BeDonka Fun...

Just went out and Linda gave the donkeys a little treat of some baby carrots. Boomer tried to climb through the fence but thank goodness the squares are too small to get his body through (not that he wasn't trying). They are cute and really quite tame....were curious of Boomer but a little apprehensive.
   AC is running...feeling a little guilty about temps of 90 today when I know it's snowing up home. Spoke with mom last night and she said they were calling for 5-10" of snow today. Yuck ! OK...Mother Nature, it's spring. Perhaps you didn't get the memo but it's really time to give it up on all this white stuff. Time for tulips, sunshine and warm weather. You can do it !
   We're trying to get out each evening and walk a little bit. Here's a picture of the front office and rec hall. The area in between the buildings is a cute courtyard with fountain and seating area. The area out back has more seating and there's a BBQ cooking area under a pavilion next door.
    Things are wrapping up here....trying to tie up loose ends. Made our reservations for the next two jobs. Next Friday we head out for Norman, OK for two weeks. We'll be working a new job (never been done by our company) that is a large state park. Once we finish there, we go a short distance away to Oklahoma City to work a park there. Another new park for our company...yeeha..we're excited !

Bandera

We packed up and left Lake Medina RV Resort this morning....the cattle and horses saw us on our way. We moved over to one of the other RV parks that we are working on and we'll be here for close to two weeks while we finish up the project.
   We are loving the weather...It's 10:00 p.m. and we have the windows open...it's in the 70's...supposed to hit a low of 60 overnight and then in the low 80's tomorrow. There is also a great breeze blowing which makes it super comfortable in the rig.

Isn't this little guy cute ?

We knew that the area, of the park, where we'd be wouldn't have sewer but when we arrived the owner said to put an adapter on our sewer hose and let the grey water run on the ground. Wasn't sure what the adapter was but once we got set up, I went over to a neighbors rig and looked at their sewer hose. It was just a twist on cap that has a screw on adapter for a garden hose. Went to the local hardware store, where they stock some RV supplies, and picked one up for $3.99. We've never had one....never had need for it before. Now we have one.....and the tree next to us is getting a drink every time we take a shower.

    Boomer is loving it here. It's like a little farm. Two donkeys, three steer and several horses. And that's before the herd of deer show up in the morning. From what we've heard and read, there are a lot of deer that come through the park.The donkeys like human interaction. They come over to the fence and start braying.....took me a couple of minutes to figure out what the sound was when I first heard it this afternoon. We can see the pasture from our front door so Boomer will enjoy watching the animals.

   Down at the end of our row is a Space Craft 5th wheel that looks like it's been very well taken care of. It's also huge ! When we stopped by the park last week, the owner was sitting outside and we asked him about it. I think he said it was 48' long. He has a HDT, with matching paint scheme. Very nice looking set-up....four slideouts and in super condition. I'm hoping that we'll learn more about it and maybe get a peek inside.

Meanwhile Back Home in Pa....

While Linda and I are basking in the Texas warmth, I was reminded the other day, when I looked at my niece's facebook page, of events going on back home in Pennsylvania. It's maple syrup season and my brother is in full swing with collecting sap and boiling it down to make that wonderful golden product that so many of us love on our pancakes and such. My brother, Jim, has over a 1000 trees tapped and in this picture you can see his sap collecting truck. He has huge containers that he goes out to his collection points and gathers the sap. He brings it in and transfers it to this large stainless steel tank which is above the "sugar shack. Mom said that during a cold snap a few weeks back they turned on the spigot down in the sugar shack to fill the evaporator with sap and nothing came out. When they went and checked the holding tank, one of the pipes had frozen and busted and 1000 gallons of sap ran out on the ground...Oh no.... 

Jim used to have a wood fired evaporator but this year bought a huge, oil fired evaporator that makes boiling so much faster and eliminates stoking the fire throughout the process (not to mention cutting all that wood).

Reverse osmosis machine

Sap (tastes like sugar water)

Sugar Shack (you can see where he's built onto it)

Look at all the snow on the ground. I hope that they've had a warm up this week to get rid of some of this snow. Glad they have it and not us...Well, that's how maple syrup is made...Think of Jim next time you pour the real stuff over a stack of flap jacks (make mine chocolate chip please).

