31 May, Wednesday – Bossier City LA

Sadly this is our last day here and it also means tonight we will be saying goodbye to our very good friends Larry and Lois. So we will make the most of our last day together!

Kim is up and getting psyched for his drone’s maiden flight, which goes great! He's happy and even got some photos! And it came back and landed ever so softly, great piloting Captain Kim!

Our coach in foreground, L&L's beyond

Mmm, there's quite a lot going on up there on the roof!

The rest of the morning goes quickly, planning our next few stops so we can meet up with C&C, laundry, mopping up the flood from the overfilled tanks.  The afternoon is sunny and hot so requires a couple of hours beside the pool. 

As it is our last night together we decide on an early HH and Lois and Larry surprise me with an early birthday present – an automatic card shuffler which you need for the six packs of cards you play Hand and Foot with!   I’m a very lucky girl : )

Happy Hour - napkins say "Wine - how classy people get trashed"

Early birthday pressie!!

Larry paying Kim $5 for the bet he lost, we did need a new alternator!

Tonight we are going out to celebrate our final night together and Ralph and Kacoo’s Seafood Restaurant just a couple of miles away has been recommended.  The food was great, unfortunately Gerald our waiter was not, but we did have a voucher for a free desert each – either bread pudding with caramel sauce or a beignet, a doughnut thingy with chocolate sauce, both of which were delish!

Last dinner together at Ralph & Kacoo's

Larry and Lois are leaving at dawn tomorrow so we say our goodbyes just in case and look forward to catching up again next year, perhaps in Oregon!  Gonna miss you guys xx

30 May, Tuesday – Bossier City LA

Today might be the day Kim picks up his drone, it is not actually due until tomorrow but the salesperson indicated it could arrive a day early.  Trouble is he can’t phone a human so has to use the app and they are still processing his request....

Anyway L&L need groceries, so do we and Larry’s knee is feeling quite a bit better so we drive to Best Buys to see if the drone has arrived – afraid not : ) “ Try again later this evening” and they will email when it comes in.  After a quick call in to Camping World and some lunch at Whataburger, we do the food shopping at Walmart and head back to the coach.

Larry has his leg up, Kim is having a sleep and Lois and I are playing Hand & Foot.

Kim comes over for HH and he has received an email to say his drone is ready to be picked up - much excitement!!  Larry, bless him, hobbles to the car once again to take us down to Best Buys.  On the way we see a number of cop cars, blue lights flashing, surrounding the Valero Gas Station – one of the bowsers is laying on it’s side and fuel is pooling on the ground.  Got the photo on the way back, cops gone but that aisle is cordoned off.

Was way more dramatic with the cop cars surrounding the station

Back at the coach the carton is reverently opened and every component fondled and checked, even instructions read - that’s a first!  Drone needs charging first so playing will have to wait until tomorrow.  I bet the boy is up out of bed tomorrow like a kid on Christmas morning!

29 May, Monday Memorial Day – Bossier City LA

No thunder or rain this morning and today is Memorial Day, the official start of summer holidays for school kids and families.  From now on the RV and State Parks will be much busier.  

Betty drove Lois and I to the Boardwalk to check out the outlets shops and have some lunch.  We went to Hooters, maybe they should change the name to 'Butt Cheeks'!  There were more of them than the other at this branch : )  Sorry no photo's for you blokes!  The food was good and reasonable.

Got home in time to play a round of Hand & Foot, my luck was not in today, Betty had the honour of trouncing Lois and I. 

The long game made us late for HH but decided to have a quick one anyway over at L&L.  This is our last night together with M&B, they are heading off tomorrow, back towards California and their lovely home on the canal at Long Beach.  So it was a good chance to say goodbye, just in case they leave before we are up in the morning.

28 May, Sunday – Bossier City LA

Woke to thunder and rain, some of the loudest thunder I have ever heard, shook the coach!  All cleared up by 11.30, the sun is now out.  Larry wrenched his knee yesterday and it's now painfully wrapped up and slowing him down a tad!  He's been off to the local health centre this morning and had a shot of anti-inflamm and told to ice and rest it : (

The ladies spent the afternoon over at Betty's playing cards and I have learned a new game – Hand and Foot.  Beginners luck and lots of help from the ‘veterans’ earned me the highest score after the four rounds! Did they let me win?  

