Back home again!

Where did two months go!  WOW!  We are very glad to be back.  Neither of us think that "full-timing" would be for us, (that's the term for those that sell their homes and live in their rv's 12 months out of the year).
We have a few fun things to tell you about from our last week on the road.  The 3 days it took to get from Dallas to Cave City, KY were uneventful, drive and set up and tear down and drive some more.  Weather was fine, which we greatly appreciated.  Especially since they just had some nasty stuff go through there this week.  We lucked out on that!
We had two reasons to stay a few days in Cave City.  We both wanted to visit Mammoth Cave and Rog's cousin Paul lives in Glasgow which is a few miles away.
We had lunch with Paul and his wife, Betty, on Friday.  They invited us to come out to their home and go fishing with them.  It was a blast.  Paul was reeling in blue gill and bass as quick as he could get his line in the water,,,well almost that fast :)

That's Rog farthest back, Paul and Betty.

Great catch Paul!

 

We had a nice visit with them.   They even sent us home with some fish !  The foothills of Kentucky are very beautiful.

Saturday we went to the cave.  We were both curious to see how Mammoth would compare to the cave in  southern Indiana, I think it is Marengo and the one in Missouri, which I can't remember the name of.  It was a fun tour, but we both thought that Marengo is more "jaw dropping".  However, we can now add another national park to our been there list.

This is the entrance to the cave, deep set back in the woods, you can barely make out the park ranger on the right hand side on the walkway.

We had 108 people in our group.  We were one big slinky climbing down the 250 stairs into the darkness.

 

The cave in southern Indiana as well as the one in Missouri both have many more large areas (rooms) with more stalagtites and stalagmites.  I'm sure it's because of the geology involved in the creation of the cave itself.  Mammoth has over 300 miles of cave that has been explored, which is the longest cave system in the world.  Which is pretty amazing when you think about it.  It was quite the tourist attraction in the 1800's. It didn't become a national park until 1941.

We left Sunday and drove to Columbus, Indiana for the night.  It was already getting colder, we knew we were closer to the frozen zone!  We rolled into Middlebury around 1pm on Monday. Unloaded most of what we needed and headed home to Rainbow Bend.  Our cats, Isaac and Andre, were most grateful to be free of their carrier!  It was a long trip back.  That's all part of the adventure.  We traveled over 5,500 miles in two months. 
Now we can sit back and contemplate our next adventure.  Hopefully we will be taking Rog's Mom and step dad, Paul, to the Badlands of South Dakota in May!
Thanks to all of you for your support and kind words.  We enjoy posting to this blog, it's like we get to share our adventure with all of you.
Take care, until next time, keep Grabnlife!

and then there was one..

Greetings everyone,
Only one week left to go on our journey.  We are headed home next week, should be home on Monday the 24th. Taking our time along the way.  We are both ready to return and maybe we can bring some warm weather and sunshine back to northern Indiana!

Last week we left Fredericksburg, Tx and headed north to Eisenhower State Park on the Oklahoma Texas border.
We've got a couple pictures from Fredericksburg that didn't make the blog last time that are worth showing you now.
First, this is the actual original hospital in downtown Fredericksburg, built in the 1800's.  Many of the buildings were from that time period.  That was one of the reasons this town was so appealing, it was a good way to preserve history and utilize the beautiful old structures at the same time.

This next picture we just couldn't resist including him in our blog.  The "rocker" of Fredericksburg!

There were several other "statues" in the store, including one that actually had a working flame thrower!  I know, nuts, right, but I'm sure someone will buy it.

 

On our last day in Fredericksburg, we toured the National Museum of the Pacific War.  If you are ever in the area it is well worth an afternoon. We also visited a local shop that specialized in locally made foods, everything from jalapeno peanut butter (Rog bought some) and roasted blueberry chipotle dipping sauce, yummy!  Almost every product in this store, salsa, marinades, packaged mixes, etc, was available to try.  Loved that store!

 

We had a nice drive north to Eisenhower state park, other then the last 15 miles on US 75. Holy cow, it was like being on a log wagon.  We recommend Eisenhower SP, but not this section of US 75.  It shook loose our window blinds and glass lampshades.  Thankfully, Rog is very resourceful and was able to reattach everything. 

 

Eisenhower SP is on Lake Texoma.  Which was created by the US Army Corp of Engineers in 1944 when they dammed the Red River, creating the 89,000 acre Lake.  We had two great days of hiking.  If you are ever looking for a place to go camping, fishing or hiking, add this to your list.

 

 

Our campsite.  Most Texas parks have their campsites with pull thru loops, which is very nice.

 

 

 

Through the woods,,,to the lake...

 

Beautiful isn't it..

 

This is the parks swimming beach, with sand.

 

That is a cave in the side of that cliff.  Texas is in a drought situation, so the water level in the lake is down at least 6 feet.

Please don't judge our appearance, we'd been hiking for hours!  Hey, we are smiling though.

 

 

 

This is the dam outside of the park boundary.

