March 26  through April 1, 2004

Friday March 26:

Weather is cloudy, with light rain starting near dawn.  I am wakeful, as the Sam's pizza has loaded me with enough salt to keep my water demand high. I finally get up at 5 and work on the computer. The temperature is 71 at 10AM, first time I look up from the computer.   Today we will do the riverwalk, then stay at Flying J tonight for dump and water.  New Braunfels will occupy Claire tomorrow while I work the web page.  We drive looking for our parking lot with overhang for the rear of the motorhome over the grass, but have trouble finding it;  when we do after a few reverses of direction and a few circles due to one way streets, it is at N25d 25.490', W98d 30.116', elev 604'.  I have AGAIN driven off the end of the detailed street maps loaded into the GPS, and we needed them here pretty badly.  I never seem to notice that until too late, when it causes us inconvenience.  We happily cozy into "our" remembered parking space.

There are few urban parking lots where we can do this and only take (and pay for) one slot....  :-)  It looks like it might rain, so we open the automatic vent for Purry, with the others cracked enough for air circulation, but not enough to let in rain.  We stopped first at the Mexican pastry place and bought a bag full to go, then sat watching the diners at the open air La Margarita restaurant while we ate.  We even got to enjoy their serenades....

We then walked along the submerged riverwalk.  This banana plant overhanging the walkway is going to produce I would expect.

 I'd also expect it is not even NEAR ripe, or it would be gone, as it is not out of reach...  :-)  The big reddish banana "flower" unfurling at the bottom of the bunch is spectacular...So are a lot of the other flowers springing out along the riverwalk.

This beauty opens from the edge to the center, and the blooms seem to change color after opening.  

We think it is called Lantana...but our book shows a yellow and red color scheme for Lantana.    We run out of riverwalk before we run out of river.

We come up to the street to cross the bridge and turn back to stroll the other side.  This riverwalk maintenance crew has a good job!

Looks may be deceiving, but it seems like they just ride the lazy river all day.....in flotation jackets;  whatta life!! :-)  We walked through the open air restaurant district near lunch time. It was bustling, busy, and with filled tables on both sides of the sidewalk.

Some of the meals looked delicious, and within easy reach too; it was really hard to keep my hands where they belonged.....  :-)  The folks here are quite friendly...but I think food snatching might end the friendship fast, so I work at being good.....   Even the other riverwalk tourists are friendly...

We returned to the surface and walked through La Villita and its collection of fancy shops, restaurants, and art centers. Much of this merchandise followed a Mexican theme.

The colors are quite attractive! We return as close as we can to the RV using the cooler riverwalk.  We walked over 4 miles by the time we get back.  I loaded the maps into the GPS while Claire did more walking and shopping in the nearby Mexican market.  We leave for Flying J after 6PM, when the worst of rush hour is over.  The drive is short, but the signs to I-35 are confusing, so we took another unplanned tour of historic San Antonio, this time by RV.  Flying J appeared where expected, and we immediately took an overnight spot; we can fuel and fill propane in the morning.  I am busy with the webpage for a while, then retire.  It is warm, so the vents are open.  I am just drifting off to sleep when a loud "Mooooo" reverberates through the RV.  I am in foggy denial, but  it soon repeats, sounding like it is right in the bedroom..  I peek out the bedroom window and what do my wondering eyes see....???

This trailer is parked within 2 feet of the bedroom, and the calf is apparently lonely, issuing plaintive moooooo following plaintive moo. As Claire giggles,  I try to talk to it in it's own language, but that induces further loud conversation, so I give up....  :-))  The night's sleep is saved by that trailer pulling off within the hour....  What fun there is in Flying  J's...  :-)))))

Saturday March 27:

I awoke early for Internet time, at 1AM; there was lots of email to answer, and I worked on the web page too.  We took showers, then dumped, filled water, propane and gas; Flying J has been several cents above the best gas prices in the area the last few we stopped at, but the dump, water, and overnight parking services we get free from them are worth that difference.  We got a good propane fill here; the filling tech said he trusts the automatic shutoff in our tank since he has had them a long time himself, and has filled it to the full mark, where it properly shut off.  Too many techs fill to the first spurt of vapor from the open overflow valve.  This leaves the tank 3/4 full.  I'm happy, as we will probably need heat as we move into more spring like weather up north.  We drive toward New Braunfels only 30 miles away.  Outside of the city this hill country is pretty, with rolling hills and green grass, although there is lots of development.    We stop for the evening and Claire has no urge to shop; she watches TV while I work on the web page until I cannot stay awake.

