Mingus to Caddo Mills

Oct 14^th

With the sun coming up later and later every day we seem to be sleeping in later. This morning it was 7:40 AM before I got up to shake off the night and take the girls out for their morning constitutional.  It was interesting to look up toward the freeway and see the sun flashing off the sides of the big semis as they drove by even though the sun wasn’t visible from the campground.

When we got back and they had their breakfast I checked the temperature. Oh man… it was only 60 degrees inside so I flipped the switch from “Cool” to “Heat” so Tina could be comfortable when she got up. We had washed all the bedding yesterday evening but our small washer/dryer combo just isn’t big enough to dry everything thoroughly so we had spread out the blanket and sheets to air dry overnight. As soon as that was all folded and put away we had our breakfast and with a short drive we were able to have a relaxing morning.

Driving through Dallas

By the time we had everything packed up and ready to go it was almost 9:30 AM. We got on I-20 E and headed out for the 137 mile drive to the Caddo Mills KOA just NE of Dallas. The first 80 miles were uneventful and passed quickly. Then we were on the outskirts of Ft Worth. The next 50 miles were like driving from Tacoma to Everett but with more intensity as the edges of the two cities are only a few miles apart. Then combine it with construction, multiple slowdowns, junctions with multiple intersecting freeways… well, you get the picture, white knuckle driving at its finest!

Downtown Dallas

But, by dint of extremely defensive driving, we made it through with only a limited amount of stressful situations. The downtown cores of both cities are quite beautiful and the signage is quite good. Anyway we made it through and out the other side in pretty good time, pulling into the Caddo Mills KOA about 12:30 PM.

On the pad at Caddo Mills KOA

There was no one in the office so we checked the reserved spots and found an open site. Tina took the dogs and walked down to our spot and I followed in the rig so she could guide me in – they’re fairly tight and we had chosen a site with a large shade tree. We got into our site, set up and dropped the car so we could go get lunch and do some grocery shopping.

While we were outside Tina saw about two dozen softball sized fruit lying on the ground underneath the tree across the way. Our neighbor was walking her dog and we stopped to ask if she knew what they were. She only knew that they weren’t edible. I sliced one in half and it oozed a sticky, milky fluid all over my knife. We put the two halves up in the tree and came in to clean my knife. It finally required use of Soft Scrub and ammonia to get it clean.

Osage Orange

After looking it up on the web it turned out to be an Osage Orange also known as a Bois d'arc, or Horse Apple. Before the invention of barbed wire in the 1880's, many thousands of miles of hedge were constructed by planting young Osage Orange trees closely together in a line. The saplings were aggressively pruned to promote bushy growth. "Horse high, bull strong and hog tight." Those were the criteria for a good hedge made with Osage Orange. Tall enough that a horse would not jump it, stout enough that a bull would not push through it and woven so tightly that even a hog could not find its way through!

Once we found out what they were we got in the car and jumped on the freeway. We pulled off at the next exit and drove to “Bakers Ribs” another small BBQ joint. Tina had some pretty good ribs and I had a pulled pork sandwich that was also very good. After lunch we got back on the freeway and exited at Greenville. After making our way through the road construction we made it into town and found a grocery store.

Fishing Lake and Cabins

On the way home Tina took a short cut that took us through the back roads between Greenville and Caddo Mills. It’s really a very pretty area with many green trees and lots of green  grass along with large plowed fields ready for planting. Once back at the coach we put the grocery’s away and went to the office to register. They have a really nice pool but its only a little above 70 so we decided to just walk around the property. There is a very large fishing lake with cabins along the shore – very nice.

Relaxing on the shore of the fishing lake

Once more back at the coach we decided to call it a day and spend some time relaxing.

Miles for today, 137. Total for the trip so far, 2,956 miles.

To see all our photos, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski

San Angelo to Mingus

Oct 13^th

We got up early this morning to the sounds of one of the dogs being sick on the bed. It seems Wicket got into something on her walk last night. When I got up to get some paper towels I saw that it was nearly 7:00 AM so we decided to get up anyway. After walking and feeding the kids Tina and I had breakfast and waited for it to get light out.

