Day 36 - (10/30) Convent, LA

Thursday - We travelled the "Old Spanish Trail" today. The trail meanders through Cajun country. It was the longest National Geographic route to-date.

The sights provided a collision of contrasts ... old vs. modern, man vs. nature, broken vs. new. The contrasts applied to homes, trailers, cars, and boats. We saw oil rigs being constructed, operating oil wells and refineries, sugar cane fields and refineries, beautifully preserved antebellum plantation homes, decaying slave quarters, hurricane damage, and more. Many of the differing sites were side-by-side.

We saw Spanish moss, cypress, bayous and swamps. The density of the bayous was very interesting. We saw an armadillo, but no alligators.

We did see a number of interesting small towns with historic areas that included plantations and mansions.

Poche Plantation

We stopped at LeJeune’s Bakery in Jeanerette for some French bread. It’s been a town staple since 1884. The bread was warm and delicious!

What does Avery Island, Edmund McIlhenny and capsicum pepper plants have in common? Think Tabasco pepper sauce. We toured the factory and grounds. They make nearly ½ million bottles per day (the count was over 457,000 at 4pm) and ship to 19 countries. It’s truly a hot product.

This was a 10 hour day of exploring. We were beat when we got back to the RV park.

Day 35 - (10/29) Convent, LA

Wednesday - today we drove 186 miles from Sulphur, LA to Convent, LA and checked in at the Poche Plantation and RV Resort. We're 20 minutes from Baton Rouge and from New Orleans.

The trip offered many new sights. One section of I-10 (36 miles) was elevated above a huge swamp, part of the Atchafalaya National Wildlife Area. Here's a view from the car window travelling at 60 mph.

We saw miles of sugar cane fields, many sugar refineries.

The route was I-10 to just west of Baton Rouge, south on LA 1, east on 70 at Donaldsonville, over the Mississippi and south on LA 44 along the river. To our relief, the bridge was MUCH wider than the two we crossed when we came west.

The RV park is beautiful and offers many amenities. The Mississippi River is just beyond a dike across the road from the park. Tugs, tankers and work boats offer periodic horn blasts to remind us they're busy over there.

We attended a buffet dinner hosted by the park and met some very interesting, friendly folks. One man was from Scotland. He is a project engineer working on a new refinery. He had lived in Marysville, OH for 15 years ... what a small world we live in!

Folks down here are McCain supporters and make it well known.

Day 34 - Sulphur, LA

Tuesday - it was cool this morning (mid-40s). Are you sure we're in Louisiana Toto?

We took the National Georgraphics "Creole Nature Trail" journey today. It goes from Sulphur to Lake Charles on LA routes 27, 82, 14 and 384. The area is called Louisiana's Outback. It's a 180 mile journey. It normally offers lots of wide-open, unpeopled spaces. Today it included an upclose and sobering view of hurricane devastation by Ike and Rita (2 years ago).

LA routes 27 and 83 showed us the good and the bad …

• A marvelous view of the Intracoastal Waterway (a shipping route that runs from Texas to the Atlantic coast)


• Brackish marsh with few trees
  
• Sabine National Wildlife Refuge
  
• Small town of Hackberry – in the midst of recovery from hurricane Ike
  
• The town of Holly Beach – wiped off the map by hurricane Rita 2 yeards ago
  
• Highway berms were gone – carved away, leaving 2-3 foot drop-offs
  
• Small car and foot bridges destroyed
  
• Buildings damaged or destroyed


• A commercial fishing boat on its side, on land, on the wrong side of the road
  
• Debris all over the place


• Positive, friendly people
  
• Hundreds of recovery workers – they’re mobile workers, they fill the RV parks

Our journey ended at Lake Charles … at Richard’s Boudin and Seafood. This was our first encounter with Cajun cuisine. Our server did a wonderful job of explaining the options and what to expect. We had: shrimp gumbo, boudin (spicy rice sausage), garr ball, pistolette (craw fish in a pastry), fried shrimp dinner (with fries, hushpuppies and cole slaw). The shrimp was fresh and absolutely delicious!

