ROAD TRIP TO THE COAST

We are really enjoying the RV full-timer's lifestyle now! Recently, we were on our way to Dallas to look at an item for the Harleys. Planned to stay over night and headed out early in the morning. Just before we got on I-35 Northbound, Bob made a call and found that what we wanted was not in stock. No reason to go to Dallas now and since its not one of our favorite places Bob said lets head south on I-35. I looked at a map and noticed we weren't that far away from the shore (about 3 hours) and something printed in a small box near Corpus Christi caught my eye. " 24 Hour Ferry Service-free" I thought sounded intriguing so we headed that way, knowing nothing about where we were going! We hadn't done a spur of the moment road trip in many years, something we did frequently back in the day!

On our way down, we passed miles and miles of windmills for as far as the eye could see. Quite an impressive sight which doesn't show as well in the photo.

The ferry service links the mainland with Port Aransas, Texas. Only way to get over there is the ferry or to come through Corpus and travel through Padre Island, Mustang Island, etc and it takes about an hour or longer to go that way. I questioned why they haven't built a bridge across since it is such a short distance (about a 3 minute ride once you pull away from the dock) and I was told that the ferry is a tradition and that there is not enough land on the Port side to build the approaches for the bridge. Its hard to estimate distance on water but I would say it couldn't be more than a half mile across!

We discovered you can drive your vehicle on the beach, right up to the water's edge if you want to. What a treat that was. We drove for miles along the coast and saw some beautiful scenery. They even have a campground on the beach or you can just pull your rig up wherever you choose and camp for the night. The usual regulations at beaches back east don't apply here! They are very liberal and allow dogs on leashes and campfires at night. It was quite a sight to see the full moon come up over the water on a mostly deserted beach with a few campfires here and there.

We found a place to stay with a deck overlooking the sand dunes and beach and were so taken with the place that we stayed for 3 days! The sunrise was awesome and even Lucie knew we were experiencing something special. She decided to go in the water and body surf. What a riot! She was so energized by it all that she ran in circles, around and around, as far as her leash would allow. She spent many minutes studying the birds, trying to figure out how she could sneak up on them.

We found a bar (I know you all are surprised) named the Salty Dog. One of our favorite bars in Lake of the Ozarks, Mo. had the same name so we thought we would try this one. It was such a upscale pub that they even allowed dogs to come in so Lucie visited her first (and probably only) bar. Of course, we had to wait outside until she came out! ARR, ARR, ARR!

This kind of trip is exactly the reason we chose to go on the road!

And since I cannot, for the life of me figure out how to place images where I want them on my blog, I will publish the rest of the pix on a separate post. Hey, if anyone out there is reading this and knows how to incorporate the images within the text, please let me know!

FRIENDS COME TO VISIT

We have old friends (long term friends, not "old") who live in Granbury, Texas, and they came to visit with Scruffy, their dog. The day that they arrived was pretty much taken up with going to New Braunfels to pick up Bob's truck. It had been at a collision center for 6 days, getting repaired from the damage done to it when it was hit in the bank parking lot! We were sitting in the truck at the time which was lucky since I'm not sure that the young gal that ran into us would have stuck around. Well, I digress.....

Since they are the first to visit, we didn't have the tour down pat but we did manage to go to Gruene, Texas to see the country's oldest music hall still in operation. Did a little shopping there and a lot of looking at the outlet malls in New Braunfels. I have never seen so many stores in one place! They say people fly in to Austin or San Antonio just to shop there. While Larry and Lin were here, we had some vehicle trouble which caused us to change plans several times.



Larry is by nature an early riser, 4-4:30 AM is his usual wake up time. Since there was no computer in their cabin for him to get on, he had several hours to kill before we were to pick them up for breakfast at nine. We had a specific place for breakfast in mind and it takes about 20 minutes to get there. During the ride, Larry claimed that we must be taking them to Austin, it was taking sooooo long to get there. Well, when the car trouble occurred before we even reached the restaurant, Larry was very patient and didn't say a word. We did eventually get to eat breakfast, although it could have been lunch. Larry only complained two or three times after that! Thanks for being patient, Larry.



We did get to sit around the campfire one night. Don and Mary, our co hosts were able to join us, and it was a perfect evening. We discovered that Fox's Pizza delivery will come out here and their pizza was delicious. Who knew you could get any kind of delivery in the boonies?????









Larry Linda and Bob in Gruene (pronounced Green) Linda took a spin on Bob's Harley

HELLO TEXAS

We arrived in Canyon Lake, Texas a few days early and we camped at Potter's Creek Campground. It is the only one on the lake that is open all year until our campground's modernization is complete. We met our co-gate attendants who were also camping there. Nicer people you'll never meet (yeah, you, Don and Mary) and they have two dogs for Lucie to play with! We all attended orientation and then came to our campground, Cranes Mill, to get settled in.

