Willis/Conroe - Lake Conroe, TX

March 1 and we are camped in the Castaways RV Park on Lake Conroe. The first night we camp in a temporary spot, as we need to take the house to have an axle looked at. The next day, we drag the house to the service by only to find out that they can't work on it. They suggest somewhere else, and we make an appointment for Friday.

We took a drive to College Station to visit the George Bush (elder) Presidential Library on the A&M campus, and are able to have dinner and visit with our good friend, Kathy.

On Friday, we drag the house to Odom Trailer Sales, who agrees to order a new axle for us.

On March 8, we moved to the Thousand Trails park at Lake Conroe. We also go for a visit to the St. Francis Wolf Sanctuary for Cathy's birthday (she insisted!). She was thrilled to get wolf kisses on her birthday! This sanctuary is bovernment approved for wolves and wolf-dog hybrids, and they currently house about 14 animals.

We took a drive to Livingston, TX where our Escapees home park is located. We got the tour of the facilities, whick includes the mail forwarding center (huge!) and the park, which has camping, RV's, houses, and the CARE facility for assisted living in your own RV. Got a hug from member #1, Ann, who founded the club with her husband Joe. Joe recently passed away, and Ann is living in her house on the grounds. We also tried to get our TX driver's license in Livingston, but weren't able to. (long story best relayed in person).

Steve took himself on a tour of the Texas Prison Museum and the Sam Houston Statue in Huntsville. He got to see the electric chair.

We ate dinner in Conroe at the Sticky Ribs BBQ! Highly recommended with huge portions!

We also took a drive to Washington on the Brazos, which was the first capital of the Republic of Texas. They had a nice museum in the state park.

The next day was our first "pickleball" lesson from new friends, Mark and Laurie. The game is a cross between ping-pong and tennis, and played with a wooden paddle and a whiffle ball. Supposedly the next big thing in the RV parks! Was kind of fun.

Drove the house to the shop again to have the new axle put on. The cat does not know what is goin on with all of the packing up, hitching up, driving 30 minutes, unhitching, wandering around in the truck, etc... Fortunately, no "surprises" from her!

We rented a car for our drive to Lincoln for Cathy's Dad's 80th birthday. We drove straight through with no problem, and the cat seemed ok with the new wheels.

We were able to catch our nephew Nolan's ballgame while we were there; he was catching that game. Had Dad's bithday dinner at his favorite restaurant, Red Lobster. We celebrated Nolan's birthday at Buffalo Wild Wings, and sister Julie's birthday at brother Bob's house.

We were also able to spend some time with Steve's side of the family, with dinner out, and a celebration of great-nephew Daniel's second birthday!

Back to Lake Conroe via Kansas City, so Steve could have his hearing aid fixed and Cathy could get her eyes checked. It is not fun getting older; and it's expensive!!

Came back to Lake Conroe, only to find our computer crashed! Were able to purchase a new one, have all the stuff moved over, and then got to finish the dreaded taxes!!!

On to San Antonio...

Pioneer Park - Port Aransas, TX

This is a great park, with LOTS of activities! They even serve breakfast and lunch on the weekends! Our first week here we had some great cinnamon rolls from their kitchen and Steve attended a Super Bowl Party. We participated in a chili dinner, burger night, ice cream social night, a Valentines day dinner/dance (lots of fun), and soup night.

We saw a notice about a Nebraska group coffee get together in town, so we went and me some great folks who are travelers and some who live here full time. We also attended the Nebraska State Day dinner with 100 other people from Nebraska.

We also went from 70 degree weather, to an ice storm that left us locked in until afternoon! Oh, shades of the midwest!!!

We signed up at the community center for a bus ride to San Antonio to see the rodeo and Reba. We had to stop at the petting zoo for Cathy, and then saw a great rodeo and even better show!

We enjoyed meeting some new people, including John Dayton and Ann Coster, Sheri and Dave Furry, Kathryn and Page, just to name a few. Found out that John and Ann also know Paul and Mary, our friends from the KC park.

We have done a lot of fun things while we have been here:

* Visiting the USS Lexington aircraft carrier museum...

* Hearing the USAF Concert Band of the West...

* Visiting the TX State Aquarium...

