Day 6, still in Texas!

Being in this part of Texas and not stopping by Luckenbach would be crazy, especially for me!  It was a really unusual place to see, kind of what I expected but at the same time not really what I expected.

On one of the door frames bar/post office/general store were a bunch of law enforcement shoulder patches, one of them really caught me attention.

From there we headed to Johnson City to see Lyndon B Johnson's childhood home.  We had a guided tour of the home that was very informative.  It was nice to see the home restored to how it would have looked when LBJ lived there.

This is an interesting print, look really close and what do you see?

I like the chamber pot under the bed, that is how it really was for
many people in our country not that long ago. 

From here we visited Lyndon B Johnson's ranch.  Here is Debra standing next to what they call "Air Force One-Half", it's very small compared to what the president flies in today.  But then again, those were much different times.

Our Roadtrek looks a wee bit tiny when sitting next to a bus.

We left the ranch and started westward again, we were in the hill section of Texas and started seeing many wineries and garden stores.  We stopped at Wildseed Farms and stretched our legs some.

We parked next to another Class B that was in the lot,.  We met them a little later on, nice folks.

This cat was extremely happy resting in a bed of Catnip!

We returned to I-10 and drove until dark, not many choices to park for the night.  We saw on one of our apps, RVParky, the Senora TX Safety Rest Area around mile marker 393.  We pulled in for a safe nights sleep along with several other RV's

 and a bunch of 18 wheelers.

Day 5 On our way through Texas

We stopped at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin.  Debra walked through the gardens as I stayed in the Roadtrek with Spike.  It was a bit warm and I wanted to stay with him and keep him company.  I  was also keeping an eye for people leaving that had shaded parking spaces to possibly move to.

We left Austin and continued our path westward and came upon a interesting looking BBQ joint with a recognizable name, Stubb's BBQ at Graceland Grocery.  We actually drove past and had to turn around, much easier in the Roadtrek than if we were still pulling our earlier travel trailer.  

After I parked our RV I went in to order dinner and Debra stayed behind with Spike as he stretched his little legs, a little. After getting his dinner prepared and getting him settled in, she started through the parking lot to join me.   A group of dinners leaving walked by and a man asked her  about her Roadtrek.  He also mentioned that although he had enjoyed his Stubbs BBQ that there is another joint nearby that we should do ourselves the favor of tasting. It is The Salt Lick in Driftwood, TX. not too far away.  So, as we were enjoying our Stubbs BBQ, Debra tells me about the rave review that The Salt Lick BBQ had just received, something about the Food Network.

As we left Stubb's we laughed and said we must stop by the The Salt Lick and get some BBQ for tomorrow's lunch.  And we did just that,  drove out of the way 30 minutes for even more BBQ!

Along the way I saw this and had to do a turn around and look at it up close.  A beautiful specimen of early train traveling days.

Wow, so glad we were told about The Salt Lick!  Pulling into the parking lot was like pulling into a fairground, room for many cars and motor homes.  They even have a place for helicopters to land bringing people such as those taking the Alamo Helicopter Tours.  The aroma in the air was fabulous!  We parked and went inside to order, this place is huge and can handle large crowds.  We ordered a pound of beef brisket and a side of peach cobbler to go.  Tomorrow's lunch is going to be great!

After leaving Driftwood, TX we headed to Fredericksburg, TX and parked for the night at the Walmart Supercenter.  Thanks to Walmart we had another great nights sleep.

Day 4 - the trip out west continues.

After a great night's sleep we woke up early and ready to hit the road, the weather looks bad and we wanted to try and beat it.  Taking US 165 south from Monroe our first stop was in Columbia. LA.  We stopped because we saw a beautiful green Gothic church and had to see it more closely.   We then spotted another little church, turns out it was a meditation chapel.  Our stop was well worth it to see these two wonderful churches.  Back in the 1800's Columbia was a busy port on the Ouachita River, a lot of cotton passed through the tiny town.

From Columbia we continued south to Lake Charles, LA and drove pass some of the old homes there.  The weather was still stormy and I want to make it to at least a good bit into Texas before night fall.

After a short drive around Lake Charles I pointed the Roadtrek west and Texas soon appeared in the windshield.  We stopped In Conroe, TX for dinner at Manny's BBQ, it was not the best choice, I was looking forward to some great Texas BBQ and this was not it.  Some people probably love it, after all, food is very subjective to being liked or not by everyone.   It was not for me, we still have to find us some of the great BBQ that is created in Texas!  We are hoping that some West Texas BBQ will satisfy our cravings.

This being our our fourth night on our trip I thought it be best to spend the night at a campground so we could fill our freshwater tank, dump our black and gray tanks and enjoy a nice "hotel" shower.  Pulling into Brenham we settled in at the Artesian Park RV Campground.  With our Passport America membership we paid $20 for the night, a great deal.

