10 Days to Dripping Sprngs

Mat is down, Margarita's on the table
steaks are on the BQ!

The aroma of fresh perked coffee is in the air, it is cloudy and cool (not cold) outside and Randy is still sawing logs "upstairs" in bedroom taking full advantage of retirement!  I have a view out our side window of the vast Texas Hill Country and the big sky that seems endless.  It is hard to comprehend that this will be our "home" for the next few months but it is true and we are here! 
Our RV site is surrounded by gnarly twisted scrub oak trees and clumps of yellow orange flower.  Directly  across the road from our site is a barbed wire fence that has been creatively "patched" with a rusty bed spring!  Beyond is a pasture where there is a herd of Texas Longhorn steers that have already stuck up a "moo-ing" banter with Randy!   It is 10 miles to the nearest grocery store in any direction.  We really are tucked away in the Hill Country of Texas. The setting really could not be more perfect!

Bed springs fence repair!

Our trip to Dripping Springs was fun but also presented a few challenges!  First stop was Taos, New Mexico, a town I would liken very much to Jackson Hole, WY.  Galleries, pottery, jewelry and quaint coffee shops and restaurants!

Dinner:  Faustine is a champion when it comes to seeking out the local favorite and after quizzing several clerks about their favorites we settled on a charming place called Orlandos Mexican Cuisine.  It looked a bit questionable when we arrived but when they took our name and invited us to sit by the fire we were won over!  The food was incredible and the atmosphere quirky!  

First challenge: the plumbing under our kitchen sink didn't survive the bouncy roads.  The drain pipe actually split and Randy had to totally replace all the plumbing under the sink! But God is good.  Just a few hundred yards down the road from the Taos Valley RV Park is a very large Ace Hardware so the pieces and parts he needed where readily available.  He and Ted worked the better part of the morning to complete the repairs and even managed to squeeze in a bike ride while the repairs were drying!

Our next stop was Albuquerque for four nights.  The trip traversed  the quiet New Mexico country side along the Rio Grande River and climbed up and down the rolling hills toward Sante Fe and Albuquerque.  The quiet drive turned to white knuckle traffic as we neared Albuquerque but we managed to navigate to our campground in the heart of the big city! Our friends Mike and Marilyn joined us there and the next few days were spent exploring Old Town Albuquerque and the Balloon Fiesta  We visited San Felipe de Neri Church in Old Town Albuquerque, strolled along the under the porches of the old buildings that now house galleries and shops and looked at the merchandise set out by local Navajo artisans.

On the last evening we celebrated my 65th birthday at the Church Street Cafe in Old Town. What an awesome atmosphere but the best part was the fun we all had laughing and talking about the days adventures at the Balloon Fiesta! (L to R) Randy, Ted, Tona, Faustine, Marilyn and Mike! The best friends anyone could hope to have!

BALLOON FIESTA - We got up at 4:00AM to make the trek to the Balloon Fiesta to see the Mass Ascension  That meant bringing out the turtleneck sweaters, polar fleece and long johns because it is not exactly balmy in Albuquerque in October at that hour. Chairs in hand, hot coffee in the thermos and spirits full of anticipation we thought we were ahead of the crowds only to discover that several thousand people had the same idea! But the effort was worth it and we arrived at the balloon grounds just before dawn. What an amazing site waited us! Looking out across an eminence field you could see glimpses of what was happening as balloons begin to fill with air. It looked like giant patches of colorful mushrooms growing spontaneously! 

As they got bigger and taller the burners would fill the dawn sky with bursts of brilliant light. Then magically, as dawn turned to full light, the sky filled with balloons that were so huge it ist hard to explain! The colors are electric and even the oldest become like kids in a candy store! It is something that I would recommend you put on your bucket list! 

From Albuquerque we headed east and south toward Carlsbad, NM but changed our minds when we learned much to our chagrin that the Caverns at Carlsbad were closed because of the "government shut-down"!!! So... we stopped in Roswell, NM and well the picture says it all! You know you are in "alien" country when you visit the local Walmart store!

From there we traveled west to Texas via Hobbs, NM and on in to Fredricksburg, TX before arriving here in Dripping Springs and our new home. All in all the journey was fun and despite plumbing problems, a blown tire, some wind and rain we arrived safely and are now enjoying shirt sleeve weather, humidity and most important -hugs and kisses from two of the cutest granddaughters one could ever hope for! 

If you read this blog, we would love you to leave a comment to let us know you are following us on our journey!

Until next time!

On the road at last ...

Randy is officially RETIRED!!!

So begins a dream that began 41 years ago. We are on the road - really we are headed south as I write this blog!   I don't remember my first day of school a long time ago but I'm sure the feelings I have right now are a bit similar.  Excite? Yes!  Frightened?  A bit! Knowing that ahead lies a journey of discovery and adventure that Randy and I have talked about for a long time  seems a bit surreal.  But like some wonderful friends of ours pointed out, "Everyday is Saturday now!"

Following our dream!
 (I'm driving the car behind)

We left the KOA campground in Fort Collins October 6. It was strange to pull out of the drive way knowing that we are no longer permanent residents and are heading off to establish a new "home base" in Texas before the next work kamper season.  





Although we had planned for this day, getting all our ducks in a row suddenly became a matter of top priority!

• Would the steps and porch for the RV fit into the box that Randy made for them in the bed of the pickup?
• Did we fastened down all the movable objects in the RV  sufficiently so they wouldn't dance all around as we went the road?
• Did we eliminated all the unnecessary stuff that we don't need to be hauling around or more importantly did we remember all the really important stuff we need? 

And the lists went on... overwhelming to say the least!

We had a bit of a test run early the morning of Friday the 13th of September when we woke to the sheriff banging on our door telling us that they were recommending evacuation!  The water in the river was well above flood stage from all the rain and the dam up the Poudre was "at risk" of going over the top.   So,  at 4:02am we were outside in the pouring rain hooking up the trailer and preparing to evacuate to higher ground. Our friends, Ted and Faustine, who live in south Fort Collins offered us a bed and a spot to park the trailer so we did have a place to go.  Only one problem, they were south of the river and we were north of the river and most of the bridges in town were closed.  We had to go way east to find a crossing to go way west.  Thankfully the campground escaped the flooding and we were able to return by noon the next day!

The evacuation was good because we learned very quickly what we needed to secure to the wall or stow away.  Our little home on wheels had not moved very far in the past two years so some of the interior changes we made did the "Watusi" on our journey across town.   Spices came 'a-flyin' when I opened the cabinet door, paperclips played a friendly game of 'scatter' when the desk tipped, and the flower arrangement on the end table relocated to the other side of the slide out all by its self!

With the threat of snow just north of us in Wyoming and moving south we moved south!   Tonight we are in a campground in Taos, New Mexico on our way to Albuquerque for the Balloon Festival.  We are traveling with our friends, Ted and Faustine, and are meeting up with other friends in Albuquerque. Then on to Carlsbad to see the caverns before we head across west Texas to our new "winter" home near Austin!