Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 40 Currently Partly Cloudy 48)
Heading to San Angelo TX (Currently 45 Brilliant Sunshine High 68)
By the River RV Park and Campground is located off the Junction Highway so our GPS devices had no problem getting us to the park. The front desk people were great at checkin. We had a nice pull thru that was long enough for both the RV and truck. The site was mostly gravel. The hookups were convenient. We had a lot of rain during our stay and we wish there was a little more gravel but the park in our area drained pretty good. We had a good line of sight for our roof mounted satellite dish.
By the River RV Park and Campground is located on an arm of the Guadalupe River. There are a
lot of walking trails and a bridge to the island created by the arm as
it exits and then rejoins the Guadalupe River. Here are the RVs parked next to the water.
Here is the Lifestyle from the front.
To the right.
To the left.
From the rear.
There are a lot of nice parks in Kerrville and we would stay here again. In fact we will be back in December of this year.
We depart today for San Angelo Texas for a few days.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 64 Morning Rain and Cloudy High 83)
This a beautiful time of the year in the Hill Country with the bluebonnets and other wildflowers. You can see them just driving around like we saw when we recently drove to and back from San Antonio. Pretty good picture at 75 mph.
A great place to see a lot of wildflowers is the Wildseed Farm near Fredericksburg.
We timed it for the peak blooming of the bluebonnets and the red corn poppy. Approaching we could tell it would be a good time for the red corn poppy.
Some more pictures.
Walking around the grounds we thought this peacock was neat.
A beautiful time of the year in the always gorgeous Hill Country.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 54 Breezy with a lot of Sun High 79)
While in Kerrville we have done some sightseeing. Paul and Marsha Weaver told us about Copper Cactus which is a unique place. Kind of an artsy shop that has a couple vacation rentals. The exterior show some of the artsy stuff.
The interior.
A boat that is a vacation rental.
We also visited Stonehenge II.
Stonehenge II is 90% as wide and 60% as tall as the original. The interior of the ring showing the columns.
There also are some Easter Island figures.
Stonehenge II is located at the Hill Country Arts Association grounds and includes an outdoor sculpture garden.
We had a great sightseeing and foodie experience at Camp Verde General Store (more on the foodie experience later).
The general store at Camp Verde along the banks of the Verde Creek was first established in 1857. The present two story structure was built in 1900 after a flood swept away the original building.
The store is a great shopping experience. For our Kansas City area followers you can consider Camp Verde General Store as similar to, but smaller than Cockrell Mercantile, but with a great restaurant and US Post Office on a beautiful site. We will be back for more shopping, sightseeing and great food whenever we are in the area.
We hope to do more sightseeing on our next visit this winter.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 66 An Afternoon Thunderstorm High 73)
We saw a couple really good movies last week. First was the rebooting of the "Death Wish" franchise starring Bruce Willis.
Dr. Paul Kersey (played by Bruce Willis) is a trauma surgeon in Chicago so you know he has seen the aftermath of the city's record breaking violence. After a tragic home invasion involving his wife and daughter and then a chance encounter in the emergency room with one of those responsible Kersey then becomes obsessed with vigilante justice to all involved. As the death toll increases there is a talk radio debate going on whether Kersey is a guardian angel or just his nickname, "Grim Reaper".
Fans of the Charles Bronson version from the 70s will like this movie and we did for sure. Don't be scared off by the bad reviews as we feel that most of them are motivated by more than the acting, directing and writing.
The other movie we saw was "I Can Only Imagine".
Telling the backstory of the triple platinum song of the same name. Bart Millard (played by J. Michael Finley) says he wrote the words in 10 minutes and it took 10 minutes to add music to it but in reality it took a lifetime to compose. Bart is about 10 years old with an abusive father (played excellently by Dennis Quaid) when his mother leaves Bart to deal with his father alone whom he has described as a monster.
Bart leaves after high school to pursue a musical career. Taking some time off after a major disappointment Bart goes home and cannot believe how his father has been transformed by faith and his impending death from cancer. The father/son relationship is healed before the father's death after which Bart writes the song about imagining what it would be like to be in heaven with Jesus.
This is really a good movie that we can't recommend highly enough.
We haven't seen many movies lately because we have been told that some stars do not want us as fans.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 43 Sunny High 72)
We've add an all time favorite place to eat - Rio Ranch Cafe in Kerrville Texas. We got the recommendation from fellow RVers at By the River RV Park and are so happy that we went the first time, and have been back many times since.
There are a few additions to our all time favorites list. The fried pork chops and the pinto beans side dish are the best takes on these dishes.
They also serve a couple of unique dishes that we really like; Smoked Brisket Hash (shredded potatoes, smoked brisket, grilled peppers and onions, topped with eggs, jalapenos, cheese and smoky bbq sauce). The other unique dish is Eggs Sardou (pictured below consisting of poached eggs served on artichokes on a bed of fresh creamed spinach topped with hollandaise served with country ham and a bread choice).
Other dishes we have had have been very good and we would not hesitate to get again include chicken fried chicken, chicken fried steaks, mashed potatoes, fried okra, and their version of a Farmers Breakfast (a layer of crisp hash browns topped with biscuits and eggs, sausage gravy, crispy bacon and cheese).
If you are ever in Kerrville this place should be on your list to eat at.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 35 Sunny to Partly Cloudy High 70)
Only Jo will see Bob this Thursday and Friday for the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, aka March Madness. As in past years the games will be televised on the following networks.
With 16 games on Thursday and 16 games on Friday there will be times with 4 games playing at the same time. That means it be mostly picture-in-a-picture (PIP) mode.