By 8:00 AM the sun was up and I could see to start getting everything ready to trave. After getting the car up on the trailer and secured Tina started the coach to bring in the slides while I disconnected power, water and cable. Just as I was closing the last compartment Tina appeared and said the passenger side slide wouldn’t move.

We spent the next half hour trying everything to get it to come in but nothing worked. You could hear the solenoid trying to engage, so at this point I figured it might be a loose wire or something wrong with the electric motor. Nothing that I could deal with.

So I headed over to the office to see who they recommended for Mobile RV Repairs. I got a phone number and talked to the service lead. He couldn’t promise anything sooner than this afternoon. He did ask me if the slide drive was electric or hydraulic and I told him I thought it was electric. He asked me to call him back around noon to get a time for the tech to come out.

After getting off the phone I started thinking maybe I should add more fluid to the hydraulic reservoir for the jacks and, just in case the slides are hydraulically driven, try one more time to bring the passenger slide in. We went out and used the remaining ATF fluid to fill the reservoir, then came in and tried to bring in the slide. It came in. Well! Ya larn sumtin new evry day – heh, heh!

With the slides in and jacks up, we finished getting ready and pulled out of camp headed for the San Angelo 306 Loop Road which became I-67 E as we left town headed into the heart of Texas Hill Country. We followed I-67 through Ballinger and up to Coleman getting on TX-206 to Cross Plains where we stopped at a DQ for lunch.

This was a fortuitous stop as we were parked in an Exxon allowing me to get diesel while Tina went in and purchased a gallon of water (for coffee and the dogs)  and two quarts of ATF Fluid. Pulling out of Cross Plains we got back on TX-206 for the run to I-20. 

On the pad at Cactus Rose RV Park

Merging onto I-20 at Cisco we continued east for another 45 miles getting off at Mingus to spend the night in the Cactus Rose RV Park which is right next to the freeway. No one was in the office so we just pulled into a spot and set up. No cable so we’ll read and watch a movie later. Tina is grilling steaks for dinner.

Distance driven today, 170 miles. Total for the trip so far, 2,819 miles.

No photos today.

Day Two in San Angelo

Oct 12^th

It took all morning to do the photos and catch up the blog, so we decided to stay another day and go to BBQ this evening for dinner.

“Packsaddle BBQ” was only a few blocks away and it had a four star rating so we were looking forward to some good eats! We got there around 6:00 PM and the place was packed. It’s a really small restaurant with a simple menu and nothing fancy. 

We ordered some deep fried stuffed Jalapenas for a starter (small portion was 5 big ones) followed by Ribs and Brisket and warm Apple and Peach Cobbler with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream for dessert.

The Ribs were big and meaty but not as tender as they should have been, the same for the brisket. But we got a lot of food and it was pretty tasty (especially desert)! 

We left stuffed like the Jalapenas and returned to the coach to try and let things settle down. All in all we had a relaxing day and were ready to get on the road for Memphis.

No photos today.

Day One in San Angelo

Oct 11^th

It got chilly overnight and the heat came on about 4:30AM for a few minutes but by 9:00 AM it was over 60 headed for the high 70’s so it looked to b e a great day to explore San Angelo.

San Angelo Visitor Center

Our first stop was the Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in the heart of town and right on the Concho River. What an attractive facility. We went inside and met one of the volunteer tourist specialists who helped us plan our day. Our first stop was going to be the Sunken Gardens.

An impressive facility

Walking out the back side of the Visitor Center we were impressed with the immaculate landscaping with water features, art and places to sit and view the river. Descending the steps we reached the River Walk and headed over to the gardens. The main River Walk is actually on the other side of the river and runs for several miles.

Monarch Butterflies

Along the way, Tina spotted a swarm of Monarch Butterflies feasting on a flowering bush, a song bird we couldn’t identify, a sharp shinned hawk and a goose (gander?) protecting a small flock of ducks.

Beautiful Lily's

We reached the sunken Gardens and spent a half hour wandering around and taking photos. It is a really nice use of civic property that had been eroded in the past and then rebuilt with stone- lined water channels and planted with trees and flowers along the walkways.

Eggermeyers General Store

Leaving the gardens we returned to the Visitor Center and retrieved the car. Driving to Old town we passed the train depot and Museum. The heart of Old Town is a set of residential and mercantile buildings lovingly preserved from the beginnings of San Angelo’s history.

