Alaska 2010 – May 14: Matador, TX

We left San Angelo, TX, truly eager to be on the road again, yet grateful for how well everything had turned out. Our motorhome was running like a dream, life was good! We headed for Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailways, located east of Amarillo, TX, near the little town of Quitaquay (“kitty-kway”).

As we drove north, we could see we were driving toward a black and ugly-looking storm front. Hmmm, would it travel east and we’d miss it, or would we catch it? Unfortunately, it was the latter.

It rained and rained and rained some more for hours, and was finally raining so hard we got off the highway. It was just too dangerous to continue. We stopped in Matador, TX, and wandered around until we discovered the high school parking lot! Being a Friday night, football season was long over, and any baseball games would certainly be rained out, we took a chance and parked there for the night. We were on asphalt, on a slight rise, so weren’t in any danger of getting stuck. We just hoped the police wouldn’t ask us to move in the middle of the night!

We had a quiet night. The rain ultimately quit. No one disturbed us, though a few folks drove by just to look at that big “camper” up at the high school!

Morning came; we wanted a cafe to provide our breakfast on this travel day. Off we went and to our delight we found Billie Dean’s Restaurant/Motel on the main drag heading back to the highway (no website available). We had a good breakfast and got back on the road.

 

This menu highlight tickled us:

Our rig, parked high and finally dry across the street from Billie Dean’s

We continued to Caprock Canyons State Park and Trailways, a short drive north.

An ADDITION to our blog home page!

You’ll see a new addition on our blog page just under the photo of our motorhome. There’s a line with “Home” and also “Treasures we have heard or seen on the road…”. Each is a link which toggles back and forth between our home page and this NEW Page.

I just built this page last night (5/30/10) and will be adding several new things as time permits over the next couple of days. Also, it’ll be forever undergoing changes as new “treasures” appear in our lives and older ones may be removed. Entries may be an amusing regional saying, a particular comment someone made, a funny sign, a photo of something ironic, etc. Something which delighted us and/or made us stop for a moment to take it in!

No matter how much traveling we do, it NEVER gets old! There are always “treasures” just around the next curve!

Alaska 2010 - A San Angelo, TX, restaurant “post script”…

We’re RVers, right? The RVing community knows about food! So, we offer two must-do’s if you’re ever in San Angelo. By the way, there’s a Texas state park (San Angelo State Park) just outside of town that might serve as a stop-over as you travel north.

OK, for breakfast, please go to Armenta's Cafe, 1325 S. Oakes St., San Angelo, TX , phone 325-653-1954.

It’s a small, family-owned/operated restaurant which serves each dish freshly prepared. The servings are perfect size, just the right amount, enough to satisfy you without overdoing it. We ate breakfast there and thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Great food – we had “migas”: scrambled eggs with crumbled tortilla chips and crumbled sausage in them, and wonderful seasonings. Armenta’s is open for all 3 meals – it could become addictive!

Our second recommendation is for lunch or dinner: classic BBQ! Ray, at Corley Freightliner, suggested Packsaddle BBQ, located at 6007 Knickerbocker. We are confirmed BBQ afficionados and this place is really good!! We had baby back ribs; the cole slaw was excellent (not runny); the beans were not sweetened (darned good!).

Please visit our posting about Bill's BBQ in Kerrville, TX, from early May, "Alaska 2010 - Day 2, Kerrville, TX". That restaurant, to us, is the ultimate in BBQ restaurants we’ve experienced so far!

Alaska 2010 – Days 5-8, TX Panhandle (also subtitled: “We Have A Hiccup!!”)

We departed from Kerrville Tuesday, May 11, and joyfully headed north on our adventure. Our goal was Abilene State Park just outside of Abilene, TX. ‘Twas not to be! Get ready – there are going to be lots of pictures!!

We were approaching Ballinger, TX, having chosen to drive on “red roads” coming from Kerrville. These are the US Highways, state and county roads which are such a delightful alternative to Interstates. Richard, my husband and our trusty driver, suddenly commented that our motorhome was unable to produce enough rpm’s. We couldn’t make any speed at all. So we limped into Ballinger.