* Visiting the Texas Museum of Science and History...

They have the replicas of the Pinta and Nina here that we got to tour.

* Going on a Dolphin Watch/Nature Boat ride...

* Going to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge with John and Ann during the Whooping Crane Festival...

* Enjoying the community playhouse presentation of "A Tuna Christmas". This play is about the people of Tuna, TX as they prepare for the Christmas light festival, and only has two actors playing all the parts. If you ever have a chance to see this play, or the previous play "Tuna, Texas", you must go, as it is a HOOT!!!!!

On to Willis, TX on Lake Conroe!

South Padre Island, TX - Isla Blanca County Park

This is a very large park with the essentials, but few amenities. Our first site was very narrow and too short to park the truck, no picnic table, and a palm tree rubbing on the bedroom window. Steve didn't like it, so we moved the second day into a new site that had been freed up. It was great! We were backed into the site with a view of the Bay! This is the sunset from our couch!

Our first night in, we had dinner with our friend Barb, and her Mother and Aunt and Uncle. During the first week, Cathy stayed behind and tried to find places to put stuff, while Steve and Barb went to pick oranges and grapefruit off the trees, and bought shrimp.

Steve participated in both the Polar Bear dip on January 1 and the Causeway walk on January 8. He said if he would ever participate in a Polar Bear dip, he was glad it was here!!

We went with Barb to the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge for some birdwatching. This is the northernmost habitat for the Green Jay (beautiful).

Barb and Steve also went to the Los Fresnos Music Festival and Classic Car Show, and saw Elvis!!

Steve walks on the beach every morning 2.5 miles to Barb's, has coffee, and then walks home.

Steve's brother Randy and his wife Jackie came for a week at the end of our stay. We went to Laguna Atascosa again, and then to the South Padre Birding Center. We also went on a Dolphin Watching Tour with Captain Scarlett and her dog. We ate some great food, and they were glad they were here, instead of in the snowstorm back home.

Next up, Port Aransas, TX.

Buckhorn Lake Resort - Kerrville, TX

At last to our destination for the next week! Got a pull through site on a cement slab, with plenty of parking for the truck. Met our friends Mary and Paul, and made new friends, John and Sandy. Had a great Mexican dinner at Mamacitas the first night in.

This is a very social park and we participated in 2 community dinners, a social hour where someone furnished "Tom and Jerrys" (MMMMM GOOD), and a potluck on Christmas. Steve took a trip with the group to a State Natural Area called Enchanted Rock. One day we went to lunch in nearby Bourne, and a place called the Dodging Duck Brewhause, where we met more RV friends!

On Christmas Eve, we hosted our small group to eggnog and a gift exchange. Even the pets got gifts!

By the way, we found out that the furnace isn't fixed!

Merry Christmas to all!

Bay Landing Park - Bridgeport, TX

This is a Thousand Trails park, and boy is the drive from the gate a long one. We drove all around the lake to get to the campsites, and when we got there, they were on the grass. Cathy backed in again, and we stayed just for the night.

Oklahoma City, OK - Twin Fountains RV Park

This is a really nice park, and we will have to return here, but for now, we just stayed one night. So far, the heater is working, which is a good thing, as it is rather cold out.

Chanute, KS - Part 2

Came back to Chanute on Monday, toured the new RV with the service department in the afternoon, and started the transfer of mucho stuff! Fortunately, NuWa put both the RVs into their service department so we could transfer in the warmth. We got quite a bit moved over, then on to the motel for some rest.

Tuesday morning we filled out all of the paperwork and wrote a check, then back to the service area to try to finish with the unloading/loading. Steve says there was stuff stashed EVERYWHERE! Really, what did he expect. Will be a chore to find new homes for everything.

Tuesday night was also spent in the motel, as we had not quite finished with our project. Wednesday nite was spent in the new RV in the Chanute campground. Cathy actually backed into the RV site, and was successful in getting us close enough for all the hookups! YEAH! Unfortunately, the furnace stopped during the night.

Thursday morning we were back to the shop and hopefully a fix. Thursday night back at the campground and the problem seemed to be fixed. Cross your fingers.

By the way, here is a photo of our new cat, Dottie.