Inside the Soda Fountain

Crossing the Concho River we parked along Conch Street which is home to a series of restored buildings on the National Historic Register, including Eggmeyers General Store and Miss Hatties Bordello which is now a restaurant.

Lunch at Miss Hatties

We spent an hour wandering along, looking in the various shops and being amazed at the blending of old and new. I was really well done. Eventually we decided to have lunch and ended up at Miss Hatties Parlor. The place was packed with locals and visitors and we were escorted into the lounge. Lunch was good but nothing to get excited about.

Beautiful - Nature at work!

Leaving Miss Hatties we drove across town to the International Water Lily Display and Rose Garden in Civic Park. We didn’t have any expectations but were we surprised when we got there to find so many different varieties if lilys in bloom.

Stunning!

Along with the beautiful floating flowers there were a myriad of dragonflies, damsel flies, butterflies and bees visiting the gardens. You’ll see from our album just how many opportunities there were for stunning photos.

A beautiful rose among the thorns!

Leaving the water lily gardens we went up the hill to the Rose Gardens and took a few more photos. Unfortunately the season was almost over and most of the roses were in decline but it was very nice even so. With a last shot of the big metal art sculpture we headed back to the car for the drive back to the campground.

The dogs were happy to see us and demanded a walk and a treat which they got in that order. The rest of the afternoon we spent relaxing. Later after dinner we spent several hours trying to find a Sightseeing Cruise on the Mississippi River from Natchez MS where we would be in a few days. No such luck. So we started doing research on where we could find a cruise with both computers going.

It turns out that you need to be in New Orleans LA, Memphis TN or LaCrosse WI. None of these places were on our current route. We debated going south to New Orleans but eventually decided to go up to Memphis so we could see different parts of the country. 

Searching for a place to stay, Tina suggested Graceland. Sure enough, we could get in there and so I spent a couple of hours re-routing us through Memphis and back south through Birmingham and eventually reaching Valdosta GA before heading into Florida for the run down to Naples.

With our plans set in place we watched a little TV, read and eventually called it a night.

To see all our photos, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski

Big Springs to San Angelo

Oct 10^th

Cloudy this morning but it promises to warm up by this afternoon. Today is a short drive, less than 90 miles so we had a relaxed morning before leaving the campground.

The drive was uneventful as we traveled down highway 87 towards San Angelo. We planned to check out San Angelo State Park for a stop. Just north of town we made our exit following the signs to the state park. About a mile down the road we pulled into the North entrance looking for the “Bald Eagle” campground which had water and electric. 

Two tails for the price of one - heheheh!

We stopped at an intersection near the Camp Host 5^th wheel to look at a map of the park. There weren’t any signs for campgrounds or streets that we could see so we drove over to a parking area and pulled out the laptop and logged on to the web to see if we could figure out where we were supposed to be going. While we were logging on Tina spotted a prairie dog town and snapped a few photos.

With Tina working the laptop we drove on into the campground and did a circle looking for any information. We could see sites with water and electric and one site was occupied but there was no one around. As we made the circuit Tina pointed down a different road so we headed in that direction only to find a dead end. Fortunately it was big enough to do a turnaround without dropping the car.

On the pad at San Angelo KOA

At this point we didn’t want to venture deeper into the park so we decided to leave and head to the KOA southwest of town. Twenty minutes later we arrived at the KOA, got checked in and set up in our site… whewwww! Later I called the State Park Reservations system and let them know about our experience – they nicely agreed to refund our reservation fees.

Around 5:00 pm we decided to check out a well recommended BBQ place just up the street. Wouldn't you know, they were closed on Monday. Man, we're really not getting any breaks on having Texas BBQ!

We spent the rest of the day relaxing and planning tomorrows activities. After dinner I headed over to a Pool Hall a few miles away. Since it was Monday they had free pool, so for the price of a diet Pepsi I was able to practice for a couple of hours on a real regulation nine foot table. My stroke was a little rusty but I still managed to pocket a few good shots - heh, heh!

Miles driven today, 96. Total for the trip so far, 2,649 miles.

No photos today.