The Roads Between There and Here

Before the dogs and I headed farther west than Kerrville, we did hang out at Karen's place for awhile.  I posted a few pictures before that can from my phone.  I have since found the handy camera cord to load the camera pictures to the computer.  As has often been mentioned, it is amazing how many items can be "safely" stored away in a small RV and not found.   I knew I had packed the cord out to the rig but as usual I found it in the last place I looked.  Some of these pictures came from my iPhone and some off the camera.  Unfortunately the camera didn't make it into Carlsbad Cavern.

While visiting Karen, some of the other women from the WomenRV forum took a trip with us the the Cowboy Capitol of Texas, Bandura.....  Besides the usual excuse to have lunch there was the trip over to the Cowboy and Biker Bar.  

As I mentioned earlier the decorations in the bar are very similar to those in the bar in Chicken, Alaska.

Karen found a cowboy for our friend Mitch.

We didn't always eat out.  Karen and Mitch busy in the kitchen.

Nikki busy investigating stuff on the computer.

Remi was busy looking innocent while Audrey chewed on an actual dog toy....rather than the small note pad she had found in the little basket the day before.
 

Stuart found the chair to his satisfaction.  

TedE found Sharon's arms the best place to be when he wasn't busy playing with Karen's Baxter.

It was cold in Kerrville so Mitch and I decided that as long as it was going to be cold outside, we might as well check out Carlsbad Cavern.  Those temperatures were bound to be warmer than what we had been experiencing.

Mitch graciously posed for a picture.

We decided to take the natural entrance to the cave and walk down rather than take the elevator.  There was some discussions as we headed down and down and down what our knees were going to complain about the next day.  We also discussed the cave features that would have been missed by taking the elevator down.  The path was a series of steep switchbacks.  I had a great appreciation of the original cave explorers and what a difficult challenge the entrance must have presented.  There was a reason there has been no evidence of it being used as a habitat in the early years.

Many of these buildings were build by the CCC back in the 30's and are used for staff housing.  

And why is it that every time I see a young female Park Ranger, I think of the Nevada Barr book series. The author writes mysteries set in different National Parks around the USA.

Not all the ice and snow has melted.  The warmth of the cave is looking better and better.

This is when our knees started to have discussions with Mitch and I.

Mitch and I listened carefully to the "don't touch anything" in the cave speech.  Such a responsibility to monitor Mitch's behavior, sigh..... No bail money was needed though. 

We noticed that few individuals were taking the walking entrance though we passed one of the Rangers coming up the trail.  (The sign at the bottom warned that it took at lest an hour to hike up the steep and difficult trail.)  How many times a day do the different Rangers walk the rounds?  Later we met the young female "rule admonishing" Ranger walking the loop in the big room. 

Needless to say there were many many pretty formations down in that cave.  The stop and the hike were well worth the time and exercise.   

Some shots from the road into/out of the National Park.

In case anyone wants to know driving across West Texas is not all that pretty or interesting. It makes the Hill Country look better and better and those hills are not all that big.

I kept thinking of the work campers that work as "Gate Keepers" for the oil companies out in the no man land.  I am not applying for any of those jobs.  How and why these lands were settled is an amazing story of determination and maybe some desolation....   It explains a little about the personality of Texans.....

Mitch and I stayed over night at a State Park just north of the town of Carlsbad.  We were very glad to have the electric but woke up in the morning to a foggy surprise.   That is Mitch's pretty new red truck and her trailer hiding behind the frosty trees and bushes.

Now here is a view of the lake down in the valley....

As we pulled out the sun was beginning to fight its way through.  By the time we made it down to the main interstate the  skies were clear.

Well the breakfast stop at McDonald probably helped give the sun time to work its magic.

More roads and more cities to come and we weren't out of the chilly temperatures, yet.  There was a Camping World stop in my future.

Moving On West

We are moving on westward but the chilly weather seems to be following us and we are being accused of bring the cold south.  There have been a few sun shiny days but unfortunately we are getting the southern form of the frozen weather the north is getting. (It is still warmer that Ohio...)

