HAPPY HOLIDAYS

The year 2017 is about to be polished off! No pun intended ... see below. Tim and I enjoyed some really great trips this year. Both planned and spur of the moment. 2017 has turned out much better than 2016. 

The beginning of December (a few weeks ago) we went AGAIN to Jingle Mingle with the Tin Can Tourists in Brooksville. Way more fun than anybody should have at this event. 

Then back AGAIN to Lake Louisa State Park for Christmas with family this past week. We fed fifteen people breakfast on Christmas morning! We all had a blast. 

What will 2018 hold for us? Who knows! We do already have both good news and bad news about what’s to come. 

Bad:

Already going to cancel our trip out west later in the year. Tim has promised we will revisit it in 2019. So that’s not so bad. 

Good:

We can officially say that we have begun working on our 1948 Airstream Liner. We need all the time, energy and money to make this coach road worthy again. Hence the bad news above. It has sat in our yard waiting for this moment for three years. The original plan was to start on it this past February when Tim retired but life got in the way and we had to accomplish a few other neglected projects first. So let this be a warning ... this blog may turn into our restoration journey over the next year with a few trips to blog about in between. 

The journey has begun ... 

She’s a hot mess but I so can wait to ‘polish’ her!!!

HOME, SWEET HOME ...

The morning came early thanks to Mattie and the CB worker who retrieves the trash from the parking lot at 5:30 AM. It worked out because it got us on the road early. 

Our travel goal was to get to at least Crestview in Florida’s Panhandle. By the time we got there we decided to push on being it was still early in the afternoon. 

Jett and Mattie were not happy about being in the truck that long but they (us too) were really, really happy when we arrived home a day early!

We made it safely home. Now the cleanup begins! 

HEADING BACK EAST NOW

God bless Texas ...

Our time for departure this morning came too early. Of course we left a few hours later than we wanted to but when your with good company it makes it harder for goodbyes. Really it’s ‘see ya soon’. 

We left our cozy campsite in Bill and Candy’s front yard and have landed back at the Cracker Barrel in Lafayette. The temperature will drop to 68* tonight making for a good night of dry camping. 

The precious cargo (range and icebox for our 1948 Airstream) that we went to Texas for is wrapped snug and secure in the back of Tim’s truck. 

The drive through downtown Houston was a little slow but still way better than Atlanta could ever be. 

Tomorrow Tim and I will continue our travels east toward home. Not sure where we will land for the night tomorrow evening but our goal is to at least make the same stop as when we drove out. 

And one question:

Does anyone out there have an old beater of an enclosed cargo trailer for sale? I think we are in need of one. PM me if so. 

GOD BLESS TEXAS

What does one say or do about these horrific events? I do not want to add any more attention to what has happened here other than saying my thoughts and prayers are with those families and their loved ones and to acknowledge the first responders for their hard and unforgiving service to their community. 

GOD BLESS TEXAS 

DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS!

Moving along in our day I spent the morning taking a lovely walk with Candy while Tim spent time with Bill. Tim wanted to see their trailers again and get some additional information on them. They only have three vintage rigs. Two are 1962 Airstreams. One is a Globetrotter the other a Bambi. Their third trailer is a 1947 Curtis Wright! The CW they are in the middle of a restoration on it. 

Oh my goodness has the fire been lit! Yet more inspiration for us. We can’t wait to get back home to get moving on our 1948 Airstream!

Part of the evening was spent doing the tourist thing in the town of Gruene. We made a few quick stops in some stores there and another to Gruene Hall. Gruene Hall was built in 1878 and is Texas’ oldest continually operating and famous dance hall. It’s easier to list who hasn’t performed here. Willie Nelson, George Strait, Lyle Lovett, Little Richard and even Merle just to name a few that have been to the Hall. 

Then we headed back to New Braunfels for the rest of the evening. We drank a few beers, had dinner and listened to a really great band at Krause’s Cafe Biergarten. 

It is a really cool venue ...

The band we listened to was Igor and The Red Elvis’s

Super cool and some really great lyrics to their songs. 

They think they will be in Florida sometime next year. Hope we can see them again! 

Today being our last full day in a Texas was bitter sweet. We’ve had a great time, ate great German food and drank good cold German beer. Spent some quality time with some fabulous people and can’t wait to share  our progress on our vintage trailer with them as we move along. Thanks so much for the Big Texas hospitality and we can’t wait to return! 

WIMBERLEY WAY ...

Today was a very long day. We accomplished so much and part of today was yet another reason for this amazing trip to Texas that we otherwise would never visit. 

First on our agenda was a stop at Uwe’s Bakery and Deli. Super delicious! Bill and Candy took us here for breakfast and to get some bread. Tim and I purchased some bacon cheese pretzel bread. Yum! This little German deli is a gem. 

After a quick stop at the local farmers market we made another pit stop at the local meat market. This is a true meat market where they make all their sausages and brauts. I have never seen so much bacon in my life. And all of the meats drying out in the open. 

The stop of the day was to another couples home near Wimberly. Pat and Linda we believe we met as well a few years back in Ohio. What makes this visit so special is that they just finished restoring a 1948 Airstream Liner like ours. 