Day three begins with visiting sights in Monroe and West Monroe.

We started our day with a visit to Duck Commander in West Monroe.  They have a large and welcoming store with a good variety of gifts available, many of them with nice inspirational messages.  Unfortunately we did not see any of the guys from the TV show Duck Dynasty there that day.  

From there we headed to Trenton Street in West Monroe, that is one of my wife's favorite places to visit when we go to the Twin Cities.  This area is known as Antique Alley, and it lives up to it's name!  The Mojo Boutique is a must visit for my wife, they have unique clothing and accessories.  

After a bit of walking around and shopping we got in our Roadtrek and headed over to Monroe to visit the Garden District.  The Garden District has many beautiful old homes and lovely yards to look at.  Some home front Country Club Lake which runs along Island Drive.  It has a nice bayou look to it and I remember fishing there when I was in high school.

We then proceeded to visit the Masur Museum of Art in Monroe.  The museum is located in the former home of the Masur family.  It is said to be the largest collecting and exhibiting visual arts museum in northeast Louisiana.   

We drove out to Ray's Pege in Monroe to see how it looked.  It was not a pretty sight seeing the burnt building and sign in disrepair, so many fond memories eating there.  

We headed back to West Monroe to try lunch at the Magic Grill, it is suppose to be as good as Ray's Pege.  I thought it was okay, just kind of hard to compare it to something I really loved.

We drove around looking at some of my old hangouts and such stopping at Johnny's Pizza on Warren Drive to pick up dinner for the night.  Headed back to my friends home to enjoy the pizza and spend one last night camping in her driveway.

The trip begins!

Our RV was loaded up and ready to head out, just had to wait until about 5 pm - Debra drove granddaughter Madison to dance class in Jasper. First stop, Cave Springs, GA a town we had heard so much about.  It is a beautiful quaint little historic town with some interesting looking restaurants and pretty in town homes.  It is the site of a cave and spring that flows into a pond and then into a pool in Rolater situated in the town center.  The swimming pool is in the shape of the state of Georgia constructed of rocks.  It has very turn of the century feel to it.  I can imagine a hot summer and cooling off in the spring fed swimming pool.  Since it's so close to home and it was such a stormy night when we stopped we promised ourselves to visit again in the not to distant future.  Here is a photo of the swimming pond in the center of town.

It started to rain and we left town hoping to get a little further down the road.  We made it to Centre, AL in a heavy rain storm and settled in for a nights rest at the Walmart Supercenter. This was our first time parking and sleeping at a Wal-Mart and we liked it!

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We woke up that next morning  and made breakfast in our Roadtrek handy dandy kitchen, one of the great benefits of traveling in an RV.  We set our navigation for West Monroe LA and started heading west on I 20.  After a few hours, we decided to get off the interstate  and found ourselves in the town of  Eutaw, AL.  There are 27 antebellum structures located in Eutaw that are on the National Registry of Historic Places.  

Enough time spent marveling at the beautiful residences in Eutaw and we really wanted to reach our destination before it was too late at night.  We jumped back onto I 20.  We are no strangers to this stretch of I-20 between home and West Monroe and always try to stop off in Vicksburg, MS if during business hours.  We visit  a coffee house there, the Highway 61 Coffee house.  Upstairs is one of Debra's favorite shops, the Attic Gallery. They have good coffee and nice art to enjoy and even purchase.

Route 61 Coffee House and Art Gallery

All caffeinated up now and back on the road and once again headed to West Monroe, LA. Once there, we stop at Podnuh's BBQ and bring a delicious dinner  to to my adopted mom's house.  Whenever we visit Monroe/West Monroe I must eat at Johnny's Pizza, Podnuh's BBQ and Ray's PeGe.  Sad to say but on this visit I found out Ray's PeGe had a fire and is closed.  After eating and visiting we settled in for the night parked in her driveway, a little mooch docking.  

All loaded up for our big trip!

We have the Roadtrek all loaded and just waiting for my house sitter to show up.  We have our house rented to a nice family for a month and I want to make sure they get settled in before we leave.

Had a problem with my freshwater system

After I flushed out the anti-freeze and then the bleach / water my water pump would keep running with all the taps closed.  I took it to National Indoor RV Centers Altanta where we purchased it.  

The freeze valve for the Alde system was not working correctly and it was replaced.  I arrived there at about 7:50 am and was on the road home by 11:00 am!  The are great people there and have taken great care of all our concerns.

Getting ready for a road trip

Spent a little time today de-winterizing the Roadtrek.  Letting the water with bleach in it soak over night to sanitize the fresh water system.  Tomorrow I will start to flush the fresh water system to remove all traces of bleach.

NCL Pearl Spinnaker after 2017 dry dock