Sunday March 28:

I worked the net in the early morning, and finished the web page.  By 9AM I was ready for a nap while Claire proofread the page. I took the time to start the website upload after awakening, then Claire decided she wanted to shop for beef at the HEB store nearby {did it have anything to do with King Ranch supplying beef to that chain of stores? :-) }, so we moved the short distance and she went in. I drove through the nearby Schlotzsky's Deli on the way, as I hear some have free WiFi net access, but the Kensington device does not detect any, and I drive on to HEB.  Today we have the cell net connection anyway, and the net activity is mostly finished. Claire returned with a cart LOADED up with supplies, saying that was the best store she had been in for a long time, and the prices were good too.  We'd never tried them, but will again. We have seen them lots of places in Texas.  We move north along I-35.  I get the feeling these Hill country Texans use their expanse of land well; the buildings seem to spread out enough to give a sense of wide open space.

The land is very obviously highly occupied, however.  We stopped at a nicely wooded rest stop on I-35 south of Austin. Purry got a walk in grass, and I saw the mysterious blue "bluebell" flowers we'd been seeing along the Interstate highways growing across the street.  I went for a close look, and returned with real pictures, and enough detail to find them on our Texas wild flower chart. They are Texas Bluebonnets, the state flower of Texas, and they are quite beautiful close up.

Even the honeybees agree they are quite attractive!!  Purry is eager to return inside the RV.  We decide to move on, but Claire soon finds the reason Purry wanted to come inside so urgently; his grassy "gift" must be cleaned up before we can move...  :-(   The drive through Austin is interesting; this city has a number of large high rise office buildings in mid town.  The Texas state house dome is dwarfed by them, but is clearly visible in the distance.

The pinkish tinge of the granite is barely noticeable at this distance, but becomes more so when compared to the other buildings. North of Austin the towns are very "suburban upscale".  Large spacious malls line the interstate.  Claire went wandering in the almost endless mall along the I-35 service road near the New BraunfelsWalmart we stopped in.  When she returned she wanted to eat at Buffet Palace across the parking lot; it is a more upscale oriental (Korean and Japanese as well as Chinese dishes) buffet featuring shrimp, crab, and fish dishes and sushi as well as the more traditional dishes.  They claimed they use no MSG in anything, too.  The food was delicious and I enjoyed it, but as usual at places like this, OVERDID, with the discomfort to suffer when we returned to the RV. This seems like a nice town to us. The people here seem mainly young, many with families, and stylishly casual dressed. This is an active suburban town with things to do, money to spend, and places to spend it.  We managed to connect with Carol on the phone, but Matt has been in a communications black hole for two weekends now....

Monday March 29:

A cool front went through last night, and it's 61 degrees at 9AM.  It's breezy, but much less humidity and more comfortable.  Claire shops a bit at Walmart;  on the way out we will stop at Sam's Club for Salsa and also see if the bookstore next to them has WiFi.  We found no salsa at Sam's; either they have stopped carrying the brand we like, or it does not meet the Texas taste test ...  :-)  On the way out of Sam's we saw a Schlotzky's deli, and an open bunch of parking places VERY close to the building, so we cozied the RV right up...within 30 feet of the building.  At N30degrees 28.906'  W097degrees 40.892' there was a weak WiFi node called "cool cloud" we could use after some fiddling with configuration; the access point connected to us, but would not allow Internet access to work until I changed the connect speed from 22 MB/s to 11 MB/s.  I'm beginning to think there are lots of things that can get in the way of this stuff working, and that you must fiddle with at each node you find.  Anyway, we got email, sent using our hotpop email account, and looked at weather in the direction we are moving. At times I had to hold the laptop on it's end to get enough signal.  Schlotzky's nodes are designed to be used inside while munching a sandwich, methinks....  :-)  We moved on toward Waco, 80 miles away at 1PM.  The countryside once again becomes more rural.  This sign is cute.

I do think I'd prefer MY Real Beef Jerky just a little bit more processed, thanks!  :-)  We stopped about 15 miles from there at another of Texas' nice rest stops for a break.  

Purry got a chance to graze, Claire to do Pilates, and I cleaned the bugs off the windshield and front end of the coach. (You picture connoisseurs  might notice the difference too!). The notice prohibits more than 24 hour occupancy, and the erection of any structures;  I guess I might move in here for a spell myself, without those restrictions.  :-)  After some ice tea, it's time to move on.  We found the Waco Flying J quite busy, so pulled into an overnight parking slot; we'll fill fuel in the morning after any necessary generator running, taking on the maximum amount of this $1.51/g fuel.  :-)  Dinner is left over corned beef with a fresh addition of vegetables;  Purry was not going to give up my seat at the table without a fight.....

