Flying Scotsman Northern Migration

 

We unhooked the bus and headed northeast from the Bryan area. We are off! The RV is running great and the route (US 79) is a well known two lane with plenty of scenic stuff.

 

After a great day we landed in near Texarkana after about 300 miles, a pretty long one for the ol guys.

 

We arrived in Texarkana at the Shady Pines RV park, a new one for us. This is a great spot if you want to stop in Texarkana and it is the best ... concrete pads, great management, spacious lots, no fire rings, and far from noisy highways.

 

After another 300 incredibly boring and bumpy miles along IH-30 and 40 we landed in Memphis at the Naval Base we have been to before. This is a nice oasis in the middle of the country and is always available even at $20 a nite.

We arrived on the nite of the 26th and looked at the weather. Oooooo. Prediction was for ugly thunderstorms, hail, and bad rain for the next day. As we paused we smelled ammonia in the bus. Oops ... looked it up and realized the fridge was dying. In the pic below you can see the panel from the fridge is off to aid in venting the smell .... jeez.

OK, big plan change. Up to now we had planned to go to Chicago, then motor off to Michigan for med appointments. Nope. Now, with the non-functioning fridge, we will head toward Belleville Michigan where there is a Camping World and an appointment on Monday the 2nd of May to look at the fridge.

And finally, for no reason whatsoever, here is a thing called "Daybreak Breakfast Beer"

Putting this stuff on your Cheerios at 7am .... don't know ...

Birthdays Cats and Squirrels

 

Now there is a combination. But first the birthdays. The old Scotsman turned 71 and celebrated this awesome event at the newest favorite place called Amici in Carrollton. While the dinner of mushroom béchamel and then lasagna for Jo and shrimp fettuccini for birthday boy was perfect, the lace desert with strawberries and more cream sauce was a nice ending. 

 

Then we prepared the 40th for daughter Leigh arriving at her place before she got home and setting up this neat celebration ... hey, when the kids turn 40, jeez, what's that mean, eh?

After all the celebrations we then started to look toward our summer plans. Part of those plans is to keep Bandit fairly cool and with his long coat at this time of year, it takes a lot of daily brushing.

At our vet in Prestonwood they have a tech that can shave the ol puss without any sedation in a matter of seconds and the resulting lion cut is the best we have ever seen. This is done with his annual shots so we can get him to Canada. We have never seen the process but the finished product is really awesome and happens so fast, he just says, "I know I didn't trust that vet person, but wow, what just happened Dad?"

Now, he probably doesn't agree but he will be much cooler and knot-free without the pound of excess fur to carry around for the next six months.

In closing I couldn't resist this rodent who just fell asleep on the barbed wire fence in front of the RV and remained there for about 10 minutes .... hey, wherever you can catch a snooze is OK, eh, especially in squirrel-world.

Cool Air

 

We departed San Antonio on the 3rd of April and motored about 250 mile north on US 281 toward Cleburne and AC repair at the PPL facility. 281 was ablaze with wildflowers with the best concentration being near Johnson City. This was a really smooth gorgeous drive through one of the prettiest parts of Texas.

 

 

We arrived in the Cleburne area and at the suggestion of the PPL folks stayed at the RV Ranch in Keene about five miles away. This park was not on any of our lists or in any book so we were pleasantly surprised to find a super top rated park. The view from the observation deck of the Flying Scotsman was really refreshing for our three nights there.

Monday and Tuesday were spent getting our two crappy ac units replaced. We had milked the rear one along sputtering and wheezing and after the front one totally blew up ... the time was right!

Below is the front one with its fried capacitor and melted wiring. While both could have been patched up, with these discontinued units throwing more money at them seemed pointless.

And the view from the inside as the units were ripped out and the new Coleman Mach III units installed.

The people at PPL were the best and with very little notice (the major RV repair joints were up to 8 weeks' wait) they professionally put the new units in. This coupled with some nice nites at the RV Ranch made the whole experience pretty good.

Dallas bound!

San Antonio Wrap

 

For our two weeks in San Antonio we hit many places of interest, ate, drank, and really awakened some memories of our last time there in about 10 years.

 

As I mentioned one of the highlights was the KOA situated right near the ATT Center and close to downtown. Here's our lot and Jeanette and Morgan's fifth wheel next to us. They departed SA and with a stop in Galveston will motor on toward our sites north of Toronto for the summer.

 



Of course we couldn't omit Gruene on our visit with its iconic dance hall and main street.

 

And lunch at The Grist Mill with consistently refreshing dishes, great outside eating weather, good drinks and good friends.

While in town we also went up to the north side and got to see Greg and Char's new place they bought after leaving the cold and snowy north of Ohio. They have a beautiful Texas style ranch house that has an absolutely amazing view of the city from their back deck. You can sit on the porch with your margarita and watch the sun set over the Tower of Americas 25 miles distant ... wow.

One of our dinner guests at the KOA ...

... and Bandit saying, "Dad, can I go out and play now, my friends are here?"

The Pearl

 

While in San Antonio we went over the historic Pearl Brewery. The site no longer brews, but has been re-purposed into a chic eating, drinking, shopping, and living venue. The River Walk has been extended up to the brewery so you can take the river taxi to it.

 

The core of the old brew house is now the Emma Hotel named after Emma Koehler took over the place in the early 1900's and created a masterpiece of architecture and popular brews.

 

Most of the brewery equipment and structure has been used and updated and below is the wine storage area and bar area below it ... fantastic.

A Texas longhorn and wagon wheel adorn the lounge area.

 

And the lobby is a fascinating collection of tanks, pipes and other brewery related equipment.

Finally, Jo is posing in one of several brew tanks that now contain cozy seating for that quiet sampling of some of their now well-represented craft beers.

San Antonio - Olay!

 

On the 22nd of March (yup, I'm behind) we rolled down Hwy 21 from Bryan to San Marcos for the hundredth time and then to San Antonio. We linked up with our Barrie friends Morgan and Jeanette at the San Antonio Alamo KOA which was Jeanette's pick and it turned out to be perfect for location and quality. After Barrie last fall they went west to Vancouver, then down the west side of the country, staying longer in Yuma and Casa Grande, then on to SA.

 

The next day we started to show the Canadians around, first doing the boat excursion around the River Walk and then we walked ourselves around the place; here at the Arneson Theater on a really nice Texas day.



 

Of course for some local color and sound we stopped by Mi Tiera in the market square for some sizzling fajitas and mariachi entertainment .... "oh, yi, yi, yi.

And if I looked over the booth toward the cashier, this was the view!

We introduced the newcomers to some great fajitas, good music and Texas beer and continued our touring of this really neat city.

Above are the spoofy youngsters at one of the venues between the River Walk and the Alamo. We stayed in the SA area for the next two weeks and hit the main attractions and areas of interest that we had come to love in our almost 13 years with the Air Force there. We did hit the big four of the Alamo, the River Walk, Mi Tiera, and the newly restored Pearl Brewery. More in the next post.