Our Fourth and final Hop in Texas

Lubbock, Texas - April 19 - April 26, 2020

Our trek through Texas has taken us through several of the states regions.  We started out in the Gulf coast Region.  Then hit the Texas Plains, cruised through the Hill Country, and now are held up in the Panhandle plains.  Whew!  Despite the pandemic lock down, we have still managed to see and explore this great state.  It would have been much better if we could have also tasted some of the local cuisine and visited the museums but that just gives us an excuse to come back to the lone star state at a later date in our travels.

 

I have to admit that the only reason we stopped in Lubbock is that it was a halfway point between our last stop in Marble Falls and our next destination of Santa Fe, New Mexico.  I found a brand new park just off I-27 called The Retreat.  The noise from the interstate wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be but it was still pretty loud.  I think when the park gets fully operational it's going to be a nice stop over location.  But for right now, there is still construction going on in the back half of the park and the sites still need landscaping.  But hey...the price was great at only $205 for a pull thru!  However, I do recommend the back in sites over the pull thru.  We did not have a concrete patio like all the back-in's did.

One hour waiting for a $4 part! Insane!

I had not really researched anything to do, so it was a pleasant surprise to find things to do here.  However, our first trip was to Home Depot.  Whoever plumbed in our sewer connection had it at ground level which prevented us from connecting without having an extension.  The office did not seem to care about this so it was up to us to go find the fitting for it.  Needless to say, after waiting in line for over an hour just to get into Home Depot due to the Covid-19 restrictions, we were not happy.  We then figured they could send the plumber who plumbed it wrong to get them one for we be taking our $4 part with us!  Ha!

Buddy Holly Museum

Buddy Holly Center that was NOT open!

Even though the center was not open to the public is was still cool just being there.  Across the street the Civic Club of Lubbock built this memorial to honor Buddy Holly and it has since grown into
honoring those who have a strong connection to Lubbock and the West Texas area who have devoted their lives to the performing and visual arts and whose body of work has been influential nationally in one or more of these areas.  Here are a few of the names I recognized:

Buddy Holly (of course)
Waylon Jennings
Jimmy Dean
The Crickets
Tanya Tucker
Roy Orbison
Gatlin Brothers

Texas Tech

Texas Tech Seal

Four Faces located at Talkington Hall

Park Place located at Talkington Plaza

The Masked Rider located at Marsha Sharp Center

Will Rogers located in the Memorial Circle

One evening we set out to explore the Texas Tech Campus in order to see the Will Rogers Statue.  Little did we know that this school has beautiful art everywhere.  I posted just a few of them that we found.

We even found out they have a little piece of the Blarney Stone.  Of course we had to check it out too. And no, just for the record, we didn't actually kiss it.  Plus, we've been to the real one in Ireland and know that the locals urinate on it as a mean joke on the tourist!  Mean, I say, just plain mean!

National Ranching Heritage Center

Located just down the street from Texas Tech was the National Ranching Heritage Center.  I so wish this place had been open.  Open, Open, Open!  Oh well, at least we got to get up close and personal with a longhorn or two.

Lubbock loves their art! 

As you can see there are tons of things to do in Lubbock despite the lock down.  There is no shortage of art throughout this city.  So if you are just passing through like we were, please stop and enjoy all this wonderful talent that is displayed.  I have a feeling we just lucked up on a small part of it.

With this we say goodbye to our month long hopping through the huge state of Texas and head further northwest to Santa Fe, New Mexico!

Third hop in Texas!

 Marble Falls, TX - April 12 -  April 29, 2020

On Sunday we drove an ENTIRE 85 miles north to Sunset Point RV Resort located on Lake LBJ. The lake is actually a reservoir and part of the Colorado River. The reservoir was formed in 1950 by the construction of Granite Shoals Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority. They had originally called it Lake Granite Shoals but renamed it to Lake Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965 after the president.

Once again, we will be here for only a week and I am already dreading that decision because this is the best park we have stayed at in a month!  The view and weather are perfect!   Next time we visit, I will be sure to spring for a river front site!

The small town of Marble Falls is very cute and they have tons of art displayed throughout the town.  The town is also located in the Texas Hill Country that is known for its award winning wineries.  There are more than 50 wineries in the area and they offer events including Wine Lovers Celebration, Wine & Wildflower Journey, Texas Wine Month Passport and the Christmas Wine Affair.  These events are self-guided driving tours, with wineries offering tastings and discounts.  But once again none of the tasting rooms were open.  Dang, Dang and Dang it!!

On a happy note, we did discover a popular organic grocery store called H. E. B. and loved it.   Come to find out, the company is out of San Antonio. Wish I had known that tidbit earlier.

A day trip to Austin

Since Austin was only a hour's drive from our park, we decided on Saturday to make a day trip out of it.  I have to say that this Covid-19 thing has made it super easy for us to cruise through these big downtown's in a dually.  Normally we shy away from huge cities just because there is never, ever any parking for us.  We can't get into parking garages due to our height, length, and width nor do we fit into a normal parking lot.  We have been turned away many a times.  But now with the offices empty, the shops, parks, and restaurants all closed, we have found even the biggest city's streets empty.  Even though it has been nice to travel the empty streets, I would rather have our normal lives back any day.  America must get back to the norm!