Day 33 - Sulphur, LA

Monday -

The day started earlier than planned because a cold front had moved in with some high winds. We had to close windows and retract awnings at 6am.

We left the park at 9am and spent the day wrestling with stiff cross-winds during the 390 mile drive to Sulphur, LA (a few miles west of Lake Charles). The routes were I-37 to 77 to 59 to 8 to I-10. Sounds pretty simple until you realize the I-10 part took us through the center of Houston (at 3pm) and Beaumont (at 5pm).

We were concerned about effects of the hurricanes. We saw damage from Houston all the way into Lousiana. Broken signs, damaged roofs, uprooted trees were visible from the highway. We saw more highway construction on this 100 mile stretch than everything combined since we left Columbus on September 25th.

Tidbit - I-10 runs 881 miles through Texas (El Paso to Beaumont).

We've been exploring TX since September 30th. It's loaded with treasures and was full of wonderful surprises for us

We're at the Hidden Ponds RV Park. Our current plan is to spend 3 or 4 days in LA, then head across the gulf coast to Pensacola, to Atlanta, then home by November 11th.

Day 32 - Mustang Island State Park

Sunday - a day for getting organized and exploring.

We spent the morning doing laundry and making blog updates, then "took the long way home" by heading off to North Padre Island.

Padre Island National Seashore protects the longest undeveloped stretch of barrier island in the world ... it stretches for 70 miles. The day was beautiful, mid-80s, pleasant breeze blowing in from the gulf. Malaquite Visitor Center is located 5 miles into the park. The asphalt highway ends at the beach about a mile beyond the center. The first 5 miles of beach is normally suited for 2-wheel-drive vehicles. We only drove a short way because of significant debris from the recent hurricanes. Park rangers were issuing warnings about the risk of flat tires.

Carol's condition has stabilized. The pain continues and comes unexpectedly, but she's anxious to get back on the road. We spent the evening planning the trip to Louisiana.

Tidbit - we counted 21 gulf oil rigs on the horizon from the beach behind our trailer.

Days 30 and 31 – Mustang Island State Park

Friday – on the road again

We left San Antonio at 10:30 and drove 182 miles to Mustang Island State Park. It's just north of Padre Island, east of Corpus Christi. We’re parked about 100 yards from the Gulf of Mexico.

We spent the afternoon getting settled and filling a prescription for Carol. It’s confirmed … she has shingles and it’s pretty painful. We’re going to stay put here for a few extra days to see if her condition will improve.

Mustang Island campsite

Saturday –

We walked along the shore and then drove a few miles on the beach. We saw some debris from the hurricane.

Debris from hurricane Ike

We drove to Port Aransas (11 miles north of the park) and took the free ferry to Aransas Pass. Got gas at $2.099 per gallon and celebrated with lunch at DQ ... obviously blowing any savings we gained from the gas price. We saw about a dozen dolphins on the return ferry trip. Pretty cool!

We spent the afternoon watching the Texas/Oklahoma State game as a warm-up for the OSU/Penn State game.

We went to the beach to watch the sunset, fixed dinner and then watched as the Buckeyes almost defeated the Nittany Lions … almost.

Sunset on the beach

From the beach - our trailer is parked behind the dune.

Days 27 thru 29 - Pictures

You know, this computer, internet wireless stuff is pretty neat. We're sitting in a laundromat on North Padre Island, TX writing the update using a ReMax signal.

Carol remembers the Alamo

Jim and Nita Peck at Shilo’s Delicatessen in the Alamo district

Mission Conception south of San Antoino

Bruce and Barb Stevenson at the Alamo

The River Walk

Days 27 thru 29 - San Antonio, TX

We're getting ready to head out to Mustang Island State Park near Corpus Christi. This update will be a brief description of our adventures on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Will add some pictures separately.

Tuesday - we connected with Jim and Nita Peck (Carol's friends from Air Force days). Jim is a retired Colonel. He flew B52's for SAC. He and Nita shared many stories about their lives and journeys. They gave us a tour of their Air Force retirement village. It is a wonderful facility loaded with activities and services. They shared that a pilot from the Jimmy Doolittle raid still resides there.

