Day 22, Old Town Spring, TX

Yesterday, the folks visited Old Town Spring, TX.  It is a town that was established in the mid-1840's when German immigrants settled there.  Today, the old buildings have been turned into shops, restaurants and museums.  There are 150 of them.   Here are a few photos from the town.

One of the 4 or 5 pet stores.  No, they didn't buy us anything.

Shops along the street.

Another pet store where Mama didn't buy us anything.

Nice landscaping at a shop.

Cute birdhouse.

Another view of the town.

The folks ate at Wunsche Bros Cafe and Saloon Restaurant.  It originally opened in 1902.

Wunsche Bros Cafe and Saloon Restaurant

Inside the restaurant.

Egg crates covered the ceiling of the restaurant.

Mama ordered a cheeseburger and onion rings. Dad ordered Sausage Sauerkraut Balls as an appetizer and a German Sausage Sandwich which is a bratwurst with sauerkraut and German mustard.  Mama would have ordered a country fried steak, but it seemed to be too big for lunch.  They both said it was good, but not great.

More nice landscaping outside of Thad's.

An interesting way to display photos.  It looks like half of a large bird cage.

The Loose Caboose is a restaurant. You eat outside of it.

Mama didn't buy a single thing.  Do you believe that?  They had a fabric store, but she didn't want to bore Dad too much.  She did not bring the sewing machine along after all.  It was a last minute decision to leave it behind.

The town was quite large.  It is somewhat like a place near us called Kimmswick, MO, but this place is probably 3 times as large.  Mama enjoyed it even though she didn't buy anything.

They came back to the RV for a few hours and then they went out to dinner.  They ate at Chuy's, which is a Mexican restaurant.   Mama ordered a burrito with sirloin steak.  Dad had steak fajitas.  Mama had a jalapeno sauce on her burrito.  She read the reviews and that seemed to be a favorite.  She liked it, but it didn't taste like jalapenos to her.  It tasted more like a ranch dressing.  They both said the food was good, but not great.  They probably will not go back since there are so many other places to try.  There were two unique things about Chuy's:  1) they had women making the tortillas on display 2) They had a trunk from a model of a 50's Chevy and that is where the tortilla chips and sauce were kept.   The restaurant had an Elvis theme for some reason.

Inside Chuy's

After they ate, they went to Walmart to do their grocery shopping.  Mama does not like going there because the lines are so long.  She has been there three times and has had to wait in long lines each time.  She picked up an oven thermometer, ice cube trays and some knives.  She has steak knives, but not regular knives.  She is not sure why she didn't pack any.  Last week, she bought some tablespoons.  Each week, she is buying something small that makes her life a little easier.  Dad bought shelving material at Home Depot to put shelves in Mama's closet.  They still want to buy a spice rack because that will give them more room in the pantry.  That might be next week's project.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Has Not Been Chewing On Bully Sticks Much

Day 21, Ironman Competition

An Ironman Competition is being held today near where we are staying.  A few of the competitors are staying in our campground.  They swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and run 26.2 miles.  Can you imagine doing that?  I'm an ex-athlete and I can't imagine doing it.

Speaking of being an ex-athlete, Scout and I were walking by a little boy yesterday. I heard him tell his Dad "The white dog is definitely faster than the tiger dog."  That kids definitely knows what he is talking about.

Scout is fine.  Mom checked her over yesterday just to be sure.  She went out a lot more yesterday, but when it came time for our last walk, she didn't want to go.  This morning, we took separate walks and she walked for a long time. She is eating fine.  She is just lazy.  Daddy says she just likes doing what she wants and that is laying around.

Yesterday afternoon Mom (if you just noticed I sometimes call Mama, Mom), Scout and I were sitting in the RV.  All of a sudden we heard BANG and the RV shook, then BANG and and the RV shook again.  Mama thought someone ran into us.  She went outside to look and our awning had broken free of the RV. The rod that holds it to the RV was dangling down. A gust of wind must have taken it.  Now, we are very well aware that an awning should be taken down when it is windy, but it wasn't.  Mama thought it was completely broke.  She had lessons in how to put it away, but did not have lessons on what to do if it came loose from the RV.  A  lady stopped by and asked if she needed help.  Mama didn't think she could help, but it turns out she knew what she was doing. Anyway, with her help, they were able to re-attach the awing to the RV.  Mama was so grateful that the lady stopped to help her.  A little later on, we were walking and ran into the lady and her husband.  The husband said that his wife does all the stuff around the RV. Mama is always impressed when she meets a woman like that.  Mama would like to be like that one day.

We were asked if our Mexican casserole needs to go in the oven.  Yes, it's supposed to be in a 13x9 pan and heated for 30 minutes at 300 or until bubbly.  We only have an 8x8 pan and it did fine in that.

The folks are going to do some tourist things today.  Scout and I will be left behind. Boo!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Knows He Can Run Faster Than His Sister

Some Things Are Bigger In Texas

You should see the rabbits here in Texas.  They are a lot bigger than the ones at home. We don't have a picture to show you because they are also faster than the ones at home.  The ones at home are not very bright. We can almost touch them before they move.  The ones here take off before we even get close to them.

