Ice Cream, Independence and a President

 Location: Rocky Creek Corps of Engineers Campground on Somerville Lake about 1-1/2 hours northwest of Houston, Texas

Today is day 5 of 5 here at this pretty good COE campground. I'm glad I transferred two days from the National Forest campground to here. It's been a good basecamp to explore the area and a nice, peaceful campground.

Travel picture. Taken between the campground and College Station. I hope she still enjoys them.

Another travel picture because I like solitary trees.

A herd of deer make their home in the campground. They were not very afraid of me and that should worry them. 

That's Freedom and Liberty on the left. The rig on the right belongs to a couple that plans to hit the road later this year. Safe travels to ya'll and enjoy the freedom.

I found a "thinking bench" inside the campground but it hadn't been cleaned in a long time, so I didn't try it out. I did find a nice picnic table in a vacant campsite with a nice view of the water. It was a perfect day with the temp in 70's and about a 10-mph breeze blowing. Note, if you see just a few whitetop on the waves, the wind speed is around 8 to 11 mph. It's funny how some of that old Navy training sticks with you. 

Just like the herd of deer in the campground, there is also a flock of Turkey Buzzards. About an hour or so before I took this picture, I had poured some old bacon grease in that firepit. None of them pecked around in the pit but they knew something was in the area. They visited for about 30 minutes before going on their way. 

I was only able to get one Sunrise due to the weather and overcast. I was disappointed because I chose this campsite because the sun would be rising right out Liberty's door. 

Same sunrise from the picture above. A strong storm system blew through here last night, so I have hopes of getting a nice sunrise in the morning before moving on. 

About a half hour south of here is the town of Brenham, Texas. I'm sure they are known for many things but to me it is Blue Bell Ice Cream. They started out 1907 making butter with the name of the company being Brenham Creamery Company. Four years later they branched out into making ice cream. At that time, their top production was two gallons per day. In 1930 they changed the name to Blue Bell Creameries named after the blue bell wildflowers (not the same as bluebonnets). They kept growing and now sell ice cream in 24 states. You can visit their factory in Brenham and watch from an observation deck as the ice cream is made and packaged. You can't take pictures of that operation so don't look for any here. They do sale a cup of any flavor for $1.00. At first, I thought that was a heck of deal, but then I figured, at 16 cups in a gallon, they were charging $16.00 a gallon. Disillusion took over my body, but you know what,,,I still enjoyed that cup of ice cream.

The second exploration was to town of Washington-on-the-Brazos. First, Brazos is a river that runs from west Texas to the Gulf Coast near Freeport, Texas. The towns claim-to-fame is that it is the location where delegates from around Texas came together to declare their Independence from Mexico. The Texas version of Philadelphia. That was back in 1836. About ten years later, Texas became the 28th state. Some believe that was the ultimate goal of a plot between Sam Houston and Andrew Jackson. Anyway, it all worked out pretty good for everyone except Mexico. Texas has created a nice State Park with tons of information and a place to spend a few hours if you're passing through this part of Texas. One of the things I found interesting was the town of Washington-on-the Brazos was approached by the railroads as they were beginning to install tracks across Texas. The city told the railroad "No thanks, we will continue relying on the two Riverboats that were working on the Brazos". After a few years, they realized they made a dumbass mistake. Note, there is no railroad running through that town today, but the riverboats left more than 150 years ago. 

The entrance to the State Historic Site

This was a re-worked dog-trot style home belonging to a former President of the Republic of Texas. (not Sam Houston)

They have a working farm at the Historic Site with people dressed in the clothes of the time. They also plow the fields using a pair of oxen. 

The third and last exploration was the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library on the Texas A&M campus in College Station, Texas. As with most Presidential Libraries, they paint that President in the best light. Bush Sr., wasn't one of my favorite presidents, but I do respect the Office of the President and the positions he held in our government. Both he and his wife, Barbara, are buried on the library grounds. Side note; they were married for 73 years, making their marriage the longest of any presidential couple. I would rank the library a 4 out of 10. Of the presidential libraries I've been to, Herbert Hoover still ranks in first with a score of about 7 out of 10. Still Bush's library is worth a visit. 