We went into San Antonio, took a River Walk boat tour, saw the Alamo, had a drink in the Menger Bar (est. 1859) where Teddy Roosevelt recruited his "Rough Riders", had dinner at Mia Terra (Mexican food as you might guess) in the Market Square and enjoyed an hour of jazz at The Landings on the River Walk.

Wednesday - we spent the morning at an urgent care facility. Carol has hurt her back. Diagnosis is a strained back or a slight herniated disk. Medication seems to be helping some, but she's still pretty uncomfortable. We'll keep a close watch and will shorten the trip if appropriate.

We met the Pecks for dinner at a Shilo's (a German delicatessen a few blocks from the Alamo) and had a nice visit before the had to leave for choir practice. Wonderful folks, great time!

Thursday - we had an unexpected treat. Barbara and Bruce Stevenson drove down from Austin to spend the day with us. We went to the IMAX presentation of the battle of the Alamo, had lunch at Waxy O'Connor's on the River Walk and spent the afternoon touring Mission San Jose and Mission Conception, had a drink at the Menger Bar and dinner at Landry's Seafood House on the River Walk. This was another wonderful day of exploring history with dear friends.

Day 26 - San Antonio, TX

This was an uneventful day. We drove 190 miles from Seminole Canyon State Park to San Antonio. We arrived at 2:30 pm and spent the rest of the day with "settling in stuff" (like laundry).

We're planning to meet Jim and Nita Peck (Carol's friends from Wright-Patterson AFB days ... circa 1966) tomorrow for some sightseeing.

Days 22 thru 25 - Ft. Davis to Seminole Canyon

We've had 4 days of no phone coverage and limited wi-fi access. Here's what's been happening.

A visitor to our camp site at Ft. Davis

Thursday – Ft. Davis attractions
Why did we come to Ft. Davis? The folks in the Airstream caravan we met in Terlingua gave it high marks. Our adventures today confirmed their recommendation.

• Ft. Davis – the city has the highest elevation of any in Texas … nearly a mile. The Ft. Davis National Historic Site is here. The fort, named for Jefferson Davis, protected the area from1854 until 1891. It was the home of the famed “buffalo soldiers” and provided primary protection for the El Paso-San Antonio road travelers. The tour of the restored grounds and buildings was very interesting.
  
• McDonald Observatory – the observatory is at nearly 7,000 feet. It’s operated by the University of Texas and has 12 telescopes of various sizes. We toured the 107 and 432 inch telescopes. The “432” is the 5th largest in the world. We registered for the “Twilight Program” and “Star Party” that begin at 7pm tomorrow.

The 432" observatory

The 107" telescope

• Davis Mountains Scenic Tour – we drove this National Geographic recommended route after leaving the observatory. The 2 hour drive offered wonderful views of mountains, hills and deserts. There were lots of ranches and cattle.

Tidbits:

• We had 4 hungry deer around our picnic table while we were fixing dinner. We retreated to the trailer.
• A javelina strolled through our campsite. They are very aggressive.
• Bugs (mostly butterflies and grasshoppers) abound. The car grill was a mess when we got back from the tour.

Friday – Ft. Davis

• We had to move the trailer to a tent site (no water, elec or sewer) because all trailer sites were previously reserved.
  
• Drove the skyline drive high above the campsite and had a picnic lunch

View from the top of skyline drive.

• Viewed the Ft. Davis courthouse (built in 1910).
  
• Went to McDonald Observatory for the Twilight Program and Star Party from 7 to 10pm. The experience was phenomenal. Carol volunteered to be Mercury during a Twilight Program demo ... she had to run around the Sun 4 times faster than the guy playing Earth. It was really funny. The sky was crystal clear. We got to view the Milky Way, Venus, Jupiter, the Big & Little Dippers, North Star and many constellations. A satellite and the Hubbell telescope passed overhead during the viewing. We looked at Jupiter, a Nebula and several star clusters through a telescope. Wow!

Tidbits:

• See http://mcdonaldobservatory.org/

Saturday – Seminole Canyon

• Today we drove 196 miles to Seminole Canyon State Park (30 miles NW of Del Rio). The park is by the Pecos River where it spills into the Rio Grande. Ancient people carved homes in the steep cliffs along the river.
  
