Goodbye Texas and Stuck in Oklahoma

Sunset on Lake Eufaula.

Our last stop in Texas was two nights at a fabulous Harvest Host site. We arrived at Out 2 Pasture Ranch in Waxahachie, TX on Monday, 4/27. Danna and David were lovely hosts, they have several acres of land and have five HH sites with 50-amp power and water ($30 a night if you want hookups). They also generously invite guests to use the pool and wraparound porch. Wow!

Out 2 Pasture Ranch.

What made this stop special was the opportunity to interact with their adorable line-up of critters. A coop of very cool looking chickens, the “real” horse, Toby, two miniature horses, Elvis and Hope, a vocal little donkey, Amigo – all rescues. And let’s not forget the very impressive herd of longhorn cattle. Danna provided treats so we were able to feed everyone, including the cattle who were nearly as slobbery as our dogs. Lol.

What a cast of characters.

 

I have treats and their undivided attention. Lol.

Toby was all about those treats.

I loved the longhorns, slobber and all. 

The stare down. We need gunslinger music. Lol.

We had two nights scheduled at Out 2 Pasture and on the second day things got interesting. Early in the day Rog and I drove into town. Waxahachie has a fun downtown with some amazing older architecture. The highlight was a stop at Georgie Boy’s for ice cream. Quality, small batch, homemade ice cream in some very interesting flavors. Just my kind of place!

Waxahachie, TX.

 

Very cool downtown.

Toys for big kids, and...

...ice cream too! This is my kind of town. 

By the late afternoon, Mother Nature was back to her old tricks, offering up the potential for everything from rain to severe thunderstorms with damaging hail, to scary twisty winds! Rog was monitoring the weather constantly and there were huge storm cells over the Dallas/Fort Worth area heading in our direction. A community less than 100 miles away was flattened by a tornado and it looked like we might be in the path. One of the guests had already decided to leave early. We prepped everything for a hasty departure and kept an eye on the storm trackers. We were just outside the tornado warning box, but we were most concerned about hail. There were reports and pictures of hail that was up to four inches in diameter! That’s softball sized!! Lots of broken windows and damaged vehicles. Our solar panels are built to withstand one-inch hail, so Rog used tie-downs to cover the panels with our outdoor rugs. We figured better safe than sorry! I am happy to report that all we got was some heavy rain and a really cool light show. The lightning was nearly nonstop and went on for hours. Whew! (Click play and then full screen to view the video.)

Precautionary measures were taken.

 

On Wednesday, 4/29, we said so long to Texas and made our way to another Harvest Host in Durant, OK. Lost Street Brewing Company couldn’t have been more different and yet it was also a splendid experience. We were parked in a gravel lot across the street from the family run brewery in downtown Durant. The folks that own and operate Lost Street were a delight. We had a sampling of their brews and dinner in the taproom and picked up some swag. I even got some kitty cuddles from Jax, one of the brewery cats.

Lost Street Brewing Company.

 

The delightful Jax, Brewcat Extraordinaire. 

Downtown Durant.

Our next stop, on Thursday, 4/30, was *supposed* to be a two-night stay at Arrowhead State Park on Lake Eufaula in Canadian, OK. The park covers 2,200 acres and borders Lake Eufaula, the largest man-made lake in Oklahoma. It looked like a great spot for a couple days and the weather was perfect! Sunshine and 70’s during the day and dropping to the 50’s at night. We got in and set up and it felt a little weird because the campground was deserted. I mean it was us and one other couple in a campground with about 50 sites! We weren’t complaining, we just weren’t sure why. It’s not something you’re likely to experience in the PNW, where getting into a state park can feel like winning the lottery. Lol. Oh, and it was about $16 for a W/E-50amp site. Talk about a deal!

Great campsite at Arrowhead State Park.
I still do not understand why the campground was empty!

Rog got us hooked up and did his walkabout checking on the coach. Uh-oh. There was a small puddle forming under the diesel engine compartment. Either the Short Bus was getting incontinent in their old age or we had a leak. Rog couldn’t see for sure where it was coming from, but he was confident it was antifreeze. We had no issues with overheating on the drive in, so it looked like a recent issue. We pulled everything out from under the bed so Rog could access the engine from the top. He was able to identify the source of the leak – the lower coolant return hose on the turbo. He started calling diesel repair places but it was after hours and he didn’t have much luck.

Uh-Oh. The Short Bus is dribbling.