This is the only picture I took of the library. Nothing really caught my interest or my eye while inside.

Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be heading to another COE campground. This will be a return visit, so I hope I don't taint good memories from the first visit.  

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.      

The Best-laid Plans of Mice and Men ,,,,,,,

 Two campgrounds, one post.

Cagle Campground (National Forest); Willis, Texas

Rocky Creek Campground (COE); Brenham, Texas

The title of this post does NOT come from John Steinbeck like I thought. I figured it was from his book, "Of Mice and Men". Apparently, he stole lifted plagiarized borrowed the phrase from a poem going back 150 years to Robert Burns. See what the curse of the internet does to a person. I thought of a phrase for the post and was curious as to its origin. Google AI answered quickly and I fell down that rabbit-hole for about 30 minutes or so. It sure beats having to find a World Book or Encyclopedia Brittanica like it was in my childhood. All the information in the world (except what the government hides) is available at our fingertips. Amazing times.

Anyway, back to how the title applies to me. The main purpose of this trip was to get Liberty's wheel bearings greased. Initially, I planned to go to the Camping World just west of Houston but changed to Holiday World RV in Willis, Texas. I called and thought I made it clear to Service Rep Germaine that I didn't want my wheels broken down to clean and repack my bearings. All I wanted was to have them greased through my EZ lube spindle as designed my Dexter Axles. He said "Ok, not a problem". I elaborated about the process I was wanting and told him my concerns about pneumatic grease guns applying too much pressure that could blow out the bearing seal thereby putting grease directly on the brakes. He assured me that they knew exactly what they were doing and I shouldn't worry. I got a good vibe and set up an appointment time. 

My "best-laid plan" was to camp for two days in Double Lake National Forest Campground and on the third day, tow Liberty the 20 miles to the RV Service place. After the work, I would move to Cagle National Forest Campground about 15 miles away and stay there for 3 days. Well, as I was checking in at the service center, Germaine (a young guy that probably couldn't spell the word "bearing") kept mentioning inspecting and repacking the bearings. I politely told him again what I wanted done. He called the service manager, who was probably in his early 30's, to explain it all to me. I, in turn, explained to him what I wanted. He said he understood but that they didn't do that. He said there was too much of a risk when using a pneumatic grease gun. I said, I know, that's why I mentioned it when setting up the appointment. He looked at me puzzled and said, "do you want us to use a pistol grip, hand operated grease gun?" At that point I had had enough. I didn't lose my cool like I would have in my younger days. I simply said, "No thanks, I'm out of here" and climbed into Freedom and drove off.

I figured three days in the National Forest would ease my hurt feelings as to not recognizing the BS Germaine had fed me on the phone when I set up the appointment. The campground was heavily wooded without a cell phone signal. I set up Starlink but it would not penetrate the trees enough to give a reliable signal. The connection would come and go depending on the location of the satellite it was locking on to. With the mood I was in, I wasn't staying there for three days. So, I grabbed my laptop and drove to a Burger King where I could pick up a cell signal to create a hotspot. I canceled the last 2 days at Cagle and booked those 2 days here at Rocky Creek. I was lucky about being able to add 2 days on the front of my existing reservation at the same campsite. So, I'm here at Rocky Creek COE Campground for 5 days instead of 3. That's OK with me since there is enough things to explore, if the weather cooperates. It's a great campsite with blazing cell phone and Starlink. My blood pressure immediately dropped when I saw my campsite. No more National Forest Campgrounds for me. I hope I remember that in the future.     

So, even though I'm not a mouse whose home was plowed up by a farmer, I feel as though I wasted time as my plans fell through. Oh well, looking forward, not backwards. 

And remember, everything happens for a reason.

