I had the best update for you!  I typed it out in less than an hour.  It was witty, filled with interesting stuff, right off the top of my head and well written...but then the wifi crapped out and it was all lost!  Damn it!  Oh well, here is try number two, probably won't be as good but I will try to squeeze out some creative juices one more time.  Just let me go get another cup of coffee...and hit save! 

This last week or so here in Fredericksburg has been an interesting, boring, relaxing and stressful one.  Interesting in the fact that the winter Texan snowbird season is drawing to a close so we see many folks leaving every day.  It has been entertaining to watch folks pack up and head out and leave things behind.  All spouses and yapping dogs are packed up, thank goodness, but other items seem to get left behind.  Most notably the doormat.  We were even gifted one at our site when we arrived.  Rather nice one that came in handy for wiping muddy shoes while it rained these last few days.  Thank you previous occupant for paying it forward!  Then there are always the items that folks intentionally leave behind and those are a pickers delight!  We actually scored a really nice, fairly new grill and stand.  Our grill has seen better days and we were limping it along a bit longer before replacing it.  Well, with a switch of a part of two, this discarded beauty is now our new to us grill!  It grilled up the most delicious steak sandwiches last night, with toasted buns and all!

Life has also been a bit boring but Redbox has been our friend!  I think we have seen more movies in the last week than we have seen all of last year!  We were soo lucky to have gotten in our two biggest sites we wanted to see while here before the shutdowns occurred.  We are lucky to have the walking trails and picturesque scenery as we walk the same roads here in the park...again and again.  And then there was the rain...the last couple days were nothing but rain so we couldn't even sit outside.  Our small home got even smaller, but luckily, this next week looks to be a real winner with highs in the high 70's and even in the 80's.  Trees and flowers will really start popping now with all the rain and warm temps!

It has been relaxing to just chill, read a good book, watch a movie or work.  I have been putting in about 30 hours a week, working on my tax job.  Now with the tax filing extension, it looks like I will be doing that for several more weeks.  I do really enjoy it and will certainly do it again next year if they invite me back.  

But alas, just as everyone else around the US and world has been experiencing, this time has been stressful as well.  From our perspective, here in this tiny little hamlet in TX, it seemed that during the first several days of the outbreak, residents and visitors in this town were unamused by the news of things happening elsewhere and went about their daily routines and tourist outings.  The strip downtown was bustling, restaurants were busy and schools were back in session from spring break.  And then came the fateful day that the Governor started to close schools, etc.  That is when the shit hit the fan and folks started prepping for the end of time.  Hoarding was the name of the game and the strangest stuff were now out of stock, in addition to all the staples. The strip of shops and restaurants downtown are now a ghost town.  We took a drive yesterday and it was sort of eery to see the downtown almost void of people.  Most little shops were closed but some were still open.  Since almost all of the restaurants in Fredericksburg are locally owned, small establishments, many of them are closed as well.  Some have made the switch to curbside carry out and we are doing our best to support them!  

The grocery shopping has turned into a bit of a game for us and we had to make a couple stops to get everything on our regular grocery list.  Then one fateful night we were making a good ol home cooked, comfort food dinner when we realized we only had a half a glass of milk left!  This would not do as the meal required a cold glass of moo juice to make it complete!  So Rick went out in search of the scarce commodity!  Stop one, gas station down the road.  NOPE! Haven't had milk for days.  Last delivery was only 6 gallons and they were gone that day.  Stop number two, Walgreens where we bought a half gallon in a pinch, earlier in the month.  Nada, the shelves were bare!  Feeling a bit defeated, Rick pondered his next move.  Just then he saw a dairy truck coming down the road from the direction of HEB, so off to HEB he went.  After a quick power walk to the dairy case, there it was, in a glow of soft light, that glorious moo moo juice!  SCORE!!  Dinner that night was delicious comfort food, paired with a glorious glass of cold milk!  Success!  It is the little things that we treasure these days. 

In fact, the little things we take for granted now have an app and it looks like we are ok in the toilet paper arena for a bit!  LOL

The other stress right now is the uncertainty of where we go from here at the end of the month.  At the time of this writing we are scheduled to volunteer at Palo Duro Canyon State Park for April and May.  We contacted the volunteer coordinator last week and as of now, the park is open and it is a go.  But things may change.  We have seen parks close completely, some closed but allow volunteers to stay, not accepting new volunteers to come in and then others where volunteers have a day to leave.  It's anyone's guess as to where this might go so we are putting together a plan B.