Bandera,Texas

Jail

Yesterday as Linda and I were driving through the back streets of Bandera, we came across some of the historic buildings in town.  Here are pictures of the jail and courthouse and some information about the industry in the area from early days.
 

We took Boomer up to the dog park, here in the campground, to let him run around after supper. Once the sun starts to set, the herd of deer come out. Here's a glimpse of them....

Old Courthouse

I took a picture of Bertha and our rig nestled in amongst the trees here at the park. I also took a picture of what looks to be a new Carri-Lite 5th wheel that is near our rig. Look at that full wall slide out...Must really open it up inside. Very pretty color too with the full body paint.

Pike's Place

You know how sometimes you can find the most delightful things in unexpected places ? Well that's what happened to us today when we were out making sales calls. Had just called on an antique store and wandered out back of the antique store in search of the restaurant I had seen advertised on the sign out front. Guinea hens were running around, appearing to play "Tag" as they scampered around. Herbs were growing in a garden in the courtyard area. I kept walking down the long driveway, following the heavenly aroma which I thought must be coming from the restaurant. My walk led me to a cute little restaurant in the back called Pike's Place. I went in and left off some of my literature for Kurt and his wife Suzanne and left to find Linda parked out front with Bertha. The wonderful smell kept haunting me and as luck would have it...twas lunchtime. We had been headed to Boerne for some exploration but decided to have lunch there instead. A good decision indeed...

I got "Palmer's Shrimp" and Linda got the roasted vegetable quiche with seafood chowder. Everything was so scrumptious ! We had hoped to only eat half of it so we could take the rest home for supper but it didn't work out that way. The lemon caper sauce on the pasta was light and so flavorful and the shrimp were wonderful with the light coating on them. The seafood chowder was so rich and filling and the quiche was really fluffy and melted in your mouth. There was a side salad of spring mix and slices of banana and melon. Home-made rolls topped off this exquisite lunch.

We chatted with the folks at Pikes Place and found out that they had just opened the restaurant in October. Aaron, the chef is from Michigan and works with Kurt and Suzanne to create unique dishes, inspired with local, fresh ingredients. If you're ever in west Texas, take a trip to Pike's Place and be pleasantly surprised with what awaits you.

Saddle Up.....

Yesterday Linda and I had lunch at OST, a restaurant in Bandera. OST stands for Old Spanish Trail. We sat at the bar, on saddles, and this little guy was watching over us while we had our lunch. This restaurant has been open since 1921 and specializes in Mexican food. They had a Mexican buffet that looked scrumptious but way more food than we could eat. The restaurant was packed but there are so many neat things on the wall to look at that the time passes quickly till your food arrives. Like I said we sat on saddles....by the time we finished with lunch, I felt like I'd been out on a horse all afternoon. Linda and I each had the Bandera special which was a cheese and onion enchilada, covered in a rich sauce and it came with beans and spanish rice. It was really yummy.

We thought this was a cute sign....

Scenery on the way to Tarpley...

After we ate and called on some of the area businesses, we drove up to Tarpley, which is 12 miles from Bandera. One of the campground owners had told us about a restaurant there called Mac and Ernie's so we wanted to go see where it was and check it out.

Mac and Ernie's has been on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (hey Bobbie, have you been here ?). When we got to Tarpley we couldn't believe that such a popular destination restaurant could exist in a place so small. After reading about the menu and watching the video, it sure is on our list of places to eat before we leave this area. Since they are only open on the weekends, we'll probably go there weekend after next, once we move to the Bandera campground. Watch the video and see all the yummy stuff they're cooking up !

River Walk

Yesterday Linda and I went to San Antonio to get  a new printer, at Staples, and thought we'd take in some of the sights while we were there. We went downtown and due to a St. Patty's day parade, many of the streets were blocked off so it made it a little tough to get around. We had wanted to go to the parking lot for oversize vehicles but couldn't get there. At one point we were behind a large motorhome pulling a cargo trailer and we felt so bad for him...trying to find someplace to go. I think he was headed to the same lot we were going but like us, couldn't get there.

