San Angelo State Park

We arrived at San Angelo State Park on March 12. We both commented that this felt like the start of the the second part of this trip. We are not sure how many parts it will have, but this one includes visiting the 5 National Parks in Utah and we are very excited about that.

San Angelo SP is a very strange place. It is a very nice SP that was built  around a lake. The problem is that the lake is totally dry. At first it looks like this area was hit by an apocalyptical event. There is all of the infrastructure that you would expect like boat ramps and signage, but there is no water. Here is a shot of the lake:

The sites have great spacing and there there are miles and miles of trails through the scrub brush and mesquite trees. Here is a shot of our site:

There is no road noise and we kind of feel like we are out all by ourselves. We actually kind of like this place. The only problem is the bathrooms are about a half mile away. At least we get a good walk each day. 

The story of this place is kind of interesting. The city of San Angelo was hit by a major flood in 1937. The good news is that no one was killed, but the property damage was extensive. In 1947 they started construction of the dam. It was finished in 1953. The dam is over 8 miles long. Over the past 70 years the lake has been dry before and was full as recently as the late 1980's. The lake/dam is for flood control. They let the water out as soon as the down stream areas can take the water. I would love to see this place with a lake. They will need one of those 30 year rains from a hurricane to fill the lake. 

I took a long bike ride on Saturday and a long walk on Sunday. We did have a good time here. Now it is time to move on. Here are a few more shots of this area:

Here are a few sunset shots:

I did take the time while we were here to get my solar system hooked up and working. It worked out great. I will take some pictures and talk more about it in a future entry. Enjoy your day!

Fredericksburg, Texas

We were thinking about moving on Tuesday, March 10th, but we decided to stay one more day in Kerrville and make the 30 mile trip up to Fredericksburg to see some things we really wanted to see. We had driven through Fberg twice in the past few weeks on our way to Missouri and on the way home. I was very interested in seeing the National Museum of the Pacific War and Kim wanted to wonder around the shops, galleries and churches. For the first time in a while, we decided to go our separate ways. When we go to museums we kind of do our own thing anyway, so it really was not that different.

I started out with the Nimitz Museum. It was very interesting and a good way to start. This is the site of the hotel that his grandfather built and ran for many years. Nimitz grew up here after his father died when he was 5 months old. He was really raised by his grandfather.

Next up was the Memorial Courtyard. It was very moving. They allow people to dedicate plaques to individuals, groups or ships that served in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War 2. 

The Centerpiece is a screw from an Essex class Aircraft Carrier. 

Next was a section that was dedicated to the Presidents that served from 1945 to 1996. All Served in World War 2. 

Next was the George H,W. Bush Gallery. All I will say is that it was the best and most comprehensive Museum that I have ever been to. It took me from 9 to 4 to do my visit. I could have taken two to three more hours. The artifacts were very rare and were just amazing to see.

A US light tank

Not a great shot, but this is a recovered Japanese "Betty" Bomber.

There was an amazing section on the end of the war. The story is told from many different angles and left the ultimate decision up to the visitor to decide for yourself if the bomb should have been dropped or not. 

I walked out in awe! I actually walked very quickly because I wanted to catch the last tour of the day at the Pacific Combat Zone. This is where they do reenactments and they have some amazing hardware there also. It is about 2 blocks away. 

They have a PT Boat. It is very rare. Did you know that they were made of wood?

The guide did an amazing job. I also learned that there actually were two different PT boats. This one was the second one and was made by the Higgins boat company of New Orleans. They also made the famous landing craft. 

Here is an Amtrac that is on the reenactment field. 

The tour finished up in a quanset hut that was set up like a mobile hospital. They played a reading of a letter from a nurse back home to her folks telling about her experiences during the war. If you walked out of there with dry eyes, you have to be a robot. If you are ever in central Texas, you have to take a day and go to this museum. 

Kim spent the day going to winery stores and bought some wine. She also found some Maple/honey/butter that is every bit as good as it sounds. She did go visit the historic churches in town. Here is the old church built in the early 1860's:

And the new Church on the right, built in 1908. Darn power lines really ruined those shots. 

We were both a bit tired, but we really wanted to go see Enchanted Rock. 