We also found out that Rick's Army reunion in Colorado Springs in early June has been quazi-cancelled and turned into a mini reunion.  We are booked to stay at Cheyenne Mountain State Park there with friends and we hope that Colorado State Parks will stay open.  Right now, Stay Calm and Be Flexible is our mantra.

The rain is now ending and the sun will be out today with highs over the next few days in the 70's and low 80's.  The trees and flowers should really start to pop now and we will be able to spend more times outdoors at the park and take a drive in search of TX bluebonnet fields since the Hill Country of Texas is the best place to see them!

Until next time, stay home, carry on and wash those hands!  ​

It is definitely spring in Fredericksburg.  The birds are chirping and the trees and plants are coming to life.  The temperature is also getting up there.  In fact, earlier this week it was in the mid 80's!  We have seen the TX bluebonnets start to bloom as we made our way up from the coast and now they are starting to pop here in the Hill Country as well.

We have been in Fredericksburg now for two weeks and the time has flown by!  We are staying at Lady Bird Johnson City Park, which is a nice city park with full hookups, cable and decent wifi.  We have a nice big site in the back of the RV park.  I would not take a site that is in the middle as they are backed up to each other and you share a yard with neighbors across from you.  I like my privacy!  We are near the pollinator garden and the hiking trails.  They also have a lovely bird sanctuary area that volunteers are constantly working on.  This park is quite large with a 18 hole golf course and restaurant, several baseball diamonds and tennis courts, community rooms and houses to rent out as well as covered pavillion areas that have huge smoker grills at each of them!

Every day starts with me logging in to work on my virtual tax preparer job while Rick catches a few more Zzz's.  I am really enjoying it and Rick is enjoying his extended sleep time.  Then late morning, I log off and we go exploring.  Some days just in the park and others we venture out around the Hill Country.  I will say this last week we have not done much venturing into Fredericksburg proper because it is spring break and it has been a mob scene.  

We thankfully got some of the big items checked off of our To Do list the first week.  The National Museum of the Pacific War was a much anticipated stop and to our delight, we saw that they were having one of their living history reenactments of the battle of Iwo Jima  in their Pacific Combat Zone area.  To say it was cool, informative and not to mention moving is an understatement!  There was a WWII vet there who fought in the battle of Iwo Jima and two other WWII vets also in attendance.  After the re-enactment the vet provided some insights of his time in the service.  I do not think there was a dry eye in the place.  After the re-enactment we made our way through the PT boat and Avenger plane exhibits and stumbled upon one of the other vets having his picture taken in front of the PT boat in which he served on in WWII.  Folks, I cannot make this stuff up!  So very cool!!!  Here are some pictures, but it really does not do the experience justice.  I would definitely recommend a visit if you are every in the area.

We decided to come back on Sunday and go thru the museum since it was getting pretty busy with all the tourists and the tickets were good for three days.  Sunday we got there shortly after opening and spent several hours going through the Admiral Chester Nimitz museum, that has recently been redone and the George H.W. Bush Gallery which was a depiction of the Pacific War in timeline fashion.  If we thought the re-enactment was cool, we were blown away by the museums and the unbelievable amount of artifacts they had, in addition to the depth of detail and the amazing displays throughout.  It was soo much, that Rick also went back on Monday and spent a couple more hours.  Again, here are some pictures, but truly put this on your list if your travels ever find you in the Hill Country of TX.

On another day we took a drive out to LBJ State Park and Historic site, as well as the LBJ National Historical Park.  Think of this as a two for one combo deal, both being FREE!  You see one of LBJ's wishes was to ensure that people were able to visit these places of history without having to pay one cent.  The back story as to why there are two seperate areas is that the LBJ National Historical Park is his house and ranch area and the State Park sits in front of it on the other side of the Pedernales River.  When he became the Vice President, he purchased the land in front of his home to provide a bit more privacy.  The Johnson's wanted to give both properties to the National Park system, however,  the park system did not want to maintain that large an amount of land so the property on the other side of the river was given to the State Park system.  

In the state park there is a very nice visitor center with a movie about the area and LBJ, the official TX longhorn herd, a bison herd, an aquatic complex and the Sauer-Beckman Living History farm.  This farm depicts life at the time that LBJ was growing up in the area.  We enjoyed touring the area and getting to see the longhorns.  The buffalo were further out in their pasture, so we didn't get any good views of them.

