Friday, March 7, 2008

Taxes

Bay City, Texas

Weather: low 41 degrees, high 50 degrees, winds up to 35 mph, cloudy early, clear after mid-morning

The weather was colder than we expected this morning. When I went for a walk, the wind made it seem even colder, with a wind chill of about 31 degrees.

I saw our CPA this morning about our tax matters. We had a nice conversation, since we have known him about 18 years. He always seems interested in what we are doing and where we are going next. Nice fellow.

After seeing the CPA, I went home and we had lunch. Then I went to the Bay City library to see if I could send some pictures out on the blog. I was able to use a computer, but they do not have cd drives, so I struck out in the effort to send pictures out. I'm still working on it, even to the point that I have starting looking for a signal booster to add to our air card. Supposedly, the air card and wi fi signals are enhanced with the booster. I'll probably decide in the next few days on which way to go. The slowness and lack of dependability of what I am having to work with at this time is frustrating. One thing I did find out at the library is that they expect to be upgrading their computer and Internet systems within the next two years. That means they will be joining the rest of the world with up to date technology.

We ordered our mail to be sent from our mail service provider, since it has been two weeks since we have gotten it. Our mail service is through the Escapees RV Club, located in Livingston, Texas. Livingston is also our address of record.

This afternoon, we went to see my brother Terrell and his wife Kathy. She looks good, especially considering the battle she has been having with cancer. Terrell retired from his job a week ago, but will be doing some consulting after they take a few weeks of vacation. We wish them a long and happy retirement.

Tonight, we went to dinner at Victoria's Mexican Restaurant with Lori, John, Julian, and Zoe. The food was good, as was the company. After dinner, we all went back to the RV to visit for a while. It was nice to reminisce about old times. The grandkids are growing up fast.

More later, be safe.

Today's Town - Lakeland, Georgia: Small Town Living At Its Best

Not all who wander are lost.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Storms

Bay City, Texas

Weather: low 57 degrees in La Grange, high 72 degrees in Bay City, cloudy early, strong thunder storms in Bay City

When we got up this morning, we checked the weather to see what effect it would have on us leaving La Grange. After discussing the different scenarios that the weather folks talked about, we decided to leave La Grange and travel to Bay City. The primary reason for leaving was that the winds are supposed to be up to 35 mph tomorrow, and I don't like to travel with that much wind. Overall, driving conditions were good, with mostly light winds and scattered showers around El Campo. We made good time and were set up in Bay City before the rain started. Late in afternoon, the sky opened up with high winds, heavy rains, lightning, and thunder. I am glad we were not on the road.

We expect to be here at least a week, and may have to move after that time because all the RV parks are full because of pipe line work and outages occurring at the different plants in the area. In the meantime, I have an appointment to see our CPA tomorrow about some tax matters. UGGGHH!!

After dinner, we went to our daughter Lori's house to see her and her family. It was great to see them again, and everyone is doing well. Zoe seems taller every time we see her. Julian was working on his algebra homework. Good kids. We will see them more later on this weekend and over the next week.

Yesterday, I promised I would tell you about our visit to the Monument Hill/Kreische Brewery State Park. As I mentioned yesterday, a young lady named Dorothy at the park welcomed us and told us a little about the park. We had a nice conversation with her, and we found out she is the mother of twins that are 16 months old. Wow!! That is great.

The state park is actually two parks combined into one. The Monument Hill part of the park is devoted to the memory of early Texans who died at the battle of Salado Creek, a battle that was carried out to push the Mexicans out of San Antonio in 1842, and the Mier Expeditions. The Mier Expeditions were Texans who were captured by the Mexicans in 1843 and transported to prison in Mexico. Approximately 180 of them escaped but were recaptured. General Santa Anna decided that all the men involved in the escape would be executed. The governor of the Mexican state refused to carry out the executions. At that point, Santa Anna modified his command and placed 17 black beans in a bag along with approximately 163 white beans. Each escapee had to draw a bean. The men who drew a black bean were executed before the day was over in what became known as The Black Bean Episode. The leader of the escape did not draw a black bean, but was executed later on by special order from Santa Anna. The bodies were buried in Mexico, but were returned to Texas later on. The state placed them in a mass grave at Monument Hill with a monument to mark their sacrifice.



Here's the view from the monument. It is a great view of the Colorado River and valley.








The other part of the state park is the Kreische Brewery, the first brewery in Texas and was built in the 1860s. The site includes the ruins of the old brewery, which stopped producing in the late 1880s, and the Kreische homestead, consisting of the old house, smokehouse, and barn. The house is situated on a bluff overlooking the Colorado River and the valley below. The first floor of the house is built into the side of the bluff. It was fun imagining what everything would have looked like when the farm and brewery was a busy place. Below is a picture of the ruins of the brewery.

Next is two pictures of the old house.








More later, be safe.

