Texas Chapter 4: North Bound to Minnesota

With the work completed on the coach, there wasn’t really any reason why we needed to stay in Texas.  We were both more than ready to get back home to Minnesota as we had already self-quarantined ourselves twice over while at the repair shop.  With the final touches of the installation of the substitute “amber” market lights on the front of the coach, since the red ones hadn’t arrived yet, we drove to a fuel stop for some cheap diesel at $1.659/gallon.  We were ready to start our journey north!

Day 1:  Krum, Texas to Ponca City, Oklahoma – 293 miles

We work up the next morning, after spending the night in a very empty parking lot, to a weather pattern that was headed toward us.  It didn't take much to get ready around 5:30a. that morning and begin traveling.  We lucked out on this one.

Day 2:  Through Kansas & Nebraska – 584 miles

Trying to stay ahead of the storm in Kansas, where it pretty much rained the whole state.  No serious weather of any sort though.  We were glad.

Taking a break in Nebraska to see some fun things.  It was good to stop.  What wasn't good though was to see just how dirty the coach and Jeep were.  That's what happens!!!

Day 3:   Arrival in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota – 181 miles

Jeff helping out with mailing out
some catalogs their business.

A total of 1,058 total miles and I guess you could call it being “landed” in the business parking lot of our daughter & son-in-law’s business parking lot in Brooklyn Park.  It worked out just fine.  Staying here gave us time to help out around the building as best we could.  We were getting use to Minnesota's shelter in place rules for the state with what is open and what isn't.

Twelve days later, we had “water on” at the seasonal campground that we have near Isanti, Minnesota.  For a few of us that call the our spots "home" for the summer, we were able to move the coach and get set-up as best we could – still during much cooler weather than what we are use to, but there are still things to do before the coach gets to the campground.

 

Still waiting for warmer weather along with everyone else and being only about 20 miles from where family lives is the best part of being back! 

Adding some additional rock to where we park the coach.

Doing some light trimming of branches
 so it doesn't scrape the paint.

The professional bobcat to make the base
level for us when we arrive.

Life is good!!!

This moment . . .

Take it as it comes,

Keep it Simple,

Be gentle on yourself and others.

Texas Chapter 3: Krum

The next two days of travel took us north from Los Fresnos.   A steady stream of trucks that make up the “supply chain” for the nation’s goods were our friends on the road, along with the color blue bonnets, indian paintbrush and white poppy flowers which dotted the countryside through the hills in Texas.

We needed to put on about 586 miles to get to the town of Krum, Texas.  With about 400 miles traveled Jeff spotted a large, empty business parking lot for us to pull into outside of Waco.  This worked out perfectly for us.  Our second day was to finish up the 137 miles remaining before pulling into North Texas RV Repair in the town of Krum.  Jeff had read about this company from an old FMCA magazine that he had picked up at a campground, so he had called the Service manager to say we would be visiting him sometime in late April on our way back north. 

Due to the pandemic just ramping up closing most non-essentials, our only dilemma was that this service shop was busy but lacked a lot of their staff because they were afraid of the virus.  Therefore, we had to wait our turn with minimal staff and we definitely understood that.  What was really good is that they were able to welcome us with open arms and give us a nice concrete parking lot to park on which had electricity and water.  The dump facilities were on site but we would have to move the coach when needed.

Little did we know at that time that we would be here for close to 4-weeks, but we made the most of it by keeping with the Texas mandate of the shelter-in-place.  We took walks whenever we could and on one particular day, we decided to cross the highway and take a different walk along a country road.   We noticed there was a field that appeared to be a shooting range so we elected to turn around and walk back to where we started.  It was on this road that we met a very special lady named, Jan.  What she told us is that there aren’t many people walking along the road and she came to investigate us!  The shooting range was on her property and consisted of State Highway Patrol Officers that she knew, that needed some practice time.  Jan was in law enforcement for 30 years.

The next hour was within social distancing to meet this born Texas who owned the 40-acre property that we were going to get a tour of on her golf cart.  How amazing is that?  We were able to step back from the crazy world of COVID-19 into a place that brought peace to the spirit and confirmed our love of nature.  Behold - Jan’s beloved Hickory Creek.