We did find a lot where we had room to maneuver and left Bertha there. We watched some of the parade but mainly wanted to see the riverwalk. It's not what either of us had pictured in our minds but it was fun anyway. The barges were busy carrying people around on the "green" river (dyed for St. Patty's day). We had taken Boomer with us and he was so good walking around...was a very good boy. I didn't realize that the Riverwalk has been around since the early 40's. The man who had the vision of developing around the river was brilliant. It gives such vibrancy to downtown and the cooling breezes that come off the water are nice as well. There are lots of restaurants, hotels and shops near the riverwalk and it was a very busy place yesterday. We also walked by the Alamo but only checked out the courtyard area as the line to get in was clear down the block. Spring break is just starting so not sure if the increase in crowds is due to that or something else.

After we left the downtown area we went to Sam's Club to get a few things and then went to Staples. We bought a new Epson Workforce 635 to replace our Lexmark. We went through so much ink with our old printer and the new printer was on sale for $50 off and then we got another $50 for trading in our old printer. In the end, the new printer cost us $80 and it came equipped with the XL cartridges which last a really long time. Our old one was one cartridge so if any one color ran out, it needed to be replaced. This has four separate cartridges so will last a lot longer. While we were at Sam's we had bought a router cause this printer has wireless capability. Well not the case when you don't have a modem unless you buy ANOTHER special adapter for $39.99 to talk to the router. For the $100 I can get my butt up out of the chair, go over and plug in the USB cord and hit print. The router will be going back to Sam's. We're happy with the printer...nice and compact and works great.

OK, I'm bummed. The first Sunday I've had off where we haven't been in training or driving or setting up and WOULD have been able to watch a NASCAR race but was there one on to watch. NOOOOOOO ! The last three races I've seen, at most, the last two laps of the race. One might say that this is the most crucial time....the most exciting part to see the finale but I like to watch the whole thing or at least the parts in between my NN time (Nascar nap). Not to be this week and yes, we will be moving next Sunday to another park when there is a race. Of course ! But the good thing is that the next park has a whole bunch of channels to choose from. Here we have four major networks and PBS. Linda and I are going through HGTV withdrawal.

Our neighbors came over and asked us if we're going up to the office for "grill your own" night. Hadn't heard about it and had just eaten but sure sounds good. She said starting this coming week, every Friday you can get burgers with beans, salad, fixins and make your own sundaes for $4 a person. Worth coming home from work for...won't have to cook. Wonder if these Texans would tar and feather us Yankees if we slip our veggie burgers onto the grill when no one's looking. Whatcha think ?

Camp Verde

On Friday Linda and I had to go to Camp Verde. This area has a unique history to it. There is a general store here that was established in 1857 and is really cool. It's a two story structure that used to be open only on payroll days. The store was built one mile from Fort Camp Verde because Army regulations prohibited the sale of intoxicants upon the reserve. When the US Army deactivated the Fort in 1869, the store and post office continued to serve pioneer ranchers who had settled in the area.

History of the camp, as quoted from the flyer we picked up is as follows: "In 1854, Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, later President of the Confederacy, petitioned Congress to appropriate $30,000 so the army could experiment with camels for army transportation and military purposes. With the support of President Pierce, the bill was later approved by Congress on March 3, 1855. Maj. Henry Wayne and Lt.David Porter were put in command of securing the camels from the Middle East. The first shipment of nine swift dromedaries from Egypt, twenty burden camels, plus four others of mixed breeed, arrived on the naval supply ship on April 29, 1856. Four native drivers, later given the American names of Greek George, Long Tom, Mico and Hi-Jolly (Hadji Ali) accompanied the camels.

