Opa's Schnitzel Hut

We spent three nights at Union Grove COE (Corp of Engineers) campground on Stillhouse Hollow Lake near Salado, TX.  It was interesting listening to Foot Hood's artillery booming and echoing Thursday afternoon and into the wee hours Friday morning.

We have been here a few times and we return to have schnitzel at Opa's.  On Thursday we met RV friends John & Glynda there for lunch and spent 2 or 3 hours catching up.  I forgot to get a picture.  On Friday we returned for more schnitzel with my niece Haleigh and husband Dallas who live nearby.

HitchHiker Hill Country Hideaway Rally

This is the seventh TX hill country rally we have attended, we missed only one in 2013 when Judy had her hips replaced.  Your not going to see or read very much as this rally has been documented in the past.  We really enjoy it due to the weather, location and friends.  There were 23 rigs here this year.  We did next to no sight seeing as we have been there done that.  We do go out to eat though.  Here we have just arrived and Connie and Dixie have stopped by to welcome us.  The rally doesn't start for another week but several of our friends are here already.  When we left 25 days later the trees had there leaves and were green, I should have taken another picture.

One afternoon we had a campfire and weenie roast down by Johnson Creek.

Another evening we had a potluck.

 

Another day some of us went to an old well known burger joint, the Alamo Café.  It was REALLY out in the boonies.  We have been here before, the atmosphere is good and so are the burgers.  We arrived when they opened at 11am and before noon people were lined up waiting for a place to sit.

 

One picture I didn't get was from Classic Burger in Kerrville, we went there thee times.  That should tell you something!

We also went to Llano to Coopers for their BBQ.  They have about eight BBQ pits cooking and then bring some meat to one pit at the restaurant entrance where you select what and how much you want.

We all buy extra to take home.  Some, Like Harry buy a lot more!  That's Harry on the left and Stan on the right.  Lee photo bombed the picture in the middle.

We really enjoyed our stay here, I got to play lots of poker with some of the guys.  The weather was great and there were lots of happy hours.  We made plans to attend next years rally but probably will be in a cabin.

Kinder, LA and Luling, TX

After the Silver Slipper we went to Coushatta Casino in Kinder, LA.  Little did we know we took some uninvited pests with us.  We both discovered we had LOTS of small bug bites on our arms and legs.  Neither of us had any idea when it happened but it had to be from the Silver Slipper's sandy campground on the gulf.  That's our first time and last time going there. 
We have been at the Coushatta Casino several times and it's a very nice campground.  We were planning on two nights but spent three due to the weather.  The day we were going to leave had some bad storms coming through so we stayed put.  And the storm was a good one that night.  We rocked and rolled more that we have ever before and lost power bout 3am.  We were both awakened but stayed put.  In the morning when we left the motel next to the campground lost it's roof.  It was on the ground and on both sides of the 4 lane road.  There were lots of trees and limbs down in the area but the campground had no damage.  We pulled out later that morning and there still was no power.

 

 

We spent the last night on the road in Luling, TX so we could go to Blake's restaurant for chicken fried steak and chicken.  We have had it here before and really liked it.......but not so much this time, bummer.

 

Off to Texas

After signing papers to buy a new home in Alabama Friday we pulled out Saturday for Texas and our 2018 travels.  They will be a little shorter than the past and not include summer in Michigan.  We are anxious to see how well we travel considering Judy's new knee and the slow recuperation from her bone fracture last year.  I am getting so slow that turtles and snails routinely outrace me.  We plan on April at the Texas hill country HitchHiker rally, traveling north to Kansas and making three stops to visit friends and family, stopping in Chanute, KS to see if NuWa is interested in purchasing or selling our rig, attending a small Kansas HitchHiker rally, going to the big Escapee RV rally in Sedalia, MO then the summer in Cleveland GA in the mountains north of Jody and family.  We'll swing through Florida to see Clayton and Pat and my sister Bev before ending back in Gulf Shores in September or October in time to watch he final construction of our new manufactured home in The Grove.  That's todays plan and as always subject to change.  Here we are in Waveland, MS at the Silver Slipper casino campground on the gulf.

 

Silver Slipper Casino on Bay of St Louis 

 

 

How time flies.

We had a cold winter, January through March.  Our activities were the same as the past winters in Gulf Shores with a few exceptions.   On January 9th Judy had her right knee replacement operation which was quite successful.  Here she is prior to the operation.....anxious and ready to go.

And four hours later.

Physical therapy in the hospital went well.

And finally back home.

I made a trip to Michigan via Atlanta to connect with Jody so we could travel together.  Randy's best friend Chris Keefe died due to cancer so Jody and I went to the funeral and to support Randy.  I hate flying.  On the other hand we got to see and spend time with Randy and Devyn.  Big plus.