My campsite in Cagle National Forest. The canopy was so tight it felt like a rainforest or at least like places in the Pacific Northwest. Without reliable cell/internet connection, it just felt weird. Bad vibes, not dangerous vibes, just bad. Almost like bad Ju-ju. So, I left. 

My campsite at Rocky Creek COE Campground. Peaceful, clear, open, level and near places that need exploring. "Good deal, Lucille". 

The view out my door. When it's not overcast, the sun will be rising in that direction.

The view out my back window while sitting at my laptop. At least 100 purple martin birds were flying back there last evening. They are helping make this area a "mosquito-free zone".

 We can't change the wind, but we can adjust our sails.

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.

How About a National Forest Campground

 Double Lake Recreation Area Campground; Coldspring, Texas (about an hour or so north of Houston)

I'm camped in a National Forest campground. Although it's eligible for the senior discount like the COE's, it is a little more expensive. The campground is heavily wooded, duh, it a National Forest. I have an opening to the northern sky for my Starlink since I only have a weak Verizon signal. The tow here was only a little over 100 miles but my cell signal went from 5g UW to one bar. But that is the reason I got Starlink for instances just like this. I like staying in touch. Not like the Hippies,,,, but just in touch.

I took this picture while on my morning walk at Rayburn Park before hitching up. Peaceful

My road picture. The pastures were mostly empty. The set-up was very nice for horses or cattle. There has to be a story as to the lack of animals. A mystery that will never be solved. 

I chose this campground since it is only about 30 miles from the RV dealer where I have reservations for tomorrow to have some service work done. I'll arrive at around 9:00 am and figure to be finished by noon. I'll then head to my next campground that is another 20 miles away. If it all works as I have planned, it should be a good deal. 

My campsite here at Double Lake. It took two 1X8's to level side to side, but that's OK. I doubt I'll ever return, but it is a comfortable campground with full-hookups. 

I had hopes of some exploring this area even if I was only here for two days. Google Maps showed a couple of "observation spots" to see the dam, gates and powerhouse on Lake Livingston. So, with a bottle of water I headed out. I was in for a shock. As I turned into the first spot, there was a sign saying I needed a pass to get to the spot. The pass could be obtained from a gas station/convenience store nearby. I wasn't going to do that simply on principal. So, I drove to the next spot and saw a similar sign. Apparently, all of the "observation spot" were privately owned. I understood the lake was not built and maintained by the Corps of Engineers, but to block access from even seeing the lake was just plain wrong. The only place I was allowed to go was a bust as to seeing anything. I was disappointed. 

I had thoughts about ignoring the sign until I read "strictly enforced". Oh well. 

I got this picture while crossing the bridge on a public road. No Pass needed. 

I was able to get a picture of the San Jacinto County Jail that was built back in 1886. It was still in service until 1980. It's a two-story brick building with the prisoners kept on the second floor and the jailers lived on the first floor. I couldn't get in to see it because was locked up tight. Perhaps it was to keep the spirits locked inside because the online reviews of the place mentioned some weird things. I didn't pick up any bad vibes, so I was cool with the place. It definitely isn't a destination place, but if you're in the area, it is worth a stop.

The San Jacinto County Jailhouse that was in service for almost 100 years. And NO, I did not try out the bench on the right. In fact, I'm not even going to call it out as a thinking bench. 

Tomorrow is moving day and I have my fingers crossed that the service work will be done correctly.

Not much proof reading, so bear with me. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.   

Rayburn Park; Peaceful COE Campground

 Rayburn Park; on the shores of Lake Sam Rayburn which is about an hour or so north of Beaumont, Texas or for my Yankee friends, about 2 hours northeast of Houston, Texas.

I stayed at this campground two years ago when I ran from cold weather and went to Galveston until it passed. I stopped here on my way back to my homebase. I told myself I would return due to the good vibes I had of the campground. That is why I'm here now on day 3 of 3. Moving day is tomorrow. 

I planned to get here on Friday but due to rain in Manfield (homebase) and also here, I delayed arriving until yesterday after the rain front had moved on. I think it was a wise choice and only cost me the price of one day's stay here which is $14.00. 