Eisenhower State Park opened in 1958 and was created to honor Dwight David Eisenhower the 34th President, who was born in Denison, just minutes from the park.

Texas is full of history, we've only touched on the surface.  Had no clue that Eisenhower or Nimitz were from Texas.  Knew about Bush and Johnson.  Didn't know the impact Stephen Austin had on creating the state.  We've learned a lot.  I'm sure there is a lot more to learn, just not for us this trip.  The day before we were to leave the park we wanted to find a different way to head south toward Dallas.  Didn't want to get back on the evil US 75.  Stopped in at the park office and the wonderful ladies gave us directions on how to take a Farm to Market road.  Bless those women!  By the way, when we say Farm to Market road, you probably visualize a cow path, heck no,, they are sometimes 4 lanes and usually over 60 mph!  Everything is bigger and faster in Texas!

We are now in The Colony, Texas.  Staying at Hidden Cove RV park.  If you ever need a place to set down your trailer/motor home, close to Dallas, this is the place.  It's a little tricky to find, but well worth it.

Leo and Thelma Baker are the reason we are here.  Leo used to work with Rog at Memorial, many years ago.  We've kept in touch over the years.  They are wonderful friends and we are so glad we decided to add them to our itinerary. Their hospitality has been amazing, Thelma can put together a fantastic brunch! 

Here's to Leo and Thelma!  We wish we lived closer together!

We are headed out on Tuesday morning.  Stopping in Texarkana, West Memphis, Cave City and Columbus, In.  Why Columbus, you might ask...well,,,the place where we store our fifth wheel, RV Connection is closed on Sundays, and the place where we usually leave our unit outside their gate is still covered in mounds of snow.  So we added a stop and will come in on Monday the 24th.

It's been a great 2 months.  Learned a lot, enjoyed the views and most of all enjoyed seeing our friends.

Take care and see you all soon!

This post brought to you by...

Friends!

 

 

 

Anita and I, yes, the lovely lady sitting next to me is Anita too, have been friends a LONG time,,,I think since I was 12.  In fact there wouldn't be a Rog and Nita without Anita. She introduced us. So you can imagine how important our friendship is :)

 

Anita and Dave live in Austin.  We have been promising them we would come to visit for years.  We finally made it last week.  There were 2 things that brought us to Texas,  one, we wanted to see if we liked the Texas gulf coast as much as we like the Florida panhandle coast.  Two, our friends, Anita and Dave and Leo and Thelma, they live close to Dallas, which is where we are headed next.

 

 

The first morning we woke up outside of Austin, we found 1/4 inch of ice on our truck...

 

 

Anita told us it never does this in Austin in March.  I guess we just brought old man winter with us.

 

 

Anita chauffeured us all over Austin, we appreciate that, because, Austin is one HUGE city and our beloved truck is certainly not ideal in close quarter, high traffic areas.

 

We visited Mount Bonnell, which over looks Lake Austin, looks like a river to us, but who are we to question.  We took a nice walk here and enjoyed the outdoors.

 

Roger is trying to explain something.

There is some BIG money down there in those houses.

 

You could see Austin from up here, but it was too far away for a good picture.  We met Dave for lunch at a very swanky Italian restaurant.  It was yummy!

 

Next day we took another walk at Wild Basin park.  The trail we were on promised a waterfall at the end, but we had to leave so we could meet Dave for Texas barbeque for lunch.

 

 

Anita took us to a HUGE Whole Foods store in downtown Austin. I believe it might have covered a city block.  Even had underground parking and escalators!  It was a destination all itself.  Could have spent hours in there.  We toured Austin by car.  Saw the infamous 6th street with saloon/bar one right after the other.  Saw the state capitol and the famous Driscoll hotel.

 

We enjoyed our stay in Austin, but were more excited that we were headed to Fredericksburg with Anita and Dave.  Today is Saturday, got here yesterday afternoon.  Love this town.  Lots of history, quaint downtown with shops and restaurants galore.  Admiral Nimitz was born here.  And of course the Johnsons, as in president.  We are staying at Lady Bird Johnson Park as a matter of fact.  Anyway, yesterday afternoon we headed to Enchanted Rock, about 20 miles from here.   Little did we know what we were about to do!

 

 







We climbed to the top, 1,835 ft is the total height of the rock, 425 ft in .6 miles up!

 

Anita and Dave brought Milo too!

Almost there!

We made it!  Of course then that meant we had to work our way down!

 

Next we took the Echo Canyon trail and the Loop Trail.  We think we walked around 4 miles.  Some of that was made for mountain goats!

 

Smile Milo!

It's just around the corner....I swear :)

 

 

Last night we went into town for dinner and went to Fredericksburg Brewing.

 

 

We were starved and really enjoyed our meal.  It was a perfect day, enjoying nature and good friends!

 

Sunset from our site.

 

Today, I think we are going to tour town some more.  Tomorrow we are off bright and early, headed to Eisenhower State Park which is on the Texas/Oklahoma border for a few days before heading to Leo and Thelma's.

 

We want to thank Dave and Anita for their hospitality and their friendship most of all!

 

Until next time...