Landmarks

Happy Thursday!!

Today was sort of a different day. Joy had an online meeting for two hours so I took off to explore Mother Neff State Park. The history of the park is interesting. One of the state governor’s mothers donated the first six acres of land in 1923. In 1933 the Civilian Conversation Corp (CCC) completed several projects as the parkland grew.

In my walk to the pond, I saw many wildflowers along the way. I’m not sure of their names but they sure were pretty. If you know the names please respond with a comment.

From the pond, I walked to the Rock Tower.  The tower was one of the CCC projects. Pretty good construction considering it is approximately 82 years old. The interesting thing is even though the tower is only 30 feet high I could still see a long way because:
              
Texas is so flat!

After the Tower, I walked along to “The Cave”. I remember walking along with my mom one time and she said: “if these stones could only talk”. She said the stones could tell us stories of the many people who walked and lived here before us. When I got to the caves I saw a sign telling how the Tonkawa Indians once lived here. Again…if these stones could only talk…

As is our practice, Joy and I look for heart shaped rocks as we walk. I did look for such rocks but didn’t find any. To my surprise, I did find this heart-shaped fallen leaf arrangement right along the trail…imagine that. This trail leads to the Wash Pond.  See the comment by Chief Seattle? I swear he sat in our backyard and heard our frogs, too.

This evening I worked on a Jenga game project. I cut some spindles from Tim’s front porch with the idea of making a Jenga game. I thought we’d  have some downtime sometime during our trip so I brought along the wood, some sandpaper, and a wood burning tool. We’ll see how it turns out.

The park ranger stopped by and said the burn ban was lifted due to the rain last night. So Joy and I enjoyed a nice fire and some guitar music. 

Side note: I visited my brother here in Texas nine years ago. One day I went to the store to buy some batteries. There were only two people in line to make purchases. I thought this will be quick. Well was I wrong? The cashier and the customer talked and talked and talked some more. "How was so and so doing….and how is your mother’s aunt’s best friends neighbor"… I couldn’t believe it. Didn’t these people know I wanted to make a purchase??? When I got back to my brothers I told him about how long I had to wait at the store. He said that’s pretty much how it is in Texas. People are very friendly and like to catch up when they can.

Well, yesterday morning I attended a men’s prayer breakfast at my brother’s church. As we sat around talking with one another the pastor shared a testimony. He said he was at the store the other day and as he was putting his things on the counter for checkout someone tapped him on the shoulder. It was someone he knew from a while back, someone who needed prayer right then and there. Based on my experience nine years ago I knew where this was going. It was neat to hear Pastor Butch share how he stopped right there and shared all of Romans 10 with the young man…right in the checkout line. It was awesome to hear that nobody in line said anything. They all just stood there and listened. Wow!!

I share this little story just to remind me of how busy I can be sometimes and I miss out on the special moments….even in the grocery store.

All the way to Waco!

Wednesday, September 27th. This morning we awakened early and hit the road out of Burnet Texas to a nearby (40 miles) town where Bob attended a Men's Prayer meeting at Open Road Biker Church. It was at 6:30 AM so it was early. It finished around 8 and we proceeded to Waco, Texas to fulfill a bucket listed item for the trip. I wanted to visit Magnolia Silos where Chip and Joanna Gaines have built quite a wonderful business and event center. 

The Admiral was determined he would not be left out of this adventure. As we arrived, there was already a line out the door and partially around the block for the bakery that is right in front of the silos. We wanted some coffee and a treat to start with before the shopping.

The Admiral led the way. Ogling all the amazing baked goods he decided on a cinnamon roll and I followed suit. They looked amazing, mine was filled with pecans and maple frosting. You can see the Admiral here waiting for his order from these nice ladies. One thing I can say, the hospitality in Texas is pretty amazing. Lots of kindness and "Thank you, Mam. Is there anything else I can get, y'all?"

Food in hand, we headed out to a lovely courtyard littered with tables and chairs and some umbrellas for relief from the direct sun. We did not find relief from the 92-degree weather with 90% humidity. It followed us around like a hound dog on a strong scent trail. We enjoyed breakfast and observed so many different groups of people. There was a group of ladies all dressed similarly in the ugliest yellow cowboy hats you have ever seen, but they were so happy to be together. They were a group of friends on a girls weekend from Florida. We took their pictures so they could all be in the shot and they were cute, except for the attire....

     

 We left this courtyard and went over to the large Magnolia store seen above. It was huge and had so many items seen on the show "Fixer Upper."

There was mugs, decor, hats, tables, chairs, wall hanging metal pieces from Jimmy Don's Iron Works, tables from Harp Designs, so many things we would be all over for Christmas or whatever gifts and the prices on many things were so good. Some more touristy things a little higher. We ended up with some measuring spoons and two metal pieces for the wall. Since we would have had to pack them for 4 months in this very efficiently used space called an RV we limited what we bought.


Bob did have some fun. We were next to some metal letters and he decided to make a statement. He set the letters up and as we would get ready to take the picture the letters would fall. We were laughing and worried we would get thrown out. So we tried again, the same thing happened. Then one of the workers came over and asked if we needed help? Instead of throwing us out she helped us set up the letters so they would stay! Righteous hospitality.

