Around Austin, TX – January 16th to February 21st, 2017

So shortly after getting back to Georgetown it was time to take the trailer in to have the underside evaluated to see what needs to be replaced. I ended up using Camper Clinic 2 in Buda, TX. They are going to look at the trailer and then I’ll pick it up in the afternoon so that I can still live in it. The other place I was going to use I called the day before I was supposed to take it over. They told me that they would need to have the trailer for a month and that they wouldn’t be able to get to it tomorrow as my original plan was. Extremely irritated because I had waited a month to bring the trailer in.

Dropped the trailer off and then drove down to Lockhart to get some BBQ. (Lockhart is easily the BBQ capital of the world per capita if not overall)

I ate at Black’s Barbecue. But you also have Kreuz market, Chisholm Trail BBQ, Smitty’s, and R & G BBQ.

From there I wandered over to San Marcos to check out Dick’s Classic Garage. Some really beautiful old cars. Plus a replica of the Batmobile from 1960’s series.

I love the hood ornaments on all these old cars. I also saw the second Tucker automobile. The other was in Lincoln, Nebraska at the Speedway museum. If you haven’t seen the movie Tucker I highly recommend it. Only 51 of these cars were ever made.

So once I got back my dad gave me a new project. He has 9 reels of 8mm film as well as about 40 8mm tape. We ordered a Wolverine movie duplicator and DVD duplicator. Then I started running all the movies through the machine and I had my Elgato composite video converter for the tapes. It’s taken a lot of time but has also been very fun to watch these old movies with my parents. I ended up not completing this project till mid April but it is now finished and copies having been given to my parents and sisters.

I ended up creating 39 DVD’s and having over 70 hours of video when it was all said and done.

The other thing that has been nice is spending time with my parents. February 1st was their 54th wedding anniversary.

I had moved from the Country Oasis to the KOA in Leander by this point in time. This is because I had originally made reservations at the KOA for Christmas and changed it once I found the Country Oasis. They wouldn’t let me cancel it. I picked up some chocolate from the Sweet Shack. They have a wide selection of candy as well as a variety of soda pops.

The other thing I looked at in Leander was some homes in Starlight Village. These are some new Mid Century Modern homes that are being built. I loved the layout of them but once I started calculating the home association fees, taxes, and insurance it was going to be an additional $10,000/year. Just not something I’m committed to doing right now. I took some pictures but not sure what happened to them.

So after a couple of weeks I went back to Camper Clinic and dropped off the trailer again to be fixed. I then proceeded to drive to Luchenbach, Texas looking for Waylon, Willie, and the boys.

It was only a short drive from there to Fredricksburg, Texas. As you drive through this area you quickly realize how many wineries there are here. Easily equals those in Napa and Barossa Valleys. But where I was headed was to the National Museum of the Pacific War.

I hadn’t realized how many World War 2 prisoners of war were sent to the United States. Around 425,000 in total.

The museum also had these great digital displays that showed how the battles were fought.

Overall an extremely impressive museum. There were other buildings which are part of the museum but I was running out of time before I had to go back and pick up the trailer. I’ll have to come back and check them out later.

One of the wineries I drove by going back was Torre de Pietra. Pietra is the name of a Rotarian friend that recently moved from Denver to Liberty Hill, Texas. She and her husband Jeff invited me over to dinner and play Boche Ball. I somehow got confused as to what time dinner was starting but was only an hour late. They were very forgiving and served me one of the best meals a person could ask for. Jeff has also been kind enough to invite me out for golf twice while I’ve been here. Was very nice to know I have friends in the area.

During this time in Texas my mom and I drove up to Topsey, Texas while my dad was back in Kansas. We drove through the Topsey Exotic Ranch and Drive through Safari. It is unbelievable how many animals they have here. (And how close you can get) You purchase your admission to the park and then buy small bags of food. The animals will come up to the cars and you can throw the food out for them. You have to be careful or they will rip the bag of food out of your hand.

They aren’t bashful.

I wouldn’t mess with the Ostrich’s either. This one started biting the rubber around the window of the car.

The last stop I made around Austin before leaving for my tour of the Gulf Coast was to head up to Temple and go to the train station. My understanding was there is a Harvey House there. But I found out that it had been torn down. They did have a good display of quilts based upon food and a train museum.

Scott & White in Texas is based off the railroad doctors.

I made reservations at the New Life RV Park for next December to March so I can be close to my parents again. If I hadn’t there wouldn’t be any place for me to park. Actually very hard to find place to stay for a few months.

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