I won, and it was worth the fight, as it was quite good and more than we could finish, but the effort so exhausted me I went to bed soon after dinner....  :-)

Tuesday March 30:

It's 63 degrees under the RV at 5AM.  I work the web page, then return to bed.  Claire is up and has the water heater on for showers when I reawaken.  :-)  There is time for breakfast first, but we plan a 4 hour drive to Tyler today, so do not want to be too late starting.  Dump, gas and water fill are routine, but take 30 minutes if there is nobody ahead of us.  Today we drive right up to an empty dump station, but must wait to fill fuel and water.  This is a BUSY Flying J, probably due to their below market prices in the area for gas. A man approached as we started to fill, asking where we are from with a deep Texas twang;  when we say Massachusetts, he asks "Where abouts there?".  He was born in a town near us, but had moved to Dallas at age 8.  He certainly had no trace of Massachusetts accent left.  :-)  He was planning on taking his RV to Toronto in the fall, and would "leaf peep" in New England; they planned on peak color around Thanksgiving.  I told him by Thanksgiving the trees would be bare in MA, and that I'd expect peak color in NH second week in October, give or take a week; I recommended he search the web for info on where he was going.  He said thanks and disappeared into the crowd around the pumps.  We drove toward Tyler, passing Baylor University in the center of Waco.

We left I-35, and on the state highway started keeping our eyes open for a post office.  There was a "Post Office" sign pointing off the state highway in the tiny town of Mount Calm; we drove down the street into the town, but saw no flag flying or other indication of a Post Office, and saw nobody to ask.  We were running out of town and paved road too, so returned to the highway; this town is a bit too calm for our purposes...  :-)  A bit further along we passed a post office in Hubbard, and made a quick turn around the block to park near it.  Our route around the block startled us  a bit, as we had to pass within 10 feet of this Army combat helicopter on display.

We parked near the post office, taking up most of the available parking spots on the main street.  These towns are TINY, but the post office man said there was a laundromat if we turned left at City Hall.  Sure enough, we found the appropriately sized city hall, and the TINY three dryer laundromat too.  Claire decided she wanted to use more than three driers to speed our laundry process, so we moved on.  We will stop in the Walmart in Corsicana and ask there about a laundromat. The roadsides in Texas are simply GORGEOUS in springtime.

These masses of Bluebonnets interspersed with some Indian paintbrushes decorate the landscape.  The Corsicana Walmart was not where Street Atlas located it, but it was it was a big new looking super one along the highway that could not be missed, either;  no map can keep up with Walmart's expansion, not even their own map book which shows the Corsicana Walmart as a non-super one!  We asked inside and received excellent directions to a very nice laundromat in the center of town near the police station.  The customer service lady took the time to give us correct complicated directions WITH street names that we could find on the GPS map...bless her!  :-))  She had said she could send us to a closer one, but it was not good....bless her TWICE!!   Purry had a chance to graze while Claire did laundry;  I had the chance to clean up the results too, when he INSISTED as usual on returning inside before becoming sick....  some people's CATS!!!  :-((  We decided to  stay overnight here instead of continuing to Tyler, and returned to Walmart to shop before dinner.  Claire broiled steak in the convection oven, and made a mashed potato, kale and onion dish that went very well with it.  The HEB steak was quite good, even to this person who usually [shhh...we're in Texas...:-) ]  prefers other food.... :-))  I guess we'll shop the local markets for meat more often.  HEB does not seem to expend many resources on fancy exterior decor, so we were inclined to pass them off as inferior, but their groceries definitely are first class!  :-) The late afternoon sun warmed the RV sufficiently to require the vent fan.  I watched PBS news, and another show Claire got into also, before going to bed.  We closed the vents against the forecast mid 40 overnight low.

