For Those Who Noticed I was "MIA"...

As some of you realized, my last blog was Jan 9th and the first 6 weeks of our Winter trip was pretty much a mix of organized mayhem and missteps...Sorry to leave you hanging, but it became a bit harder to sit in front of the computer..more about that later...
Soooo, I pretty much left you all in the Bandera/Luckenbach area...which, by the way, is a great place to be left!!
We left Cowboy town, not really sure about our next stop for 2 weeks. We had found a couple new spots to go, and it's always an adventure to "step out of your box" once in a  while...We traveled about 3 hours to an Army Corp Park called Willis Creek on Granger Lake near Taylor,  TX.

This was a very quiet place and we found out that you can extend your stay here...Food for thought..The town of Taylor was pretty cool, and we managed to find a pub or two..imagine that!

Just about 2 miles from our camper, we discovered we had yet another historic spot..

Here we have the house that was used in the filming "The Texas Chainsaw Murders" remake ...Definitely not a family classic. There is a family that now owns it, and you are discouraged from
 driving down their drive by an electric fence..Aaaalrighty then...

I also had the unexpected pleasure of inspecting theBaylor Scott & White Medical Center ER...Murpy's Law revisited me, and my back went out...out where, I'm not sure, but I got some kick-ass muscle relaxers, spent 24 hours flat on my back watching reruns of CSI, and being helped to the bathroom by my male nurse...Oh, I almost forgot..our toilet began leaking again, so MacGyver ordered a new one online for pick up at WalMart...Nothing could go wrong by ordering it, said no one ever...

On Jan. 21st, 2 days before we were to leave Willis Creek, the Federal Government shut down...SAY WHAAAAT?? We were kicked out of our site a day early and rushed to find a park to stay in..Luckily the government opened back up in time for us to go to our next reservation at Georgetown, Cedar Breaks RV Park...Yes, another Army Corp park..HEY, what can I say? We are cheap old people!!!I won't 'waste time on Georgetown, except to say that our toilet came in at their WalMart, and it was the one made for midgets..Yep, apparently a "low profile" means you squat, or in Den's case, get on your knees..Back it went and we managed to flush our current toilet manually..for a while.

Moving on to our next reservation, we were again in unchartered territory..Belton Lake, Cedar Ridge RV Park near Belton, TX..

We had a welcoming committee of Wild Turkeys and almost tame deer!! This place was really nice...

Lots of group camping areas, a nice marina and many places to walk..I would go back for sure..While surfing online for "pubs", I happened upon a unique looking older pub called Pendleton Pump.. I managed to talk Dennis into driving the 10 miles out into the middle of nowhere to see what kind of place it was..I should have known to be ready for anything when they used the words "dive bar" to describe it...

 This 100 yr old brick building has a history of being a grocery store, doctor's office, filling station and then a bar/lounge since the 1970s. Beer and setups. 2 pool tables, gaming machines, 2tvs and a juke box. Dj on Sat.  I was ready with my "flask" of  Rum..all I needed was a Coke and I was a happy girl..

 I was doing just fine until I looked up at the ceiling above me...and decided I could be drinking spiders and not know it...

Yep, this place was truly a dive bar..but Den and I loved it enough to take a selfie!!

Just two old "Yankees", tryin' to adjust as Winter Texans!!

Now that we had found one "Dive Bar", we were determined to find another...and we did...

This place was called The Monkey Barrel Bar..and we fit right in...This was an old gas station at one time...and...you had to go outside to use the bathrooms..I KID YOU NOT!!..But...guess what..The toilet seat was  heated...Ya just cannot make this shit up!

We just had to do one more selfie at the Monkey Barrel...

 

 Why are these RVers smiling, you ask..? Because they finally had to purchase a brand new RV toilet while they were in Belton...FINALLY!!!!

OK..Let's get on to our travels.....From Lake Belton, we went to yet another new place for us..We drove about 45 minutes (love me these short drives ) to Stillhouse Hollow, Harker Heights, TX...near Killeen, TX.

