From Fog to Cowboys to Tornadoes

Sunday, January 15th, 2017

Today we got up about 6AM and prepped for leaving. It was drizzly and foggy, but not too bad. We pulled out about 8:20am. All the way from Alpine to Abilene was foggy, but mostly around Midland Odessa area, where visibility was less than a quarter mile. We also had light rain on and off along the way. Luckily, we got out of the area where heavier rain was to fall, later in the morning and throughout the day.

Our trip was uneventful and we made good time, arriving back home at about 3pm.  It was not raining here at the moment, so we got the basics set up pretty quickly. We were able to be in our recliners by the time the Cowboy game started, about 3:30!

In the late afternoon, a squall line developed near Big Spring as they predicted, and marched its way east. It got to us about 5PM, but the wind and rain was not severe. We might of had about  20 seconds of small hail. South along the line, the storm packed more punch, with red and purple areas, and some severe winds.

Also associated with the front bringing it, some supercells developed and traveled northeast ahead of the line. some of these actually did become tornadic, and at one point one was headed toward the AT&T stadium in Arlington, TX where the Cowboys had just lost a playoff heartbreaker against the Green Bay Packers, losing in the last 30 seconds by a field goal. Folks on Facebook were saying God/Mother Nature was not pleased with the outcome of the game, LOL! (We found out later an F-1 tornado had passed near there and damaged a building in Grand Prairie.)

Overall, we had a great time and great rally planning. I wish we could stay for a month, there is lots to see and do in and around Alpine. I can't wait for our rally!

5-star lunch, rally prep and rain to yell over

Saturday, January 14, 2017

Today, we were slow to get moving. The day was starting out gray and colder, with predicted rain later on.

One thing I forgot on the previous post was that last night on our way home from the Star Party, just a few miles from the park,  the truck's engine light came on again, so Tony went over to the Auto Zone this morning to get it diagnosed. However, today,  the light was not on, and when he went there, they could not pull a code stating what was wrong. So we went ahead and drove it as it was.

We headed out for lunch, and the truck was fine. We went round and round the square trying to decide where to eat, and ultimately went to the Reata, an upscale restaurant owned by the folks that also own the famed Reata in Ft. Worth, TX.

They asked if we had reservations, but we did not. Luckily, we got a table, but it was close to the entrance, and every time the door opened, we'd get a blast of cold air. Luckily, it didn't dampen the experience. We had a great waitress that helped us get some great lunches. Tony had the carne asada with cheese enchiladas, and I had tortilla soup with pork tamale.  Both were amazingly good! After the meal, they brought the dessert tray around, and we opted to get dessert, too. I had the caramel apple crisp with cinnamon ice cream a la mode, while Tony had the West Texas pecan pie with vanilla ice cream a la mode. Both were to die for! Sadly, there will be no meal that tops this one, for a while!!!

Carne Asada

Tortilla Soup and Tamale

Apple Crisp with Cinnamon Ice Cream

West Texas Pecan Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream

After lunch, we went back to the RV Park and again stopped in at the office. We were told that the owners would stop by and see us, so we went ahead back to the rig, looked around the rally hall again,  and worked on some of our planning. About the time we were ready to drift off for a nap, the owners arrived, and we had a nice visit with them. They answered all our questions and now we feel pretty good about the upcoming rally.

After they left, we took a bit of a nap. Tony went out and used some contact cleaner on the sensor we replaced last time on the truck, just to make sure that was not the culprit of our light. He also set up the dump hose for in the morning.

After that, we decided to just eat in for the night, as storms were supposed to be coming into the area. We watched some TV, and then got some heavy rain about 9PM. Some of the loudest we've ever heard in the rig! I actually had to YELL at Tony to be heard over it!  It may have included some pea-sized hail, as well.

Luckily, the heavy storm passed us by 10, and it was only light to moderate rain after that. We then went to bed. We plan to get up early and get going, because even more rain and storms are headed for the middle of Texas tomorrow in our path, and some might be severe.

Learning about Alpine: History, Food, and Stars

Friday,  January 13, 2017

Today, we got up and I had some work to do. Tony went to the office and paid for our stay, and looked around at the park and the Rally Hall again. We were a little concerned it would not be big enough, but we think we can make it work. 

Mid morning I was done with work, so we headed over to the Alpine Chamber of Commerce and visited with them a bit about getting info packets of info for our Rally. 