HH was over at L&L's coach to save Larry having to negotiate steps etc.  M&B offered to take us out to Cracker Barrel for dinner (Sunday is the only night they have their famed Fried Chicken) but another thunder storm and rain downpour put paid to that, so we ate in tonight.  Storm only lasted an hour, as usual.

27 May, Saturday, Bossier City LA

Shreveport is actually two cities, Shreveport on the west side of the Red River and Bossier City on the east.  The paddle steamer in the photo is just one of the five casinos.  Riverboat gambling started here in the mid 1990's.  The famous Louisiana Boardwalk opened in 2005 on the Bossier City side and features outlet shopping, several restaurants, a 14 screen movie theatre, a bowling complex and a Bass Pro Shop, we are going there on Monday.  Yay, my turn for shopping : )

Red River between Shreveport and Bossier City LA

This morning the six of us are all going to catch a shuttle over to the Mudbug Madness Festival in Shreveport, across the river.  This is the most renowned Crawfish Festival in the south and features live Cajun and Zydeco music and Cajun and Creole food.  I think most of the residents of the Casino RV Park were here for this.  There was lots of food choice, Cajun Turkey Legs, Fried Shrimp Poboys, Bacon Wrapped Corn Dogs, and of course I had to try the boiled Crawfish, after all the festival is named in their honour!  They were served with sweet corn and two baked potatoes.  The bugs were spicy hot, glad I didn't add any extra seasoning, and a bit fiddly but I’ve had my fix.  Couldn't feel my lips for an hour afterwards!  Kim opted for a spicy mince pie/pasty arrangement.  Mark brought a plate of red velvet funnel cake for us to share – delish but everyone decided they could still fit in ice cream before we headed back.  Check out the Ice cream Wonderstick – yep, that’s all icecream in there and that's what I had.  The live music was toe tapping good and there were people up dancing too.  But my it was hot  and muggy – 33C!

Crawfish

Tiny taste for Kim, it was dirty work getting the meat out!

Icecream Wonderstick in cinnamon flavoured stick!

Got back to the RV in time to have a rest and maybe a swim to cool off before HH and then the Temptations Concert tonight over in the Casino’s Legends Theatre.  We wondered if would cancel this show as the bass player died last month, but his place is being taken over by the son of one of the original members.

It was a good night, they did some of the old faves, Papa is a Rolling Stone, Treat her like a Lady and finished up with My Girl, one my personal faves!  

26 May, Friday – Bossier City, LA

Oh my oh my, a very early start today!  On the road by 7.15 am!! To CAT for the repairs to our alternator.

The I 20 here is a rock and roll concrete road, jumpin’ and a jiving, and the coach bounces along, bumpin’ and a grinding!  Poor shocks!  So we rock up to CAT and L&L follow to pick us up and entertain us for the day, starting with brekkie at Sue’s Country Diner, which was served perfectly to order, even to the extent of how crispy you want your bacon AND your hash browns – this gal deserves her tip!

So now we are in shopping mode.  Kim wins the stakes, he got his drone!  Well he doesn’t actually get it until the 31^st, it had to be ordered in but he is enjoying the fact that it is coming just as much!  Thanks Best Buys!  We also visited Sam’s Club (bulk groceries and appliances etc.) and Bed Bath & Beyond, on and Walmart as Larry needed a new battery for the car so while they fitted it we had a wander around inside.

 

The coach is ready around 4 pm and L&L drop us down to CAT and we sort out the bill – most paid by Viking Warranty and a ‘ton x 2’ by us – good deal.  However!! On the way back to the Casino, we can hear ‘a thumping and a banging’ but can’t see whats going on and the highway is so rough it’s not easy or safe to walk back to check it out!  When we get back to camp though we see the big drawer inside the closet has come out and has been banging itself to dismembership on the 3 mile journey home!  Just a little job to repair it but turned into rather a long job and it was devilish hot sitting inside the wardrobe over the hot engine - in 32 C!  And it made us late for HH but that cold drink was most surely welcome  : )

We meet L&L’s friends, Mark and Betty, from California and who are also staying here in their Monaco Coach, at Diamond Jacks for a week. 

