10/29 - DAY 100!!!

The day has come! Tim and I have happily conquered 100 days on the road. Seems bitter sweet knowing we will end this amazing adventure soon. 

Fitting that day came in Texas where everything is bigger! We loved Waco!! All of our stops along the way have been spectacular!!! Fall is approaching and catching up with us once again. We now have some miles to cover to get back home to Florida! 

10/28 - MAGNOLIA MARKET

Today took us to The Silo District in downtown Waco. Chip and Jo had taken the day off so we had to fill in by taking a tour on our own. 

The place is huge! The property is gorgeous. They have done an amazing job and I so get their vision.  There is everything there from the seed and garden area, to food trucks, welcoming staff, picnic area, outdoor beanbag chairs, and of course Magnolia Market. 

They even have an Airstream . . .

I figured it was big but as they say everything is bigger in Texas. 

We did find Chip’s Corner! 

The plan was to go to the Silos Baking Company but with a line wrapped around the building and then another line inside we decided to hold off on getting a cup cake. With over 30,000 visitors every week you can understand why there is a line. 

As it was cars were parked on both sides of the street for at least four blocks in each direction. Jo has also added a coffee shop called Magnolia Press. 

Located right behind Magnolia Press will be their new new Magnolia Homes Furniture Showroom along with another massive expansion. And right across the street will be Jimmy Don’s new location. Jimmy is the gentleman who makes all of Jo’s custom metal signs. Jimmy came and introduced himself to us. He is a really nice down to earth guy. 

Magnolia Table is about a ten minute drive from the Silo District. We decided to drive there for a late lunch but arrived too late to be seated by the time they closed. Rudy’s BBQ is right next door so that worked for us. We had been also looking for some good Texas BBQ and found it! 

Along with an excellent selection of good cold beer!

10/27 - WACO, TEXAS

Here we are! Tim and I decided to make just a short two hour drive east to Waco, Texas. The drive was an easy one. If you remember occasionally along our travels I talk about the wind turbines that we see. When you see these areas you can also tell where they are about to install another one. Today I was able to get a picture of just one section of a tower being transported. These wind turbines are massive and this picture puts the size in perspective. Imagine fields of hundreds of these. 

We have landed at an Army Corps of Engineers campground. Midway Campground is surprisingly a very nice campground on Waco Lake. Located just ten minutes from downtown Waco. Beautiful. 

I was able to catch a gorgeous picture across the lake this evening of the beautiful Texas sunset. These are the moments to take a breath and enjoy the moment. 

I’ve almost forgot about posting more pictures on the series of pictures I’ve taken on some of the different camping apparatus we have come across on this adventure. So here is part two. Enjoy! 

THIS IS HOW THEY DO IT - PART 2

VINTAGE POP-UP! Super cool rig! 


TRUCK PLATFORM TENT


RENTAL VAN WITH A COOL COLORFUL WRAP


VINTAGE CLASS-C MOTORHOME 


TRUCK PLATFORM TENT ON A ...


TRUCK BED HOMEMADE TRAILER! Genius!! 

10/26 - SPOOK-TACULAR DAY

Jett had me up early with an upset stomach. She is fine now but it’s not the best way to start the day. 

Tim and I walked over to Tr3s Leches for lunch. They had some pretty tasty shrimp tacos along with delicious tres leches cake! We also went into a few of the shops in downtown while we were there. 

When we got back to The Train Depot the Grilling Seminar was already in progress. There were tons of samples. Unfortunately we missed the grilled sausages wrapped in bacon. However we did get wings, pizza and apple pie!  

The Vintage Open House was great. Many of the trailers we decorated for Halloween. The most important trailer for us was the 1948 Wee Wind. We have seen this trailer previously but it was before we had our 1948 Liner. It’s similar in style but only sixteen feet long compared to our twenty-two foot Liner. We were able to get lots of helpful pictures both on the exterior and interior. 

The day was filled with activities to keep everyone busy all day. We missed a few that we wanted to go to but it’s really easy to get distracted talking to everyone, looking at Airstreams ... or eating! Luckily we made it to the Halloween Dog Costume Contest. Hilarious! Jett did not attend. She had nothing to wear with the short notice. LOL 

The Josh Burnett Band entertained our group this evening. There was also a Monster Mash Ball happening at the same time. Everyone had opportunity to dress-up and have some fun! Danielle and Lucius helped us out by lending us a few things. Most of the costumes were very well thought out and pretty cool. Flo from Progressive was there along with Mayhem from Allstate. We had a peacock witch, eggs and bacon with a spatula and even a Renaissance couple. 

Tomorrow (Sunday) will be a moving day for us. Since we don’t have a plan to get us home we don’t know how far east we will travel or where we will land. The Texas hospitality we received here in Brownwood was some of the best we have had anywhere. We can’t wait to return. . 

