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To view the photos click on “Photos March 2007” above.
We drove to the German Deli (< - - please click) which specializes in on-line orders but also has a store in Southlake, TX. After we had finished our shopping, we “toured” north of Dallas. One can see how prosperous the area is by the new housing being constructed everywhere you look.
camp site. Lobo had to stay “home” while we went to the city. We drove to Kuby’s Sausage House (a German butcher and restaurant) where we had lunch. David and Lee had lived in Germany for over twenty years, speak fluent German and know all of the German restaurants and specialty stores in the Dallas area. This area has more German-oriented stores than any other place we have seen (outside of Germany itself!). After we had eaten our Schnitzels, Bratwurst, etc., we visited the adjoining store and bought a Leberkäse and some good German bread. David then took us on a tour of the Southern Methodist University and the neighboring old section of town. We then visited another German store where we bought Teewurst and Brötchen. Before taking us back to the camp site, David took us by Lee’s parents to meet them. Lee’s mother is from Vienna, Austria. After arriving back at the camp site, we called Best Buy in Tyler and were informed that the laptop was ready for pickup. |
We drove to Tyler that evening and picked it up, and upon returning found out that it was in worse shape than before. Numerous functions would not work and the external power plug had apparently been broken somewhere inside the computer. We decided to wait until we got to Killeen before turning it back in again. The weekend remained sunny but cool, and on Saturday we drove to IKEA and bought a new bed for Lobo. On Sunday we worked on the travel journal and prepared for our departure the following day. Monday, March 5th we left Wylie, TX. In Fort Worth we took a short break to stop at Camping World, and then drove on to West Fort Hood, outside of Killeen. The camp sites were exceptionally narrow without even enough room to park the truck beside the RV. The awning was about 15 inches from touching the side of the RV next to us. But we stayed there for 2½ weeks since we had many things to accomplish and Sue and Ken Barnard (old friends from White Sands) live there. Our son, Michael and their son, Donny were good friends when they were 9-10 years old. Wayne, (Donny’s younger brother) was their tag-along when we lived at White Sands in 1978. We had several tasks to accomplish so we didn’t meet the Barnards until Thursday. We turned in the laptop to Best Buy immediately since we knew it would take some time to get it back. Renée bought herself a new sewing machine at Sears and gave her two year old Aldi machine to the Goodwill. It was just not sturdy enough to even do normal repairs on a pair of jeans. After arriving at Killeen we noticed a bubble on the side of an RV tire and took it to Sears to be replaced. They didn’t have one in stock and it had to be ordered. On Thursday afternoon we finally met the Barnards again after almost 25 years. We had a lot to talk about and the time really flew by. Sue fixed a delightful supper and both of their sons were there as well as Wayne’s 10 year old son, Kain, who lives with his father in Killeen. Donny was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder (Lord Byron, Ludwig van Beethoven, Virginia Woolf, Vincent van Gogh, August Strindberg, Hermann Hesse, Ernest Hemingway and Thomas Edison also suffered from it). Donny lives with his parents who help him with his medical problems. He was also recently diagnosed with diabetes. The only person missing was Michael (see photos)! He missed a very nice evening. During the next week we got together several times. Sue spent a couple of afternoons and evenings with us at the RV Park and Renée visited Sue one day and in the evening Chuck brought Lobo and a Popeye special for supper. Ken is the manager at a bowling alley at Fort Hood and works several evenings and on weekends and was often not home when we visited. Samantha, their dachshund, was not enthusiastic about Lobo’s visit to her house and it took a few visits for her to accept him. Abby, the pug, accepted him much more readily. On Thursday, March 15th we invited the Barnards to their favorite restaurant “Mi Casa es su Casa” in Killeen (see photos). Ken and Renée had the Chile Relleno special. The following day both of them had stomach problems. The other participants did not have the same experience. Donny had other things planned that evening and Kain was with his mother in Dallas. The following day Chuck went to Best Buy to pick up the laptop. After having so much trouble the last time, he made a very thorough check of it before leaving the store. After arriving home, he turned it on and the hard disk