Let's do Texas!

So this will be the first year we "snowbird." We will eventually spend the winter in Florida near Orlando, but we plan on spending some time in the Texas Hill Country, then hang out in Louisiana for a while then meet up with some friends in Florida.

We left Belleville after all our doctor visits and drove to West Memphis.  We stayed at Tom Sawyer RV Park.  It's really cool.  It's right on the Mississippi River.  It floods every Spring.  We had a site that was 15 feet from the water.  I just sat there and watched all the enormous barges go by.

After a couple of days we headed to Texas.  We we're going to meet up with two other couples, The Susan & Forrest Attaway & Paul & Sue Weible in Point, Texas. That's where Paul's brother lives.  WE spent a couple of days there.  We went to Canton Days in Canton Texas.  Visited an awesom winery in Sulphur Springs.

Next stop Canyon Lake, Texas.  One of Dan's Air Force buddies, Brent & Sue Lyon, live here.  We "mooch docked" here.  That's when you camp in someone's driveway instead of a campground. They even had 50 amp, sweet!

 The main reason for coming here is for the Wurstfest in New Braunfels.  But we did a lot of socializing and drove around the hill country visiting wineries, distilleries & micro-breweries.  Are you sensing a trend here????  Played cards at night and ate really well.  And enjoyed the view of the patio.

We made it to the Wurstfest and enjoyed the beer tent. All kinds of music, rounded out the night with accordionists. I liked more than I thought I would.

We left Canyon Lake & headed over to Kerrville.  The "Hill Country".  The weather turned on us a little and we woke up to freezing rain.  WTH???

We came south to get away from this.  Rita was pretty mad at me, she said we came to Texas because it was warmer.  I pointed out that technically it is warmer.  Here it was 28 degrees and in Belleville it was 15?

Fortunately the weather warmed up pretty quickly and the next day we were rewarded with this sunset!

We did have a little problem here.  We discovered that there was an oily film on the back of CC & on our car.  After opening the engine bay we discovered that the diesel fuel filter gasket wasn't seated properly.  I contacted our service point & they recommended not moving the coach & getting a roadside service technician to come to us for evaluation & repair.  Luckily our roadside assistance program covered the initial expenses & the service center covered all the other expenses. WHEW!  The repair crew even threw in an engine bay cleaning.  So we ran by their shop on the way out.  I liked the sign on the door.

We were able to relax for the rest of the stay.  Meeting up with some friends in town, making some SkyMed calls at area campgrounds.  Even squeeze in some dining, sightseeing & bike rides.

Let's Head toward home!

We had a great Rally in the Boston area, now we are going to start meandering home.  First stop will be a one nighter at a Harvest Host spot, the Natural Garden in Meredith. NY.  It's a beautiful garden with walking trails & a wedding destination.  We parked in a grassy field and couldn't find a spot level enough to open so we stayed closed.  There was a nice restaurant & brewery onsite so we enjoyed a relaxed evening and view. 

The drive out was nice too.


Next stop was near Corning, New York for a three night stay.  Some friends mentioned the Corning Museum had some interesting hands on exhibits and interesting history with glass.  We had a minor electrical issue in CC an solenoid malfunctioned, but with the help of a nearby camper we were able to bypass it for now.

We went to the Corning Museum, both Hunter & Rita were able to make something.  Hunter got to make a blown glass pumpkin.  Rita made some glass jewelry.



Next we headed to Watkins Glen so we could see the gorge.  Within two miles, the glen's stream descends 400 feet past 200-foot cliffs, generating 19 waterfalls along its course. The gorge path winds over and under waterfalls and through the spray of Cavern Cascade. Rim trails overlook the gorge.  We started on the bottom and hiked up the trail among all the falls.  It was awesome.  Walking up the trail we took plenty of breaks but we made it & enjoyed the day immensely.

 



After we made it down the trail a dinner on the lake sounded about right.



Back on the road for our final stop.  We are meeting some Army buddies from Fort Leonard Wood, Mike Watson & John Hammer (plus their spouses).  We are hooking up in Richmond Indiana.  It's sort of half way for Watson & Hammer.

When Rita & I came home from West Germany in 1978 we met Mike & John who were in the same MP company.  They were roommates in what we recall as a "dump" off base.  We took them in as often as we could for friendship and eating.  Hammer's have a new Class A & Watson's rented a cabin.

Unfortunately Rita's brother was having a serious health issue & was in ICU in St. Louis so she left me & Hunter in Indiana and went to be with her sisters.  She was taking quite a risk leaving me with these two guys.  But what the hell, two retired cops & plenty of bail money what could have gone wrong.  We had a blast.

We ventured into town & found a nice nature trail.  Hunter was able to talk to John about being a lineman & answer some questions about looking into the "trades."



We found a great brewery / BBQ in town...



The next day we drove into Dayton & visited the Air Museum at Wright/Patterson.



We spent the evenings at the campgrounds reminiscing about the good old days, having plenty of alcohol.  We tried corrupting Hunter the best we could.  John & Mike did a great job at this, urging him to "straighten" his mom out!  They then spent way too much time trying to find dirty songs to listen to.  It was a riot.

Unfortunately we had to pack it up and head the rest of the way home. with plenty of promises to meet up again!

Hunter & I drove home, actually we went to The Truck Center in Troy to get an oil change.  Jackie brought AJ to meet us & pick up Hunter.  Finally Hunter had somebody to wrestle with.  I played some much catch with Hunter over this 60 day trip I'm surprised my arm didn't fall off.  I hiked with him, golfed with him & rode bikes with him, but there was no way I would wrestle!!



This was a great trip & we loved the chance to take Hunter for the Summer.  When we got home he decided to Join the Marines and was planning on a Spring 2020 start.

Love ya Hunter!