Thurs Jan 31st - Hanging out /packing up

Thursday January 31st Hanging out /Packing

Just a day of relaxing and a few chores. Washed the sheets and did other laundry and packed up the trailer ready to go to the dealer's tomorrow for warranty work etc and move to a different site number at the resort. Sorry... no tales to tell today.... !!!

Wed Jan 30th - Carlos and Charlies /Lake Travis

Wednesday January 30th

Enjoying a beer at Carlos and Charlies

View from bar patio.... the floating docks that aren't

Mainly a relaxing day talking with neighbours and having a quick dip in the whirlpool. We decided to explore the area a little and headed out to find Carlos and Charlies bar at the tip on the peninsular we are on (Lake Travis) After much scratching of heads we found it and were amazed at how far down the water level is in the Lake. The floating docks outside the bar are not!!!! They have been forced to move the Marina so far out into the Lake that the restaurant/bar has suffered and is in danger of going out of business. We enjoyed a beer and a margarita in the sun chatting with the bartender before heading back to the condo to barbeque some chicken.

View from patio at Carlos and Charlies

Another view from patio

A good idea of how low the water level is in the lake 

Tuesday Jan 29th - Trailer wash/wax. Shepherd's Pie

 Tuesday Jan 29th 2013

Iron Man Kirt .. arrived at 9am

Decided to wash and wax the trailer in preparation for the salt and sand in Galveston. Also decided that it was a job for a pro (I mean we are way too busy!!!) so "Iron Man Kirt" arrived with his 'grandson', a big tank of hot soapy water and many rags. They set to giving our condo the royal treatment. It took around 3 hours and Derek and I were exhausted when it was done... watching it that is. They actually did a great job and the condo looks like new again.

Derek hard at work supervising. 

Janice had an uncontrollable desire for some home-mad shepherds pie, so we tripped off to the store for ingredients and she set to chopping, dicing, and cooking enough shepherds pie to feed a small army. Both Mike and Travis on each side of us were alone, as their wives were away on business trips, so they both got their share of pie, and we had enough left to freeze and have when we get to Galveston next week (plus enough for dinner and tomorrow's lunch). Gotta tell you though it was delicious and tasted of 'home' .... our trailer will also smell like 'home' for a few days!!!!!  LOL. 

Monday 28th Jan.. Erlewine Guitars and State Capitol

Monday 28 Jan 2013

The answer is NO Derek!!

I mean it!!!

Went into Austin and made a point of dropping in at Erlewine Guitars. On the way in a quote from Janice “before you ask… the answer is NO!!” Derek said he didn’t have his wallet in him, Janice said she did, but the “the answer is still NO!!”.  Met Mark Erlwine who makes all the guitars and chatted about our friend Nick’s Lazer and all the old blues guys. He told us about how he met Johnny Winter, who is now his best advertisement for Lazer guitars, and how he designed the Chiquita Travel guitar with “ZZ Top”.  After a while, and much looking around, we realized how neat the Chiquita travel guitar is; it is very compact, unique and qualifies as hand luggage on planes, so just had to have one…at least that’s what Janice said so we got one as Derek’s new toy. Such is the translation of “NO”!!!!

Well Maybe!!

They are cute!!

Second one from the right .... SOLD!!! Chiquita Travel guitar!!! 

LOGO on building

We are here and the tours are free!!!  Yey!!

With much depleted funds and big grins, we headed over to the Capitol building and got a personal guided tour. As luck would have it the Senate was in session so we got to see part of the discussion regarding how Texas schools are positioned regarding student safety. Very interesting to find that the schools are supposed to complete an audit of their capabilities BUT there is insufficient regulation to make them comply! And the “audit” is a self description with little consistency of standards. 

Texas State Capitol

Senate in Session

Sen. David Crockett 

Texas Lone Star on EVERYTHING!!

Star in centre of ceiling dome is 8 feet wide!!!

House of Representatives

Original Chandelier  in House of Reps
(Light bulbs spell 'Texas')

Door Hinges solid brass, each weigh 8lbs!!!

Underground expansion (with glass roof at ground level)

Through the glass roof.. top of dome

Tile work on floor below dome!!

Wednesday Jan 23-Sunday Jan 27 - Relaxing and Golf

Sunday 27 January 2013

Supposed to be cloudy and showers but no showers.  75 degrees so Derek decided to see if he could make it rain and went and got the truck washed. Instead the skies cleared so he ended up thoroughly waxing and seal coating the truck in advance of the Galveston salty air. Boy the truck looks good again.

Also spent time on Skype explaining the Europe trip plans with folks in UK, and catching up on laundry. 

Saturday 26 January 2013

Today was a planning day. We haven’t really settled what we will do after the cruise and leading up to being in BC in early August. So the coffee pot went on and we spent pretty much the entire day checking web sites, frequent flyer points, flights etc. and finally booked. So its UK from April 6 until May 20 and then a few weeks in Toronto before heading back to Pheonix Jun 11 and resuming the Western State road trip.