I conquered some memory demons two years ago while staying here and I guess their relatives got pissed because they started coming out to play a few weeks before I left on this trip. I'm guessing they smelled the rotted corpses of their kinfolk when I pulled into Rayburn Park since they immediately "hauled ass", probably fearful the same thing would happen to them. It is a great, peaceful, good vibe campground with a nice walking area and an excellent view of the lake from Liberty's back window. If you come, bring what supplies you will need for your stay since the nearest big store is at least an hour away. There is a small store/cafe about 10 minutes away though, for emergencies, including cheeseburger emergencies. It is mainly a "kick-back, relax and let things evaporate from you" type of campground. The hosts are nice and keeps the park looking clean and fresh. 

Lake Sam Rayburn was named after Congressman Sam Rayburn who holds the record as the longest serving Speaker of the House with 17 years. He was in Congress for 48 years between 1913 and 1961. He did a lot for Texas and is deserving of the lake being named after him. The lake is the largest man-made lake located totally inside of Texas. The hydroelectric dam is on the other side of the lake and too far from me to travel to see it. There is another COE campground nearer the dam that I may stay at in the future. 

I guess pictures will finish out this post. It's a nice place to start the trip.

My obligatory road picture for "she knows who".

Campsite #41 with Lake Sam Rayburn in the background. There are a couple campsites that would be better suit for hot summer days, but this time of year, this one is good for me.

 

The view out my back window as I'm sitting at my computer desk. 

I liked the reflection in the door. That door has confused a few birds over the years.

Although I don't use picnic tables very often, This is one of the better ones I've seen. You can also see the pride in the concrete work with 45* chamfered edges. Nice and noticeable. 

A decent sunset. I'm standing on the parking lot of the boat. The campground is behind me about 50 yards or so. 

Nice afterglow from the sunset.

This is the graveyard of the previously vanquished memory demons. I had to stop while on my walk to laugh at them. Good vibes everywhere.

This was a unique set-up in the Tent area of the campground. To me, it looked like a truck mounted tree house. The couple who own it were nice people and we visited for a little while. Happy travels to ya'll. I would call ya'll out by name, but I'm terrible at remembering them. Sorry.

This wasn't from this trip. It was taken after my granddaughter's school play a couple of weeks before I left. She did a great job and since it was a musical, she sang a few songs. She has a sweet voice, that she didn't get from me.  That is her in the middle, not on the left. The woman on the left is my X-wife, current friend. 

Moving day is tomorrow and I'll be heading to a National Forest Campground near Livingston, Texas. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.

Let's Take a Trip & Random Thoughts

 Location: Heart of Haynesville RV Park (homebase); Mansfield, Louisiana

I've been back at homebase for several months with only a short 10-day trip in late January which I took to escape sub-freezing temperatures. The time has been spent visiting with family over the holidays, going to grandchildren events, consulting with my doctors as well as accompanying my ex-wife during her doctors' appointments. 

I have a few weeks of free time and can take a short trip. As a side benefit, I plan to have some maintenance work done on Liberty while on the trip. The trip will only last a few weeks because I need to be back in the area during June due to my ex-wife's doctor appointment. I guess I need to document her condition for future reading by our grandchildren. I won't go into all of her conditions, since they are extensive. Her latest procedure from about 6 weeks ago was the installation of a Carotid Barostim device. This is a recently approved device that is implanted near your collarbone and connected to the outside of your Carotid Artery in your neck called the "carotid sinus". It is the place where your body collects signals and forwards them to the brain for action. That action could be to increase or decrease blood pressure, pulse or anything from the sympathetic nervous system such as fight or flight reflexes. The barostim device blocks those signals and sends their own. This improves heart functions for those in heart failure. We are still in the wait and see stage as to its effectiveness. They have been increasing its sensitivity every couple of weeks. It is now set to the highest maintenance setting. The doctors' meeting in June will be to discuss a different procedure. That one will be to add a second wire from her defibrillator/pacemaker to her heart. This was attempted a couple of years ago, but that doctor couldn't do it due to poor veins. There is a group of doctors in Dallas who are confident they can do it. If the second wire can be installed, it will allow the two chambers of the heart to work together instead of against each other. It will be a benefit if it can happen. She is about 90% sure she wants to try it, but we will wait until mid-June to talk to the doctors again. The good news is it isn't an emergency type situation.