 A lady was watching us and she got so excited. "Hey, y'all is that yer RV out in the  parkin' lot? My husband is a life-long Rams fan and he was goin' craazy about your vehicle. I gotta find him. He won't believe this!" She did find him and of course, he was wearing a Rams Shirt. He talked to us for about 10 minutes about how he has been a Rams fan since 1962 with his Dad. They are from Louisianna and just into Texas for a trip. When he found out our son plays for them he got even more excited. They took our pic, and we took theirs and forgot to get their names, but Rams Fans, you know who you are. Thanks for making our day!

There is a big courtyard that they have set up for people to sit down and watch their kids play or just relax, and around it, if you look you can see every food truck in Waco, ice cream, Italian, sandwiches, burgers, BBQ, Mexican, you name it. Great way to keep customers close, don't send them to restaurants, bring the restaurants to them. All in all, it was a fun excursion and we left with some mementos and memories.
After Chip and Joanna left us this photograph and autographed message in our bag we knew our day was complete. Hot sweaty and satisfied we headed off to Mother Neff State Park....and that is another story!

Bye for now, yall!

Ah....hummm snoozer of a day needed.

Not every day has great highlights, but when you awaken in the morning, that is a highlight.

Monday was a day of rest. I did not feel well because I tweaked my hip somehow and was in a lot of pain. I did not get much sleep. I did get some great assistance from Henry and Janice in terms of a hot pad and some Tylenol for my back. We did watch Henry feed the deer. It was funny, only bucks came today and they would not let the does eat until they were full and left the area. Gentleman's club in Deerville!

Tuesday was kind of the same, a good breakfast, then rest again and in the afternoon I started feeling a bit readier to go exploring.

The big excitement was getting our throw-back jerseys delivered. We ordered them a month ago and the hurricanes delayed shipment so we had them sent to Johnny’s house, where they did not arrive in time before we left. Then we had them shipped to Henry’s house and they arrived yesterday afternoon! YAY!

Bob busied himself during the day doing laundry. The Admiral tried to help folding clothes, but all in all, he was pretty useless.

We took a little trip into town in the afternoon to buy some groceries, look for some bins to help us organize shoes and make things look neater, and some kind of way to store all the electronic cords we use. It is amazing what you learn with each day on the road.

We found just what we needed, and went to Bill’s Burgers where there was no way for me to eat more than half! Things are bigger in Texas.

This morning Admiral was up and ready to roll around 4 AM. He had all the necessities ready to go. The route book, the wifi jetpack, the camera, glasses, and keys. Today we go to Waco, Tx and the Magnolia Silos and then stay the night at Mother Neff State Park. 

Saturday - Sunday - Fun-day!

Yesterday, Saturday, was a travel day. We slept in and then had coffee at the only coffee house open in the area, McDonald's, and then proceeded to Henry’s house. The Admiral needed to go to the bathroom but couldn’t use the one in the RV for obvious reasons. He couldn’t wait to go, so he tried to relieve himself in the bushes after asking us to pull over. When he got out of the rig he found a rather inhospitable place along the side of the road and decided to wait for Henry’s house.

  

 Henry is Bob’s brother. He is a volunteer firefighter and works at the YMCA. They are seven years apart, but sometimes even living far away from your family, traits still remain the same. They both have Girl Scout Cookie buying weakness.

Henry and Janice live in Burnet, TX near Lake Buchannan. We were kind of hot so we spent some time reconnecting in the air-conditioned house and then went out to dinner at the Twenty-Three Hundred Café in Burnet. It was really quaint, had live music, (one man and an Ipad). It is what rural Texas is all about, a mom and pop business where most the community knows each other. There’s a “Howdy, how are ya? Haven’t seen you since Tuesdee?” “Yer aunt recover from her lumbago?” “Nice shirt, that new?”

We got home around 7 pm and experienced a phenomenon, Henry has a designation of Certified Nature Habitat for part of his property. He daily pours thirty pounds of corn, nuggets, and protein supplement out on a rocky area on the side of his fenced lawn to feed the deer. This he pays for himself. There were 17 deer all around him gathered from all over the area, they just showed up. It was amazing to watch! He does this everyday!

Today, we went 40 miles away to the Open Road Biker Church where Henry is an integral part of the congregation. We had a little confusion in timing. Bob and I heard different starting times in our head, so we were a half an hour late. (I was right on time) We met some great people, Pastor Butch, and had a sweet sermon about Jesus.

When we got home I was feeling a little rocky due to body aches and pains. H&J (Henry and Janice) announced we were going to the lake for a picnic on their party boat. I went along and per usual had a great time. Something about water always revives me. We went to Lake Buchannan and launched the boat and the first thing I saw was a heron. If you know me, you know I love these birds with a passion. I think they must be my favorite animal. 

The picnic on the lake was great, we parked by an island and went swimming. The bass fish come up and nibble on your body in the water. They did to H&J but not Bob and I. They must not like the taste of foreigners.


We came back to land and had another deer fest with Henry before we washed up and went out to dinner. We talked of miracles, the grace of God, and funny family stories.

Great day…not too hot for this Washington girl.