I am still not taking many, "Oh, that is so beautiful!" sort of pictures.  So far the pups and I are busY meeting up with friends and often the camera, even the iPhone, is being left behind....

The last blog post had us watching the rainfall from Vickie and Ronnie's driveway in Louisiana.  The water remained in the ditches and the sun came out in time for Thanksgiving.  

How many women does it take to get a plug out of one wine bottle?   Nan, Vickie, Mitch and Vickie's sister Beth....   No bottles were broken in this attempt but one cork screw bit the dust....

Ronnie found the activities entertaining to watch or unbelievable to watch, we knew better than to ask him.

The nights were still on the cold side.   "I don't have to get up, just because you are up, do I?" asks Remi from his snuggle spot under the blankets.

Nan and I headed down the road with the rigs on Wednesday to refill the propane and fill up the gas tanks. We were using the generators to run the heaters part of the time.   We found a pretty little county park, but they didn't have a dump station that Nan could use.  Nan said she still had room to last a few more days, so that is what she did.  The park was pretty though and not far from Vickie's. It could be yours for $12...just don't ask for a dump site.

Weatherby  had his own method of transport on Ronnie's feet.....

One night Nan had Pizza.....  Oh, that was all of us had pizza.  After listening to what each of us liked on our pizzas a decision was made to each order their own.   The benefit was that I got breakfast pizza for the morning. Vickie donated her left over pieces to me which got frozen. They came in handy a couple of days later as dinner on a night I didn't feel like fixing up anything. 

Vickie let us help her prepare her share of the food contributions to take down to her sister Beth's house for dinner.

To see a picture of me with my scissors and the green onions you have to look on Mitch's blog!  Nan volunteered the back of her Honda Fit to carry the assorted goodies down the street to Beth's house. Vickie had the ham.  Looks pretty good doesn't it, but just wait.....

It wasn't as big a parade down the street because Nan drove her car behind us with the goods.  We kept our eye on her. We wanted to be sure that she didn't try to drive off with dinner.

But we made is safetly down the street and Vickie's food joined the laden table....I won't even show you the separate dessert table.  Calories just jumped off the pies and fudge when you passed by, honest!

On Friday morning Nan and I both said our thank yous and goodbye to Vickie and Ronnie.  Nan headed moving east and seeking her way back to Florida and warmth.   I headed out towards the west and sought out Houston, Texas.  I did find warmth for a couple of days.   I stayed in a campground right off 610 in Houston which made driving into and out of Houston an adventure but the park was only about 10 minutes from my friend's house which made visiting much easier.   The sites were tight but the park was quiet and secure and the people friendly.   During the week there was a shuttle at regular intervals that would pick up and deliver guests to a list of the medical centers that were all close by.  They offered a medical discount if you were staying for a medical reason.....

I hadn't seen my friend for years but we had gone to high school together and in our twenties we had both gotten small apartments in the same building near the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati. Though a lot happens over the years, some connections are still real and reminders of what makes a friendship in the first place.  We drove to Galveston on Saturday.  It was wonderful to see the sunshine and the ocean.   Lunch was on the pier at Bubba Gump's....

 

Pat...

I liked the old grand homes in Galveston. And Pat made sure to drive me down the old town part....

Who knew?

Monday morning, after rush hour traffic got where ver it needed to go, the pups and I headed westward once again and made our way to Kerrville, Texas, over in the Texas Hill Country.  This time I can say I was really going to see West...as in Karen W.  I spent one night in a small county park near her place but the next day with permission from the manager of her park, we moved over to park in the small "storage area" with electric and a short walk to Karen's home and "off lead dog park!"    After the cold rain of Louisiana and the small RV park in Houston with limited walking and romping, the dogs were very happy to lose their leashes.  Remi and Baxter enjoy the art of sniffing.