\

Patches was real sick in March and we took her to the vet where she spent two days.  We thought we were going to loose her because her thyroid was WAY out of whack and she was not a happy kitty.  Fortunately some medications have her back where her thyroid belongs.  She is much better.

 

We also bought a new home.  Our health is not what it use to be and we are slowing down.  We want to be proactive and have a plan to leave the full time RV lifestyle.  We have been thrashing for two years between settling in Florida or Alabama or up by Jody in Georgia or the Carolinas.  We finally ruled out the north due to the colder weather and being unable to find suitable 55+ communities.  We decided that if it were Florida it would be in Elkton just south of St Augustine in a community called Coquina Crossing where Clayton and Pat live.  We wanted to make one final trip back to Florida before committing to Alabama but could not get a campsite for a week or month in April nor a reasonably priced motel room for a few days the end of March.  Add that to being chased out the last two years by hurricanes when we wanted to check out some Florida locations we felt the Lord and Florida was telling us not to go there.  We signed papers and gave a deposit on a new two bedroom 1115 sq ft home in The Grove on Foley the day before we left Alabama.  After spending time in the models we have it pretty much configured, we'll finish the configuration and documentation as we travel the next few weeks and the broker will order it.  We expect it will arrive this summer and it will be finished in October or November which is good timing for us.  Our next decision will be to keep our HitchHiker home of the past eleven years or sell it and the F350.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It's been very very busy.  I had a cold or sinus infection that took a couple weeks but that's life.   Judy and I are in charge of the Sunday evening euchre game here at Gulf Breeze RV.......

Randy trailered his Harley down and spent night with us in the RV and the next day Renato and Jody and the kids arrived for a week.  They are all staying in a condo on the beach in Gulf Shores.  Devyn flew to Florida to visit her mom, then to San Antonio to see Dan and his Air Force boot camp graduation, then flew into Mobile to spend Christmas with the family.

 Here we are at the Shimp Basket before Devyn's arrival

Here's granny, mom and the kids on the balcony.

And in the daytime it looks like this.

 

Relaxing.....

The following are Christmas morning a day before Devyn's arrival.

 

 

 

We had another Christmas when Devyn arrived.....

 Randy got a hair brush for bald men.

 

Dustin get LOTS of Star Wars hot cars.  The weather was good the first couple days the kids were here but after that it turned very cold.  We all went to see the new Star Wars movie one afternoon.

Maria likes to paint and draw, Devyn got a soccer ball painting.

Randy gets a painting of Devyn.

 Making Christmas cookies.

                                                               Our granddaughters.

 

Thanksgiving in Flowery Branch

Judy and I drove to Flowery Branch to spend Thanksgiving with Jody, Renato and the three kids.  It was chilly outside but we enjoyed spending time with the gang......plus their four dogs.  I'm finally updating the blog on January 7 to finish 2017 so my old memory isn't recalling the details of the trip.
Before we made the trip we went to Underwoods for some pecans like we do every year.  We use to go to a place called Broken Branch but their nuts are not as good so we changed last year.

 

Ten pounds of cracked nuts are $40.  We shell them and put them in the freezer so they last a year.

Before we left for Flowery Branch Judy always gets herself prepared.....

Here's our neighbors Christmas lights viewed from our door and the lights and garland we have inside our RV giving us a little festive mood.  And of course our Christmas tree.

 

 

Renato has really changed their home by working on the basement, he's added two bedrooms, a bathroom, a den, and storage space.  The girls are living down there and all three kids play down there and that has made the upstairs MUCH quieter.  Renato is also working on the back porch (below) by enclosing it and making it into year around living space.

Here I am with the Georgia gang.  That's Bertha photo bombing us.

I had my 71st birthday while we were with them.  Cake, I like cake!

Here's Judy with the kids after making pumpkin and pecan pies.  Pie, I like pie!

And here we are having our Thanksgiving dinner.

The official Brasil 2017 Christmas picture.

After Thanksgiving we went to St Augustine and Ocala.  We stayed with Clayton and Pat for 2 or 3 nights visiting them and checking out places to settle down.  We visited one 55+ community in Satsuma, FL where one of out Gulf Shores snowbird friends just bought a place.  It's on the St Johns River and very peaceful, I liked it.  Judy ruled it out as being too remote.....Publix was 29 minutes away.  We checked out another community in Flagler Beach which we liked but their lot rents are pretty close to those of Coquina Crossing where Clayton & Pat live and we think their community is better plus has an indoor pool.  We stuck around another day so a broker could show us several homes there in Coquina Crossing.  Decisions, decisions and decisions.  After this we went to Ocala for two nights to visit my sister Bev.  She's been there 2 years now and really likes it, even the summers.