Friday 25th January 2013

Another big sunny warm day….we vegged and simply read our books, walked and relaxed. After all we are retired! And I think it was minus 8 C in Toronto. Sorry!!! Janice is feeling a bit homesick today... it will pass. 

Thursday 24th January 2013

Happy golfers, great day

A bright sunny day; clear, not too humid, no bugs and 72 degrees F. Thus golf! Janice’s first game of the year we went to a municipal course almost in the middle of Austin called Lions. $25 each for 18 holes including cart. Can’t get much better. We went with a couple we have met here at the site, Donna and Chris, and the four of us had a great time. Beer on the patio at the club after the game, followed up with dinner at a Thai restaurant that was highly recommended. Enjoyed it, and it was great value, but we didn’t rate it quite as highly as the people who had recommended it.

Donna and Chris our golf partners from RV park

Sunset over Texas Hill Country
Taken through window of truck after golf on way to Thai Restaurant.

  

Wed  23 January 2013

Gym, bike ride, reading, cooking, and watching the arrivals of 41 classic GMC motorhomes, who arrived for a ‘rally’ … all dated 1973-1973. “Barbie Doll” style motorhomes!! Booked golf game for the next day. 

                                                 

Monday/Tuesday January 21-22 2013

Jan 21-22 2013

A couple of days spent relaxing. The weather has been so warm and sunny that we caught up on some reading in the sun, BBQing dinner one night, and a trip to our local Mexican another night. Janice bought a zero gravity lounge chair to enhance her reading pleasure, so was quite happy staying at the RV today when Derek joined a bunch of guys golfing. He described the course a little ---  The Green tee boxes and greens, not lush but well irrigated. Dry light sandy brown fairways. Because the grass is dry there is very little drag on the club. Bunkers are darker than the blonde shade of the fairways. The ground is hard and the ball rolls well.

Ah, but the main difference about Texas golf is the price.
Today's round wasn't quite as grandiose,as the first location,  although this course did have some green on the fairways.  Golf and the cart....$32 taxes in!!!!!  Oh yes, and it was 72 degrees. Perfect golfing weather. A good day with some interesting conversations and networking with other RV 'Travellers'

Tough to beat golf in January.

Sunday Jan 20th, San Antonio , The Alamo and Riverwalk

Sunday January 20th - San Antonio - The Alamo and The River Walk 
(EXCUSE THE FONT IN THIS BLOG.... Don't know what happened)

THE ALAMO.... YEY!!! 

A trip back to 1835-36...... "remember the Alamo."We have become steeped in Texas history and no story of this vast state would be complete without investigating the Alamo. Established as the first of 5 missions by the Franciscan monks, the enclave was 
occupied by the Spanish, Mexicans 
Texans and Americans a number of times. 

Happy to be here!!

Good view of the entrance to The Mission

Side room in the shrine...
 cannon used during the battle.

The Mexican government felt that there was too much immigration from the eastern States and realized that Mexicans were being outnumbered in their own regions (Tejas being part of Mexico ) they stopped immigration and started to take back the land and bring Tejas back from its self declared independence.The Texans in San Antonio decided to take a stand, even when they found out that support forces were not going to arrive; they retreated inside the mission and decided to fight to the end.

Artistic rendition of the Alamo before the Mexicans attacked

The well in the Alamo Mission courtyard

The Mexican general, Santa Anna, provided due warning that he would take no prisoners and offered a chance for surrender. The Texans were outnumbered 7:1. But as history would have it, Colonels David Crockett, James Bowie and  W. B.Travis made their stand.

Model plan of the Alamo in the early 1800's

Looking good in Alamo Plaza

To a man they were all slaughtered, about 230 people. Gen. Santa Anna spared only a few women and children and a male black slave, to enable them to retreat and tell General Houston of the debacle. Santa Anna felt that his victory would demoralize the 'Texans', instead it gave them purpose and a short while later General Sam Houston led his forces on a surprise attack and defeated Santa Anna at San Jacinto and secured his victory and the cessation of Texas from Mexico. The rallying cry during the attack was 'Remember The Alamo' and 'Remember Goliad'

While all Americans are proud of the Alamo, Texans gained their identity and their independence, and so the Alamo is a shrine to those who defended the independence of Texas and paid the price with their lives.

The ruins are now historic and while much has been removed by commerce over the years The Alamo is still an amazing place to visit.

We combined this trip to the Alamo with a lovely lunch and boat ride on the famed San Antonio Riverwalk on a beautiful 70F sunny day. 

Lunch on the Riverwalk 

Duck and small bird playing a tag team for scraps at lunch

You do see some strange sights in San Antonio!!! 

Cormorants at the river's edge

Enjoying the river cruise

Also enjoying the river cruise

Strolling on the Riverwalk

The Boathouse - Catfish Heaven!!!

Our day was completed with a dinner of fried catfish at a local restaurant near Hudsons Bend called 'The Boathouse' ... a 'dive' of a place, but very popular with the locals. It was a fun day with a history lesson to boot!