We also got to meet some of her ranch family.  The Highlander is a Scottish breed of rustic cattle.  Cappy (short for Cappuccino) was so gentle and wanted to be our friend. Jan shared with us some of her background, her love of animals and what especially holds a special place in our hearts is her love of nature.  You don’t meet people like this every day.  We will be talking about this day for a long time.

 

The time we spent waiting for our turn in our shelter in place gave us time for the following.

Haircuts:  Yes, that is Jeff still with a head full of hair.  Kay has the complete Wahl unit with all of the comb attachments.  I guess this is a good time to try it out.  He was happy and that’s what counts.  

Walmart:  The key was to go early when they opened up at 7 am, stand in line with proper social distancing, and then decide where everything is going to go in the motorhome.

Cheap fuel:  It was out lucky day.  In Ponder, Texas with its $1.19/gallon for unleaded gas.
  

Laundromat:  It was inevitable that we would have to take care of this so with some advance internet reading on what to expect, we took the plunge.  The parking lot was empty, and when we went in a gal took us to where the washers were and explained to us what was expected once we started the machines.  And that was to then take our bags and go back to our vehicles and wait until the cycle was completed.  This was to be also followed when the clothes were finished drying except that there was to be NO FOLDING ALLOWED.  You had to put all dry clothes in your bags and take them home to fold them.  A few “wrinkles” won’t hurt us!

New Friends:  Eugene and Joy from Alpena, Michigan have been waiting for their 30 ft. Class A that had some extensive work done.  For them it was about 2-1/2 months here at the shop before we said goodbye to them.  Now, that’s a wait!

Easter:  A quiet day all around.  Jeff made a cross for Kay made from antique copper wire that he had been savings. It has a little weight to it, so she will have to find the right place for it to be safe as we travel.

Cooking and/or Substitutes:   From all of the Facebook posts and Internet articles this has been the season for people to be busy in the kitchen and this is no exception for Kay.

If it isn’t looking up substitutes for this and that, it’s making them.  When we couldn’t find toilet cleaner back in mid-March, and the need for additional hand sanitizer, Kay was able to find recipes for pretty much everything.  Haven’t had to make any just yet though.

Puzzles:  This is pretty much the entertainment experience as you find how bad TV really is.  Our friends from Michigan gave us a huge box of smaller puzzles (150-300 piece) variety.  One down, but the second one was a beast.  That was pretty much it for the puzzle craze.  Target’s shelves are empty unless you want to entertain yourself with kids puzzles.

Face Masks:  After a few tries with a couple of different patterns we were able to come up with those that we use now whenever we go out for essential items.  We almost fell over when we saw in Walmart a bin that had packaged masks back in the hardware area – a package of 5 for $.97.  It was good to see this.  Now we just need to see everyone wearing them when they are out!  We do.

Motorhome upgrades:   Since we had time to kill while we were having our A/C above the bedroom attended to, Jeff had them do some painting on the coach.  Once completed it looked like new.

Sanding completed and ready for paint.

In the paint booth bay.

All pretty now!

Homemade sign for the JEEP when we’re on the road.

Sign at the entrance of Target.  Cool😎

This moment . . . take it as it comes.  Keep it simple.  Be gentle on your self and others

Texas Chapter 2: Los Fresnos & South Padre

Having finally arrived in Los Fresnos for the months of February and March, we had hoped to enjoy some warmer weather.   Our fishing poles were definitely ready to roll for some shore fishing in the Gulf!   But that was not to be the case.

Since the weather wasn't exactly warm enough to be in the Gulf to cast out our poles for some fish action, we did drive into South Padre - Beach Access #6 to be exact - to check out the beach.  It was pretty quiet with some brisk weather but we drove for a few miles before we noticed that the tide was starting to rise.  That was our signal that it was time to get back to the entrance for our exit!

We did catch up with our friend, Richard, who winters in the Rio Grande Valley.  Richard has been a fishing buddy from 2012 when we first traveled to south Texas to spend the winter that year.  The weather and how the beach access was now set up, didn’t work out for us really doing much fishing at South Padre beaches.  Therefore, a drive to the beach at Boca Chica was our choice for fishing just as soon as the weather permitted.