Then, we headed to Magoo's Place  to eat lunch. Tony had read it was a good place, and they are only open for breakfast and lunch. They were pretty busy! We got the only open table in this small 20x30 place. I asked what was good to eat, and the waitress said "all of it!" But she recommended the Green Chicken enchiladas, so that is what I had. Tony had a burger. The meal came pretty fast, and it was great! Tony said the burger was as good as Shannon's in Cisco, and the fries were like Mary's in Strawn. My enchiladas were as good as any I've had!

After lunch, we drove over to the Museum of the Big Bend, at Sul Ross University. We hope to include this in our rally activities, so we were inquiring about the possibilities while we were there.

A general store display had all sorts of items! (Above and below)

Unique stove

unique architecture of the building

After that, we headed back to the park. We stopped in to the office to see about talking about the rally, but they were not around at the moment, so hopefully we will catch up with them later.

above and below, views of our site

We did some relaxing, and I think we both dozed off for a bit. Around 5pm, we had to get something to eat and start our trek up into the Davis mountains, because we had reservations for the McDonald's Observatory Star Party tonight!

Tony went and got us some McDonald's (how fitting, right?), mainly because it would be quick. We ate dinner, then headed to the McDonald Observatory, which is about a 30-40 minute drive. Unfortunately, clouds had rolled in during the afternoon, so our party was kind-of dampened. We were given the option for a refund, or to postpone to another day, or to go ahead and stay, which would let us attend a couple of presentations, and also see the telescopes, though we would not see anything through them.

We opted to stay. The first presentation gave us an idea of what we would have seen had there not been clouds. They showed us the star systems and galaxies, as we could have seen them through the telescope. Obviously not the same as seeing them in real life, but nice to get an idea of it.

The second presentation talked about the possibility of other inhabitable planets in the known universe. It was interesting, but not as amazing since most of the imagery was simulated. Plus, most of the discussion was based on speculation, because of course it would take many many light years to get to any of the possible planets out there.

I had taken some Dramamine  (for motion sickness) because I was not sure of the winding drive up there and what all we would be doing once at the Observatory. I can get motion-sick in a planetarium environment, so I didn't want to take any chances. However, this makes me really sleepy, and I was "drifty" during the presentations, so sorry if there are no good  "facts" in the blog! ;)

After the presentations, we walked outside to view the telescopes. I got a little lost in the dark! It is VERY DARK UP THERE, and the Observatory uses red lights outside the building, making it very hard to see because they do not illuminate things very well, or let your eyes adjust to the darkness. Tony had to help guide me a bit. But once the event was over, folk's car headlights lit up the parking lot and I was able to see better again.

We drove down the mountain and back to Alpine, and had no troubles. We drove with our brights on most of the way, though! We got back and hit the hay. It was a long and fun day, and we accomplished a lot.

Rally Planning Trip to Alpine

Thursday, January 12th, 2017

Late last week, Tony realized he'd have this Friday off from school, so we decided to take advantage of it and make a trip to Alpine for our upcoming Rally. We needed to wrap up some question marks and square away some other ideas we had for the rally, and this was basically the only time we had.

So, Wednesday I started prepping the coach for travel, and Thursday morning did everything to be ready to go inside when Tony came home. Thursday at Noon, he left work, got us lunch, we ate, then  he worked the outside prep. (Dumping tanks, checking air, stowing hoses and cables). We were on the road by 1:45, pretty good considering!

We also had used some Christmas money to help purchase a new Garmin RV GPS. As mentioned in previous blogs, we were pretty fed up with the Rand McNally that we'd had for about 5-6 years now. Right away, we liked the bigger sceeen and simpler setup and operation of the Garmin.

We headed down I-20 west. We made good time and only had one stop. The GPS told us to turn at Odessa and go south on 385, which was not the way we went previously. We decided to follow her advice, not knowing if it was a better route or not. We did see more towns, I know! We passed through Crane, TX, and didn't realize it was the bigger of the towns around. We kept going and stopped in McCamey. Sadly there was not much in this town! We ended up getting burgers at Stripes, because their grill was open. Surprisingly, they were pretty good! By this time, it was dark, and the rest of our journey was in rural nothingness. Luckily also, there were very few cars out, and we could drive mostly with the high beams on.

We Merged from 385 onto I-10 on the east side of Fort Stockton, went through town and then headed south once on the western side of town, on 67. The rest of the drive was uneventful, and we got to Alpine about 8:45pm. We had called ahead so they had our info ready when we arrived after hours. We pulled into our site and got set up quickly, and hit the hay soon after. A long day, but so glad we are here!