Tuesday, Karen and I drove over to check out Fredericksburg and had lunch.  Nice old buildings and touristy shops that want your money.   Sorry no camera pictures for this outing, but back at the West "dog park".......

I takes Remi a while watching the other dogs go in and out Karen's screen door that closed with magnets.  As you can see, he figured it out. Baxter and Audrey are just a blur. There was a lot of doggy play.  Baxter shared his toys and his ball with everyone.  They liked the squeakers best!

Sophie kept a close, mothering eye on the young pup Audrey.

And after the chase and the wrestling, some dogs appeared to make themselves right at home.... I didn't post it but Audrey was finally observed stretched out, sleeping and STILL.

And for one moment in time they stood still enough for a picture.  People are myself and Karen, whose home was invaded by all of us...dogs are Stuart, Audrey right in front of Stuart, Remi, little Teddy, Sophie and Baxter......

Mitch got in yesterday, Sharon (Sprinter/Teddy's Hooman) came back over from her home park here in Kerrville and Nikki met all of us in Bandura for lunch today and followed us back to Kerrville in her rig.  More picture are in the camera, I just need to remember where I packed the cord to download those pictures.   

And the New Adventures Begins

After finishing up work last Tuesday but without any help from the dogs I got most of the "stuff" loaded onto the Short Bus.  Stuart was suspicious of the sorted piles that had been accumulating in the bedroom over the weekend and did keep an eye out for other happenings.  His confirmation of something's up came for sure when he noticed dogs getting bathed....

Remington and Audrey didn't seem too worried about what was coming. They spent their energy rearranging the back room and then trying to look innocent about how blankets and pillows  all end up on the floor.

If there appears to be a theme here, you are right.  Audrey is all about play until the crash.  I am just hoping that she can use this skill out on the road.

 

Wednesday afternoon we finally got out of Ohio and headed south towards Huntsville and a visit with my friend Sarah.   After about 5 hours of too much driving I stopped in Bowling Green, KY, at the local Walmart for a quiet evening.

By Thursday I pulled into Ditto Landing, the campground in Huntsville.  Friday another one of the women from our WomenRV.com forum drove up from Birmingham for lunch. Sarah's wonderful Nicky was very happy to see Wendy and her lap.....   Wendy also gets a special thank you because I was able to transfer three boxes of Dennis' pottery from my car into Wendy's for delivery to a cousin in Birmingham that wasn't expected home until a couple days later.  The delivery method was successful and Dennis' pottery was delivered. 

Wendy, Darlene, myself, Paulette and Sarah at lunch.   Later in this winters adventure there will be scenery photos but these first days are full of visits with people.  

And, yes, by Sunday night I had made it to Lafayette, LA , and had another delicious meal. This time I got to meet two woman from the travel forum that I have been reading posts from for years.  Thanks again Carolyn and Martha for driving out to meet me!

By Tuesday several wandering women  had made it to Vickie's driveway: Nan, Vickie and Mitch.  And no matter what Ronnie and Vickie say we did not bring the cold weather here!

Mitch found more rain to drive through than I did.....   Maybe she brought it!

We managed to stay warm enough last night and by this morning we cam in for coffee and to play with our technology.  Nan had brought in both her new iPad and a new camera.  Mitch is a very patient teacher especially demonstrating all the apps made for researching camping issues.

As you can tell, Mitch and Nan were concentrating intently....

All last night we sleep under extra blankets and listened to the rain fall.  Vickie had told the story of the flood of 2006 when she and Ronnie had gotten flooded.   It gave us something to think about while we listened...Sure enough when the dogs needed to go out about 1 AM, during a lull in the weather, Stuart and I both noticed that the water had risen.  Remi just noticed that it was wet, wet, wet..... 

Vickie and Ronnie's campground in Louisiana....

We get to help Vickie prepare food to take down to her sister's on Thursday. She plans to trust us with sharp knives and everything!   On Friday I am hoping to be back on the road and head towards Houston.   Maybe without rain this time!