Wrapping up our Texas Visit

On our way back from our west Texas Big Bend trip, we made a successful side trip to get Max his annual fluid/filter service, arriving back in Georgetown with just 2 weeks left before we head east for the winter.  It was enough time to get final dental cleanings, catch a few more Gator games with our beloved Lone Star Gator Club, enjoy a few last meals with close friends, and get Max's new replacement EMS installed. 

We unfortunately endured one final electrical snub when we smelled burning plastic the day after we got back. Thankfully it just turned out to be improper wire caps that were used the last time they fixed our water heater wiring.  Still a bit scary though and we were none too pleased the local service place had goofed up.  Hopefully that is all behind us now!

I write this blog update from Pensacola where we have stopped for a few non-driving days to visit with Jeffrey's oldest brother, John and his wife Susan.  They are always great hosts and treated us to a favorite dinner of salmon fillets with cherry pitachio topping (YUM!).  We also joined them to watch the Gators play Georgia Southern with the NW Florida Gator Club.  Well, turns out that was NOT the best use of 4 hours as the ending was very disappointing, but at least the company was good :-)  ... even got a picture (see below) of us with their mascot.

Tomorrow we move on to the Williston Crossings RV Park that is near Gainesville and will stay there a week while we visit and enjoy Thanksgiving with Jeffrey's parents. A huge cold front is once again chasing us east this year and Austin is enduring a winter storm scare, so our timing was good.  Unluckily, we have been driving into a head wind every day on the road so far -- sure would be nice to have a tail wind tomorrow, but the weather report is not optimistic.

From Gainesville, we will head to the Tampa area to drop off Max at our favorite service place for a few upgrade items (new carpet in the bedroom and polish the corian counters in kitchen) while we fly to San Diego to rendezvous with my parents for a week.  We'll spend the end of 2013 and early 2014 in the Hobe Sound and West Palm Beach areas to enjoy the (hopefully) warm SE Florida sun and our nearby family and friends.

Livin' in the Wild Wild West

Okay... I know west Texas is not necessarily the "wild wild west", but this old song by the band Escape Club was stuck in my head the entire time we were there!

We are on our way home (Georgetown TX) from this over-a-Gator-bye-week Texas side trip.  It was organized by the Escapees -- the group we are members of that helps us with our Texas state residency so we can vote, have an address for insurance purposes, and get our mail forwarded to us.  The itinerary included Ft. Davis, the McDonald Observatory (solar and night viewing), the Marfa lights, the Museum of the Big Bend (in Alpine), the Indian Lodge at Ft. Davis (for a lunch), and the Chihuanhuan Desert Nature Center.

It was really a fascinating area -- so remote, so dry, and with vistas and mountains that were very beautiful.  There were 20 RVs total with all of us parked together at an RV park in the Ft. Davis area. No surprise that we were the youngest couple, but the next oldest was only 5 years more.  It was a mix of full-timers and part-timers.  Escapees had arranged a tour bus to take us to all of the sights we visited, so the "rigs" just stayed parked together all week.  Most of our meals were catered by the RV park staff or we ate at diners and cafes for lunch on the road.  On one afternoon we had a little extra time and mobbed an ice cream shop.

After the organized trip, the RVs scattered in all directions with the two of us driving Max to nearby Marathon so we could leave him parked for two days while we drove the car to see Big Bend National Park. Talk about ANOTHER amazing place! We have already decided two days wasn't enough and we'll have to come back on a future trip so we can do more of the wonderful hikes. Apparently the busy season starts November 1st, so we beat the crowds and were often the only car in sight as we explored the park. Clearly Big Bend is one of the best kept secrets in Texas. On a wildlife note, we managed to hit the tarantula breeding season, so we had to watch the road carefully to make sure we didn't run over any of them as the males were on the march looking for ladies!

Our only mechanical issue on this trip was with the car (Moby). When we tried to drive him after towing him 2 days across the state, we got a brake warning.  We were concerned that this would prevent us from driving him around Big Bend and we would have to cancel that part of our trip, but a local Exxon (the only mechanic in the area) was able to read the computer codes on the car and figured out the problem -- a small vacuum leak in the system that enables the RV to brake the car when we are towing.  When disconnected, this leak affected the car's brakes when it tried to run in hybrid mode.  Anyhow, our new mechanic friend just bypassed the leak temporarily so we could stay on schedule and the company that manufactures the system we installed has already sent us a replacement part that we can install when we get back. Never a dull moment!