We then drove over to the LBJ National park and were a bit confused when the lady at the state park said it was a 35 minute drive.  What?? We can see the house sort of from here...well what we really didn't know is that the drive takes you past the school that LBJ attended, his birthplace and then winds you back thru his ranch, past the show barn, before you cross the runway to park on the taxi way near the house.  Yup, it is big enough to certainly be classified as a ranch!  In fact, there was still more land behind where we drove that the Johnson family still owns and hunts on to this day.  We drove past the part of the Pedernales river where LBJ would regularly wow guests by driving his amphicar "into" the river on the road behind the dam, which made it look like the were driving underwater.

Once you walk towards the house, also known as the TX White House, your eyes are immediately drawn to his presidential plane that sits on the property.  The visitor center is in the plane hangar and has a wonderful movie of LBJ and his life on the ranch.  Unfortunately we could not tour the house because it is needing some extensive renovations, being that the house was added on several times, with numerous rooms that all have seperate air conditioners, totalling 11!!!   In the TX heat they are needing a better plan to keep the humidity in check rather than emptying all of the dehumidifiers that are in each room twice a day!  There is also some foundation issues that need to be addressed.  The huge live oak tree in the second picture is where LBJ often held cabinet meetings. The tour of the grounds by the park service was very interesting and we came away with a good understanding of life on the ranch back in the day.

Our BBQ tour of TX continues, in fact we have had BBQ three times since arriving in Fredericksburg!  Our first stop was Fritze's BBQ in Boerne(not Jason Borne, bue pronounced Bernie...ok, when in TX..), the second stop was here in Fredericksburg at Backwoods BBQ and finally, the much awaited trip up to Llano to return to Cooper's BBQ with good friends who introduced us to the place.  Thanks Bill & Denise!   They were all good, but Coopers won out on the three!  It was just as good as we remembered it from 5 years ago.  Their brisket is so delicious with some really flavourful bark and I just love their moist smoked turkey.  I wouldn't be surprised if we make the 45 minute drive up to Llano to partake in the beautiful BBQ again!  

One day we headed down to Kerrville, just south of where we are staying and enjoyed the beautiful weather taking a stroll on their expansive riverfront paved path that winds through town.  We made three stops to explore different parts of the path and then rewarded ourselves with the closest thing we could find to a WI Lent Friday fish fry...Culvers!

We also took some time to take a hike at Cross Mountain Park which is the spot of the old wooden cross found by some of the first explorers to Fredericksburg back in the 1800's.  Before that, the limestone hill served as a lookout for local indians.

And since this is our life, every day is not a picture perfect tourist life, one day, right as this virus scare was ramping up, we made our way to San Antonio to hit the big Walmart and stock up at Costco.  At this point things were just starting to run out and the paper goods aisle was bare and we had to wait a half hour for them to unload the pallets of water.  Geez...
We also spent another day doing laundry and all the fun domestic stuff.  I will just say that laundromats are such a great place to people watch!  This time we were blessed to watch some people who were trying to figure out how to load up there minivan with all of the clothes.  I have never, ever seen that much laundry, all at once, in my life!  I am not sure what the back story was but it was in bins upon bins and the story I was creating in my head was a pretty good one!  

With all of the hysteria in the media, we are happy to have our little home and be able to just hunker down and keep to ourselves.  We are also glad we will be heading out to the canyon in TX back country come April first.  Ha...try and find us out there coronavirus!!!

We have really enjoyed our time here in Rockport and at Majestic Oaks RV Resort.  The folks here have been soo friendly and we've met several folks from WI.  They have alot of get togethers and activities and we have played cards several times, won a few games of bingo and played CLR dice.  Then there are the food events...biscuits and gravy with eggs on a Saturday morning, Mexican Monday dinner, ice cream socials, happy hours and many more.  

We also attended a Wisconsin Winter Texans get together at a local restaurant.  We thought maybe there would be a handful of people but there were around 200!!  Admittedly, we brought the age of the group down a bit, but enjoyed meeting fellow cheeseheads!  There was a great buffet lunch, door prizes which included fresh WI cheese curds and a 50/50 raffle.  It was pretty fun to pull into the parking lot and see a sea of WI license plates!

We were lucky enough to get free tickets again from Vet Tix for a comedy show in Corpus Christi that turned out to be pretty funny!  We can't say enough great things about Vet Tix and if you are or have served, you need to check them out!  