This trailer and couple are such an incredible inspiration for us. Not only did we get to take a ton of pictures as the trailer stands now but Pat gave us a thumb drive of pictures he took during his build and plans from his new frame he built for it. This is going to be a really big help and time saver for us. 

They also have a whale tale! It’s a 1954 Airstream. This was another gorgeous trailer. After checking out all the Airstreams we all had an amazing dinner there with everyone. The girls even came with us. And that’s when it happened. I went outside after dinner to check on the girls who we left outside cabled to a tree. As I approached I couldn’t see Mattie. And there on the ground laid her empty harness and she was nowhere to be found. I began screaming her name and giving her whistle call. Nothing. We are out in the boonies! There are deer everywhere. More deer than squirrels! Mattie is a serious hunter. Just when I was about to go get help from everyone inside, who I don’t know how they didn’t hear me screaming, here comes Mattie leaping up over the embankment from the dry river below. Mattie was so out of breath and so excited. She so wanted to tell me about her adventure. Now that I knew she was safe I could only hope she was able to have chased that big buck that kept coming up. I realize that the whistle call I taught both her and Jett to come to got her safely back to me and that has been the most important thing I have ever taught her. 

Last stop and a super huge gas station was my first visit to Buc-ee’s! Wow ... crazy place. And the inside was on steroids too. And if you think all the gas pumps are insane it’s worth a stop just to go inside to see the bathrooms as well. Everything is bigger in Texas!!!

SPRECHEN SIE FUN?

The morning came early and luckily Jett and Mattie got to see their boyfriends before we left. They are so handsome!

This afternoon we moved nearby to a home of friends that we met a few years back in Ohio at the Airstream factory. Long story short we have been searching for a complete galley for our 1948 Airstream Liner. Through research and other connections we found Bill and Candy again. They don’t have a complete galley but they do have a range and an icebox that we can use. Tim can build the cabinet to make it complete. 

Bill and Candy have been super gracious in allowing us to stay with them. We have our Airstream parked in their front yard. They have three vintage trailers in their backyard! 

This evening they took us to the WurstFest. Well we’ve never been to a German Festival so this one was the one to attend. We had a blast! 

Since we had never been to one we weren’t quite sure what to expect. I have to say everyone was really nice. There were no rude drunks. Just happy ones walking around drinking out of pitchers and yelling in German. The bands and all the festivities were a lot to take in. 

So instead of explaining more I’ll just let the pictures tell the story ...

HONEY AND VIOLET

This morning was a super lazy one for sure! All the dogs got walked and walked again. Then we had a light lunch in the Airstream before heading out for the afternoon. 

The day was going to be about the dogs. So we made our first stop at Puppy Playland the local dog park. The girls had a blast. Mattie lead a really good run with another dog while Jett watched. Jett knows she can’t catch Mattie so she just lets her go. We had so much fun watching that we forgot to take pictures. 

After driving about New Braunfels we decided to stop at The Black Whale Pub for an Octoberfest brew. I called ahead to make sure we could sit outside with the girls and I liked what their website said about being 100% smoke free. NOT. It turned out to be the smokingest smoke free place that we had ever been to. Guess the front sidewalk with the loud jackhammers doesn’t count. 

Once we all returned to camp I went to the laundry there to wash some dog towels and a rug. Seems that at one of our rest stops on our way here to Texas someone got sick and we all found ourselves standing in puke inside the Airstream. Mattie avoided the crisis by darting under the dinette. Tim, José and I all tried to keep calm in the mayhem while Jett looked on with sad eyes not knowing what just happened. Just glad those clean up items have now been taken care of. 

Little Man José now has not one but TWO girlfriends. Meet Honey and Violet! These little girls were smitten with José. He was playing hard to get but seemed to enjoy the attention. 

Jett and Mattie have two boyfriends next door also. I’ll try to get a picture of them before we leave! 

Tomorrow we move to another location nearby. We are excited to get there as it’s the entire reason we came to Texas. We’ll fill you in as the weekend progresses! 

REMEMBER THE ALAMO!

Yesterday we landed in New Braunfels, Texas. This is our final destination. We will be staying at two different locations here before heading back home. First up is Hill County RV Resort. When we landed I had hoped for a big Halloween celebration. I just barely got the flamingos out when the rain started and that was it for Halloween. 

Today we covered downtown San Antonio. First stop The Alamo. It was amazing to explore this piece of history. Ashame that most of the original piece of property is out in the road. How does that happen? They are working on making that change and will have a great addition to the museum thanks to Phil Collins. Mr. Collins, the singer, donated millions of dollars worth of artifacts from his private collection to The Alamo. Who knew?!

Next up was the famous Sant Antonio Riverwalk. It’s a big tourist trap but still really pretty. The Riverwalk meanders through town just below street level with boat rides, shopping and lots of great food! 

The final stop of the day was at Mission San José. It’s known as the ‘Queen’ of the missions due to its size and elaborate sculptures. 

Both of the Spanish missions that we visited were fascinating to explore. There are a handful more in town to visit and hopefully we can make that happen before we leave. Tomorrow we plan to chill out some. With all the driving we have done it’s time for a little break.