25 May, Thursday - Diamond Jacks Casino, Bossier City/Shreveport LA

We got away around 9.30 am - about the time we planned.  Had a lovely drive up SH 110, 79, 43 and only the I 20 for the last 15 minutes into Shreveport LA.  Got the ‘welcome to’ photo - yay!  Took exit 3 (3 miles on) to Speedco where the team did a number on the coach - full oil change and filters as well as a service on the generator.  Two hours later we are out of there and feeling good.  Coach is happy! 

Another 12 miles and we are installed in spot number 10, right next door to L&L at Diamond Jacks RV Park, within walking distance of the Casino.  L&L want to go to Bayou Outdoor RV Centre, a mile away to pick up some parts so we go too and Kim gets some switches he has been looking for.  Back at camp around 5pm – way past time for HH so we sit outside, in the shade and have a wine to celebrate the start of our time in LA.  The RV Park is full for the weekend, this being a long weekend for Memorial  Day.  

There is a lot of stuff on this weekend, a Crawfish Festival in Shreveport, a big sale on the boardwalk by the river (yay, these are Designer shops!!) and a whole lot of other stuff we haven’t even found out about yet but looking forward to!

24 May, Wednesday – Rusk TX

Yay - my sunshine and hot weather has come back!!  Even so, we still had a sleep in before a couple of ‘cups of tea’ and brekkie before Kim was out cleaning the coach.  I cleaned up inside and then sat outside in the sun to finish the book I borrowed from the camp library so I can return it before we leave here.

L&L were ready to go into Jacksonville early afternoon so after a quick shower we headed into town.  Did some shopping - Kim won the ‘first’ and ‘most’ parcel stakes with his shorts, hats and sunglasses, then he wanted to stop at the roadside flea market, which had lots of old cool stuff - he deemed it worthy of a visit but didn’t buy anything there!  We also looked around the Old Courthouse, court was in session so we had to be quiet.  They had a lot of interesting photos on the walls and data on the old days here in Jacksonville.

We got back to Rusk and had a late lunch/early dinner at the Silver Platter - my giant coconut fried shrimps were pretty good but again the meal was way too big!  Kim managed to get through his Reuben though!  And we have it on good authority the chicken fried steak was pretty good too!

We got back to camp around 5 pm and sat outside in the sun for a couple of hours, soaking up the ambience.  We are leaving here tomorrow so will get organised early and get on the road mid morning - we want to stop at a Speedco for an oil change and at CAT to see if they can fix the alternator.  Next 'home away from home' is Diamond Jacks Casino, in Bossier City - Shreveport LA. We are familiar with this area as we stopped here on our way south last year.  Hope the pool is open!

23 May, Tuesday – Rusk TX

Weather was a bit of a mixed bag this morning and a little on the cool side but the sun poked out from the clouds for a couple of hours so we enjoyed some time outside.

 

In the afternoon we went into Rusk to look for the nation's longest footbridge. We found it - built in 1861 and restored in 1960.  At 546 feet long and crossing a creek and low ground prone to flooding, it was the main path into the town for the residents from the east side..

Longest footbridge in the whole US of A!

Then we found a very well stocked hardware store (True Value) with a lot of RV accessories etc. so managed to spend some money again today!

We got back in to the coach just as the heavens opened and the thunder boomed!  It was past HH time so happily were safe inside our coach before the rain came.  Dinner at ours tonight - pork fillet with apple sauce, parmesan potatoes and coleslaw.  Lois made a huge bowl of tomato salsa which was delish!  

22 May, Monday – Rusk TX

Had a play with the blog, I think this layout works better, the posts run on so you don’t need to click on each one to see them.  Watchafink?

No thunder and lightning to wake us this morning but it did start raining in the early hours and it pretty much hung around most of the day.  The rain quietened down our insomniac bird though!