Wednesday March 31:

It is 51 degrees under the RV at 6:25 AM.  It is uncomfortably cool inside, so I put on my fleece oversuit and start the heat; it seems like FOREVER since we've needed to think about heat, but it comes right on. At least no insects settled in there preventing its working!!  :-))  By 6:45 the sun is hitting the windows and I open the curtains and turn off the furnace. Folks outside are wearing long sleeve jackets now, but it will be above 70 today despite last night's forecast low of 45.  We'll be in shorts by this afternoon.  The plan today is to drive the 150 miles to Marshall, TX where Claire enjoys visiting a pottery factory, then decide whether to continue on another 60 miles to a Corps of Engineers campground on Wright Patman lake, or stay at the Super Walmart there for the night.  Today is the last day of the month, and we find we have nearly half our prime minutes left on our plan, despite way above average use for us this month; the web page Verizon has set up to check minutes used never seems to work over the cell connection lately, but a call to customer service gets us the minutes used information easily and free.  I do not understand why they need to have us enter our phone number, though; they of all people know what phone number is originating a call to customer service....   Claire has a few calls to make today, then I'll check our email midweek tonight, too.  I add a quart of oil to the motorhome engine; the stick is just a tiny bit above the add mark, normal for over 1500 miles since we've changed it.  This will take it to the next change.  We move out before 10AM toward Marshall.  We find a pottery factory outlet along the road in Murchison, and stop. They advertise 50% off the already cheap prices on the clay flower pots outside, but almost every one has an easily visible large crack; what good are they, even free? They're too light for boat ballast, and rather sharp crushed for a road surface.....  The inside of the building smells VERY strongly of gas.  I tell the woman running the cash register that I smell it, in case she has not noticed.  She said the people had been there and checked it out and could find nothing.  I told her they had just missed the leak...it was STRONG;  Phew!!  I very soon find it more comfortable to be outside.  Purry wanted a walk and I accommodated him. Claire soon ran out of enthusiasm here too, and returned to the RV.  We continued on to Tyler, and find a roadside park there for lunch that was a confederate POW camp during the civil war.  Accommodations were predictably sparse for the prisoners. This was the reconstructed cabin of the ranking union officer held here.

 I'm sure the tractor was not a part of the civil war setting....  When I peek inside the cabin I find unlikely occupants too...

These have little historical significance, but are quite cooperative and eager to pose....I pressed the button when there were two, and the picture came up with three...these Texas gals move FAST!  Can you see any family resemblance?   :-)  The enlisted folks did not have such luxurious digs.

This is not much more than a hole in the ground with a fireplace and a roof, and also lacks any cute occupants; I sense  Texas gals pick the best available digs, too.....  I do not blame them in this case, as who knows WHAT lurks inside that hole in the ground....I do not enter.   A town trash truck is having a tire changed by a tire service pickup truck with a very loud engine driven air compressor on back; when I asked the driver how he could tell it was bad on the 10 wheel truck, he reported it blew out loudly while he was driving slowly picking up trash.  I am just glad it is not us needing the service, but I'm sure our turn will come!!  We continue on to Marshall, and easily find the pottery outlet there from the signs along I-20. Claire is full of energy and pokes into everything.

 I again walk Purry, and photograph some spectacular wisteria in peak bloom across the road.

 This property is next to a nursery, and I suspect these plants get spectacular care.  We had passed some trees of Wisteria seeming to be over 50 feet high nearby along the road, but I see now that these were trees covered with the wisteria vine, which climbs like a grape.  This area around Marshall is quite good at growing it I see.  The east Texas area reminds me a lot of the rolling Pennsylvania countryside of my youth, and indeed we find a town named Richland.  It appears that Germans had settled here, as they had in Pennsylvania, and they appreciate rich, highly productive farmlands.  I'm sure summer conditions are quite different, but this springtime is very much like the northeast, with mixed woodlands, and deciduous trees just coming into full leaf.  Spring here is a month ahead of  Pennsylvania, and I'm sure summer heat is often well over 100 degrees for a much longer time, but the terrain and plant species similarity amazes me....  There are even towns with old two story houses similar to those in Pennsylvania....built by German immigrants I'm sure!   :-)  Claire shops a LONG time in Marshall Pottery ( N32 degrees 30.756', W094 degrees 19.192' )  I finally find her with a cart load of assorted flower pots; when I wonder where she plans to store them, she says under the bed, but what she really wants is a concrete bird bath......oh my!  I get my tape measure and open most of the storage compartments.  If we move some of the cords and spare parts out of the electrical service compartment, PERHAPS the base will fit...and if we choose a flatter top it will go in the thin storage area between the two sides.  Then Claire shows me what she really wants, much smaller than the ones I had measured;  I fit it in without using the electrical service compartment.  :-)  By the time this is done and all the pots packed away inside it is after 3:30;  we decide to stay in the Marshall Walmart, and move on to the Corps of Engineers campground tomorrow when we can enjoy a full day there.  Dinner is spaghetti with Claire's marinara sauce, using the left over steak from the night before.  The afternoon sun made the RV HOT; shorts were necessary.  The business report and news came from Louisiana; we are close to Shreveport, and PBS signals from there are strong.  I decide to get the email, and there is one from Matt; he's lost his cell phone, and with it our cell number, hence his not returning our calls .  I will call his room repeatedly until I get him!  The first try he picks up.  We are happy to hear all is well, and understand he is busy.  We do not talk long, as most of our remaining minutes must be used for financial transactions....  :-))  We get one more call tonight, regarding the boat...perhaps all of our nagging problems are getting solved in this one day???  :-)))  Too much to hope for, but it makes for easy sleeping as the cool evening overtakes us...