Mama said the Mexican Casserole was good.  She thought she would have leftovers for lunch today, but when we came back from our walk, Daddy had eaten all but a tablespoon of it. 

Mexican Casserole

The casserole was easy to make.  It has crushed tortilla chips on the bottom, fried ground beef with chili beans and a cup of salsa mixed together, a layer of sour cream, diced tomatoes, black olives and cheddar cheese.  Mama served it with more tortilla chips because the ones in the casserole were not crisp. 

Tonight, the menu calls for a Veggie & Hash Brown Pie, but Mama is not going to make it.   She has decided to grill some chicken breasts and maybe top those with mushrooms, grilled onions and Swiss cheese.  The casserole uses broccoli, so she will fix that as the veggie and will either cook some noodles or baked beans as another side.  She is kind of winging it tonight.  She just doesn't think the casserole sounds that good to her and it is meatless.  She likes meat.  She will save the hash browns for breakfast.

FYI - Mama found out that our RV holds 75 gallons and not the 50 she thought.

Mama did laundry again this morning.  She washed Dad's work clothes.  He wears white polo shirts and khaki pants.  Well, one of Dad's shirt shrunk, a lot.   LOL  Oops! 

Mama doesn't usually dry most of their clothes, but since we have limited drying room in the RV, she is drying everything but jeans and t-shirts.  She may have to stop drying Dad's shirts or pay closer attention to the ones that are 100% cotton.  LOL

Scout is getting lazier and lazier.  She didn't want to go for our walk at all last night.  Dad almost had to carry out of the RV.  Mama asked if she was scared of something. Dad said she is just lazy.  She kept looking back at the RV on the whole walk.  Finally, we reached the end of the dog walk and we turned around and I had trouble keeping up with her.  This morning, she went out fine, but later when we went for a second walk, she refused.  She ended up getting jealous that I was getting a third walk and she came along and she met a nice man that petted her.  She was happy after that. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Has A Very Lazy Sister

Day 19, It's Getting Hot

We've been having some really nice weather here in Texas, but now the temperatures are heating up. We will make limited trips outside today. Last night, Mama made the Ham, Caramelized Onions and Cheese Panini for dinner. She said it was really good. She made a sauce of Dijon mustard, horseradish and honey for the ham. The bread was buttered and then heated in a skillet until it was golden brown and the Swiss cheese melted on the ham. Mama had never caramelized onions before, but that is the nice thing about Emeals because they give instructions on how to do things. She has learned a lot of cooking techniques since she started using them. She used to not know how to make gravy, if you can believe that. Sometimes the meals take a while to prepare and would be hard for people working outside the home, but Mama has the time to cook and she likes it. Tonight, we are having a Mexican casserole for dinner. Mama loves Mexican food, so she is looking forward to it.

Mama met the neighbor who lives next to us. She has a three-legged Irish Setter named Gus. Gus shattered his front leg about a year ago when he jumped from their fifth wheel instead of taking the steps. He is 8. His Mom decided to amputate his leg instead of putting him to sleep. He gets around well, but his stamina still needs improvement. It looks exhausting watching him hop around. They have been here for 6 months and will probably be a year more.  She is a nurse and works nearby. Mama asked the neighbor if she minded if we hung our hummingbird feeder from a tree that is more on her property than on ours. She said that was fine with her. We can now view it from inside our RV, so that's nice.

We sat outside this morning. Scout even joined us. We took a quick walk around the lake and then we headed into the air conditioning. Here are a few photos from this morning.

Come on, let's do something.  I'm bored.

A squirrel!

Ducks!

Scout says "Okay, I'm done, let's go back inside."

Posing next to the Texas star.

Have a great day!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Keeping Cool Inside Today

Day 18 - Cleaning Day

Mama says we need to clean today.  We have to sweep and vacuum.  We hate cleaning day.  It will probably take 15 minutes, but still.

Last night, Mama fixed the chicken and ham casserole.  She will fix the panini tonight. The casserole was quite a task in our small kitchen. The recipe called for cooking the chicken, fixing a gravy and boiling noodles.  She ended up fixing the chicken first and refrigerating that. Later, she boiled the noodles and fixed the gravy.  She also had to cut up celery as well as a cantaloupe for dessert.  It doesn't sound like much until you are doing it in a very small space.   She said it was a challenge, but she did it and it was a good meal.   The casserole had chicken, ham, celery, noodles, a gravy and cheese.  It is baked after being assembled.  The oven seems to be working fine.  It doesn't tell you when it ready to use though, so Mama is just guessing that it has reached the temperature that she has it set at.  It is lighting easily, so that is good.  She has to light the pilot light when she uses it.  She thought of leaving it lit, but then it stays warm when it not in use, so she is just lighting it when she uses it.

It rained most of yesterday.  A lot of the men that live here came back to the campground early.  They must work outside.  A few of them stood in the rain and fished.