On August 26-27, 1856 the camels arrived at Fort Camp Verde. The second load of forty camels arrived in May 1857. The third shipment, used as a cover for slave importation into the U.S. was turned loose to range the coastal country. At the outbreak of the Civil War, fifty-three camels were at Fort Camp Verde. On February 28, 1861 Fort Camp Verde passed into the hands of the Confederacy. In 1865, the fort with one hundred camels was recaptured by the US Government. The camels passed every test as pack animals by traveling longer distances and carrying heavier loads than the mules and horses used in this area. The war dept, after the civil war, did not have the funds to continue the operation of this experiment as money was needed for the reconstruction. On November 30, 1869 the fort was deactivated. The buildings at the Fort were destroyed in a fire in March of 1910."

Where the deer roam...

The view from top of hill as you drive down into campground

Tonight we went to the dog park with our neighbor, from the campground, and watched as deer after deer crossed from down by the lake to an area where they bed down for the night. The guys said that there are close to 50 deer here on the ranch that they've seen. As I leave for work in the morning, I usually see some grazing up in the pasture area, along with the cattle and horses. This is the sign over the entrance to the ranch. The campground is part of a working ranch and has been declared a Texas Century Ranch, which means it has been maintained for more than 100 years. Back in 1882, it would have been sitting all by itself near Lake Medina..back in the valley. Now, it's a drive through Lakewood Estates housing development...up "hills" and down them..three miles to be exact to get to the entrance to the ranch.

Those pipes that we have to drive over...

Things are going well. Tomorrow Linda and I meet with the campground owner in Bandera to start work on their park. Bandera is a cute town of 1200 people...the "Cowboy Capital of the US". Lots of cute shops, saloons, BBQ restaurants. One of the town's celebrities passed away recently. He had been an actor in a John Wayne movie and in another with Jimmy Stewart. I can't remember what his name was but his coffin was taken to the cemetery in a horse drawn wagon and a horse with a lone boot in the stirrups accompanied it. The slogan "It Do" was written on the side of the wagon....the lone line that this actor said in the John Wayne movie. I think the movie was the Alamo one but not sure. Perhaps any of you movie buffs out there will know who I'm talking about.

Nightly temps here have been getting into the low 40's, sometimes high 30's but during the day it shoots back up around 75. Crazy stuff...I prefer the 70 side of those temps. Saturday we're heading into San Antonio to get a new printer. Our Lexmark is going through ink like crazy and it's acting up lately. Staples has their trade in special going on where we'll get $50 for turning ours in for a new one. Pretty good considering I paid $25 for it during a "door buster" sale before Christmas at Wal-Mart. Also need to get some groceries as there aren't any grocery stores around here that stock much of anything. Closest Wal-Mart is about 30 miles from here in Boerne.

Hoping everyone is having a great week...weekend's right around the corner !

Training is Over...Now the Fun Begins...

Larry & Nancy(trainers), Sage & Paul, Linda and I,Bill & Sandy, Hugh & Dianne(trainers)

We finished up our training on Saturday morning with work in Publisher and Excel on how to do mock ups and some of our paperwork. Linda B will be doing most of these two items, since she will be doing the office work, so she was the one to "practice". On Friday night we had our graduation dinner at a local golf club. What a fun time we had !
    On Saturday, we got to meet Jackie and Eric Fulbright....the top sales team for the company. What nice people they are. They are from Lexington, NC so we talked a little bit about Winston Salem and the campground where we used to have our rig. Turns out they were probably just a couple of sites down from us in November when they came home for the holidays. Small world !
    We pulled out of Lake Conroe around 8 this morning, headed for Lake Medina, TX. Pretty day and nice trip until we got about 10 miles from the campground. Engine light came on, lost power on hills so we limped to the campground. I suspect that it's the fuel filter (hoping it's something that simple) so we've found a garage where we will take it in the morning.
    We're staying at the Lake Medina RV Resort, which is an actual working ranch. We had to drive through herds of cattle driving into the resort. No gates to come through but I guess the metal tubing we had to drive over at openings in the fence are enough to keep the cows in. (Probably hard to walk on for the cows when they're trying to escape.) The resort sits next to a lake in a corner of the ranch. Very pretty area....rolling hills, thus the name "hill country". The park seems full. I didn't see any empty sites as we were walking around. I'll take some pictures over the next week and post them. I'll also post more info on the history of the park....neat info !