Had pancakes for brekkie which is our rainy day entertainment, although it was closer to lunch than breakfast.  Was a bit concerned on hearing of a tornado warning in Galveston where C&C are at right now,  but the warning was lifted shortly after so all good there, they just have rain and some flooding.

Around 3.30 pm we drive into Palestine, about 30 miles away to visit the hardware shop, have a look around the historic old town and find the Pint & Barrel Drafthouse for an early dinner.  It was just opening as we got there when the photo was taken at 5pm but within ten minutes the place was full.  You can always trust the locals know where to eat!  The beer was deemed good – strong, and the fried okra with dipping sauce was a nice tasty nibble while we perused the menu.  The burgers were well on the large size and really good, Kim’s had bacon rashers hanging out the sides at all angles.

Historic Old Town Palestine TX - Pint & Barrel Drafthouse

Great burgers and great company!!

We were back at camp by 8ish so we had time to watch the DVD L&L loaned us – The Lady in the Van.  Maggie Smith is such a good actress, she saved the movie in my view.

21 May, Sunday - Rusk TX

OK, after last night I have come to the conclusion that it is just one bird which signs all night and it knows an awful lot of different tunes!  Woke early again, pre 6 am, to the NOAA going off advising of thunder, lightning and hail too this time, which all duly followed.  The hail didn’t sound too bad but I was glad it wasn’t any worse,  being mindful of the plastic vent and AC covers we have on the roof.  The bad weather passed over within an hour or so but it has stayed cooler today 22C, until the sun came out around 2 pm.

Log Cabins at Rusk KOA

I always wanted a pedal car, maybe I should take one of these for a spin!

Yay - a tiny house in the campground : )

L&L and I drove into the little township of Rusk to have a look around.  It’s a tiny town, shops laid out around the square with the courthouse holding centre stage.  There were some grand old homes and rather a lot of big churches, more than seemed necessary for such a small population.

Grand old lady!

Pretty house next door

20 May, Saturday Rusk TX

First off all the birds here don’t know it is night time, they sung all night long!!  There must have been a couple of different varieties of our feathered friends as there were various tunes being sung.

We were woken early by an amazing thunder and lightning display.  Our phones automatically txt us with any weather alerts in the area and our NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Radio kicks into life when there are severe weather warnings so we are well forewarned of any weather events.  It wasn’t a biggie, just a short little storm and all over in a couple of hours.  The rain just helped to wash the dust off the RV. 

The sun was out not long after and we headed into Rusk for the cotter pins etc. to finish fixing the steering.  We also stopped off at $ Tree (I love this store – everything is a dollar – plus tax) and our old fave Walmart before heading back to camp mid afternoon in time for a swim and a relax by the pool.  Thanks for taking us into town again Larry!

Lois made us her famous ‘Lois Fried Chicken’ for dinner followed by Kahlua served over vanilla icecream – yum yum!  We are being totally spoiled : )

19 May Friday, Rusk TX

Agreed to meet at 9.30 to head to the Rusk Depot catch our 10am vintage train on the Historic Texas State Railroad for a 50 mile, four hour round trip to Palestine TX.  Construction on this rail system began in 1881 by prisoners from the East Texas Penitentiary.  In 1909 the final ties were laid connecting Rusk with Palestine.  The operation has very recently been taken over by new owners and the two depots are currently being refurbished.  We were comfortably transported in an early 1900's first class coach, with aircon (today it’s 33C with 95% humidity), sitting at tables with white cloths and an attentive attendant bringing us coffee and cold drinks.  Glad we had first class tickets, no aircon elsewhere on the train.

Historic Texas State Railroad

We ordered a box lunch to take with us, chicken salad sandwich with the lettuce, tomato and pickle packed separately so the bun didn’t go soggy - chippies, chocolate brownie and water.  Not bad for $10.

Deconstructed lunch!

Got back to camp about 2.30 and a bit of repair work went on, ie fixing the front steering.  Time for a quick dip in the pool to cool off.

18 May Thursday, to Rusk TX

Leaving Sunset Ranch, L&L in front towing - sad to leave!