Today's Town - Bainbridge, Georgia: Georgia At Its Best

Not all who wander are lost.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Fayette County Courthouse

La Grange, Texas

Weather: low 45 degrees, high 78 degrees, clear skies, light breezes

Today was a great day for getting out and seeing the area. Our first stop was at the historic Fayette County Courthouse, located in La Grange. We went inside and admired the craftsmanship that was obviously used in erecting this beautiful building. A new courthouse was erected in 1890 because the one being used at the time was in such bad shape that it was a hazard to the people who used it. The cost was $90,000. Four types of Texas stone was used, along with granite. The building is still being used today, and business was being conducted in the courtroom when we were there. Check out the floor, which appears to be granite.




















A unique feature of the courthouse is an atrium in the center of the building. This was something that had been done very little when the courthouse was built. Now you see them in hotels, malls, office buildings, etc.

















Across from the courthouse is Hermes Drug Store, the oldest drug store in Texas. It was built in 1856 and has been in use since then.









After touring the courthouse, we walked around the square. We noticed a bakery and couldn't resist walking in. They advertised pigs in a blanket, so we bought a couple, plus coconut macaroons made in the store. We were disappointed in the pigs, since we are used to smoked sausage links wrapped in biscuit dough and baked. These pigs consisted of ground sausage in a roll and baked in bread dough. The sausage was dry and did not have much taste, and the bread was chewy. Not what we expected. On the other hand, the macaroons were very good.

Continuing our walk around the square, we found a plaque that showed the high water mark for a flood that devastated the town in 1913. The high water mark was about four feet up on the buildings, and even the courthouse had water in the first floor.

In our drive around town, we noticed a house that seems typical of some of the finer homes in the area. In addition, it appears that the town is trying to save their old oak trees. Several of them are in the roads.
















There seems to be quite a number of houses based on this type of design. I'm not sure if this is something that the European settlers brought with them, or if it was developed to suit the types of building materials available.



We went to Monument Hill/Kreische Brewery State Park this morning and had a nice conversation with a young lady named Dorothy who works there. Since it is getting late and I have already put a lot into this post, I will tell you about our visit to the state park tomorrow. Some interesting history there.
More later, be safe.
Today's Town - La Grange, Texas: Hometown, Texas
Not all who wander are lost.





Tuesday, March 4, 2008

We Made It To La Grange, Texas

La Grange, Texas

Weather: low 32 degrees in Waco this morning, high 70 degrees in La Grange, clear skies, light winds

Today's weather was totally different from the last two days in Waco. It was cold this morning, but clear. It was the type of day that makes a person want to be on the road. We left Waco a little after 1000 hours this morning and were in La Grange with the RV set up by 1300 hours. The RV park we are staying in is Colorado Landing RV Park on the Colorado River. The park is combined with a mobile home park, but it is clean and quiet. They have a room for activities with a large screen TV, DVDs for rent for $2.00 each, books for trade, newspapers, and magazines. It looks like this park will serve our needs adequately while here.

After eating lunch and resting for a short time, I walked five blocks to the Visitor's Center for information on what the area has to offer. The Visitor Center and Chamber of Commerce are located in the same building, which happens to be the old jail. When I first saw the building, I thought it might be an old courthouse because the architecture seemed so distinctive. Imagine my surprise when I asked the lady who helped me what the building was used for and she told me it was the old jail.

This is a picture of the outside of one of the old cells. The inside was only about five feet wide and eight feet long. Most of the cell was taken up by the bed.













This is a picture of another cell door in the
old jail. I have a feeling that prisoners' rights
did not mean as much at that time as they do now.









I walked around the courthouse square, checking out the old buildings, which are still being used. As I have said before, I really like these old Texas towns. Below is a picture of one side of the square.

When we arrived at the RV park, the manager suggested a Mexican restaurant, Las Fuentes, for dinner. He said it was the best restaurant in town, with good service and great food. We followed his suggestion, and were glad we did. The restaurant is clean, bright and cheerful, the service is excellent, and the food is outstanding. We ordered the mixed fajitas with chicken and beef for two. The meal included the usual chips and two types of dips as appetizers. The chips and drinks had not been on the table more than five minutes when the fajitas arrived with a sizzle and great aromas preceding them. Along with the fajitas, the meal included pinto beans that were more like bean soup ( they were very good), Spanish rice, all the trimmings for the fajitas, and handmade tortillas that were so thin that you could almost see through them. This meal was so good! We ate all we could, and still had a carryout box full of food to take home, along with a box of tortillas and chips. Whew!! I am still full. I was tempted to get a margarita, especially since they were only $.99. Next time, a margarita will have my name on it.

Tomorrow, we will be doing some sightseeing in the area. The main focus of the next post will be about the beautiful old courthouse, which is still in use.

More later, be safe.

Today's Town - La Grange, Texas: A Hand On The Past, With An Eye On The Future

Not all who wander are lost.