Here is a shot of the Rock:

If you blow it up and look closely you can see people climbing up to the top. We decided to walk up a ways and see if I could get a better picture. Well, we walked for a while and got really winded. Here is Kim resting:

Once we got going, we just kept going and going and going. Here is proof that we made it all the way to the top:

This is the survey marker at the top:

We Made it!

Another shot looking up from the parking area.

To say it was a full day would be an understatement. We are very ready to start our trip west and we are very glad we took one more day to enjoy the area around Fredericksburg. We do plan to come back in April when the wildflowers are blooming. We slept well.

Kerrville, Texas

We made it back to Kerrville, Texas on Monday March 9. The drive from Wichita Falls was only about 5 hours. There was light rain most of the way, but it never really poured. We took that route because we had never been on those roads. I really like to take new roads and see things I have not seen before. We drove through some towns like Breckenridge, Cisco, Brownwood, Brady and Mason. All of those town are typical West Texas towns. All are county seats and the town is built around a classic old court house surrounded by a square. I really should have stopped and taken a picture of each of them. I have to admit, after driving over 2000 miles in the past two weeks, I was just ready to get back to the rig. Oh well, lost opportunities.

We did stop in Brady at the local Dairy Queen for lunch. For you not from Texas, a Texas DQ is unlike any other in the country. They have a different menu that includes the country basket. That is a chicken fried steak finger basket with white country gravy. Kim was really looking forward to having one while we were in Texas. The Brady DQ did not disappoint. Good Stuff!

I had very little ambition to get back in the truck the next day. We did need to go to the grocery store to restock. So, by mid afternoon we headed out. We did want to see one other thing in Kerrville. This is the Inn of the Hills:

The Inn of the Hills is where we spent most of our Honeymoon over 35 years ago. We had not been back since. We were very happy to see that the hotel was still well maintained and is a nice place. The truth is that neither of us remembered what it looked like and had different pictures in our minds. Funny how that works. 

We are planning to go to Fredericksburg on Wednesday. I really want to see the Museum of the Pacific war. I am sure I will do an entry about it. Have a great day!

Time to go home

We left the ranch on Saturday, March 7 to head back to our home that is in storage in Kerrville, TX. We really miss our home on wheels. We have been away from it for about two weeks and we can't wait to get back to our bed. It is really amazing how it has truly become our home.

Before we left we had a nice evening at Shannon and Brian's. Our son Scott also came by to visit. It was great to be with the kids. We went over and watched them swim for a bit at the local recreation center. Here is William and Shannon:

Here is a shot of Eve and Kim:

And one of Isabella:

I just like to get some pictures in of the grand kids. They grow up so fast.

We decided to drive down through Arkansas on our way to Texas. We stopped off at the Buffalo River and had a picnic lunch. While we were there some paddlers came by. It was a 60 degree day. The best day we have seen in quite a while.

It is a really beautiful river. We really want to float the river in the not too distant future.

We then went on down to our son's Michael and Audrey's house and spent some time with our two grandsons. Cameron just turned one and Connor is 4.

Cam gets into everything.

He is doing great after having tubes inserted in his ears on Friday. 

We drove on to Wichita Falls, TX on Sunday. We will make the last part of the drive on Monday. We are so ready for warm weather. Here is one last shot of the lodge we took before we left, the icicles were pretty cool.

We have some really cool stuff planned over the next couple of weeks. Check back in to see how it all turns out. Sorry this is such a personal entry, but this blog first and foremost is a log of our travels for us to look back on and remember. 

Hardwood Hills Ranch

We continue to have very wintery weather in Missouri. I would have loved to do some riding with friends while i was here, but we were still very comfortable at Hardwood Hills. We stayed in the lodge while we were here. We will just stay 7 days. Here are a couple of shots of the inside of the lodge. The first is the common area with the kitchen:

Turning around, here is the TV area:

We chose the Kawasaki room to sleep in. I am not sure why we like that room, but that is where we stay when we need to sleep in the lodge.

Notice the pictures on the walls. Those were taken and enhanced by Linda, the wife of my partner Bob. 

We were able to get a lot of stuff done while we were here. We feel we are now ready to begin our trip out west. We will certainly miss the family, but we are very excited about trip. The adventure should be interesting, challenging, fun and awesome. Follow along to see how it all works out. 