During the run-up to March Madness Bob has been interested in the results and has watched parts of some of the games but it isn't until you get to the brutal lose and go home of the tourney that he becomes fanatical. Thank goodness Jo puts up with him during this time. We cannot almost hear QB say, heck it's amazing she puts up with him at all.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 64 A Clouds then Sunny High 77)
One of the better sunsets we have ever seen recently at By the River RV Park and Campground in Kerrville.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 62 Cloudy High 79)
Seems like the only photos we take anymore is of our cats. Here are all 3 looking at the birds on the feeders out the back window.
Believe it or not we are still having appointments with doctors. Bob for followup on his thyroid removal surgery and various appointments for Jo. We of course have been eating out and will have a foodie report soon.
We spent yesterday working on 2017 taxes
and casting a mail in ballot for the 2018 Primary in Texas.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 64 Mostly Cloudy and Warm High 75)
Kerrville-Schreiner RV Park has a 3 month limit so we packed up last week for another park in the area. We will miss the visitor we had while at Kerrville-Schreiner.
Don't know what it is but it sure was tasty :-) Just kidding, it actually is a Blackbuck Antelope found in the Hill Country of Texas. Here is a better picture from the web.
February is also the month our registration and inspection for the Lifestyle is due. We combined the inspection and the move to a new park on the same day. We got the inspection at Bolin Auto Services in nearby Center Point.
We've got that take care of for another year. Here is the route we took from Kerrville-Schreiner to Bolin Auto to By the River Campground in Kerrville.
We will be at By the River Campground for about a month and a half. The campground is for sale and this is an aerial photo from the ad. If you have $3.9M this could be yours.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 26 Mostly Sunny High 55)
We figured it was about time to get better entry steps. For comparison here are the original steps.
We bought the Porta-A-Steps from RV-Co.com. Here they are installed, the top step or deck rests on the top step of the original steps.
Our final two options were these steps and the StepAbove from MORryde. What we didn't like about the StepAbove is when the steps are raised into the door jamb the dirt, water, ice, etc. is brought inside to be cleaned up later, especially the moisture which you couldn't broom off entirely.
Believe it or not the steps we bought fold up for easier storage while traveling. Here is a photo from the website.
We really like the extra width and length of the steps and the top deck which is a lot bigger than the original top step. We feel a lot safer.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 39 Cloudy and Cooler High 61)
Because of some of the NFL players not standing for the National Anthem we quit watching NFL games this year.
So we didn't watch the Super Bowl yesterday and we went to a movie instead. We went to "12 Strong", the declassified true story of the horse soldiers.
Immediately after the attacks on September 11th a small group of U.S. Special Forces head to Afghanistan and partner with the Northern Alliance, a collection of ethnic groups which has been fighting the Taliban since its inception in the mid 1990s.
Chris Hemsworth (probably best known as Thor from the Marvel movies) plays Capt. Mitch Nelson who leads the group of 12 who were the first U.S. boots on the ground in the war that followed the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. We thought this was a good alternative to supporting the millionaire crybabies of the NFL and shows why we #StandForTheFlag.
We really liked the movie and recommend it. Well acted with tension at the beginning as the U.S. Special Forces were developing a relationship with the Northern Alliance. Of course there was a lot of action as they were outnumbered and outgunned and on horse back against tanks. When the movie was over we said to each other if this wasn't a true story we might think it was an outlandish plot.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 31 Sunny High 64)
During the cold spell we recently had with ice Bob had some time to work on our 2018 plans. Here is the back window after the overnight ice.
We weren't certain of our departure date so decided to go to Denver for Bob's Beryllium testing in the spring and then head to the Upper Peninsula for the summer. By doing this we can avoid tornado alley states of Oklahoma-Nebraska-Kansas-Iowa in the spring and visit them in the fall. We have a couple of weeks at The Soo (Sault Ste. Marie) and over a month in Houghton. Then it's down to Iowa/Nebraska/Missouri for family and friends before we head back to Kerrville. Here is a map of our 'planned' 2018 travels.
After last summer being so hot for our travels we are looking forward to the cooler temperatures, and the pasties of course, in the Upper Peninsula.
Bob is calling this year the 'Redemption Tour' because he can redeem himself for forgetting to buy some regional favorites before leaving an area and then enjoying them down the road, or not enjoying them since he forgot them 😀
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 24 Sunny High 57)
We've had a couple of 10 year anniversaries recently.
In January 2008 we joined the Escapees RV Club. Between the forums and magazine and the mail forwarding service Escapees is a good resource for fulltimers and anybody with a RV.
And on January 22, 2008 Bob began his retirement. We cannot believe it has been 10 years.
Also can't believe it but we are still going through the medical appointments gauntlet. This time it is mostly Jo though. Bob is recovering very well from his thyroid removal surgery. So far he has adapted to the thyroid medication. He gets that checked in early February.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
Currently in Kerrville TX (Low 36 Clouds and then Sun High 67)
Jo celebrates her 70th birthday today.
We cannot believe that we met almost 30 years ago and have been married twenty-six and a half years. Bob cannot believe he got so lucky to spend his life with such an amazing woman. Happy Birthday Jo!!
In honor of Jo's brother-in-law Bennie Jo got her free meal at Denny's earlier today. There isn't as many free birthday meals in this area so we have to get what we can.
It seems like all we have done is doctor's appointments and we amassed a pretty amazing list; colonoscopy, cardiologist, teeth, thyroid, podiatrist, dermatologist, new glasses, etc. We saw this great quote from Mike Mills of "Phannie and Mae" that sums it up pretty good, "I have to confess that, since I've never gotten old before, I was a bit unprepared for the seemingly endless treks to health professionals that must be made in order to keep getting this carcass out of bed every morning. I'm not complaining, however; there are so many who don't get the privilege of getting old, much less leading the active lifestyle we enjoy. All I can say is, Thank God ..."
Well said Mike, couldn't have said it better.
Till next time,
Bob and Jo