10/25 - WE KNOW A GUY!

And a gal at Texas Country Air! 

Yup! Danielle and Lucius, our friends from Georgia, are here!! We met them probably eight years ago in Ohio at the Airstream Factory. We always enjoy their company. What a pleasant surprise to find them in the middle of Texas! 

The Texas Country Air Event has organized some really great seminars. Tim and I only attended two of the numerous seminars today. First up this morning was one on Bee Keeping. Our speaker talked about the entire process of bee keeping and the different types of bees and each of their important jobs in the hive. Important things to know that we took away from the class were interesting points like pesticides and how it affects the bees, how important it is to buy from your local bee keeper (so you know what you are getting) and how to not store or buy honey in plastic containers. 

Tim and I then enjoyed lunch a short walk away at Steve’s Market and Deli with Danielle and Lucius.  We caught up with their summer travels. Steve’s was the perfect location to meet them for lunch. The food was simple yet delicious. Oh and the joint was super cool inside! 

The second seminar we decided to attend was on Coffee Roasting. This was another fascinating class on a subject we don’t know much about but are a little more educated now about coffee and what the entire process involves. The samples were very nice as well. 

The Pioneer Tap Room was another short but cold walk nearby. They have over twenty-five beers on tap plus a few root beers and ciders. This establishment was the perfect ‘watering hole’ to finish catching up with ‘a guy we know’ before heading back for the evenings entertainment at the Train Depot. 

10/24 - TEXAS COUNTRY AIR RALLY

So ... it rained in Texas today. 

And it rained some more! Being Floridians we have not seen rain in quite some time so we actually kind of welcomed it and enjoyed the change.  The rain settled the dust and rinsed off the truck and Airstream some.  

Our move today took us into the actual city of Brownwood, Texas. We are here to attend the Texas Country Air Rally. Most urban events like this have all the Airstreams parked on the curb in the city. A few of the Airstreams by the train depot are parked like that but from what I understand there are also a few small campground lots spread out within a few blocks of the train depot. These lots have power and water. Tim and I are parked in one of these lots a block away, from all the main activities at the depot, right next to the fire department.

Now this is a shock for us both. Tim and I are now camping within the city limits of a fairly large city. I can see a cell tower that I can throw a baseball at. Guess what? Verizon does not have any service here. NONE! We really thought we would have better coverage here. NOT! I’m really not sure how this post will happen. Since it’s currently in the low 40’s outside I wont go outside to post until tomorrow morning. It will either happen through the hot spot (AT&T) on Tim’s truck or through the Chamber. They are offering us free WiFi a block away. 

Back to the program ... These Texans definitely know how to put on a show. We walked the short distance over to the depot this evening for the nights entertainment. Jody Nix and The Texas Cowboys were on stage tonight. Woo-hoo! They put on a really great show!! Like the saying goes ‘If you’re go’n to play in Texas, ya gotta have a fiddle in the band’ and these guys had two plus one 14 year old guest fiddler. 

When we entered the main hall we saw our new friends from Texas that were at Lake Brownwood camping near us. Then with a scan of the room I recognized a couple we met in Santa Fe and they were also at Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque. THEN I noticed another couple we had not seen since February back in Florida! I walked up behind them while they were sitting at their table and told them they were in our chairs. LOL

OMG! We were all so SUPER surprised to see them. And they us!!! As of now I will not reveal who they are until we get a picture. It’s all about the picture for this surprise! There is a possible lunch date scheduled for tomorrow with them and hopefully we will get that perfect picture to show we really do ‘know a guy’ here!!! 

10/23 - LAKE BROWNWOOD - DAY 2

The other day on our drive from San Angelo to here at Lake Brownwood we came across the small town of Santa Anna. There we saw a handful of places to go ‘pick’ (junk) and some antique stores. Today we made our way back there to go check things out. 

The roadside junkers didn’t look as good as our first pass the other day. Tim and I only got out at two of them. However the antique stores looked more promising and we were able to go into all of the ones that were open! 

It’s interesting to see the difference in antique stores in other parts of the country compared to those at home. One of the most interesting things I discovered in one of the shops was a few pieces of costume jewelry. 

I have never seen so much of it in one place! WOW!

There is a piece of furniture under there! 

After a nice lunch at a little mom and pop joint in Santa Anna we returned to basecamp at Lake Brownwood State Park. With weather moving in tomorrow we had some clouds passing over right before it got dark. It made for a beautiful sunset over the lake. 

Tomorrow we will load into our Airstream rally location nearby. The weather forecast is calling for rain. Tim and I have prepared to make the move in the morning if it is raining. This should be a super fun gathering like no other event we have attended previously!