Happy New Year, Key Free at Last!

Sunday, Jan 1, 2017

Happy New Year! And, happy 24th anniversary to Tony and I!!

Today, the weather was nice enough we decided to install our keyless locks from RV Lock. We had tried to do so before this trip, but the locks didn't quite fit the hole and left a tiny gap that would let in water.

We contacted RV Lock, who sent us some vinyl gaskets to fill the space, as well as some spacers that I don't think we will need.

We drilled out the rivets which hold the old lock in place, then put the new lock in place and temporarily secured with two screws for placement. Then we drew around the lock as a template to help us position the vinyl gasket. 

old lock removed, drawing of where new lock will fit.

Tony removed the lock and using the outline, I carefully positioned the gasket to stick down on the door. Then we reinstalled the lock.

vinyl gasket

New lock installed with gasket

Backside of new lock

New lock installed with gasket - this one would not retract the bolt, until we loosened the screws slightly on the back. Don't over tighten!

Voila! We are now KEY FREE to get into our basement doors!

Family gathering and heading home

Saturday, December 31, 2016

Today we got up and got going fairly quickly. I think we were still on Mountain time. We pulled out and headed over to the Blue Beacon to wash the mountains off the truck and trailer.

in line, a Heartland Cyclone ahead of us. I think this one was at Angel Fire!

All Clean!

Then we headed over to my relative's house. There, we put the cats in the bedroom with the slide out, and doors closed to the rest of the rig. Tony raised the blind so they could see out. Then we went to eat lunch at Cafe Marizon  with my aunt, uncle and other cousins that had been out of town when we were through at Christmas. It was great to get to visit with them, too.

After lunch we hugged everyone and headed down the road to Lubbock. We had to pull over 3 times unexpectedly -- one time, we forgot to fold the stair rail in. Another time, I spilled something and had to go change pants. The third time, the propane tank compartment door came open. None were scary issues, just a hassle to delay us for a minute or so.

We ended up arriving back in Cisco about 8:30, and got setttled in our spot as usual. The weather was much more forgiving! Probably in the 50s! We got in and had a quick meal, and hit the hay fairly soon.

Overall a good trip, we just needed more time on the slopes.

Change of plans -- outrun the weather again

Friday, December 30, 2016

Today we were slow moving, as expected after skiing. We lounged around and napped a bit, until lunch.We had been watching the weather, and they were predicting snow starting about 9am on Saturday,  which was when we planned to leave. The temps were going to also be below freezing overnight, which meant anything that fell would likely make driving treacherous. The forecast went on to predict snow chances increasing for the next 36 hours, beyond that -- so if we got stuck here, we'd be stuck for a while.

Eileen at Angel Fire RV Resort, Angel Fire, NM

So, we decided to go ahead and pack up and start going home. Not what we wanted, but better safe than sorry. We pulled out about 2:15MST. We expected to go as far as Dalhart, but because we had rested in the morning, Tony felt good enough to keep going on to Amarillo.

Luckily, we had called ahead to get a reservation at our park of choice, the Oasis, and found out they were completely full! Wow! So we ended up making a reservation at Amarillo Ranch RV park, which is about 2 exits further east, on the north side of I-40.

West Texas Sunset

We had no issues getting into the park, they had it well marked and a good map to our site. The wind was blowing and it was below freezing, so we made quick work to get set up. We ran off our tank for water.

We had alerted my relatives of our being back in Amarillo, so we worked it out to have lunch with them tomorrow, before we head back to Cisco.

Finally hitting the slopes!

Thursday, Dec 29th

Well the day turned out perfect for skiing -- maybe even a little too warm!  After lunch we headed to the slopes. The drive is about a mile or so to the base area, then park and catch a frequent shuttle up to the base area, just about 30 steps to the lift. For ease to get from door to skiing, Angel Fire is one of the better locations. Sadly, they haven't had great snow yet, but it was good enough for us. They had multiple lifts and areas open so it wasn't too crowded at the base area.

We got on the Chili Express which takes you to the very top, but has multiple runs to choose including a fairly decent long green run. We decided to do the green run to get warmed up, since we hadn't prepared for skiing like we should have.

