Winter In Pipe Creek

 

We have been having cold weather here the last couple of days.  We got up to 84 degrees last week so the cooler weather is so much better!

We have been feeding the birds and we have lots of larks.  They have a bright yellow chest.

We also have lots of starlings.  Yuck.  But I guess they have to eat too.  They make so much noise, and make such a mess.

Here is Ethel looking at all the birds.  She talks to them.  So does Lucy.

We took a drive yesterday since I needed to get out of the house trailer.

We're in what is called hill country and above is Medina Lake.  Very low this time of year.  I love this area!  I think though because we are so close to San Antonio, property is pretty high.  (We are only pricing!)

Here is what Tully does in cold weather.  Peek!

My sister Cindy sent me this photo that she took today.  This was in Bow Edison, near Anacortes, Washington.  Look at all those eagles!  They were chowing down on something yucky it looks like.  I would like to think maybe it was mashed potatoes and gravy that they were eating.  Smorgasbord breakfast!  Biscuits and gravy is what it is!

Out in Luckenbach, Texas ain't nobody feelin' no pain

 

Guess where we went today?  Here is the entrance to the town.  Luckenbach!  How many times have I heard the song that Waylon Jennings sang?  I think he put Luckenbach on the map!  Well, him and Willie Nelson.

Luckenbach isn't a big town.  But man, you talk about being in the olden days!  And you know how I love old things!  😂. It was founded in 1845 so one can really feel the history here!

It was such a nice day to go exploring.  The post office above is now a general store, with, what else, a working saloon connected in the back.  The post office was started in 1850 until 1971 and the town's zip code was retired.  78647.

We got there around 10, and since it wasn't Luckenbach's busy season, there were only a handful of other tourists.  Luckenbach is famous for their venue for country music.  Plenty of parking, and plenty of space for concerts.  And the towns population is 3!

It was pretty hard to read all the writings on the wall since some of them were so old.  I'm not sure why everyone was writing on the wall but it could be because of the sign.  It reads: This store is like an antique rocker, Relax and enjoy...but plez don't write on her.

Here we are in the saloon.  There was so much to look at!  You might want to click on the photo to make it bigger.  No telling how old some of this stuff is!  

It was such a great saloon!  And look at that wood stove!  Gene, this puts yours to shame!  😂. No, it wasn't lit...when we were in town, it was almost 80 degrees!  You really couldn't tell exactly how hot it was since the buildings were all under trees which kept it very cool.

Look who came to greet me when I stepped out from the saloon!  Man, I miss my peeps!  Here is where I could tell it was warm...she was panting.  She was close to fresh water,  so I know that their peeps are taken care of.  There were also some stray cats, but they didn't want their photo taken.  Lots of food out for them though.  Nothing but wild animals!

It got up to 84 degrees today, and early tomorrow a cold front will be coming through.  Probably not a cold front like Washington is seeing!  😉

I Am An Old-Fashion, Honest-To-Goodness, Flag-Waving Patriot - John Wayne

 

I'm kind of behind!  So much is happening and I am just too tired at night to update!  😀 That's my story and I am sticking to it!

Up above is a herd of deer.  I was pretty far away when I took the photo, and you can tell because the deer was busy chowing down and didn't even know I was around.

Here is the feed stand, and our trailer is way over there.  So I was a long way away!  There were baby deer running and jumping, and there were some big daddy's and momma's!  These Texas deer are huge!

We made a trip to the other side of San Antonio to camping world.  I tell you, I get stopped all the time because of Tully.  One man stopped me at the entrance and wanted to show me a picture of his little dog, and he had to go searching for it on his phone!  😂. I think it is so funny because I am there for one thing and that is to shop! I can't even tell you how many times I was stopped today.  Little kids and adults asking if they could pet her.  I really don't mind, and Tully is pretty used to it.  Normally I wouldn't take her in a store but Camping World is animal friendly and they love theirs and everyone's animals!

After shopping, what should we do on the way home?  Hey, how about the Alamo?

This is a statue at the entrance of the church.

This is what I remember from all the shoot 'em up movies with my dad, all the movies that I watched with John Wayne as the main cowboy, and all the Louis L'amour cowboy books I have read.  Just being this close to this church was amazing.  One of the best days of my life!  We will go back since I forgot all about the river walk! 😂  The history was all over down town San Antonio.  

This is where the Alamo canyons used to be.  I need to get my metal detector over here!  If you get a call from me, please answer!  I might be needing bail money!!

After all the walking, we decided to try WTF Barbecue.  You might be asking what WTF means....(no, not that!). It means Whiskey Tango Foxtrot BBQ!  Since it is right down the road from where we live, we dropped Tully off at home, and went to have dinner.

There is the pit room.  It is full of pits for smoking.  Lots of pits.  Lots of meat.  Lots of smells.

Here is our dinner.  Ribs, brisket, turkey, Mac and cheese, corn, corn casserole, green beans and pickles.  I passed on desert, which is what Texas usually serves....banana pudding.  Yum!  I'll try it one day!  When I have room in my stomach!