Still haven’t seen any rain and they are forecasting severe storms for this area from tonight, time to move on.  We are driving about 200 north east to Rusk TX where we are staying at a KOA camp for 7 nights.  It was a pretty good drive, a sprinkle of rain which was over in a couple of minutes but it was windy most of the way, throwing us around a bit, at least we thought it was the wind.  To our horror we found when we arrived that part of that 'wind' problem was actually caused by the front steering idler arm ball joint, which was replaced last year, it did not have a split pin in it and was hanging off by about two threads on the bolt giving a lot of play in the steering! Could have been really nasty had we lost steering.

We did see a nasty 18 wheeler accident along the I79, didn’t look good for the driver, cab was pretty crushed.

Hate to see this sort of thing - but it does happen!

It is different driving in convoy, not only do we have conflicting instructions from both our GPS’s and the IPAD, but we are also following Larry who is going some place different again!  We are using little handheld radios to communicate between us which is great, but need to be pretty much in sight of each other.  When we got separated we reverted back to txting.  We ended up arriving at camp first, L&L went walkabout!!

Decided to join KOA, the membership cost of $30 was already received back in the 10% discount on this stay – a no brainer!  The camp is lovely, 60 odd sites, saltwater swimming pool (necessary as it is 32C), 48 channel cable TV and excellent internet.  We are in site 14, L&L in 13 – not far to go for happy hour!

Once we set up L&L wanted to drive to the next town to Walmart for supplies so we went along and topped up our supplies too.  It was late when we got back so had a quick little wine, had mustgo’s for dinner (mustgo’s are the food that really should be eaten today - or thrown out) and an early night.  A little breeze came up during the night but nothing like they forecast.  Hopefully our weather luck keeps holding!

17 May, Wednesday – Sunset Ranch

It’s our last full day here at the ranch, the weather is holding and the 30% chance of rain forecast hasn’t eventuated, well unless you count 5/10’s of an inch overnight!

Had a cruisy day, don’t know where it went but it was soon time for happy hour and we are invited to have dinner with S&G again tonight, they are cooking a Beef Stroganoff in their new pressure cooker, one pot meal with meat, noodles and sauce and it was absolutely delicious, the meat was so tender!  I would consider getting one of those electronic pressure cookers but they are huge, where would I store it?  Maybe when I get home.

A fabulous way to end a lovely day, in the hot tub waiting for the sunset!

16 May Tuesday - The Ranch, Leander TX

The wind got up a tad during the night but this morning there is just a bid of high cloud and 70C.  Jenny (G's sister) brought up fresh eggs and a coffee cake last night and S&G invited us up for brekkie to help them enjoy the bounty - very enjoyable!  Stan showed some pics on the TV of the 2015 tornado and the damage it caused to their property, unbelievable!  They have only had one tornado here in their memory and it was a doozy, doing a lot of structural damage to their very solidly built log cabin home, the out buildings, the RV and it’s shed and even sent huge propane bottles flying!

Stan took Kim and I exploring around the ranch.  We set off in the Polaris four wheeler off road vehicle complete with rifle strapped to the ceiling (Stan also had his pistol) so we felt very safe!  The ranch is vast, the cattle fodder is scrubby grass but the few ‘beeves’ don't seem to mind.  Next door at Jenny’s ranch they farm goat too.  

Looking over the Ranch!

Stan and Kim in the Polaris

We came to the semi cave, a smooth wave shape has been worn out of the rock.  Some of the rock forms a honeycomb texture so little critters must have lived in them at some point in time.  It was hard to believe the cave could be caused by wave action over many hundreds of years but the idea of water covering these parts in the middle of the USA appeared to be supported by the oyster shells we found some miles away.

Wave action must have made this shape in the rock!

A big perfectly round "worm" hole in the rock, what really made it?

Oyster shells hundreds of miles away from any sea

This is how high the oysters shell were found!

We were gone for about four hours.  Didn’t need to use any firepower, didn’t see any snakes or wild critters, only turkey buzzards, a hawk and a couple scissor tail birds. We did scare a wild turkey who took to flight to escape us.  I know also know what racoon poop looks like.

The little fuzzy shapes are enormous Daddy-Long-Legs swarming over the edge of this hole in the ground!