• We stopped at Langtry on the way. This is the home of Judge Roy Bean (the “law west of the Pecos”). Do you remember the TV series starring Edgar Buchanan? Langtry isn't visible from the highway, it's tucked behind a hill and consists of the historic site and a few little businesses. How can such a small place have such a large impact on history?

Tidbits:

• We had frost at Ft. Davis
• We're in a very remote area. Terrell County only has two towns that show on the AAA Texas map. Suspect they flipped a coin to decide the county seat.
• We saw a Road Runner (beep-beep) in Langtry
• The park is in the desert. We're parked on a rise that lets us see glowing red sunsets and clear, star-lit skys.

Sunday – Seminole Canyon

• We took a 2 hour guided canyon tour of Seminole Canyon. The canyon has caves with world-class examples of indian stone painting (pictographs) that date back approximately 4,000 years. We hiked to the Bell Fate Shelter and saw the paintings below ... and many more.

The river bed we walked to Bell Fate Shelter

• 
  
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Artwork

• We then drove to Del Rio to look for historic sites that date back to the Civil War. We were tempted to walk over to Ciudad Acuna Mexico, but didn't have the needed paperwork.
• We drove through the Amistad National Recreation Area. It includes the huge, beautifully blue Amistad Reservoir.

Tidbits:

• Gas was $2.469 per gallon in Del Rio

Day 21 - Ft. Davis, TX

Wednesday – what a difference a day makes!

We drove from Terlingua to Ft. Davis today. It was only 111 miles, but we climbed from near sea level to a mile high. The temperature here at noon today was 46 degrees, nearly 50 degrees lower than yesterday in the desert.

We’re in the Davis Mountains State Park. It’s a great here … full hookup, large sites, surrounded by trees and hills. Deer roam through the area and wander into the sites. We’ve had two within 15 feet of the trailer.

The park is 4 miles outside Ft. Davis and 14 miles from the McDonald Observatory. We plan to tour both tomorrow.

Day 20 - Big Bend

Tuesday - this was a day of rest and planning.

We've explored the extent of the main access roads for the park and two rough side roads. We've hiked a bit. We've been in the desert (confirmed by hot, dry winds and 95 degree temps). We had two rain showers today and one last night ... most of the evidence was gone within an hour.

Terlingua (our home base) is pretty remote. Residents have to drive 80 miles to find a true grocery store. Surprisingly, there's a lot going on here. Next week they host a motorcycle rally. November 3rd they host the 42nd annual chili cookoff ... 20,000 people show up!

The views, history and animal life were everything we could have imagined. It's time to move on.

We head to Ft. Davis tomorrow.

Day 18 and 19 - Pictures

Balance Rock - you get to see it by driving a 7.7 mile gravel road and hiking 2.2 miles.

This rattlesnake caused a quick "whoa" on our trek back from Balance Rock. We didn't bother it and it didn't bother us.

Mule Ears Peak (in the background) is one of the sights along the Ross Maxwell Sceninc Drive to Castolon. The opening between the "ears" used to be filled with volcanic ash.

Some time later we may share the picture where the ears sprout from Carol's head ... kind'a like horns.

We came with the impression Texas was pretty flat. The Chisos mountain range proved otherwise.

Day 18 and 19 - Big Bend

No pictures for these days. The internet connection is poor and the upload keeps failing.

Sunday

We returned to the park and drove to the Chisos Mountains campground. It's located in the center of the park. We climbed to over 5,000 feet, encountered lots of switchbacks and found small camp sites. All sites had metal food storage lockers. The park recommends no trailers over 20ft. We saw units over 26ft. The sites are primitive and roads are narrow, but we could have gotten in here. We see no sense in testing fate, however.

We went to Rio Grande Village overlook and then into the village. It's located in the southeastern edge of the park, on the river. The campground was flooded. We found a picnic site for lunch.

We returned to our RV park at about 3pm. Fifteen Airstream trailers had pulled in while we were off playing. They were on a caravan from Dallas. We met a nice couple (Barry & Shirley Williams) from Sacramento.