Once the engine cooled down the drip stopped, so we took the pups and headed down to the lake. Riley made a bee line for the water and the blissed out look on his face was precious. We also celebrated Raney’s fourth birthday! She wasn’t thrilled with her “Birthday Bitch” sash, but she did like her new chew toy. Lol.

Riley is one happy boy.

 

Waiting for Daddy to skip stones. 

Daddy does not disappoint. 

Raney was not a fan of the sash.
Maybe next year I'll try a tiara. Lol.

Friday morning, Rog found B & H Truck Service in McAlester, OK about 20 miles away. They had excellent reviews and Cody said come on in and they’d take a look. Sure enough the hose had rubbed against the turbo enough to wear a small hole. Getting a replacement was no small feat. Cody called all around and finally sourced the part in Tennessee. Ideally it would arrive Monday and if not, Tuesday. Note we were supposed to leave for Kansas on Saturday, so my lovely spreadsheet was about to get overwritten (again). Lol. We went back to the state park and extended our reservation. On the up side, we were completely alone and had the entire campground to ourselves, so the pups had lots of off leash play time.

We're a little old to be swingers. Lol. 

Pretty girl!

On Saturday morning Riley gave us quite a scare. The morning started off just fine, both the pups had breakfast and potty walks and then came back inside for first naps while Rog and I had coffee. Raney was cuddling us on the bed when Riley came back to Rog’s side of the bed. He seemed distressed, panting, and agitated. Rog commented that his right eyebrow was twitching and then noticed that his eyes were moving side to side, a condition Rog knew was called Nystagmus. (It is so great having a medic on hand!) Riley tried to walk and staggered and fell. We got him comfortable and Rog started looking up his symptoms.

We found that the most likely cause is a disease called Old Dog Vestibular Syndrome. It’s a non-progressive balance disorder caused by issues that affect a dog's vestibular system in the brain, including the inner and middle ear. This condition is often seen in older dogs and can cause mild discomfort or dizziness. The good news is that it isn't painful or dangerous and is likely clear up on its own without treatment with most symptoms resolving in 24-72 hours. After about an hour or so, Riley was calm and able to walk without too much trouble.

By the afternoon he was getting up and down on the couch and able to navigate the steps in and out of the RV. Wow. He acted like nothing had happened. We’ll be keeping a close eye on him, but he’s eating well and seems to have no other deficits. Talk about scary, though. He’s had a couple incidents lately where his balance has been a little wonky and his rear end isn’t the powerhouse it used to be.  Riley will be nine in June which is a fair bit past middle age for a mastiff. I’ll repeat Rog’s manta, “Love ‘em while you got ‘em.”

Riley sure gave us a scare! But he's all better now.

On Saturday Rog and I went back to McAlester for the Farmer’s Market. We just missed their Armed Forces Day parade, but lucked into the Chuck & Cluck Grillmarks competition. Several downtown blocks were cordoned off for the BBQ and an Artwalk. There were 23 teams preparing rib eye steaks and chicken for the competition.  Apparently, this is a really big deal with thousands of $$$ in prize money. They were just setting up all the booths so we weren’t able to stay for the judging and free samples (dang!) which were later in the day. We chatted with some of the vendors and took home a bag of baked goods from the Farmer’s Market, so still a good day.

Not much fresh produce yet, but lots of yummy baked goods.
I can live with that. Lol.

What a fun event!!

Couldn't resist. They were adorable and I love random street art. 

We had a chill day on Sunday. The pups had more lake time. Rog and I did a workout and we were just hanging out and hoping we’d be on our way sooner rather than later. Ok, that’s not totally true. I was stressing out that the parts wouldn’t arrive (catastrophizing is my superpower) and looking at alternate routes and cancelling reservations that we knew we couldn’t make. When Monday, 5/4, came I was raring to go and prepping for departure. We hadn’t heard anything from B&H, so Rog finally called. No parts today. They should arrive around 11am Tuesday. Arrrrrrrgh. Not what I wanted to hear, but, as Rog pointed out, there are far worse places to be stranded. 

Please note, these guys were fine with staying longer. 

On Tuesday, 5/5, we decided not to wait for a call and had the rig at B&H by 11:30am. They drained the coolant, removed the defective hose and we sat waiting for the new hose to arrive. One silver lining, we were able to hang out in the coach, so we didn’t have to load up the pups and leave. The part was finally delivered a little after 1pm and the guys set to work. We rolled out of there by 2:30pm. On the road again! Yay!!