 Two of our kids live close enough to take her to the doctor and be the "patient advocate", but instead of bothering them, if I'm around, I do it. I'm very familiar with her past medical issues and her current conditions. I'm also not too proud to question the doctors about things. It keeps them on their toes. Just for the record, we were married for 28 years and have been divorced for 20 years. Oh well, old habits are hard to break. 

Anyway, back to the trip. I'll be leaving on May 1st with two stops before a scheduled appointment at Holiday World of Willis located in Willis, Texas. They have several RV Sales and Service locations around Texas and New Mexico so I'm relatively confident that the technicians are well trained. I still have my doubts though. The work I have scheduled is to have the bearings greased on Liberty and have her washed and waxed. I am capable of doing all of that myself, but I also know that if I did, my back, hands, arms and legs would be hurting for several days afterwards. So, I made an executive decision to contract the work out and cross my fingers that it's done right. I'll be talking to the service manager to make sure he knows that I know, what they should and shouldn't be doing. Unless their insurance prevents it, I'm hoping to be looking over the shoulder of the technician doing the work. We will see how it goes. 

This is the route I've chosen. There will be 6 COE's and 2 National Forest Campgrounds. I've stayed at a couple of these places in the past but re-reading my blog I had mentioned about coming back. Either way, it will be good to get away for a while. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.    

70 Years Old Tomorrow and Memories

 Location: Heart of Haynesville RV Park (home base); Mansfield, Louisiana

As I enter my eighth decade of life, I’ve become a little more retrospective. Lately I’ve been thinking about and remembering people, places, things and ideas. Wow, that was an elementary school year flashback, using the definition of a noun. Oh well, I guess it fits in with my pensive mood lately.

At some point in my life, I went from spending most of my time looking forward and planning my future to looking backwards at my past and what was or what could have been. I’m guessing that break point is when you realize the days you have left are less than those you’ve already used. It becomes a combination of some regrets and some “patting myself on the back”. I don’t think I spent enough time just enjoying the present. That is a life lesson I learned too late. But dang, the present moves so fast and changes constantly. It doesn’t feel that way when living it daily, but when you stop and look, it just zips by you in a  hurry. One minute your children are crawling on the floor, the next you’re helping them with algebra at the dining room table. Turn around again and they are receiving their diploma at graduation before heading off to a life of their own. And that is the combined sad and happy thing, “a life of their own”.

I remember myself as a twenty-year-old planning a cross-country motorcycle trip. I’m about 99% sure I won’t be taking it now. That was a youthful dream. I bought the motorcycle and double checked my plans. The plan was to travel and explore the country during the day and sleep in wooded places alongside the road while using my motorcycle and a tarp as a windbreak/bedroll. There was no time limit on the plan, and I fully intended to do it until I either ran out of money or got bored. But then, like so many times, my plans changed when life got in the way. I sold the motorcycle within a year of buying it. With it being only a year old, it was a quick, albeit emotional sale. Notice I’ve held back 1% on the motorcycle trip because that is another life lesson I’ve learned, never say never and expect the unexpected.

I enlisted in the Navy when I was seventeen years old. That was back in the early seventies when the Vietnam War and Hippie movement were both winding down. Veterans were coming home and being spit on while being called “baby killers”. Active-duty military were encouraged not to wear their uniforms to avoid possible conflicts. Combine that social environment with Watergate and you get a mood that wasn’t very patriotic. Being realistic and looking back on it fifty years later, I know the reason for my enlistment was a combination of patriotism and a sense of adventure. Those four years reinforced the foundation of my life that my parents had started. Honor, truth and respect. Those life lessons have stayed with me to this day.