Hot dog dinner, wrote post cards and completed our absentee voting ballot.

Monday - we were up early, showered and off to hike before it got too hot.

We drove the 7.7 mile Grapevine Hills Road. Slowly again because it was a rough gravel road through dry river beds. The hike to balance rock was a 2.2 mile round trip that felt much longer. The last 1/4 mile was a pretty steep climb to some dramatic views. We saw a coiled rattlesnake on the path back, scooted around it and got back to the car around noon. It was HOT and so were we!

After a stop at park headquarters in Panther Junction we drove to Chisos Mountain lodge for a picnic lunch. It was much cooler at 5,000 ft.

We then took the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive to Castolon (a 1920's military outpost on the Rio Grande). It's located in the southwestern edge of the park, on the river. Cottonwood campground is there ... it's closed, there's still standing water from the flood. The drive offered more beautiful volcanic mountain views. Yup, there are mountains in Texas.

We had an authenic Mexican dinner at Chili Pepper Cafe in Terlingua.

This was a long day. We decided to cool it on Wednesday and possibly take a Colorado River raft trip on Thursday.

Animal Sightings
coyote (1) - Saturday on Old Maverick Road

tarantula (5 or 6) - Sunday and Monday crossing park roads. They're prevalent now because it's mating season.

javelina (1) - Saturday on Old Maverick Road

rattlesnake (1) - Monday on trail to Balance Rock

Day 17 - Big Bend

Saturday - we drove 161 miles today from Ft. Stockton to Terlingua. We're just outside the west entrance to Big Bend National Park after entering the park at the north entrance.





We've driven 2,246 miles since leaving Columbus. Obviously not in a straight line.

We had planned to stop in one of the three campgrounds within the park. Two were under water due to recent flooding of the Rio Grande and our rig was too big to get into the third.


We drove to the Santa Elena Canyon River Overlook after getting set up in the Big Bend RV Park at Terlingua. It was a 14 mile drive at 10 to 25 mph due to road conditions. The gravel road was rough and ran through dry riverbeds. The river is normally 4 ft deep at this point, it was 17 ft today and had been 30 ft within the last few weeks. We saw a coyote.


We had dinner at the Starlight Theater in historic Terlingua. It had been a movie theatre in "the old days". Dinner was outstanding.

The area has very few residents and most are spread all over the desert. We couldn't figure out where all the diners came from.



We're in the Chihuahuan Desert. Here's what we've learned about it:

• It was 95 degrees today
• Gas cost $0.64 per gallon more than in Sonora
• We may see coyotes, snakes, tarantulas, scorpions and bears
  

Day 16 - Ft. Stockton, TX

Friday - we were on the road again today. Ft. Stockton is 254 miles west of Kerrville on I-10. The journey started with a surprise and held many new sights.

First, the surprise. We expect some problems (like an awning piece that broke during a thunderstorm on Monday night), but none like this. We bought a jar of cider sauce while we were in Medina on Thursday. The glass jar burst some time late that day, probably while we were at Debbie Williams'. It was in the cupboard over the stove. The "stuff" was all over ... on cans and boxes of food, paper plates and cupboard doors, shelf and shelf liner. It was sticky and buttery. Yuk! It took 1.5 hours to clean it up.

We got on the road at 10:30. The map suggested this would be a boring trip ... I-10 all the way. It was far from it.

Here are some highlights:

• Gas at $3.259 ... we got some
• We saw beautiful valleys, plains and mesas
• We saw more than 1,000 windmills on mesas and ridges between Sonora and Bakersfield
• We saw 80mph speed limits (70mph for trucks, 65mph for all at night) ... we didn't come close

Tonight's campground is on a plain surrounded by mesas. Skys are clear and a dry wind has been blowing 25-35mph all afternoon and into the night.

We're headed to Big Bend National Park tomorrow. Word has it that the Rio Grande flooded within the past few weeks. A number of the campgrounds were under feet of water. There are little or no services there normally and maybe fewer now. We may not have updates until some time next week.