The run was good, but a little crowded. We stopped at the bottom to rest and have a snack, then headed up the same lift again. We took the same run, but since our legs were warmed up more, we had a better time of it. We could go a little faster, and it seemed like less people the second time. I enjoyed my new (former demo) skis that I bought last spring, when we were with the Cisco HS Band on their trip to Winter Park. They seem to turn much easier.

By the time we got down, we'd skied almost 7 miles, which is pretty far for a first day. So we decided to call it quits and not overdo it.

Once back at the truck and shed of the ski gear, we decide to go get pizza to go from our favorite pizza joint in Angel Fire, Angel Fired Pizza. Tony dropped me off and I ordered while he waited. The parking near thee is not dually-truck friendly, so once I had pizza in-hand, he came back to get me and we headed home. We had great pizza, breadsticks and beer, the best food after skiing!

We've been really impressed by the way the Big Country has handled the winter weather! Although we seem to go through the propane a little faster, (a bigger rig and larger furnace,) it stays much warmer overall and hasn't really had condensation on the windows like our previous rig did.

After dinner we watched some tv and then hit the hay fairly early.

High Wind Warning and Star Wars Wow

Wednesday, Dec 28, 2016

We rocked all night long to the sounds and waves of wind as they came cascading down the mountains. Again, I didn't sleep to well, in fact one time I went outside to investigate a diesel smell, coming from a rig up-wind of us that was idling at 2:30 am! Not sure what that was about.

When we got up we quickly decided not to ski in 20+ mph wind, with wind chills in the teens. We figured they'd shut down the lifts as well if it was too windy. So we instead prepped to go to Taos to each lunch and go to the movie.

I got a little motion sickness from the winding mountain pass from Angel Fire to Taos, so we ran in to Walgreens and got me some Dramamine. We then went to eat lunch at Wendy's, and on to the theater.  It was not a big one, but that's ok. I've learned I like a smaller screen and more intimate setting for movies these days.

The movie was great, a prequel to the first ever Star Wars, so it really helped put some of the storyline together.

After the movie we headed back hone. We again ate something at home and relaxed. Tomorrow looks to be calm and clear, a good ski day!

Lazy day in the mountains

Tuesday, Dec 27, 2016

Today, we were again slow to get up. Mainly because in the middle of the night, I thought I smelled propane. The furnace seemed to be struggling. I got Tony up and he checked the tanks, and yes one tank was out the other was low. That's why we brought our 3rd tank! Tony switched out the tank and all was good again, but it meant I didn't sleep well all night.

The next day, we needed to get propane and also get some on-board water. The park will not let you stay hooked to their faucets of is below freezing, and we had enough when we arrived to make it though the night.

So we Lolly-gagged around and didn't do much in the morning. After lunch, Tony went for propane and I took some laundry over to the parks machines yo do some of the stuff I brought home from the apartment, and get caught up on jeans and long sleeve shirts. The laundry works well at Angel Fire Resort, but it's expensive, $2.50 a load!

After laundry was done we decided to go into town and look for a place to eat. But by then everything g was busy with skiers, so we just headed back aand ate Dinner at home.

I forgot to mention that the park has cable tv, and we had hooked up to it. However, when we were getting ready to watch the Cowboy game, we could not find that channel. With the new satellite I the roof, To t set it up and had the channel we could watch!

So Tuesday night we watched some tv and took it easy. The wind was supposed to pick up overnight and be very bad tonight and tomorrow, so we may not ski. Tony looked at the movie theater schedule, and we could go see Rogue One, the new Star Wars movie, tomorrow in Taos. We'll see.

I wanted to see a volcano, anyway.

Sunday, Dec 26th, 2016

We got ready to leave fairly quickly since we didn't have time to get too spread out. I had to go to the office to pay for our stay, since they were closed for the holiday yesterday and the night before.

When I walked back to the rig, I saw a tumbleweed wedged under the rig! I pulled it out and took a few pics of it, because just last week there had been a photo circulating on facebook of a guy with a tumbleweed for hair, resembling a large Afro. If this tumbleweed had been smaller, I would have brought it along! But it wouldn't fit through the door, and we didn't have room in the basement. Oh well.

We pulled out about 9:30am and made good time, until Dalhart. There we had to take a detour to get around a low bridge in town, that took an extra 15 minutes out into the country and back.