B & H Truck Services came through for us!

Look ma! No more leaks. Yay!!

In the next post we’ll share how we unscrewed this mess to get back on schedule. We had a National Park visit coming up that we didn't want to miss! Spoiler alert – Rog deserves a medal. Lol.

Texas Hill Country and Natural Bridge Caverns

 

Natural Bridge Caverns - stunning!

The chance is slim to none that we would ever move to Texas, but if we did, Texas Hill Country would be the place to land. Rolling hills, vibrant green grass, actual trees, a Crayola box of spring wildflowers, and lots of breweries (wineries too, if that’s your thing). I think Rog described it best, “The Napa Valley of Texas.” Google Texas Hill Country cities and Fredericksburg is considered top for wine/tourism, while New Braunfels provides family-friendly fun and booming growth. We're visiting both!

Greetings from Fredericksburg, TX!

We rolled into Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park in Fredericksburg on Friday, 4/17. The campground is just one of several park amenities including a small airport, event venues, a golf course, swimming pool and tennis/pickleball courts. Sadly, we don’t play golf, the pool was closed for the season, and it was too windy for pickleball. But the campground was lovely! Riley perked up with the cooler temps and soft green grass. He is over the desert with it's sharp rocks and stabby plants. We took the pups on walkies to explore the campground and park. 

Puppies are loving the cool green grass.
They are not fans of the prickly desert.

Right next to our campsite was a beautiful community pollinator garden. The garden attracted lots of butterflies and was party-central for the birds too. We had a gorgeous pair of cardinals visit each day. Raney loved watching them out the bedroom window in the morning.

Vibrant blooms in the pollinator garden...

 

...attract beautiful (mating) butterflies. 

The Mr. and Mrs. 

We walked downtown Fredericksburg and poked our heads into several of the shops. One nice thing about having limited space, it makes it easier to say no to most of the touristy kitsch. We did have a fantastic lunch at Belly Up Brewery where the true highlight was the to-die-for peach cobbler. So yummy and, sorry, no pics. I never put my fork down. Lol. We also visited the Fat Ass Brewery, mostly because I found the name amusing. It was nearly deserted on a Sunday afternoon, but the décor was fun - old cars and trucks and plenty of gearhead memorabilia. For those of you who like wineries - they are everywhere!

Lots of fun stuff to see inside and outside at the Fat Ass Brewery.

Why, thank you. Lol. 

Our next stop was Sun Retreats Texas Hill Country which is located less than a mile from Randi and Jose’s house in New Braunfels! Since there’s no place for the RV at Randi’s, it was so nice of them to make sure we had a place to park nearby. Lol. Remember when I said Mother Nature seemed hell bent on making the weather interesting? Well, we’ve had heat, cold, wind, and now we got rain. On Monday, 4/20, the day we arrived in New Braunfels, we had over 4 inches of rain in 24 hours and a Flash Flood Warning. The good news, we were on high ground so not in any danger, just very soggy.

 

When it rains, it pours (at least in Texas). 

Beep, Beep, Beep and then we got this! 

I will not bore you with all the details of our week, there is nothing photogenic or blogworthy about doing massive loads of laundry, vacuuming, mopping, grocery shopping, etc. Too bad, otherwise I’d be a star! Lol. To our credit, we did two of the workouts that our trainer Robyn sent us (our motivation was an exercise room with air conditioning) and gave the puppies a spa day – nails, ears, and baths (our motivation was stinky puppies, lol). Rog did several small projects on the rig, including installing a new stereo/GPS system. Unfortunately, he found that the trim ring and maps were missing.  He bought the unit from Crutchfield’s and their customer service folks were very responsive. They already shipped the trim piece, now we just need to get the maps sorted out. I’ll wait until Rog gets it all finished before taking a picture. In the meantime, we are enjoying having the new stereo, speakers, and subwoofer, no trim or maps needed to play some tunes. And a hopefully final update on the electrical gremlins: Rog replaced the fluorescent light fixture and its faulty ballast with an LED. No more ghostly flickering when the lights are supposed to be off. Yay!!

Thank you, Robyn. (I don't really mean that. Lol.)

A visitor at Randi's house. Love the lizard side eye. 