crashed! He immediately took it back to the store. One could hear the disk crunching along and not booting up so the problem was obvious. Instead of sending it back again, they replaced the hard drive in the store. The following day it was ready. Moral: Always buy the extended warranty! We spent a few more days in Killeen. Kain wanted to see the RV so after he returned from Dallas, Sue brought him over after school. On March 22nd we were invited for a very nice supper at the Barnards. The following morning we left Killeen. We drove on Texas 190 westward and spent the night at a picnic area shortly past Menard. For supper we had grilled ribs cooked on the grill. Chuck slept poorly that night because of allergies. We weren’t in much of a hurry so after breakfast he went back to bed and slept some more while Renée and Lobo took a long walk. We left at 12:15, driving to Fort Stockton where we spent the next night at Wal-Mart. It was quite a windy night and the following day the weather had changed from overcast to a bright clear sky. The Yuccas were in full bloom everywhere (see photos). We arrived in Alpine, TX via US 67 and about 6½ miles south on Texas 118 we stopped at the La Vista RV Resort. After the tight RV spaces in Killeen, this was paradise (see photos). Sunday, March 25th was a lazy day for us but on Monday we went to Alpine to look around. In the Holland Hotel (< - - please click) we discovered the Edelweiss Brewery and Restaurant, run by a German from Bavaria. The menu had quite a selection of German specialties but they were out of the Schaschlik that Chuck ordered, so he had to select something else. Renée ordered a ham/asparagus dish but when it came, the cook had made and served an entirely different dish. To top it off, the waitress came by with an ice water pitcher and filled her sparkling mineral water with plain ice water! (Not the worse that has ever happened, though. She once had her wine cooler refilled with iced tea!) After all of this was corrected and she received what she had ordered, it was quite good, and had even a better after-taste when we received the bill with her drink and food free of charge. We decided to return one day soon to try the Zigeuner schnitzel. After lunch we drove to Fort Davis (< - - please click). After touring the fort (see photos) we returned via Marfa and Alpine through the blooming Yuccas (see photos) to our camp ground. The following day we visited the Mc Donald Observatory (< - - please click) northwest of Fort Davis (see photos). While there we noticed the Bavarian and German flags being flown (see photos) at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope and soon discovered the reason: (http: //www.astro.psu.edu/het/) (< - -please click). The observatory tour lasted several hours and was quite interesting. After the tour we took TX 118 and 116 through the Davis Mountains, then back to Fort Davis where we had dinner at the Hotel Limpia (< - - please click). It was already dark when we arrived back at the RV park. The last days of March were warm and sunny and we lazily enjoyed them. We did return to the Edelweiss to try the Schnitzel. They were quite good; the beer-batter fries excellent but the salad portions were skimpy. On the last day of March we left the La Vista RV Resort and headed toward Terlingua with plans to stay at an RV Park we had read about on the Internet. When we arrived, we noticed that the park was quite barren. A man came out of the restaurant on the grounds and informed us that we could park there but there were no longer any electric, water or sewer hook-ups. A few miles further westward we found a dusty RV Park without shade but with full hook-ups. There were also no pet restrictions or leash laws nor a long list of “shalt-nots.” Life in these parts seems a lot more relaxed and without a lot of the confining guidelines brought on by modern civilization. Terlingua and nearby Study Butte have a Motel, two gas stations, several Mexican restaurants and a convenience store, but do not include the full range of modern conveniences. It takes a special kind of person to be willing to live in this environment which seems to be conducive to eccentrics and individualists. One of the more colorful inhabitants recently passed away. Judy Magers (the Burro Lady) roamed this area for twenty years on her Burro (more....) (< - - please click). Not far from the present day settlement of Terlingua is the Terlingua Ghost Town which became defunct after the Quicksilver mines were closed. We spent the evening there to explore (see photos). To be continued in April 2007. |
Travel Journal March 2007
Our Motto: Home is, where our RV is.
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| Paisano Pete, once the world's largest roadrunner, welcomes travellers to Fort Stockton, TX |
| To see the current world's larges roadrunner |
