Mon Feb 4th 2013

Monday Feb 4th 2013
Up at 7:30, breakfast and pack up. Ready to leave by 10am. We will miss this place, and the lovely people we met. All our future neighbours have a tough act to follow!! The drive down to Galveston was long, 5 hours, but fairly easy. Janice actually did the lions share this time for a change. 

Just arrived at Sandpiper RV Resort, Galveston, Texas

The sign of the day was actually a road sign for the next exit "KICKAPOO RD -  EXIT 1MILE"  Now how would you like to live on Kickapoo road?????? Spelling it out every time on the phone or over a counter!!! I wish I had been fast enough with the camera on that one!! We arrived late afternoon and set up, then went for a short jaunt around town on our bikes before heading back and we barbequed the bratwurst and smoked sausage we bought at the Friesenhaus restaurant/deli in New Braunfels. It was even better than we imagined and we drooled and smacked our lips in total taste ecstasy. Watched a bit of ‘telly’ and relaxed for the evening.

The whirlpool and pool at the resort

Who is that good-looking guy hanging out at the pool??

PS: Happy 91st Mum... miss you!!

Sunday Feb 3 2013 - Packing and Chilli cook-off

Site C64... our site for the last few days at La Hacienda

Sunday Feb 3rd 2013
Today was our last day at La Hacienda, and although we were pretty well packed up from our trip to the dealer on Friday we still had some stuff to clean up and organize before leaving in the morning. So most of the day was spent saying goodbye to the people we had met at the resort, and phoning folks at

Site C58. We have booked it for Feb & Mar 2014

home and abroad in case we don’t have a good internet connection in Galveston. At 3pm the chilli cook-off started and there were about 20 different chillies to taste and choose a favourite. There was an amazing variety, from very spicy to mild and back to ‘blow your taste buds for six’!!!!  

View from the back of Site C58

Even a couple of white chilies,  a vegetarian chilli and a chicken chilli. There was also a table of salads, sausages, snacks, desserts etc. At 5:30 the game started and much cheering, drinking and laughter. A great time. Our golfing buddies Chris and Donna won the ‘pool’ for the first quarter and the final. $75… not bad!!  And for those who notice the captions on the photos, YES we have booked to return to La Hacienda next Feb and March as mentioned earlier. But all we risk to lose is a small deposit if we cancel, so as space is limited and goes fast we decided it was a wise move. So friends and family... make some plans if you'd like to come see us. Of you don't fancy slumming it on our pull out couch, there are some lovely little cabins throughout the resort for rent at a reasonable price!!!! Hint hint, nudge nudge!!!

Ready to hitch up to the truck 

Entrance to Resort - Office on right laundry/showers on left

One row of the chillies.. mmmmm!!!! Crock pot city!!

The tasting table

Saturday Feb 2 2013 - Sun, fun and Karaoke!!

Saturday Feb 2nd 2013

No photos today... the SD card in my camera is faulty.. so gotta get a new one. It was such an amazing, sunny hot day we decided to sit in the sun, have a swim in the pool, BBQ a couple of steaks and head over to the Karaoke night in the pavilion with a few friends from the resort. Had a great time singing along and enjoying some talented entertainment (and some not quite so talented.... but brave).
We did however make the big decision to book here for next year before they are sold out of good sites. We have booked site C58 for next year February and March!!! We love it here and haven;t explored the area as much as we much as we intended... still lots to see. Also a big music festival called South by South West happens in Austin toward the end of March every year and we want to see it next year.
So if we decide to keep on traveling, which looks likely, we at least have somewhere for those 2 months. POssibly Florida in Dec/Jan.

Fri Feb 1st - Dealer's/Gruene

Friday Feb 1st 2013

Left our home at Evergreen RV Center for the day

Great day today. We took off at 6:30 am and headed to Evergreen RV centre in New Braunfels to have the leaking kitchen slide looked at and have them reseal the underbelly of the rig after the 'big flood' and have an air conditioner installed in the bedroom. After some confusion and insistence by 'princess Janice' that we have a wall gauge for the air-con.... they set to work and we took off to explore the area. 

BEST COFFEE EVER!!!!

Found a neat little Historical Village called Gruene.. settled by the Gruene family from Germany (lots of German influence in this part of Texas). We wandered the village and had the very BEST cup of coffee we have had in Texas at the small coffee shop. Janice decided it was time to become a real Texan and bought a cowboy hat. 

Company while we had coffee

This little friend had an unusual song.. and LOUD!!
Any ideas what it is????

Walking through Gruene, Tx

Got myself a hat at the General Store

Now officially a REAL Texan!!!

At the recommendation of the people at the coffee shop we headed to a German restaurant in New Baunfels for lunch.... WOW... I think it was called The Friesenhaus.. but not sure of spelling. Schnitzel and bulbous sausages Sauerkraut, red cabbage, german potatoes etc ... MMMM!!!
We returned to the RV dealer and they were just finishing off.  We headed back to the resort, happy with the day. We walked over to Las Pinas  for a late dinner... and our last taste of their amazing salsa. It really is amazing salsa... the best!!!! 

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.