Monday, March 3, 2008

No Service

Waco, Texas

Weather: low 35 degrees, high 47 degrees, rain most of the day, winds to 35 mph, cold

We woke at 0500 hours this morning to the sound of thunder, high winds, and heavy rain. A front came through with winds up to 60 mph. At that time, the temperature was 47 degrees and it got colder as the day passed. There is a forecast of snow showers tonight. Since the weather was so nasty with heavy rain and high winds, we decided to stay another day here in Waco. The weather is supposed to be better tomorrow, and if it is, we will be moving on.

With the weather so bad, we stayed indoors all day, keeping warm, reading, surfing the net, meditating (at least I was - Carolyn took a nap). By the late afternoon, we were getting a little stir crazy, so we decided to go to Red Lobster for dinner. It has been a long time since we went to a Red Lobster, and we were really looking forward to it.

We found the Red Lobster easily enough, and found a good place to park. We went inside and were seated right away. The table was not clean, so it had to be wiped down. We sat there for 10-15 minutes waiting for someone to at least take our drink order. Finally, we got tired of waiting, and walked out. The restaurant wasn't busy, so I don't know what their problem was. We have decided that we don't have to put with bad service, and won't do it anymore.

We were still interested in eating out, so we started looking for something we might like. We found a bar-be-que restaurant named the Rib Crib that looked interesting. Total turnaround from the service we received (or didn't receive) at Red Lobster. We were seated as soon as we walked in and our drink orders were taken at the same time. Since we had never been there before, it took us a few minutes to decide what to get. The waiter came back every couple of minutes to see if we were ready to order. I ordered the pulled pork, which I had not had since leaving Florida, and it was terrific. Carolyn had the sausage and smoked turkey (not chicken fried steak), which was also good. We brought about half of our dinner home because we couldn't eat all of it.

After dinner, we came back home and settled in for the night. Tomorrow we should be able to move on. We like Waco, and can see us spending more time here in the future.

More later, be safe.

Today's Town -Texarkana, Arkansas: Twice as Nice

Not all who wander are lost.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Windy

Waco, Texas

Weather: low 64 degrees, high 73 degrees, cloudy, winds 20-30 mph from the south, with gusts to 35-40 mph. Heavy rain is expected tonight with high winds continuing. Tomorrow's forecast is calling for the possibility of snow.

We were going to leave Waco today, but the high winds out of the south helped us to decide to stay at least another day. We don't like to drive into winds as high as what we saw here today. When we do leave, we plan to go to La Grange for a couple of days.

Since we have been fairly busy the last few days, we decided to stay at home today. However, in the afternoon, we went for a short drive east on state road 6 to see what was out that way. Not much, at least for the distance we drove. Then we drove down US 84 toward Gatesville. Once we got to McGregor, which is so typical of the many little towns we have been to in Texas, we turned around and drove the back roads back to the RV. Driving through the countryside helps us to understand how this area was so desirable for farming when the first settlers moved in. The land is obviously very fertile, and there is still a lot of farming being done.

That's about it from us. If the weather is good enough for us to get out some tomorrow, we'll try to have something of interest to write about.

More later, be safe.

Today's Town - Hartford, Connecticutt: New England’s Rising Star

Not all who wander are lost.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Dr Pepper

Waco, Texas

Weather: low 48 degrees, high 83 degrees, cloudy in the morning, partly cloudy and windy in the afternoon

We went to the Dr Pepper museum today. One of the things we learned in the tour was that the correct way to spell Dr Pepper is to leave the period off the Dr part. The museum is located in the same building that Dr Pepper was bottled in the early 1900s. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, Charles Alderton created the flavors for Dr Pepper while working at the Old Corner Drug Store in 1885. When local people wanted one of the new drinks, they asked for a "Waco", because it could not be bought outside the city of Waco. Later on, the drink acquired the name Dr Pepper and started being sold everywhere. The formula has not changed over time except for the sweetener used. The original, which is still being bottled in Dublin, Texas, uses Imperial Cane Sugar, while the drink being sold elsewhere uses corn sweetener.

The museum concetrated on the history of Dr Pepper, but it also had exhibits remembering the history of the soft drink industry in general. One poster we liked was about RC Cola and a Moonpie. How many people remember that? The first soft drink that was a success commercially was Hiers Root Beer, and of course root beer is still a big favorite. How many people know that it is flavored with sassafras?

Dr Pepper is owned now by Cadbury/Schweppes, a company in England that is famous for their chocolate. Many personalities have been spokespersons for Dr Pepper over the years, including John Wayne, Garth Brooks, David Naughton, and Barry Manilow, among others. Barry Manilow wrote the theme for Dr Pepper.

Dr Pepper is especially popular in Texas. When we were at the museum, most of the visitors were young people. If Texas had a National Soft Drink, it would be Dr Pepper.

Our Internet signal is still not strong enough to upload pictures we took today. I'll try to send those out when we have a better signal.

After visiting the museum, we drove around the town, getting familiar with where everything is. Before going home, we went to WalMart to pick up a few things. Since the truck needed servicing, I had that taken care of. After all that fun, it was time to go home and rest.

More later, be safe.

Today's Town -Gainesville, Florida: Where Nature and Culture Meet

Not all people who wander are lost.