We had ducks waddle past our RV yesterday.

We haven't seen any hummingbirds yet.  There are several feeders around besides ours.  We only have one kind in Missouri, but there are several that are in this area.  We hope to see them.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Hates The Broom and Vacuum

Day 17, A Walk Around Our Park

We are having a very cool morning here in Texas.  We are having some light showers. The rain may get heavier later on in the day.

Mama and I took a walk around the park and took some photos. Scout stayed at home.  Last night, she didn't want to walk with us, but the folks made her.  She stayed inside most of the day and she was told she had to come out while the weather was cool. She would take about five steps and look back at the RV.  She was not happy.  Once we reached the end of the dog walk, we turned around and she was fine.  She just wanted to get back to bed. She's silly.

We think these are Black-bellied Whistling Ducks.  They are very pretty.

My travel collar is off and I am wearing my bandana collar.  It seems appropriate for Texas.

The entrance to the campground.

The small lake as you enter the park.  No dogs are allowed here.

Another view of the small lake.

The Office.

The laundry room.  They only charge $1 for a wash and a $1 for a dry.  That's the cheapest we have see.

Small flower garden near the office.

Another view of the lake that we have a view of from our site.

The dinner last night was good.  The oven worked well.  Mama is either going to make Ham, Caramelized Onion & Cheese Panini or Ham and Chicken Casserole for dinner.  It's probably going to be the sandwiches. 

Dad's first day of work was fine.  He said the drive in was easy. The drive home was not as good.  Traffic was bad but he said they had heavy rain, so maybe that was the reason.

It sounds like there is a good chance that we will be here more than a month.  We hope so.  We hope to hear something later this week.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Going To Sleep Through The Rain

Day 16, Dad's 1st Day of Work

Today is Dad's first day of work.  We hope his commute wasn't too bad.  He left here at 6 a.m. and he needed to be there by 8:15 a.m.  It was like a 25 minute drive yesterday, but that was on a Sunday.

Yesterday afternoon we stayed home. The folks did go out for dinner and to do grocery shopping.  There is a Walmart 1.6 miles away.  Mama still says the roads here are confusing. U-turns are a necessity here.  It's just the way the roads are set up.  The GPS is really confused by the outer roads.  We were told about that by the lady we met in Alabama who is traveling on her own.  She said her GPS was worthless in Texas. It's much easier driving a car here than the motor home.  Motor homes can't easily make u-turns.  Oh, we were asked how much gas Goldie holds.  Mama thinks it is about 50 gallons.  It costs us about $200 to fill her up.  Yep, this trip has been quite expensive.  We hope we get to stay put for a few months so that we can save on gas money.  We still don't know if we will be here more than a month, but we hope so.  Our fear is that Dad will be sent to another island and our adventure will stop for awhile.

Last night, the folks ate a Sawgrass Steak House.  Mama had a ribeye and said it was delicious. We wouldn't know because she didn't bring us any.  Daddy had a steak along with barbecued shrimp.  The shrimp was stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon and then barbecued.  He said it was fabulous.  We have never heard him use that word before.

We really like this park.  There are three small fishing lakes.  We have a view of one of them.

This is our view.

Goldie is in the background.

There are lots of ducks.

 There are ducks and turtles.  Two Mallard ducks were after me and Mama yesterday.  We don't know why. We don't think there is a nest because they don't stay at the lake all the time.

Remember I told you that Scout just lays down when she is tired of walking.  Well, here she is in action.

Another shot of our campsite.

Yep, we are in Texas.

Our yard.  Our hummingbird feeder and BBQ grill.  It's a nice, quiet place.

Here I am with Dad.

There is a really nice dog walk.  It goes basically the length of the park and that's pretty long. The owner said we could walk wherever we wanted though.  We have found that the dog walk is the best place though.  If we walk through the campground, we get chased by little dogs.  They are supposed to be on leashes, but most are not.  We are getting used it though as the place we stayed in Pensacola had two dogs that chased us.  They did not listen to their parents when they were called.   All the dogs have been nice, but it still makes Mama nervous, so she prefers to avoid other dogs. 

We noticed that there is a three-legged Irish Setter that lives next to us. Her Mom doesn't walk her on a leash.  I guess she doesn't think she can go fast, but it looked like she was getting around pretty well to us.  There are also two cats living in that RV.  We think the Mom works nights. 

Me being silly.

Sometimes I like my tongue to hang out like this.

Mama did laundry this morning.  We now have clothes drying in the RV.  We are not supposed to let them dry outside. 

Mama is going to fix a real dinner tonight.  It should be interesting.  She will use the oven. She has used it a few times, but can't remember if the cooking time is accurate in it.  She is using recipes from Emeals. The recipe tonight is chicken drizzled with BBQ sauce along with pinto beans and corn on the cob wrapped in foil and baked.  We will let you know tomorrow if it is any good.  She really likes Emeals because it makes shopping and cooking so easy.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Relaxing Today In Texas