We stopped and ate lunch(sandwiches) in Texline, and fueled the truck from the big tank. We finally did it right this time! Tony added the fuel tank cleaner about a week before, and let it slosh around. Then, we filled up half the big tank to get us to Amarillo. He added the anti-freezing additive once we got to Amarillo and filled the big tank entirely again. This seemed to work, as we had no problems with the pump, freezing or fuel on our trip!

Once we got to Clayton, we realized heading out of town, we were going the route to Raton, not to Springer. The gps was taking us a different way than we expected! I guess we wanted to see the volcano at Capulin, and didn't know it!

Snowcapped mountains in the distance

Sadly, there's no way to turn around a 42' trailer on this route, so we just kept going. At Raton we headed south down I-25, then to a cutoff toward Cimmeron, north of Springer. I don't know why the gos took us that way! Anyway, it felt much longer than it probably was.

Once we got down 64 that runs though Cimmeron Canyon State Oatk, the road is far more winding and hilly. As we got closer to Eagles Nest, there were icy patches. None too bad, but with a heavy trailer and steep ups and downs and curves, there were a couple of slips of the tires as we tried to accelerate. So Tony out it in 4x4, which seemed to help.

We got into the park about 3:30 Mountain time, and got set up quickly since it was in the 20s, falling, and windy! They recently had 6 inches of snow, so it was quite the winter wonderland. There are surprisingly a lot more rigs here this year than last year, we counted around 20 or so! After we were settled, we made some quick nachos and finished getting the inside set up. The Cowboys were playing football on Monday night, and they are looking good this season. So of course we watched. They won!!

Our site

See the ski runs on the slopes just over the top of the truck.

Ready for some winter fun!

After the game we hit the hay.  A long travel day but no significant issues. Yay!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Sunday, December 25th, 2016

Today we were slow to get going. It had been a really long day yesterday, with the project to fix the truck, packing up and driving to Amarillo in the dark, and setting up in the near freezing temps with strong winds!

Our Site, Oasis RV Resort, Amarillo, TX

My Aunt & Uncle's Christmas Tree

But it was finally Christmas! We headed over to visit my relatives and enjoy a great meal with them. My aunt's hone was decorated beautifully for the Christmas season,  and it was wonderful. We also watched some tv and snoozed in our chairs, and played some dominoes. Then we ate some leftovers as sandwiches, and visited a little more. Then it was time we headed back to the rig. We head for Angel Fire in the morning.

How to Gauge Your Mechanical Ability

Saturday, Dec 26th, 2016

Any normal Saturday you can find a mechanic or too today. But since it was Christmas Eve, no one was working! Luckily, Parts stores were working and can run diagnostics to see what the problem is. They helped Tony determine it was the Coolant Temperature Sensor, and sold him the part. Now to replace it! His mechanic friend sent him a picture and told him it was fairly easy to do, so Tony decided to tackle it.

And, to someone with a little more experience in automotive workings, it might have been a 30 minute fix. We hummed and hawed over things mainly because we didn't know what to expect. We knew done coolant would come out, but how much? The instructions found by googling said to drain some fluid beforehand, which was a complicated process. Instead, we opted to prepare for a leak and make the switch quickly.

Removing and replacing the sensor turners our not too hard to do, but the torque wrench failed to stop us from over-torquing the threads and snapping the part in two! So off to the auto parts store I went this time to get another part. Second time went better and soon Tony had it back together and good to go. So it takes at least 3 trips to the auto store (one for diagnostic, one for parts you don't have after decided to do it yourself, one to replace parts you broke) to work on a vehicle!!

We loaded up and hit the road much later than planned, about 2:15, but still with time to make it to our planned destination, Amarillo. We drove half of it in the dark if Christmas Eve, but that was ok. Tomorrow was going to be a very windy day and not good for traveling. I'm reminded of Mary and Joseph and their adventures that day/evening before the baby Jesus was born!

We had absolutely no issues with the coolant sensor on our trip to Amarillo, and arrived about 8:30pm. -- then got settled in for the cold weather coming.

Back to Cisco and Wacky Gauge!

Friday  Dec 23rd, 2016

Today we packed up and hit the road back to Cisco, mainly to unload some more things at the warehouse and drop off my car.

As we were headed down the road about 30 minutes, we got into some slow traffic. (I following Tony in the car),Tony called and  mentioned that the engine coolant temperature light had come on and gave a warning,and the gauge was acting squirrely,  so we pulled off to see what it was.

We managed to find a community park where we could pull over and check things out. There was no evidence of a problem with the engine or coolant, and the error and wacky gauge antics had disappeared. We decided to keep going.

