This is the rest of the trip, where we actually make it to Texas…sorry to leave you hanging for so long! I am obviously not blogging as frequently as I initially said I would!!!
After the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, we headed onto Texas. Wow, did we see Texas, oil fields that is, black gold. We went through miles upon miles upon miles of new drilling sites. We passed SO many Sand Box trucks, we had to Google what they were! Passed a TON of little worker cities, nice-like temporary structures set up so many miles apart because the crews it takes to run these operations is incredible. Almost 100 miles of this, for almost 2 hours, in the dark, on a single lane road, all under construction, due to all of the new drilling sites. Lights of these new sites can be seen for miles and miles out into the distance, on either side of the road. It wasn’t until we hit Pecos, TX that the volume of trucks slowed down and then we were driving through the more mature oil/fracking sites. Phew, it was absolutely crazy and very stressful driving at night. Spent the night in Fort Stockton, TX
San Antonio for a few nights.
Walked the river walk, which was pretty cool - horrible picture! I was trying to get the "taxi" boat in the background.
Besides the horrible picture, the only problem we ran into was that we got there so late, by the time we checked out every place to eat, when we went back to the one, we thought was the best, they were closing down! Can’t actually remember now where we ended up, but it was a nice night and we enjoyed sitting on the river.
Next day I had to work and then we went to the Alamo. In hindsight, wish I had taken the day or afternoon off. We didn’t realize we needed to buy tickets ahead of time, so we got there a little late and had to do a self-tour. Saw the church with the many layers of history built into the walls and then the long barracks with the many layers of history in the flooring. What an amazing, beautiful site, yet sad sight. Travel times stunk back then!
Next morning, we were off to Corpus Christi. FINALLY, warm weather. We could wear shorts!!! Had lunch at Blackbeard's Seafood Restaurant Corpus Christi | Blackbeard's on the Beach (blackbeards.restaurant). Really good food. We took a short walk over to the USS Lexington and did that tour. It was cool; saw sleeping quarters, the galley, barber shop, medic, etc. It was incredible and such tiny spaces!
That afternoon, we headed to Austin, TX to stay for 3 days. It was late the first night, so went straight to bed, but this was a great park - Oak Forest RV Resort. Oak Forest RV Resort | RV Park Austin TX | Roberts Resorts. Hot showers, level sites, nicely spaced, great dog parks, etc.
Next day we did a tour of 3-4 food truck parks. Not what you’d expect in Illinois, as these food truck parks are more “permanent” in nature. Not like Brothers’ BBQ Food Truck Events and Catering | BROTHERS' BBQ FOOD TRUCK (brothersbbqfoodtruck.com) where the truck pulls into a new location every day/night. These trucks don’t move. A few were good, others not so much. At least we can say we saw and we tried.
Lunch the next day was at a local, family-owned BBQ joint down the street that was really good. The chicken was so juicy and tasty. Took the dogs to a park for a walk, they had been cooped up for too long and we needed to walk off our lunch!
For dinner we went to Terry Black’s BBQ Home | Terry Black's BBQ (terryblacksbbq.com). OMG, hands down the absolute BEST brisket I have ever had. That’s all they do is brisket and links made from extra pieces of brisket. What an operation! You get your sides first and you bring your tray to the register. They ask, “brisket or links”, then proceed to cut each, right then and there; hot, fresh and oh so yummy!!!! I was in heaven. Bought a shirt that says “Feed me brisket and call me pretty”. So amazing!!
Spent that evening doing laundry (ugh) but we did enjoy the hot tub and swimming pool in between loads. Met a few people who worked at Tesla, one guy working on the SUV batteries and 2 contractors. It was interesting conversation.
Headed up to Dallas the next day. What crazy roads and toll ways and some people drive WAY to fast. Had to see an accident on just about every highway we were on. Definitely a lot of defensive driving on our part. Unfortunately, we drove a LOT around Dallas that first day. I plugged in the wrong campground address and ended up on the northeast side of Dallas. We should have been due south of Dallas. Oops. Upon arrival, the campground “appeared” ok. There were a few other campers. We built a campfire, cooked dinner on the grill, had a drink and just enjoyed the outdoors. That night at 2 am, a pack of coyotes came around - Jax went nuts barking, Kyle was wiggin’ out and Jim and I both swore one howled not more that 5 feet from the camper window. We definitely kept the dogs on a short leash after that.
Next day we toured Dallas some more, looking at new campgrounds, ones that were less "nature" and isolated. I was afraid that if I was drug off into the woods, no one would hear me scream!! It was that bad! We looked at one campground out west before we met up with Jim’s friend Jay for lunch. We looked at another that would be closer to the office on the northside of Dallas. We both loved it, but it had a few drawbacks; right near the highway and way more expensive. I figured it was worth it though, work was 30-40 minutes away and it was less than a year old; clean and nice amenities, hot, clean showers with great water pressure, and 3 dog parks!! I signed up. Lake Shore RV Resort LakeShore RV Resort :: New Campground on Lake Ray Hubbard, Garland, Texas.
Went back to coyote-ville and told them I was outta there come Monday morning. We moved the camper the next morning and then Tuesday Jim was flying back to Illinois. Where did the time go?? Had a great time, a little awkward at first, but we fell back into a groove and really enjoyed our time spent together. See you in April Jim, unless we can work something out before then. Fly safe, will miss you!
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