Snow pictures and some good news

On Saturday, March 1 the area around Mansfield, Missouri was hit by a pretty strong snowstorm. The weatherman was predicting some snow later in the day into Sunday morning, but when I got up and looked outside, it was already snowing. It kept snowing all day. At times it was pretty hard. It was also cold, around 20 degrees. The snow was light and flaky. Then after dark, a warm front moved in and the snow turned to freezing rain. Our light and flaky snow was ruined by a half inch layer of ice. Here are a few shots of the ranch. We didn't move all day.

Here is where are rig normally is parked when we are staying at the ranch. It is a great full hook up site with a great view.

On Monday, I went to see my friend and partner, Max the dentist. After doing a filling we had a nice long talk about retirement and the future he and his wife Cecile have planned. He is shooting for the summer of 2016.

When I got back to the ranch, I got a call from my CPA. He gave me the good news about my taxes. I will get a significant refund. This being my transition year from working to retirement, I was not sure how things would work out. I was prepared to pay in, but the opposite happened. The extra money will make our travels later this year even more fun. It was a real relief to have all of that done and behind me. I now just need to get some maintenance done on the truck and relicense two of my motorcycles and we will be ready to head back south.

We were hoping for some nice weather while we were here to enjoy the ranch, but that did not happen. Oh well, we will enjoy some more family time including the 1st birthday party of our youngest grandson Cameron on Saturday. We are really looking forward to that.

Enjoy your day and thanks for reading.

Family time and a Snow storm

We arrived at the ranch on Thursday, February 27. There was snow on the ground, but the roads were clear. There was much more snow in Mansfield than in the Springfield area. The weather forecast was for a cold first night. It got down to about 4 degrees. We were fine in the lodge at the ranch, but it took a while to get going on Friday morning.

I left the ranch about 11 AM to go get a few things done. I went to get the mail. We had not seen the mail in two months, but there was not a single bill. We did get all of the tax information I needed to submit my taxes to the CPA. I had a few other errands to run while I was out.

I have been wanting to begin to add solar to our rig for our time out west. I did a bunch of reading and found that as with most things you could spend a bunch of money. My plan was to make some small, but effective purchases now that could be added to a total solution in the future. I went by Missouri Solar and Wind in Seymour, MO. I was surprised to learn that they are the largest solar retail outlet in the country. And the good news is their prices are excellent. I went in and bought a 100W solar panel and a charge controller. Solar panels have come way down in price over the past few years. I also got brackets to mount the panel and 100 ft. of wire with pre-installed connectors. All of this for only $275. I have read about people spending as much as $8000 on a solar solution. That is certainly possible, but we have lived off of the grid for as long as three weeks and we know what we need to stay comfortable. I can't wait to test this out when we get to the Guadalupe Mountains NP in late March.

I got the taxes ready to submit and then we went over to Springfield to turn those in. We then went to the glasses store so that Kim could get some new glasses. She left hers at her Mom's. Phyllis will send them to us, but Kim wanted some new ones anyway.

I also went to Harbor Freight to buy a water pump. I wanted an auxiliary water pump to help us add water to the rig while we are boondocking. We have much more grey and black water capacity than we have fresh. This will also allow us to boondock longer. Last year we used jugs and poured it in by hand. That was a hassle. The pump was only $35, hopefully that will work well.

We need to be careful on our trips back to Missouri. They can get expensive.

We then went over to Brian and Shannon's for family game night. Brian fixed some very tasty home made chicken noodle soup. Here is a shot of the gang:

We played a Disney Video interactive trivia game. Needless to say Shannon killed us. She really needs to go on Jeopardy. Here is a shot of William with his bat that we bought him for Christmas:

We had fun with the family. We will see them all again before we head back south. 

We woke up Saturday morning to snow falling. It snowed all day! The temps were around 20 most of the day and it accumulated quickly. I would say that we got between 4 and 6 inches of fresh on top of the 4 to 6 inches of ice covered snow we had when we arrived. Then we got some freezing rain after that. We just stayed inside most of the day. Here are a couple of shots I got at mid-day. The snow is much deeper than this now.

I will try to get out and take a few more shots today to remind us why we don't want to be here with the rig this time of year. 

We have a number of things on the schedule this week. Wow, a schedule, not our normal relaxed way of life. We will endure the week and then get back to sunny and 75 ASAP.