To our dismay this became a waiting game.  Nonetheless, we decided to pick a somewhat warm day and take our chances.  The few fish that we caught that afternoon were cleaned and put on ice so that we could have our traditional fish fry “a la Richard” back at the park that we were staying at.  The fish was excellent and Richard added some delicious salmon steaks that he had from Costco.  It was like the old times, less the beach surroundings, for his homemade potato chips brought back many memories of our fishing together.  Thank you, Richard!

On our way to the beach at Boca Chica, we were able to take a few pictures of the work in and around the area known as Space X - the Elon Musk extravaganza – where he wants to ultimately build the space ship that will take people to Mars.  Elon, you’ve got a long way to go!  We couldn’t really see the actual launch pads where he has been testing rockets as they were miles away from the main road that we were on. 

   

We were very honored to have a very special friend of ours, Gary from North Dakota, that we met in Georgia this fall.  He drove his motorhome to Los Fresnos to spend a week with us at the campground.   Since this was Gary’s first time in this area, we wanted to make his stay memorable with a few  fun Jeep trips.

On the agenda was a trip to Port Mansfield to see the wild deer that captivate residents and visitors with their gentle demeanor.

Not to mention, a drive down to the marina to chat with the owner of a charter fishing boat.

How about a Mexican Bakery experience?  This was a new thing for Gary, and he was quite impressed.  Each of us couldn’t  leave without buying some of their pastries.  Gary said that he was going to put his goodies in the freezer so that he wouldn’t eat everything at one sitting!!!  

We couldn’t pass up taking him across the border into Mexico for a pedicure and the experience of saying that he had a margarita in a paper cup served to him.  We all had a fun day and of course couldn’t leave without some authentic Mexican food.

It was sad to see Gary leave, but as he is originally from Texas, he was north bound to see family in central Texas.

It seems everyone’s schedules are busy when you are retired and this is no exception for friends, Jim and Dodie from Minnesota.   We were able to finally connect with them while we were in Los Fresnos and they were in Los Indios. What a blast we had with them going to Mexico a couple of times, a Mexican Flea Market in Brownsville and buying pottery, fruit and the infamous “1015 onions” that are known as the sweetest onions in the world!  Our time together was magical and we will never forget it.

A very special visit from our daughter, Jill and our 7-year-old granddaughter, Julia was a hoot.

The four-day visit began at the start of the Corona virus in the US, so we were extremely careful and the number of cases in Cameron County (in Los Fresnos) at that time was pretty much non-existent.  Still, we did run into businesses that were closed and/or just starting to do carry out.  The hording of TP, water, cleaning supplies, and eggs was a shock but it was going on all over the country.  We stayed positive and had a good time and got them safely on the plane back to Minneapolis, but not before we saw the following:

South Padre Experience ~

Sea Turtle, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of endangered sea turtles living in the Gulf of Mexico.  It was amazing to see how injured sea turtles are cared for in the park as they are being rehabilitated. Their ultimate goal is to return them to the wild after treatment.    The art murals within the park were absolutely beautiful.

Can you see Jill & Julia to the left, through the glass?

We definitely had to get our feet wet for a true beach experience.  Julia especially liked the “frolicking” with Grandpa!

The Sabal Palm Sanctuary is a 557-acre preserve which is located in Brownville, and the first thing that you see when you pull into the parking lot is the beautiful historic plantation house.

Rio Grande River

Bouganvillia growing upward into the palm.

The native Sabal Palm, here near the banks of the Rio Grande is found throughout much of Mexico but here in the US it is limited only to the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas.  The preserve has over 3 miles of nature trails with wildlife viewing areas for rare and unusual birds from Mexico.

After Jill and Julia left, we too felt it was time to start moving north.  With previous plans to go to San Antonio and into the Hill Country for a month now being cancelled, we decided to leave a week earlier than expected for a stop north of the Dallas/Fort Worth area. 

Good-bye Los Fresnos, South Padre and the red-winged blackbirds.  We love our birds.

This moment . . . take it as it comes.  Keep it simple.  Be gentle on your self and others.