We've left New Orleans and are headed back home. Driving through Texas is no small feat! It is a very wide state. The first night we stayed in a lovely campground called Village Creek State Park. Then the next two nights in Austin, Tx at the McKinney Falls State Park. While there, we (Terri and Hal) enjoyed BBQ for lunch one day. AMAZING. We waited in line for an hour at this place called Franklins. He started out in a small trailer and now has a small brick and mortar place that has a well deserved terrific reputation. I had a sampler plate - Ribs, turkey, pulled pork and brisket. The brisket is just mouth watering. We bought two pounds to take home and froze it for lunches along the road. Hal had a combo plate of brisket and ribs and ate the entire thing which was huge. Also beans and cole slaw. The open at 11 am with a huge line already in place and usually run out of food at 1 pm and then they are done until dinner. While you are waiting, a person comes by with cold beers in a bucket to buy and as you get closer, they have little samples of the brisket to taste. I guess he is a judge on the BBQ competition TV show, maybe Grillmasters? We never wait in line for a restaurant unless there is a bar to sit in, but I guess this kind of qualified with the beers in a bucket.
Then in the warm evening, we met up with Patricia and Julius at a dog-friendly happy hour outside place. The dogs were happy to be included and everyone was so friendly. We ate fried pickles and drank beer and wine and the dogs enjoyed everything, too. There was a very cute 7 week old bulldog puppy there.
One night at McKinney, we were walking home from Julius and Patricia's trailer after a great pizza dinner. We had put Sam on a leash because she has been known to run after deer in campgrounds. I had my hands full of stuff and the leash and sure enough, she saw a deer and took off. I held on tight to the leash, but her powerful back legs were just churning after that deer. I was running as fast as I could after her, Hal couldn't catch up and finally I fell down and she dragged me into the woods. I knew if I let go, she'd be gone and eventually she stopped and Hal took over. This dog is called Prey Driven and it is very hard to stop her. Everything is OK, but I was pretty damn sore for a couple of days.
The next morning we took off for a 400 mile drive to Balmorhea State Park. Stopped in the little town of Friedericksburg, a old German town that has become quite a tourist attraction. We had some delicious pastries and bought Hal some Ugh slippers so HE can take a turn taking Sam out to pee in the morning in case she sees deer again.
Balmorhea isn't what we expected. It is out in the middle of the desert. There is a huge pool and shelters over the campsites for hot sun, we expect. But it was beautiful in its own way, for sure. The sunset was amazing over the distant mountains. It got down to 21 at night, but we were cozy with our bed heaters.
This morning we are heading for Demming, New Mexico. Will stop in Los Cruces New Mexico for Mexican food at lunch time.
We've been playing a ton of cribbage and making delicious dinners. I was thinking this morning how amazing it is that we are as happy as we are in this tiny rolling house, 8 by 27 feet. I think it is the simplicity and little routines we have that make is so good. We listen to audiobooks in the truck during the day. Hal has a set up that allows me to be online in the truck so I can do things like this blog, campground reviews and searching for the coming night's park. We park, and Hal does the outside jobs like hooking up the water and power, I put down the trailer stabilizers, then I ready the inside, pour the wine and before you know it, Patricia and I are playing cribbage before starting dinner. We go to bed about 9:30 or 10 and get up the next day to breakfast routines and hot coffee with our percalator. Just a little life on the road, seeing so much of our beautiful country.