  

Tonight we take S&G out to dinner at Dol Salsas in nearby Cedar Park.  The food was great, commencing with a huge frozen Margareta with a floater of Grand Marnier, we were just following the lead of the locals! Glad we did!  The food was really good but it was way too much for just one dinner, so a box of leftovers came back with each of us.  However, each couple managed to share a serving of fried icecream just to fill in the gaps – yum! 

Lovely dinner with lovely friends!!

Then a brief stop off at Costco as some of the group were close to running out of wine (not us this time, we stocked up).  They had Trinity Hill Pinot Noir which had to come home with us along with some more Red and Chardonnay.  We saw Marlborough Sauv Blanc but branded with the US importer.  Costco is a huge grocery/department/electronic chain store, you must have a Costco card to shop there, I think it is about $50 per year.

It was a brilliant day all in all and we have one more day here tomorrow.  Rain is forecast (30% chance) overnight and tomorrow.  

15 May, Monday – The Ranch, Leander TX

A beautiful day dawned at the Ranch!  We both had such a good sleep, maybe our time clocks are finally acclimating (US word for acclimatising).  Following was a rather lazy day.  Although we all made friends yesterday with the three beautiful dogs - Maggie, Gunner and Texan (‘long tall’ – an ambitious name for a small Silky) Texan would not let us in the gate to use the pool so we saved that for later when S&G came home!

Big Bad 'Texan' who guarded the gate to the pool!

In the afternoon the boys went off trail blazing with Stan - taking a machete for clearing and a pistol in case they came across a snake etc. to clear a track for the girls tomorrow to go see the sea fossils embedded in the cave in the middle of TX, where there is no sea for hundreds of miles!  Will post on that tomorrow.

The boys got back just in time for happy hour!  G’s sister and BIL joined us and we shared a lovely dinner of home made burgers expertly cooked on the grill by S.  After dinner it became cool enough to sit outside to watch the sunset but most of us thought it would look much better from the pool/hot tub so we race to get our suits and get into the water to enjoy the amazing scenery mother nature provides.  Everyone was pretty much tuckered out by then so another early night for us.

14 May, Sunday – The Ranch, Leander TX

Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms!  Woke to some fog, where did that come from?  It didn’t last long though, bright sun followed smartly on its heels : )  We didn’t get away from camp until about 11 am by the time we said our goodbyes and then we spent a couple of hours on the road heading north west and through the capital city of Austin.  Don’t know where all the traffic came from on a Sunday but it sure was busy getting through the city.  Half an hour later we arrived at the ranch, sunshine and 31C!  There has been a shortage of rain in these here parts so by the time we had traversed the long ‘road’ in and got up the top to the log cabin at the top everything was covered in dust.   

Those bikes will need a clean before we get on 'em!

We got set up, power and water generously laid on and then we wandered up to the house to spend some time with our hosts S&G.  Being Mother’s Day there was a lot of family coming and going and it was a pleasure to meet them all.  Since the last time we were here in 2014, the property sustained a very damaging tornado which totalled the carport and the RV parked in it, plus the whole porch and a portion of the house, but in the repairs S&G have added a beautiful big concrete swimming pool and hot tub!  That’s where we will be tomorrow!

Stan put together a superb creamy chicken pasta casserole, served with a fresh green salad and garlic bread for the six of us.  Our turn tomorrow!  We watched an amazing sunset over a coffee and turned in for an early night.  My, it is dark out here with no city lights in view and the stars are super bright! 

13 May Saturday afternoon, Columbus TX

Happy Hour started promptly at 4pm with most in attendance.  Kim was just finishing topping up the batteries when he forgot - just for a moment and tried to stand up right under the ‘slide out’ and cut a chunk out of his head!!  Well, he lasted nearly three days this year before he banged his head, maybe he is slowly learning  Larry reckoned superglue was the ideal fix so he stuck Kim's head back together with it just to prove the point.  Photo below is before the highly technical medical supergluing by Dr Larry.  At least it stopped leaking!

Looked way more dramatic in real life!!

Happy Hour!