This is what we picked up at Camping World.  It is to monitor your propane levels.  Up until today, we monitored it the normal way...Road Hog goes out and opens up the cabinet and wiggles the tank back and forth to see how much propane we have left.  With this, you stick the monitor on the bottom of each propane tank, download the app, and it will tell you how much propane you have left with bluetooth.

One came up empty, and one didn't.  So no more going outside to wiggle the tanks.  I will just look on my phone and see how we are doing.  Boy! This camping business is such hard work!  😏. Dwayne, this might be a good investment for you and Terri.  You get two monitors in one package and it is about 99 bucks.  I know you probably make Terri go outside to wiggle the tanks, so you might want to gift her these!  (You're welcome Terri!)

Not Another Nice Day!!

 

I have to say, Texas has been killing it with all the nice days!  It got up to 79 degrees today, and there was absolutely no reason to run the air!  The breeze that was coming through the windows and door was good enough!  It has been so nice that Road Hog picked up a new barbecue pit.  We found this at TSC in town.  (Tractor Supply Co.)

Let me tell you!  This thing cooks excellent wings and chops!  It is a table top barbecue, but it also fits on our Blackstone griddle.  Man oh man!  Dwayne, if you pick one up, I want to see a photo of your first meal cooked on it!  (By the way, congratulations on your first grandson!  Nice name too!). 😀

Here is Ethel Louise keeping an eye on the going ons outside.  She is so big, she almost fills up the whole window.

Here is the full snow moon, and its reflection off our home.  Beautiful!

We have been doing a lot of walking on the 70 acres here, and we even drove into town to shop at HEB-Plus.  Huge store!  Lots of different kinds of foods and meats.  Aunt Jackie took me to my first HEB store and I was pretty impressed.  They even have fresh sushi, being made right in front of you.

We are so impressed with this camp.  And the people are just so nice!  Even their dogs are on their best behavior.  We hear sirens once in a while, but that is about it.  No trains, no airplanes, and no traffic.  How sweet it is.

On The Road Again

 

We had such a pretty drive yesterday!  We had reservations at a camp, in Pipe Creek, near San Antonio.  It was about 70 degrees and lots of blue sky!  I love these days!

We had a small set back in San Marcos.  Lots of construction.  Put us back maybe 15 minutes.  Not that we were in any hurry....I think we have the time.  😂

God Bless America!

God Bless Texas!

Here is where we will be living for the next month.  Lightning Ranch!

Here is our set up.  And you will never believe what is in front of us.  What do we have to look at?

70 acres of pasture and trees!  They even have deer feeders out there so we can watch the deer.  How cool is this?  What did we have to do?

We had to take little Miss Tully out for a walk.  She loved all the different smells of different animals.  It was beautiful out there!

You can see our fifth wheel, just barely.  I circled it for you.

I went out at sunset to take a photo.  It is so nice and quiet.  And the smells are so refreshing!

I set up a hidden hideaway for Lucy.  She has her little bed, and she is right next to a window so lots of sun for her.  I can't tell you where it is at because it is a secret hideaway!

Tully had a package here at Pipe Creek when we got here.  Our friends were worried about the cold weather so sent Tully a little warm coat.  Go Dawgs!

Thanks Gene and Aune!  As you can see, it fits perfectly!  She will get lots of use out of it!  And for those of you that think it's stupid to put clothes on an animal...Tully, since she is a chihuahua, has the chihuahua shakes.  Especially in freezing temperatures.  And when her eyes says thanks for keeping me warm, then that is exactly what I am going to do...keep her warm.  Tully can't wait to see you two Gene and Aune and tell you herself thanks!  💜💜

Snows!

 

We left Tyler yesterday.  Such a nice day for traveling to Caldwell!  They are hard to see but both Road Hog and our neighbor Roy are in the photo above.  We got on the road shortly after 9 am.

We had to go over Lake Palestine, which is so huge that we had to cross over two bridges.  It's a beautiful lake.

Here is where we are parked.  We are surrounded by grass for Tully.  We were here last year too.  It is a great park.

God Bless America!

We went out for Mexican food at a place called Masfajitas for dinner.  I had Enchiladas Verdes.  It was the best that I have ever had.  Their rice and beans were great.

Road Hog had the Carnitas, which also was excellent.  We were not only impressed by the food, but the employees made it so enjoyable.  Their chips and salsa were the best that I have ever tasted.  If you are ever in Caldwell, you really need to stop.  I bet if we weren't leaving Monday, we would have made another trip over there, that is how good it was.

The animals are always so tired on traveling day.  Tully looked so comfortable that Ethel Louise soon joined her.

Can you see Tully's nose?  😂  Traveling with these animals just crack me up.

We went to bed last night and it didn't get below 48 degrees.  Then today, the cold came, with very high winds, and we even had snow!  Of course, it didn't stick, and it was soon up in the mid 40's again.  It is supposed to freeze tonight so we filled up the fresh water tank and unhooked the hose.  We have the tank heaters on, fresh propane in the tanks, and cookies on the counter.  We are ready for a night of freezing weather!  😀. We leave Monday to go to Pipe Creek, near San Antonio.  Tully and I are so excited!