Day 15 - Kerrville, TX

Thursday - another beautiful day ... cool in the morning, mid-80's by early afternoon, clear skies.

We started the day with a walk around the park and along the Guadalupe River.

Next we took a driving tour from Kerrville to Medina (ma-dee-na) to Lost Maples State Park to Kerrville. This gave us a beautiful view of the Texas hill country and a 2 mile walk in the state park.

We visited Debbie Williams. She gave us a great tour of her 10 acre ranch. It included a lovely home, 6 classic cars, 12 miniature horses, 1 pet deer (a doe called Uno) and a perky terrier named Bert. We reminisced and shared a wonderful dinner.

We're off to Stockton tomorrow.

Day 14 - Kerrville, TX

Wednesday - this was a day where having flexible plans paid off.

We left Fredericksburg at 11am, stopped to refill a propane tank and drove to Kerrville. The trip was all of 30 miles. We had planned to stay just 1 day and head for Big Bend on Thursday. After checking in at the Guadalupe River RV Resort we decided to stay 2 days. The park offers wonderful services and a serene setting on the banks of a river.

We're here to visit Debbie Williams, the wife of Dick's mentor at FASPAC in San Diego. Greg died in July. Debbie joined us at the park. We had dinner at The Jefferson Street Cafe ... a delightful restauant in a private home. We shared lots of memories and made plans to visit Debbie at her home where she raises miniature horses.

No pictures for today. The internet service is pretty slow.

Day 13 - Fredericksburg, TX

Tuesday - we toured Fredericksburg, a very nice town with a strong German immigrant background.

Though there were many attractions, we spent the day at National Museum of the Pacific War Complex. It included the Admiral Nimitz Museum, George H. Bush Gallery, Pacific Combat Zone, Veterans Walk of Honor and the Japanese Garden of Peace. The museum is housed in the Nimitz Hotel (from the 1850's to 1960), a steamboat-style structure built by Admiral Chester Nimitz's grandfather. It was an educational, but sobering experience.

We walked the main street which was packed with biergartens, restaurants and shops. We had lunch at Wheeler's restaurant. The chicken and dumplings were outstanding. Go there if you're ever in town. What Carol learned/confirmed: Texas chili has no beans.

We joined three Airstream camping couples we met on Monday for dinner at Auslander Biergarten. All were families from Houston who worked in the oil industry. They shared great stories.

We're off to Kerrville tomorrow.

Day 12 - Fredericksburg, TX

It's Monday and we're back on the road. We travelled 123 miles today and had some new adventures.

One is occurring as this update is being written. It's raining for the first time since we left Columbus. This is a significant thunderstorm.

Now for the other adventures. We left Austin at about 11am and traveled to Johnson City and then to Fredericksburg.

We visited Pedernales Falls State Park. The water was low at the falls when we viewed it. We were warned to be careful of flash floods. I'm wondering how it looks with the current thunderstorm

We also visited the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park (his boyhood home and the Texas White House).

The Texas White House was especially interesting. We got to drive around his private runway, see longhorn steers and deer roaming free on the grounds. We were surprised that LBJ spent about 1/4 of his term working from his ranch/Texas White House.

We met three other Airstream campers at the ranch. They were very friendly and had many helpful suggestions. We're all staying in the same RV park and may connect for dinner tomorrow.

Day 10 and 11 - Austin, TX

Saturday - The early part of the day was a guys and gals kind of thing. Dick and Bruce had a lunch of Texas barbecue at Rudy's Bar-B-Que. Carol and Barbara had a classier lunch at a French bakery. We all toured the area a bit ... in truth we were probably just killing time until the OSU-Wisconsin game.

We left for Sam's Boat House at 5pm. Sam's is a sports bar where the Austin chapter of the OSU Alumni association regularly meets for games. Texas fans meet there also. It was LOUD. We warmed up with the Texas-Colorado game and accidentally applauded a good Colorado play. We only did that once. We finished the evening with OSU and were drained by the time Jenkins sealed the win with an interception.

Sunday - We attended church at First Presbyterian of Austin. Bruce provided taxi service so Dick & Carol could enjoy the Texas State History Museum, then hurried back to church so he and Barbara could attend choir practice.

