A Vineyards Winter

 

 

We arrived in Grapevine on the 16th and nestled into site 35 at the Vineyards Campground. This time of year in north Texas isn't the most picturesque and this site is devoid of anything green. To make the best of it though on a 65 degree evening, here's the chef, adorned in his finest dinner clothes, working tirelessly in his kitchen. We got a new grill, stand, and lawn chairs at Camping World and it seemed the perfect time to cook up some really nice fillets and enjoy the sunset.

 

 

And a shot of the beautiful sunset reflected in the side of the Flying Scotsman as I grilled.

 

Then the rains began, turning the nice red sand into this swamp of red goo. Good thing we hadn't planned to use the fire pit for the barbee!

Then Monday the 23rd the temperature began to drop and by the time we got up the freezing rain and sleet had really transformed the landscape.

The prediction is for it to remain below freezing for at least 40 hours so we are settling into our comfy cabin on the snowy Lake Grapevine at least until tomorrow.

Actually there are a surprising number of rigs here at the lake in spite of the weather conditions and people are out taking pictures of the drastic change in the Texas landscape.

Heading back North

 

On Monday the 16th we broke camp at Aggieland and started our trip back to the Dallas area. First stop of course is the gas station at Kroger in Bryan where I filled up for $2.56 a gallon; taking on about 50 gallons.

 

Jo-Anne had followed me over to the store and had gone in while I filled the Flying Scotsman. It was a 43 degree day with light showers and a brisk 16 mph wind ... chilly fill-up.



 

Then up IH-45 the 170 miles to Dallas and it rained all the way. The new GPS was really helpful with the rain and traffic readouts and we stopped at the Freightliner repair shop on the south side of town. They of course had to get the new EGR valve and told us it would be the next day to install it.

The closest park for the night then ended up to be the one at Traders Village on IH-20 in Grand Prairie. Big open space for the flea market traders and many other venues and it was about $30 for the night. All level concrete and level but fairly close together; here with our twin Astoria. We rarely see another one of our breed and this is the first to park next door. Old park but convenient.

The next morning off back to the Freightliner repair shop ... called the Oasis for the RV folks. Unhitch the car, pack the cat into the carry case, and everybody into the car for the morning to go up to Plano to get another allergy shot for Jo and kill some time. After a light lunch at Potbelly sandwiches in Addison we were back at the truck shop about 1pm.

They had replaced the valve to clear the engine light and it was all covered by the truck warrantee so a free visit for repair ... I think the first. Hitch up the car, say bye to the really professional ATC Freightliner guys and gals and head up to the north side of Dallas to Grapevine for a week or so to collect our thoughts.

But not before gazing at the 150 or so trucks parked in the many acre lot awaiting new-buyer prep, owner repair, or other big diesel problems ... what a place!

RV Life

 

Ok, so why is the Flying Scotsman parked next to this building, eh? On the 10th Jo-Anne needed one of her bi-weekly allergy shots and as we were off traveling to the south of Dallas, we stopped at the allergy clinic in Plano (it's the building at the left of the picture). 

 

 

So while I worked on the bus for about a half hour, she strolled through the bushes and got her required medication. The lot actually belongs to Callaway's Nursery and was large enough to wheel the bus and attached car around in.

We decided to check out Lake Livingston in the Piney Woods area of East Texas for a couple of days before going on to the Bryan area for a visit with the parents. We had been to Lake Livingston more than 40 years ago while we were living in Houston and decided to check it out again.

The North Shore RV Resort in the town of Onalaska was one of Good Sam's 10-10-10 rated parks so we decided to give it a try. The weather was a perfect 68 degree day as we arrived after about a 215 mile trip down some nice two lane roads.

Our site at the park was a concrete 40 foot one that you pulled directly into, providing the views above and below. The roads are all paved and the beach and water playground in the distance above would be nice stop on some of the hot Texas summer days in a really pretty setting.

There is a KOA here as well and is also a very well designed and maintained top level park right on the water; we just didn't see it until we had booked the North Shore one.

While both RV parks are excellent you have to really want to go to this part of the state. The rest of the Lake Livingston area is extremely poor and there are no popular dining or entertainment places anywhere nearby. If you are solely interested in the boating and birding aspects, this is a good location, however, there is no other reason to venture east of IH-45. As you cross back over the interstate heading west you go through the Lake Conroe area which is so dramatic in comparison and has so much to offer as a true destination that we probably won't head back to Livingston again.

We arrived in Bryan on the12th and had a nice time with the parents and did what we could in some fix up and help stuff around the Manor. When we were on the road toward Bryan the Flying Scotsman treated me with a "Check Engine" light ... jeez. We took it over to the Freightliner shop in Bryan and they told me it was probably a bad EGR valve and hit me for $140 for the chat.

Tomorrow we are off to the Freightliner mega-truck place near Dallas, in the rain, to get repaired whatever it is that needs to be done. From there we will pop over to Grapevine for a week or so ... keeps us going.

Blue Skies in North Texas.

 

Right now is a really neat time in Texas as it is about 70 degrees and a wonderful 25% humidity ... winter is nice so enjoy it, eh. For a couple of weeks we booked the Sandy Lake place in Carrollton, not for its esthetic appeal, but for the closeness to our daughter and the apartment we were clearing out and the storage space where the 10,000 pounds of stuff went. 

 

 

After we vacated the apartment we celebrated by going over to a pub in the historic downtown of Plano. The greater Dallas area consists of many cities, all a merged mass of humanity, but once each city had an old downtown and some of them are trying to update themselves.

Below is Fillmore's Pub in Plano. We did a couple of passes through the old center of town and settled on this place, and we weren't disappointed.

We settled for a couple of house merlots as we looked over the extensive menu. The place even has many single malt scotches as well as a hundred beer labels to choose from ... too many choices!

Finally we ordered a baked brie with honey dripped Granny Smith apples and crackers. Jo-Anne then had their potato soup and I had the tomato; both excellent and a nice combo for lunch. We will be back to Fillmore's Pub.

There has to be a caption for the below picture. "I thought I heard a loud noise coming from the basement of the bus ... I thought he was working in there but he's sound asleep!"

Nah ... just resting a bit and figuring out how I could extract myself from this space without further pain or embarrassment. And if you believe that ...

Fishy Things

 

A couple of days ago we went to the Dallas Aquarium right downtown. It's older and from the outside looks just like another building in the middle of the city. In a small footprint of real estate they have packed a lot in. The down side is that the place can only handle smaller crowds so best viewed during the week.

 

The organization is really cool though. The whole place is structured as if you are in a Mayan jungle setting and you work from the upper forest and then walk along trails down to the lowest subterranean level. At the upper levels there are monkeys and many birds and a couple of waterfalls like this one.

 

 

 Then as you get to the forest floor you see the river creatures including crocks and pythons ... one even being fed ... yeow.  And below is Ev totally enthralled with the playful and entertaining otters.

At the ground or river level they even had a display of penguins that live in more temperate climates.

And as we progressed lower we got into the marine part of the Yucatan. Again here is the grandson looking at the brightly colored tropical fish and his mom, Leighanne, on the other side of this tank taking in a bit different view of the scenery.

Then down to the lowest level where we got to see the sharks and other creatures of the very deep waters swimming above, below, and around us.

This is a great educational experience that should be done at a leisurely pace at each of the many terrain levels, preferable with less people, so that you could enjoy all of the well constructed venues from top to bottom. Neat facility and a lot packed into a small space in the center of downtown Dallas.