Deer came to visit us during Happy Hour

Dinner is at ours tonight, for the six of us.  It is our last night with Carrol and Chris for a while and unfortunately Carrol has caught Chris’s cold so she bailed before we ate.  L&L supplied the most awesome Berry Cobbler from the Farmers Market and Vanilla Icecream to finish – thank you and yum!

Tomorrow morning L&L and us two head north to Stan and Georgeann's ranch at Leander, near Austin TX. We met these lovely people back in 2014 when they hosted the first Safari Rally we ever went to and we are very much looking forward to meeting up with them again.

I am not sure if we will have internet there but if you don't hear from us for a few days, that will be why.  I will fill you in on all the happenings once we get back on the grid again.

13 May Saturday, Columbus TX

It was hot last night again but it got quite cool from the open windows by dawn.  By 8.30 we are on our way into town with L&L for Bacon, Eggs, Hashbrowns, Sausage Patties and bottomless coffee - a great way to start the day!

The Farmers Market was small but interesting - produce and preserves, jewellery, crafts etc.  All the stallholders  spoke to us, very friendly people.

Took in the 500 year old oak tree, the old stone cottage, the grand courthouse and some of the lovely old antebellum architecture.  A quaint little American town.  As you can see from the photos, the sun is shining and it is a balmy 28C.

500 year old Oak Tree (would need a very long yellow ribbon)

Grand old Courthouse

Historic Stone Cottage

Quaint Shops

12 May, Friday, Columbus TX

As I was awake at 6pm thought I would join L&L for their morning walk at 7am.  We saw a lot of deer and there are bambi’s too, but didn’t see them this morning, must be sleeping in.  Lots of squirrels too!

After a some brekkie we finishing sorting the van, Kim worked on the outside cleaning the dust off and I looked after the inside.  It’s looks so much cleaner after a few hours effort.  It’s a lovely hot sunny day so take a couple of hours off to sit the sun with my book while Kim still pottered.  Oh, he fixed the front jack – clever boy - the terminals on a connector plug were corroded so once he fixed it, the jacks work like a charm.

Time to get ready for happy hour.  We are having it at ours today, where there is some shade for those wanting it and there is a nice breeze which is taking some of the heat from the sun.

Haven’t taken many photos, still getting in the zone and remembering how we used to do things, but I will work on that.  Tomorrow, we are going into the little town of Columbus for brekkie at a Diner and to take in the local sights and the Farmers Market.

Early night again tonight, but we saw the bambi’s once it got a bit dark, very cute!

11 May Thursday - Houston

The rental car is returned and back the coach is packed up ready to hit the road.  We headed west to Colorado Springs Campground (Thousand Trails) in Columbus but we got held up for an hour plus in a traffic jam – four lanes plus a slip road went down to one lane to enable some road signs to be erected.  The entertainment was listening to the CB Radio, we got the impression the truckers were not impressed, at all!  Very colourful language and quite a lot of ranting.

We got as far as Sealy and this is the last Walmart Supercentre before we get to Columbus so hauled in there and provisioned the coach for the next few days.  First lot of groceries - $300 so not too bad ‘cos it did include a quantity of beer and wine etc. : )

Arrived at the camp around 2 pm and were very warmly welcomed by Larry and Lois, good friends we met at our first Safari Rally back in 2015.  We also spent three weeks with them in Oregon last year. It was great to see them again.  We had a quick catch up then head next door to our coach to unpack suitcases, stow the groceries and get ready for happy hour at 4pm.  Start time was graciously extended to 4.15pm as we weren’t quite ready.  

A couple of hours later Carrol and Chris rock up in their rig and got the spot right next to us.  They had a late start, spending more time than anticipated picking up their travel trailer but eventually got here without mishap.  The van is lovely, they are very happy : )

Lois made us a lovely dinner, a thick spicy sausage soup and biscuits (scones) which was lovely of her and very yummy.  It was not a late night for us and we both had our first good long sleep, I got past 4 am for a change. Apparently it rained lightly at 2 am? There was a big moon - a very nice first day back on the road!

10 May Wednesday - Houston

Had a pretty good sleep but woke early, just as it was getting light.  Brekkie for me was waffles (yum) and toast for Kim – he wasn’t enamoured of the biscuits (scones) and gravy in the hot buffet.  But hey it is complimentary and what we had did last us all day ‘cos food didn’t come up as a discussion subject, we got too busy.  