I stumbled on my first love while I was in the Navy. I was drowning in love and life was great. Then she showed her true colors and broke my heart. I like to believe that she felt guilty about deceiving me, but she probably knew I was wising up to what she was doing. So, after happily swimming in love for three whole months we went our separate ways, and I drowned in heart-break. I had been broken. I hadn’t yet learned another life lesson. When two people are in a loving relationship and one is “living a lie”, that lie only affects the other person when it becomes known. Prior to the lie becoming known, the person only knows the love of the relationship. Ignorance is truly bliss, until the truth is known. Of course, the truth was she was a cheater and a liar. I hope her son turned out to be a solid, well-adjusted man. I pointed him in the right direction, but our time was very short. The odds were against him though, due to the influence of his mother. Maybe she met a stronger man than me who helped turn her life around. Fingers crossed. *** Begin Post-edit. The boy was not mine. He was 3 years old when I met his mother. Someone pointed out the possible confusion in the original post. *** End Post-Edit

Those were just some of my thoughts about a part of my life. I read something the other day that applies here. "If we erase all of our regrets and mistakes in life, we ultimately erase ourselves". That's a bingo, come check my card. 

This blog has never been totally about traveling. I use it sometimes as a way to talk to my grandchildren in the future. Someday, maybe 30 years from now they will read the words I wrote on the day before my 70th birthday.

A blog post needs a picture. Tonight, there will be two oldies, but goodies but are applicable to the subject at hand.

A nice sunrise over the Gulf of America while parked on the beach. I was camped at Mustang Island State Park, near Corpus Christie, Texas. 

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean from a beach near Fort Stevens State Park Campground, Oregon. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.  

Trip Wrap-up & a Random Thought

 Location: Sam Houston Jones State Park; Westlake, Louisiana (about 10 minutes north of Lake Charles)

Today is day nine of my self-exile to the safe temperatures of southern Louisiana. I head home tomorrow and should be set up in my old RV homebase campground my mid-afternoon. The temperature should be in the low 50's by the time I get there. The electric company says the power has been restored to the campground, but I don't trust them 100%, so we will see. The linemen and workers are great, but the company overall is less than trustworthy. The absolute best question the head shed of any electric company should ask of their linemen/workers is: "If power goes off in your area and you haven't been notified where the problem is located what would be your best guess as to the location". The problem area is usually always the same. Why they don't permanently fix it is beyond me. 

I'll be hitching up tomorrow morning with hopes of being on the road by 10:00. I'll empty my waste tanks while I'm hitching up since I have full hook ups here. I'll also take on some fresh water since the water at my homebase is questionable due to the number of water line breaks. 

As far as my future trips? I'll be staying put through February and then also be close by but on short trips through March and two weeks in April. I'll be hanging close by due to grandkid activities. I plan to be in Louisville, Kentucky in May for my granddaughters' archery tournament. This will be the second year for this event in Louisville. After that, I'm not sure but am leaning to re-visiting Michigan. Every state except for Rhode Island and Delaware would be a re-visit for me. I wish I could access Malia Lane's blog of her travels through Michigan but about a year after she passed away, her blog was erased and her domain name sold. All the work she did and words she wrote for almost 20 years of solo RV traveling went away with a single click. There is a lesson there to learn if you're wanting your grandkids or great grandkids to read what you've written. 

I'm a little tired this evening so I'll just finish the post with a couple old winter pictures and a meme with a thinking bench.

This was at my homebase for a few years ago with the first Liberty and Freedom. I didn't escape that time.

This from a few years ago when I visited Rocky Mountain National Park. Once the road turned white, the temperature dropped below freezing and I could see Freedom's tracks in my rearview mirror, I turned around. Great memory. Big "wow".

Emerson was right. That is something to ponder when you find that "just right" thinking bench.

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.