We had other issues, and made it back safe and sound, set up again in our home park.

After we set up we decided to run to Eastland for dinner and to get the mail. Again, the gauge acted strange and flashed a warning. Now we were concerned! We did some research and found out it could be a sensor problem, so Tony decided to get it looked at in the morning. Hopefully an easy fix.

Pre-Christmas Christmas And Dish on Top

Thursday, Dec 22, 2016

Earlier in the week, it was cold, windy and un-fun for trailer projects, so Tony and his dad went to the Casino in Durant. No big winnings this time, but they had a good time. Then they got to rescue Tony's mom from the dealership, where she had to be towed when their other car broke down. At least they got to spend time together!

Tony also ran up to our storage units and get our skiwear and check on things. He also did our Christmas shopping and get things ready for our PreChristmas Christmas with the Dorsey's and Lindsey's, in the rally hall at the RV park.

Our Little Christmas Tree  (Tony enjoying hot chocolate)

Wednesday and Thursday, weather was good enough to conquer the Satellite dish! Tony had help getting the dish on the roof of the slide, but other than that he did it all himself. The Big Country is prewired for the Satrllite, which makes it much easier. It's locating the wires in the ceiling and securing everything, then hooking it all up properly. He said it still took a million trips up and down the ladder, but he got it done. ;)

Thursday was my last day at the Dallas job, so I had loaded all my stuff the night before and that morning. I got to the park about 6:15pm.

We had a great get together with Tony's family and my folks, with good food, and a gift exchange. At 9, we wrapped up and all headed our separate ways. Tomorrow, we start our journey to the slopes!

Outrunning a cold front

Saturday-Sunday, Dec 18-19, 2016

Friday, I left work a little early so I could get to Cisco and we could start packing the rig for travel. We had originally booked to arrive on Sunday at Bluebonnet Ridge RV Resort in Terrell, but because of the cold front they was coming, we decided to head out a day sooner. Luckily, the park had room for us. We had some chores to do to narrow down some of our stuff for travel, and take some of it to the mini warehouse, as well as pick up a few things from there as well. We also took our extra propane tank, because we will need it for our colder trip weather!

This was also the first trip with a few items Santa brought early. We have a new Furrion Rear View camera on the back of the rig. Our Big Country came pre-wired for this, so it was simply plug and play. We did however decide to upgrade the antenna to a stronger one that an HOC forum member had recommended. Tony said it worked great! He could easily see what was in his blind spot on the passenger side before changing lanes!  Whohoo!

Camera with upgraded antenna

View inside the truck

A few other upgrades include a King digital antenna, keyless slam baggage doors and a Winegard Satellite for the roof. We've been getting these items the pat few weeks so he has high hopes for this Christmas break to get some things done.

We got going about 1:15, and made good time through DFW. -- but we didn't beat the front. It was already 56 and dropping, with a bitter wind blowing! We got set up as quick as possible.

Sunday was cold and somewhat drizzly, so we mostly stayed put.Tony got our propane tanks filled, and ran some errands. I headed back to the apt for work.

Thankful for all families!

Thursday, Nov. 22nd-Saturday, Nov. 24th

Thanksgiving, we met our family at  Luby's cafeteria. Last year we had trouble getting into the restaurant and waited over an hour to get through the line. This year we decided to be there at 10:30 AM, and they opened at 11.  At 10:45 they started letting us in. We had a great meal and visiting with our family. After lunch we headed back to the rig, took an afternoon nap, and then settled in to watch the Cowboys play. They are on a win streak!! It's great to watch good pro football again.

Friday,  I worked some, and Tony ran some errands and checked on our storage buildings. We got our Christmas plans worked out with the park. For dinner, we met my folks at El Chico in Rockwall.

Saturday, we packed up and headed back to Cisco. I followed in the car. It sure seems to take longer when you're only going 60-65, vs 70-75!

We got set up with our heated hose and insulated the faucet, and settled in somewhat. Tony had picked up Pops Chicken in Terrell on Friday, so we had leftovers.

Saturday, we found out Heartland friends, David and Donna would be passing through our neck of the woods, so we agreed to meet them for lunch at Shannon's Burger Barn on Sunday. We had a real nice time visiting. David retired earlier this year, they sold their house and have been traveling all over the US, including parts of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Wyoming, Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado and back to Texas.

After our lunch we parted ways and then I had to head back to work in Dallas.