We went to The Oasis to watch the sun set over Travis Lake. The restaurant seats over 1,800 on about 8 levels down a hillside. It offers a breathtaking view from 350ft above the lake.

Day 9 - Austin, TX

Friday was a day for sightseeing.

We went to the Hula Hut for lunch … another lakeside bar. Don’t assume there’s a bar pattern developing here. The difference being that today we were beside Lake Austin which is just below Lake Travis (from yesterday) and there was no need for a “Pain Killer” drink.

We finished up our Tex-Mex, Mexican, Polynesian or “Mexynesian” lunch with a visit to Mozart’s for some sweets. This Mozart’s has no relationship to the Columbus Mozart’s Bakery.

We then went to Round Rock, TX a stopping place along the old Chisholm Trail. We saw wagon wheel tracks left in the river bed from the days of longhorn cattle drives from the Rio Grande to Kansas. The ruts were so deep you’d think Cookie was doing wheelies.

Round Rock is also recognized for its contribution our current lifestyle. The Round Rock Donut Shop is recognized (by MSN) as one of the 10 best in the country. We didn't test their conclusion.

We’re going to watch “La Vie En Rose” (the life of Edith Piaf) tonight. Christine Albert, a performer from Donn’s Depot on Wednesday night, sings many of Edith’s songs.

Day 8 - Austin, TX

Thursday - a non-travel day.

Wednesday was long and late. We all started slowly today.

The Stevenson's PC crashed. We diagnosed the problem in 15 minutes. The power supply had failed. We had the unit repaired and operational in the afternoon.

We took a tour of the area. It included a stop at Carlos' N Charlie's, a lake bar overlooking Lake Travis. The lake level is down about 35' so we really were "overlooking" the lake. Some docks were setting on dry land and there was no way for boats to tie up at restaurant piers. We had a delightful open air lunch. Temperature was in the 80s and a pleasant breeze was blowing.

Experiences of the day included "frog dip" and tortilla chips ... and a shared drink called "The Pain Killer". Whoa! It was and it did.

We then went to Central Market to pick up a special cut of meat (stuffed pork loin) for Bruce's dinner plans. This was a unique shopping experience. We've never seen such a wide selection of vegetables, meats, specialty dishes and wines. Suspect if they don't have it, it doesn't exist.

Bruce prepared another extraordinary meal which was topped off by chocolate parfait laced with Starbucks Coffee Liqueur.

We then watched the Biden/Palin debate which brought us down to earth.

Day 7 - Austin, TX

Barb and Bruce Stevenson had planned tours of the Austin area and included some experiences you can't get anywhere else. We'll try to describe the adventures as they occur over the next few days.

Wednesday was an easy travel day ... just 126 miles from West, TX to Austin. The exit sign at the KOA park offered four important reminders:

1. antenna down?
2. step up?
3. sewer cap on?
4. wife in car?

Dick got 100% on the test. However, #4 should be for extra credit.

We got a casual start and arrived at 1pm. Bruce came to meet us and guide us to their home. We certainly would have needed a "rescue" without his help.

Bruce fixed a delightful dinner of shepherd's pie (he is a skilled chef).

We left at 8:15pm to enjoy some Austin night life. Donn's Depot is an unassuming little bar full of surprizes. First, it's constructed from part of an old train depot and two passenger cars. Almost everyone that entered was greeted by name. They came in cars, trucks and on motorcycles. The music was GREAT. It was easy country/French. Chris Gage and Christine Albert sang and performed on guitar, electric keyboard and accordian for 2 hours with no break. FYI - Chris played piano backup for Roy Clark. He is an extrordinary musician ... the instruments seemed like a natural extension of his finger tips.

Chris invited another performer, Cowboy Johnson, to join in the fun. He sang and played guitar for about four songs.

We left Donn's at the 11pm break. It was a great experience and great fun.

Barbara then took us on a tour of the downtown action. We saw the state capital (built 1 foot higher than any other state or federal capital building ... they builld things big down here). We also saw the historic Driscoll Hotel.