Our sites were terribly overgrown with Cedar trees that had grown up around the rigs that had been in place for 10 years. Bob and Don had to become lumberjacks in order to get our fifth wheels in here! And Mary and I hauled the limbs off.

The park is not open now and hasn't been for over a year. They are changing from primitive camping to sites for RVs with water and electric. Stimulus money is being spent to do this and we are hoping that we will open sometime before our contract ends in March, 2011! In the meantime, we sit in the gatehouse, watch TV, read a book, work on our computers (as I am doing now!) or visit with Mary and Don. It is much easier to work the long days here than it was when we started in Georgia. We are used to the 4 days on, 4 days off schedule which really takes some time to adjust to.

The Hill Country of Texas is just as beautiful as they say it is. The sky is so BIG here! And you can see for miles and miles. Or at least thats the way it feels. Canyon Lake is very different than the lakes in Arkansas and Georgia. Since the terrain is rolling hills, most of the shoreline here is a gentle slope. Due to the limestone, it wasn't until recent years that people starting building around the lake. By that time, the Corps of Engineers prohibited any private docks so the view around the lake is clean and unfettered. The only structures at the water's edge are a few marinas, fishing piers and several boat ramps.

The wild life here is abundant. We have about 35-40 deer in our park, some bucks with 6-8 points! The deer are plentiful everywhere in this area and that is no exaggeration. When driving through subdivisions, deer are in the yards. Some are even laying down, like it's their place.This makes for some cautious motorcycle riding for sure.

We have seen many scorpions but they are very tiny. Maybe an inch or two long and reddish brown in color. Tarantulas seem to be out and about around 6-7 PM, at least that is when we've seen them! Big, hairy and scary looking but Mary looked them up and found that they just have a bad rep, they aren't aggressive like some would have you think. I just hope the tarantulas read the same book Mary did!

Last photos of Clark Creek North

Jerry and Sharon and puppy dog Lisa, our co-hosts at Clark Creek North

Picnic for all the contractors and volunteers who worked for Linda Hartsfield, our ranger

MOVING ON!

Well, we are winding up our contract with the Corps of Engineers here in Georgia. Our campground closes the day after Labor Day which is tomorrow. Wednesday we have "debriefing" and a picnic put on by our ranger. We have worked for Linda for the last 2 years, either in a volunteer capacity or as a contractor. We have certainly enjoyed being here, spending a lot of time with our families, but it is time to move on.

Our next gig is in Texas, between San Antonio and New Braunfels. We were awarded the contract for Crane's Mill Campground on Canyon Lake, another Corps of Engineers project. We were delighted to get this position as we have discovered finding workamper jobs in warm weather places in the winter is a bit harder than summer jobs. There are a lot of workampers wanting the same thing and a lot fewer jobs to be had! Next time I will start looking in April for the following winter.

Our contract in Texas is for six months, October through March, 2011. We are sooooooo looking forward to being able to ride our Harleys this winter. Georgia's last 2 winters have been way too cold for riding and this summer was very hot. We did get some riding in but not as much as we would like!

We have long term friends in the Austin and Dallas areas. We look forward to spending time with each of them! We will be in a new area of the country with lots of stuff to explore. While we have spent a few vacations in San Antonio, we have just scratched the surface of things to see and do there. And we have never seen the Riverwalk at Christmas which I've heard is very beautiful. Then there is the "hill country" part of Texas with great riding roads. So we are very excited about our next adventure!

We will be heading to Bella Vista to do the doctor/dentist appointments and we hope to be set up in Texas by the 25th of September and be running the park by the 1st of October! Stay tuned for updates as they become available.......

"NAUTA CARE"

The summer is winding down here. These are photos taken on my sister and bro-in-law, Beth and Ron's houseboat.

The little critters are our Lucie and their Skylar with her bathing suit top on! The guy is Bob, in case you don't recognize him. He looks mighty relaxed these days.

Clark Creek North Campground

These are our views from our RV, overlooking Lake Allatoona.

The end of our summer is almost here and we are winding down. Our contract with the Corps is over Setember 8th and we will be heading home to Arkansas. We are not quite sure where we will go for the fall/winter but we have another month or so to make that decision. We would like to be in our new digs by October 1st wherever that might be! This life takes some adjusting to but it is worth it.

Right now the park is verrrrry slow! We only have one site occupied but that is all due to change.
Labor Day is just around the corner, 2 weeks away, and that should bring a lot of campers to our park. It will be fun to see some of our "regulars" come back so we can say goodbye.