We have spent time driving the different shorelines and one day we drove down to the Padre Island National Seashore.  The road literally ends in the park.  This is the largest undeveloped barrier island in the world with over 70 miles of seashore on the coast, dunes and prairies.  

​We took a walk on the beach, careful to side step the man-o-war.   We then went over and checked out the Bird Island Basin campground within the park.  It's primitive camping in a parking lot basically, but what makes this so cool is that it is right on the bay where windsurfers are always out catching the breeze and boy is it breezy!

We found a couple of other nice little waterfront parks in Rockport.  There doesn't seem to be a lack of waterfront parks on the bay or gulf.  Some even have beautiful sculptures.

And lots of waterfowl, migratory and locals...

We also spent a day in Corpus Christi at the USS Lexington Museum.  This is a naval aircraft carrier that has a long, storied military history.  The self-guided tour through the ship is very well done and we really enjoyed the IMAX show recounting RIMPAC, the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise.  The deck of the Lexington even had several prior naval aircrafts, with one being actively restored. Rather than tell you about our day, here are some of the pictures

Well that pretty much wraps up our month in Rockport and also our last month on the coast.  We move inland to Fredricksburg for the month of March.

We left Crystal Beach at the end of Jan and made our way further south on the TX coast to Rockport.  We are staying at Majestic Oaks, a beautiful RV resort that has successfully made it's way back after Hurricane Harvey.  This area is the start of the "Winter Texan" area on the coast and we have alot of folks here from MN, WI, SD, Canada, etc.  There are even folks from northern TX that come here to spend the winter on the coast.  The park has a wonderful saltwater pool and hot tub, pickleball courts, sauna, workout room, laundry and a really nice gathering room including pool table and two huge tv's.  The folks are super nice and welcoming.  We have already had a great night of hand and foot and are looking forward to more.

The hot tub has become a welcome relief from the aches and pains.  Once getting here, I started to have really bad back and hip pain that made it hard to even stand and have spent time in the hot tub.  This is one of the challenges of Full Time Rv'ing in that when something comes up, you need to seek out a new provider.  Even when it comes to haircuts, you need to put your faith in new hands not to give you a buzz cut!  We have been pretty fortunate so far and here in Rockport is no different.  I found an excellent chiropractor and massage therapist that have gotten me back in order, pun intended!  :-)  

I have also started a part-time, seasonal, virtual position helping a tax firm with taxes.  I have always liked, I know, crazy right, doing ours and families taxes, and this has been a perfect fit for me.  I work with some great folks and have flexibility in when I work, which has been a godsend with the back issues!

As much as my bum back would allow, we have done some exploring of the area.  We have been out to drive the beach in Port Aransas and enjoy some great philly sandwiches at Coach's Island Grill in Port Aransas.  The best food is always at the little hole in the wall places where the locals eat!

We have also really enjoyed learning about the area and the effects Hurricane Harvey in 2017 has had on the area.  Rockport was ground zero where the eye came onshore with 150 mph winds sustained.  You can still see areas that have not been rebuilt, others that are still being rehabed and others that are better than ever.  Some RV parks like ours are bigger and better than ever.

We have met several folks from WI and are looking forward to a WI meet up at one of the local restaurants.  I suspect the conversations will include Packers, Brewers, Bucks, Badgers, some cheese curds, beer and brats thrown in for good measure!  

We also have some more games and get togethers this month and perhaps some pickleball if the back holds.  We also want to get over to Corpus Christi to tour the USS Lexington and see the sites.

Ooopppsss....
We forgot to mention a tour we took in Galveston, once we got back from the cruise.  Galveston had museum day where all of the museums had a special deal.  The Ocean Star Offshore Oil Rig Museum had a buy one, get one deal and that was even off the military rate so we got a great deal for $8.  Since the oil industry plays a big part in the TX economic and job fields, we decided this would be a good addition to our knowledge base.  

The museum was three stories, inside and outside.  It was really informative and interactive and had a nice short film on the history of oil rigs.  There were numerous displays that depicted the different types of oil rigs, the process of drilling for oil offshore and the life onboard an oil rig.  Going outside, you were able to see the actual parts to an oil rig from two different levels.  It really was interesting and afterwards, we just happened to see the movie, Deepwater Horizon and so much more of the movie made sense!  The museum paid tribute to Deepwater Horizon and crew as that was their rig. 

Until next time...