Another great spot...but it was soooo cold and windy!!

Ready for our morning walk...

It was from this area, we decided to take a drive to Waco and see Chip and Joanna Gaines Silos in downtown Waco...It was very neat!!

This place is quite large ..It has many gift shops, a great garden area, a bakery and there is so much to see!!!

Above is the baker in front of the silo...Of course,we had to go inside!!!

....And...we had to take some  cupcakes home!!! Another place I wanted to see near the Silos was one of the houses they did a make over on..It was called the Shotgun House, and our daughter Terrie and her girlfriends stayed in it when they went to visit the Silos...

This is called the Shotgun House because it's long and skinny...Unlike the old lady standing in front of it....

One other reason we went to Waco, TX was to drive out to the site of Branch Dividians tragic fire..There was a residence there...and when we pulled in a dog came out of a house barking...

We drove through the wrought iron gate and the dog was not going to let me out of the truck, so I took photos out of my window...

Above is a listing of every soul who lost their lives at this site..So very sad....

After an emotional visit to this site, we left through the iron gates, keeping in our thoughts of David Koresh, and the 82 of his followers..young and old right down to little babies...

I have tried to give you more of our trip to Texas this Winter...I still have most of March to cover..This is already becoming way too long, so I will post the rest of our trip in a few days..Thanks to those who were concerned why I wasn't blogging...Your worries are a non issue..I am alive and well, and still a total nut case who tries to find humor in most situations...

There's just something about Texas......

When we decided to come to Texas this year instead of Florida, we knew it was going to be a totally different type of trip...Usually, it's not as warm, less traffic (except near the big, big cities), more music and a totally different type of "wild life". Our first month of Texas travel was done in the Piney Woods and the Canyon Lake area..two totally different places. On Jan 1st, we began our New Year by driving to Bandera TX for our next week's reservation at Skyline Ranch RV Park. We had never been there before, but it was one of the few places that still had reservations open..

 This is where they have cook outs at the RV park.

 This is their Rec Hall...

Here is a view of some of the spots...They are full hook up, $200 a week for 50 amp and they have good monthly rates too. They have a couple laundries, but some of the machines don't work (as usual).

 The property the RV park sits on goes right down to the Medina River, which is just beautiful..and you can meet some real characters along the way..

Bandera, TX is a really fun town..and that area is true cowboy area...I do mean real ranchers and ranch hands. On the weekends it is a very busy place, with lots of tourists in town..and lots of Yankees..like us....and some people made a horse's ass of themselves.

 Yep, horses and cowboys every where.

 I am standing next to a Remington sculpture...amazing!

I'm pretty sure these card players got into a gunfight after we left..and someone was shot and killed..just sayin'.

We visited a couple famous "saloons" in town..The first was called The 11th Street Saloon..on 11th street..Really old, lots of lost undergarments hanging from the ceiling...

That would be Dennis, pretending he didn't notice the bra behind him..

We also visited another great place in the basement of an old building called Arkey Blue's Silver Dollar Saloon..It has been owned by Arkey Blue for 45 years..and he and his band still play there...In fact many famous country singers have played here...Below is the door that goes down the steps...

This is the view of the steps from the inside..

Yep, they even have saw dust on the floor...

One more reason we loved our RV park in Bandera...It was one short walk across a parking lot to the Wildhorse Saloon...Yep, no driving for this good time!! AND, they had a dance hall and a band Saturday night!!

This here Cowboy left his cowboy hat at home...but I liked his look and went home with him...

I know this is long, but I have to get in a few photos of Luckenbach..Yep, we made it there too from Bandera on a day trip..It wasn't very busy, and the weather was cool and windy, but that doesn't stop us!

We had a great time..Some of the entertainment was pretty lame, though...

Not sure who this old broad is, but she couldn't sing at all..And who wears a Chicago Bears sweatshirt with Texas cowboy boots anyway??
Yep, hangin' with Waylon and Willie , and the boys!!

..."Ain't nobody feelin' no pain.."