On the way back we took some little side road not knowing where it would take us but we ended up being pleasantly surprised.  It took us along the winding stream and roaming longhorn cattle.

The road sign says it all!

Came across this on our way back. Sad!

It also took us past this marker highlighting events from the civil war era.  This was seriously out in the middle of nowhere so I can only imagine how obscure it was back in those days.  These guys really didn't want there deeds found out and for good reason.  

The monument of Dead Man's Hole states that the hole is believed to have been the dumping ground for up to 17 bodies, including those of a pro-union judge and several reconstruction-era county government officials.  These men were known to have a conflict with local freedman.  An oak tree once stood over the cave and was said to have rope markings caused by hangings.  Luckily they have since filled in the hole.

Sunday is our hop day and this time we will be traveling 5 hours NW to Lubbock. Adios!

Second hop in Texas!

San Antonio, TX - April 5 - April 12, 2020

For our 2nd week in Texas we stayed at the Alamo City RV Park in San Antonio.  To no surprise none of the amenities were open and once again we were not allowed inside the office. Our paperwork was posted outside with our site number on it and we had to call them when we arrived to check in. The park was pretty full except for the pull through sites located in the center of the park. These were wide open.  I am assuming they are reserved for folks that are just dropping in for a few days like us.  There was no shade in site and unusually warm weather for April so needless to say there were a few warm days. The day it hit 93, when D got off work, we took to the road in the truck just so we could cool down.  Even though our 5th wheel is a four season one, with temps in the 90's and no shade around the A/C's just couldn't keep up!

Once again, the main reason we came to San Antonio was to visit sites!  D was very excited to visit the Alamo!  Ha!  Here's hoping this shut down of America ends soon!   And I was so looking forward to hanging out at River Walk while listening to live music, having a glass of wine and then doing a little shopping.  Double Ha!

We did explore a little bit here but everything was closed of course.  So we DROVE by The Alamo and The River Walk.  The Alamo is really small!  I would have had to duck to get in it if it had been open.

On Wednesday, D took the truck to an accessory shop, Texas Hitch and Truck Center, where they added a 45-gallon slimline tank in the back of the truck.  It has a gravity feed setup.  The fellows at the shop were quick, efficient, and fair priced.  They did very high-quality work.

We also recently opened an account with a company called EFS.  This enables us to buy diesel in the trucker lanes at the big fuel stations at significant reductions.  For example, we filled up the truck's tank, 36 gallons, and the brand new slimline tank, 45 gallons.  The price on the pump was $170.  But the price we paid was $111!  so we paid about $1.58 per gallon.  Awesome!

Corpus Christi and Padre Island

  

On Saturday, we decided that since we were just two hours from the gulf coast, we might as well drive down to Corpus Christi and Padre Island to see what all the fuss was about.  The citizens of that city were not doing very well at maintaining social distancing so it's just a matter of time before they become a hot spot... just sayin'!

I found Corpus Christi not so appealing.  The heavy smog from the oil refineries really put a damper on the city for me.  We had been thinking about wintering their next year but have since changed our mind.  The city is a little to busy for me and to find a park out on the island with excellent cell signal was zero to none.  Or at least for T-mobile.  So we have X'ed that plan and are moving on.

This Easter morning, as we were prepping for our next hop, we had a video call with the fam as it was also our D-I-L, Ali's Birthday!  Happy Birthday, Ali! We love you!

Thank you God for the gift of the cross and technology too!

Texas!

 Highlands, Texas - March 29 – April 5, 2020

Well we made it to Texas!  We are currently here: San Jacinto Riverfront RV Resort in Highlands, TX.  Once again we will be staying for only a week.  This is good news because the park is very peopley and most of the RV-ers here seem to be long term stay.  There are at least 60 sites that have men that drive big loud work trucks and leave each morning at 5 am.  Oy! 

Not a fun park to be at if you are in the front.  There are sites along the river which are very nice and I'm assuming out of the noise of the none-stop traffic coming in and out of the park.  I say stay away from this park not only because of the traffic from all the construction guys but also the noise from I-10 and a very busy train track!  Needless to say it was a long week!

On Monday, the governor of Texas just announced on TV that they are effectively closing the border with Louisiana.  Anyone traveling from New Orleans is being refused.  Wow!  We just squeaked in! 

The original purpose of staying in the Houston area was my D-I-L was going to join us for a few days so we could go to this big antique fair in Round Top. Yep, you guessed it, it was cancelled. 

But hey, neither of us is sick and we are definitely self-quarantining as much as possible and sitghtseeing what little we can. Life goes on!

Highlights from Houston

Goodbye Houston, we have loved your city!

On Sunday, we had west to San Antonio.  God only knows what we will or will not be able to see, taste or visit.  Prayers for all who are suffering.