In addition to hugging my daughter, it was also lovely getting some kitty cuddles. Flint (black and white) and Cleo (tabby) warmed up fairly quickly and were delightful hosts. They shared their bird TV and offered to help out whenever food was involved. Lol. The kitties haven't had much exposure to dogs and since Raney and Riley are a LOT of dog, we kept the pups at the RV. They were quite content to hang out at the coach.

Cleo and Flint, my grand-kitties.

Kitty cuddles!!

Bird TV. It never gets old!

Raney and Riley were content to hang out at the RV.

Randi, Jose, and I hit a few estate sales on Saturday morning. One of the sales had an extensive collection of dragons and medieval style décor. Randi fell in love with a gorgeous Windstone dragon, these are highly collectible but he had some damage and she got a great deal. Such a handsome guy! I think he needs a name, what do you suggest? We also just spent a good deal of time hanging out together, watching anime (K-Pop Demon Hunters was actually pretty good). Randi and I also did a lot of, as my gamer daughter calls it, “theory crafting” for her wedding. Lol. Hopefully we’ll have more details to share soon!

So handsome, what would you name him?

We had lots of great food too. Randi made dinner several evenings including her amazing Guinness Beef Stew. We picked up a delicious chicken enchilada casserole and my favorite key lime pie from River City Catering, and went out to Guadalupe Brewing Company and Pizza Kitchen. Rog smoked a pork shoulder on the Treager for pulled pork sandwiches. Randi and Jose brought chips and her homemade tomatillo salsa verde and firewood for a campfire and Smore’s. Good times!

Randi's Guinness Beef Stew was insanely good.  

Pulled pork sammies for dinner, and...

...Smore's for dessert!

Randi brought some bling for the campfire.
The dancing blue and green flames were mesmerizing. 

On Sunday, 4/26, we went to Natural Bridge Caverns outside of San Antonio. The caverns are privately owned and operated and they are totally worth a visit. The caverns are named for a natural bridge of granite that spans a giant sinkhole. 

The namesake natural bridge.

Randi and Jose. Aren't they just adorable. 😍 

In 1960 four college students got permission to explore the sinkhole. They crawled through a small opening down 125 feet of tunnel that narrowed to only 11 inches at one point and came out into a fantastical cavern. We chose the Discovery Tour which lasted a bit over an hour and wound through stunning formations. Luckily no crawling was necessary, cause you know that 11 inch opening would be a dealbreaker. Lol.

I'll stick to the lighted walkways, thank you very much. 

Hall of the Mountain King.

Considering that the formations grow at the rate of about an inch every 100 years, the huge columns are mind boggling. But, I really love the intricate patterns and interesting colors too. I tend to go a little nuts taking pictures, so feel lucky that you are only seeing a small fraction of them. Lol.

The Watchtower.

The big formations are awesome,
but I also love the fine detail and colors. 

Tolkien trees or a giant jellyfish? What do you see?

The recent rains had raised the water table so that areas that are normally dry had beautiful blue green pools of water. Earlier in the week, areas of the caves were flooded and they offer a modified aquifer tour. I think we hit the sweet spot, we got to see water in the cave and we didn’t miss any of the tour!

Emerald Lake.

Loved these stairstep pools.

The King's Throne.

Bomb Burst!

Couple pics in the Cavern.

On our last evening, I finished off our final two loads of laundry, kissed my baby girl goodbye and went back to the RV to start prepping for our departure in the morning. Rog was getting ready for bed when I heard some colorful language. Uh-oh. Not a drip inside during the torrential downpours, but the 90 degree temps coupled with 90% humidity caused so much condensation that the rear air conditioner above our bed had decided to make it rain - indoors. Blankets, sheets, mattress pad – everything was soaked! I called Randi up and asked if she’d be up for a while and could I please come back and use the dryer (again!). Rog turned the rear air off and two dryer loads later we were back in business. Rog was thinking he might have to install new air conditioner gaskets, no small project. He turned to YouTube University and found that the most common cause of the indoor rain is a blocked condenser drain. A quick trip up onto the roof and he found that a piece of foam insulation had shifted and was totally blocking one of the drains causing the water to pool and then, of course, find its way onto my bed. Ta-da! So happy when it’s a quick fix and not a major headache.  

We were sad to leave Randi and Jose, but I can’t say we’ll miss the heat and humidity. Our next stop is a Harvest Host site in Waxahachie, TX. We’re keeping a close eye on the weather because there are some serious storms brewing and we’d really like to avoid any additions to our list of crazy weather!