Thursday April 1:

Happy April Fool's Day!  :-))  It's 49 degrees under the RV at 7 AM; the sun is shining brightly, warming the interior, and I see no need for heat.  We are back to spring conditions.  :-)  It has been a deep sleep under the comfortable quilt, and I'm late to arise.  Even Purry, cozied in between our pillows, was not noticed.... perhaps he is looking for warmth? Or perhaps even more likely (at this time), breakfast?  :-)  He does not move when I vacate the bed, so it's hard to tell for sure.....  Claire peels a BIG papaya she had bought at HEB; it will go very well with some of Nadine's blueberries we have frozen.  :-)  We resupply at Walmart before moving on, and are under way before 10AM. The short drive puts us at the campground just across the brown waters of Wright Patman lake before lunch; we turn off into a boat launching area before realizing it is not the campground,  but see the camping sign and find a very developed campground when we had expected a primitive one. It turns out the former campground WAS in the boat launch area until this new one was built;  our GPS map had the former location plotted, and we had gone there without noticing the new campground sign. The very friendly couple working the gate are training a new puppy, and the chocolate lab/cocker mix is a joy!   She will learn, and is a very friendly, loving animal.  We sadly hear that the couple's former dog was killed by a vehicle, with tracks in their lawn indicating someone had deliberately driven off the road to hit it;  this I find very hard to understand..... WHY would someone endanger their vehicle to kill someone's dog in the owners yard?  I do believe the story, though, as we have seen a lot of animals, such as vultures and coyotes, dead along the EDGE of highways in east Texas that are just not often killed by vehicles elsewhere, and we had wondered if some folks here went out of their way to hit them.... it's really unbelievable to me that they would do this, but the animals are in the grass at the edge of the road, not on the pavement!    :-(((  The gate folks explained which sites here were open, and gave us a red cone to mark the site when we returned to pay.  We found the first site we looked at to be beautiful, and settled in facing the lake which.  It meant we will need the extension cord to reach the electricity, but we've decided to stay two days, so the effort is well worth it.  I took a bike down to return to the gate; it's less than a mile away.  We pay $14 for two days with our golden age passport, and I return to join Claire eating lunch.  We're settled in with a half day to yet to go; we decide on an exploratory hike, and enjoy the solitude of this red water lake.

We enjoy the flowers and birds.  

This very venomous Texas web worm is doing it's best to reach my fingers and end my existence....   To minimize unnecessary concern, be assured that it does NOT succeed......  :-)

Oh, yeah, APRIL FOOL!!  :-))  It's just an ordinary leaf eating web worm that dropped down in front of us....I put it down on the side of the road without touching it though...just in case.  :-)  We are enjoying this campground; most folks here are here to fish, but it is a nice quiet place to spend a couple days where Purry can roam, after so many Walmarts and Flying Js recently.  Dinner is Claire's thin noodle chicken soup, and it's very welcome!  After news from Shreveport's PBS station, and doing dishes, I'm ready for bed.

 PLANS: From here at Wright Patman Lake, TX where we will stay until Sunday, we move into Arkansas at Texarkana, probably through New Boston, Texas, just because it's hardly out of our way.  From our maps, it does not seem large enough to get lost in, but we oughta be able to say we were there!  Arkansas has lots of state parks that honor the golden age passport, and lots of Corps of Engineers campgrounds which do the same, so we will spend about 2 weeks meandering around Arkansas, making sure we see Hot Springs, the caverns in Blanchard Springs, possibly the Ozark folk center if we can catch it after it opens April 16, and Crater of Diamonds State Park too, to try our luck at finding a gem...  :-)  Next will be a short sojourn through southern Missouri to Kentucky (as the states do not touch), and we'll be sure to see Mammoth Cave National Park there.  Then it is on into Virginia around the beginning of May, and Luray Caverns May 10th.  We expect to be home around mid May.  We cannot WAIT to see Matt graduate!  :-)