Category Archives: Texas

Waiting in Texas

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We got to our spot near Austin on Feb 1. We are here to primarily get a procedure done for Roxie to help with her recurring back pain. We were at the MD’s office Feb 5 to get the ball rolling. The first step was to get a trial device for her. As I write this it is a full 45 days and the trial has not even started.

The delays have been insurance approval which did not take too much time. We then had to wait for some tests which pushed the initial date back. After that another surprise test and the time to get results pushed it back again but this time it pushed it into the doctors vacation. That just means it got pushed further! Now it stands at 2 weeks from now. It will be over 2 months from the start! Can you tell I am frustrated?

Luckily we had some other things to do while here. I was able to get my knee looked at, as it was causing be some consistent pain. There was no specific problem found but my knew was very strong and no physical issues. A daily anti-inflammatory pill is help tremendously.

We end up gong into Austin with regularity. One early morning, after an appointment, we went for a brunch at a local eatery. After breakfast we went next door to a cookie store and the proprietor was talking to another couple. I noticed some familiarity to their faces but it wasn’t verified until talking to the owner after they left. It was Matthew McConaughey and his wife. That was who I suspected it was. Roxie didn’t even notice them. However she did get a photo when he was, it looks like, signing a loaf of bread for a deliveryman:

We have also done some other items like, dental appointments where I was the 2nd patient for the new practice. We both did eye appointments. Roxie had her shoulder looked at. We got a handicap placard for Roxie. But enough of the fun stuff.

It was time to intersperse some fun stuff. Next to our RV park there is someones property where the have a donkey, deer, antelope and zebras. Roxie loves to look for them when we come and go:

We took a short jaunt to Pedernales Falls State Park. It was a quick walk down the trail from the parking lot to the falls overview. They have a campground also, as many Texas State Parks do.

We also bought a new truck. Traded in the 2017 and got a 2019 F350 Crew Cab. We previously had an extended cab and found out we needed the better seating. I made sure we got the same long bed and same color. This way we can use the existing bed rug and shell:

In a previous post I mentioned that we went to a Wheel of Fortune taping. During our time here is when they were broadcast. I have 3 screen captures, you can look for us:

I am always on the lookout for Airstreams and found this half of one at a local burger place. The number on it is currently being used by someone in Japan. I contacted them with these pictures and they were interested but it was not their trailer. WBCCI probably reused the numbers:

About a week later we went to pickup the part for the trailer that got damaged. This required going to Buda TX. This is a good 30 miles from here but I saw another half of an Airstream at the same burger chain but a different location. It was the OTHER half of the first one:

Another thing we wanted to do in Texas is get a couple of handguns, one for me and Roxie. We took a handgun safety course, went to the range and are signed up to get our CHL (concealed handgun license). Here are the patterns at the gun range, I did the 4 targets and Roxie did the 2 targets, there is also a slo-mo video of Roxie at the range:

Naturally, we go to see movies and try out a lot of different restaurants, we are retired! We will most likely be in the area through April and maybe a bit beyond.

When something else comes up, I will let you know.

…and I will go to Texas

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The first part of the above quote is: “You may all go to Hell”, it is attributed to Davy Crockett after he lost a bid to become a congressman from Tennessee. As we are getting back on the road, we are heading to Texas to take care of some medical procedures, since that is our home state. Ironically, as we are also leaving California, I do feel some kinship to Davy and his feelings.

Hold on though, we weren’t leaving California immediately. We headed down to Hemet CA for a few nights. I was hoping to meet with my cousin in the area but schedules did not line up. However, we did meet some very nice neighbors at the Golden Village Palms RV resort. They were fellow Airstreamers and we met them in passing years back at an Alumafandango but we were able to reconnect this time around.

While we were in Hemet we got a phone call from our realtor in AZ that is selling our late mother’s house. She stated there was a water leak in the yard and it appeared to be the water main from the street! We were planning on swinging by the house on our way but this meant we were going to be there a bit longer. Good thing we are retired and had over 2 weeks to get to TX!

We stopped off in Quartzsite for a rainy night.

We took up our normal location in the driveway and coordinated a plumber to repair the water main. We were able to get it done in a very timely manner. We also were able to get a yard service setup. We got moving again after 5 nights.

Our normal parking spot.
Local grocery store ready for customers of a certain age frame.

Last year we stayed for a while at an Escapee’s Co-op park. These are locations where you can purchase an interest in the park which gives you a site to park your RV. You can also augment the site with non-residential buildings to make your life easier. The one we thought we would try is the one in Benson AZ. I was thinking of going to Tucson but this was just a bit south and with their ‘New Visitors’ special, it became very attractive. They also had a place for a week at under $100 (that includes our electrical usage).

The Benson Escapee’s park is very nice. The Co-op portion is very attractive and might be something we look at in the future. We took a few day drives around to Tombstone, Bisbee, etc. One evening we went to see some Airstream friends: Rich, Eleanor, and Emma. The park has a lot of activities to keep their members busy. I went to genealogy talk. They had some outside entertainment one evening and we also attended the weekly music jam:

‘Our’ spot at the Escapees Coop.
Lunar eclipse

Since we spent a well deserved week in AZ it was time to get moving to Texas. We had a bit of ground to cover. We first made to Las Cruces, then into West Texas. This was definitely NOT the beautiful part of the trip. We spent the night in Fort Stockton, TX at a Passport America spot that looks like it caters to the oil industry. It was cold and windy, we even had a few icicles from the water the next morning.

NOT the sign you want to see if you have an Airstream!
Our spot at Fort Stockton, TX
This was the locking system for the door in the restrooms!
However, the paper towels must be GOLD!

We were happy to leave Ft Stockton behind and work our way through West Texas. The next stop was the South Llano River State Park. This was a very nice location. We took a short walk down toward the river, saw numerous birds and where the flooding happened about 6 months ago.

We were able to try out our new fire pit!
Armadillo sighting!

The next stop was Johnson Creek RV park near Kerrville, TX. This time we were there for 2 nights (Passport America) so we could unhook the truck for the first time in 3 nights!

We had made it to our time (Feb 1) to start our month long stay in Henly TX. On the way there, we ran over an oil drip pan on the road and suffered a minor injury to the trailer.

It looks like a simple repair, just have to get the plastic part from Airstream.

Now that we are here, near Austin we get to start our chores!