickles for starters and then the music started!  Loud, country music!  The music was good but conversation was not happening except for the person right next to you!  Paul and George had a nice chat; Karol and Curtis chatted and danced, I listened to the music and enjoyed my Texas BBQ dinner!  Just as we were finishing dinner a group of girls lined up at the bar and were served lemon drop martinis in dixie cups attached to a water-ski!   Now that is something I had not heard of, a dixie cup for a martini?  I like mine in a nice chilled, stemmed glass thank you very much!

Only in Texas!!!

Drive up liquor stores and guns is just something that does not seem natural for this California girl but here in Texas no one seems to think that is odd.  They do ask that you unload your weapon before entering the local liquor stores but if you drive up,  I don’t think that applies.

One stop shopping

 I guess you can pick up your Bourbon and get your shells and be on your way to the range! 

The other part of this issue is I have never seen so many churches.  They are everywhere.  We stayed in this little town of Schulenburg which is right off the interstate between San Antonio and Houston.  It is a German settlement from the 1800’s and their tourist attraction is the Painted Churches.  They have a route that shows off 4-5 Catholic Churches within a 10 mile radius that were built when they settled and they made good use of paint opposed to marble.  Inside these churches is beautiful and very ornate however there is no marble!  The ceilings are hand painted as well as lots of detailed painting along the walls.  They even add detail painting to the stained glass window panes. It all looks very beautiful and a bit overwhelming when you first enter.  The churches are pretty small and probably seat about 100 not including the balcony where the choir would sit.  There are several other Catholic Churches in the same area but are newer and not part of this tour along with churches of every other denomination.  I think there are about 30 churches in this small town and it’s outlying area and there just are not that many people.

High Hill Catholic Church

Ammannsville Catholic Church

Along side Ammannsville Church

Most of the churches have cemeteries attached.  I just thought the view of the hillside near this one was amazing, complete with a small lake.   Walking around the outside we could see many headstones and these people live very long lives and most of the plots had flowers so I am assuming that many families live here for generations.