So off to get the rental car - they had a lovely black Dodge Charger sitting there so we (?) decide to upgrade and ride in style for the two days we have the car for. Very nice : ) 

Sexy rear view!!

Rental Dodge and The Coach

Next stop, pick up the keys from Andrew and head to UHaul to see our poor neglected RV which has been sitting forlornly for 6 months waiting for us to return.  Happily she was in good condition, very dusty on the outside but clean in and there were no critters stuck to the sticky pads we left to entrap any creepy crawlies – yay!  

It was a rather dirty job getting the coach off the axle stands and getting everything stowed away but it went OK.  Except for the front jack that is, it doesn’t work at all.  So we phone Andrew and he helps with organising a technician to see if it is just the solenoid or something more serious.  Meantime we bring the coach back to the hotel and arrange for Andrew’s team to come later in the day to see how easy it is to fix. Yay, I get to drive the Dodge!!

So then we go shopping, our new fav - Fry’s Electronics show us a refurbished Garmin GPS for $59 (new price $199) so we instantly buy it and take it out to the rental car to check that it works – tick!  Starbucks is right next door to pop in for a quick caffeine fix.  Time to head back to the hotel and await the tech team to arrive to fix the front jack.  They duly arrive but it wasn’t a simple fix so we have agreed to come back to Houston in a few days and have it sorted then.  In between times we will do some research.

Carrol and I walk next door to the Shopping Centre (handy that) and spend an hour or so in Ross’s.  Successful shopping, both of us came back with parcels.  Kim did all right in the clothes shopping early on in the day, needing shorts and socks which he forgot (neglected) to pack!

By the time everyone comes together again it is late and nobody has much enthusiasm to go out for dinner as we planned, so we opt for Whataburger which is just a two minute drive away (and the Dodge needed an outing) and you can usually count on a good burger there!  It won’t be a late night for any of us tonight. I just want to post a blog first so you'all at home can see what we have been up to : ) 

9 May 2017 Tuesday - Departure Day

Enid and Ian very kindly picked us up around 11am to take us into the airport, but first we had to chase the chicken which seems to have adopted us, out of the house and pick up it’s poops off the carpet!  I swear if that chicken is still alive when we get back - it won’t be for long.  So we left Wellington at 12.45pm and arrived at the hotel in Houston at 2.30pm, a rather long day.  Our plane out of Wgtn was delayed ten minutes but we had two hours in Auckland to transit so no problem.  Enjoyed a cheeky little glass of wine in the lounge and boarded at 3.45pm.  Sat next to a nice couple from Idaho, the hubby had been in NZ for the Masters in Auckland.  It was an uneventful flight, watched two and a half movies, LaLa Land (award winning really?), The AbFab movie and half of the new Pork Pie.  We landed in Houston 30 minutes early but it took an hour to get through immigration and then we waited another half hour for the shuttle to collect us and deliver to The Quality Inn & Suites, 10155 North Freeway, which we now realise is the same place where in 2015 we had the fire in the middle of the night and had to evacuate on our first night in the States.

So far we have found we've forgotten to pack a US power adaptor for the hotel room (there are plenty on the bus though) and the little second GPS which we use for rental cars – unless that is still in the coach and we didn’t take it home last year??  Oh and Kim didn’t pack any ‘breath of heaven’ – never let a man pack for himself!  Hope that’s our three!

Houston has put on a partly sunny/cloudy day for our arrival and a balmy 28C, very nice!

Settled in at the hotel, organised the rental car for tomorrow and then met up with Carrol and Chris, who took us out shopping.  Walmart – did you miss us?  It’s so nice to be back!  After a quick visit to AT&T and Home Depot, Chris needed to top up the gas for tomorrow.  We p*ssed ourselves laughing as he pulled up and stopped at one of the lanes in the drive-through ATM and got out to try and find the petrol dispenser!!  LOL! We bought some food to have dinner back in our room - ready for a cold one and a quiet night in. Happy first day : )