Long story made short, we wanted to contact our emergency road service (ERS), Coach Net, but OF COURSE, we had no Verizon cell signal at all! Only Sprint and AllTel, as I remember, are providers here. (Later, Richard took our truck to Wal-Mart and bought a Trac-Fone (prepaid service) which would work here.) Coach Net advised Richard to try several different things, none of which solved the problem. There is no diesel service facility in Ballinger, let alone one which is familiar with motorhomes. It was very late in the day when a local person told us about the Ballinger City Park and gave us directions. What a find this particular evening!! It was really, really hot, we were tired and distressed, and the park provided 30amp electricity and water – for $9/night!!! We were so relieved! We could run one of our 2 air conditioners! (One of our neighbors said that Ballinger may be installing 50amp electrical hookups and would likely raise the camping rates.)

We were so glad that, if we had to have a “hiccup”, it happened here, not up in Alaska. The motorhome was drivable but just didn’t have any “oomph”. Plus, not knowing the exact problem, we didn’t want to make it worse by driving very far.

The next morning, Wednesday, May 12, we called Coach Net again. They had a contact, Corley Freightliner, 37 miles away in San Angelo, which was also a certified Cummins Engine service center. (Our motorhome’s engine is a Cummins diesel.) After much discussion, Richard agreed that it was best for us to be towed to Corley in San Angelo. Both of us were really concerned that 1) a big enough tow truck be called into service (our motorhome weighs 33,000 lbs.), and 2) that the tow truck driver know what he’s doing. Coach Net covers all sorts of motorhomes, and they’ve done very well by us in two previous minor service calls.

After notifying Coach Net where the tow driver could find us, we positioned the motorhome at the Wal-Mart in Ballinger to await the tow truck – big parking area off to one side where we could be hooked up without being in anyone’s way. Coach Net assured us that the truck was on its way. And this is what arrived (It was the BIGGEST tow truck I’ve EVER seen!):

 

It has a 50,000# boom on it and will lift even a fully loaded Heavy Duty Truck like it was nothing!

Here’s our trusty tow truck driver Chris:

 

(Don’t ya love that purple boom on the truck? Hey, for me, it was the perfect touch! I found some helpful humor in it to distract me!)

Chris was extremely skilled at what he did and had prior experience with towing diesel pushers. You see, it’s more than just attaching to the appropriate place at the front of the motorhome, but also the drive train in the rear has to be disengaged. As he positioned the lift boom under the front of our motorhome, he was very precise: small, slow, careful adjustments. As you’ll see by the photos below, it was a gradual process, then pretty alarming as he raised our motorhome’s front end about 18-24” off the ground!! Another thing which eased our fears was Chris’ calm, deliberate, and pleasant nature. What a blessing he was!!!

Here are the step-by-step photos:

  

And off Chris carefully goes, 37 miles to Corley Freightliner in San Angelo! We felt better but, as we followed Chris, we were still a bit anxious. Other drivers…what kind of place is Corley’s?…how much will this cost us? All the understandable concerns.

Everything went smoothly en route to San Angelo. In order to back our motorhome into Corley’s front parking area, Chris had to make a quick decision. He’d already pulled over to the curb with us right behind him. Suddenly he pulls out right ACROSS traffic and stops broadside to everything! Gulp!! Only later did we find out he’d seen a good break in traffic and needed to make his move for a good position for backing up. OK, that all makes sense but when you see YOUR beloved motorhome serving as a traffic barricade—YIPES!! And, of course, there would be the two idiots who had to cut both in front of the tow truck and behind the motorhome!! Finally, the remaining drivers waited patiently while Chris did his thing. It took two tries before he got it into the right position in the lot. Whew!! Here’s your view from our dashboard:

(Above) Broadside across traffic!

(Above) She’s a beauty! 

 

(Above) Corley Freightliner, our savior!

  

(Above) Settling in. We served as night time security! For liability reasons, we couldn’t park inside Corley’s gates at night so spent 2 nights out here, but moved the motorhome to a service bay during the day.

OK, so by now, you (like us) are wondering what the problem was. A print-out from the engine’s computer was done, initially reviewed by our tech, Doug, and Chris, the Shop Manager. They then called Cummins, our engine’s manufacturer. Cummins suggested a couple of things for the guys to look at.

Oh, and our Cummins 5-year warranty had expired on April 20—just over 3 weeks earlier!!! Naturally!! If we needed a new turbocharger, that would cost +/- $1200, a dismal thought. Would Cummins make an exception an honor it as a warranty item??

The boys persevered and, on Friday a.m. May 14, told us the testing results: the sensor in front of the turbo had failed, our turbocharger wasn’t getting the right information and couldn’t do its job. Angels were watching out for us because 1) it wasn’t the turbocharger, and, 2) Corley had the replacement sensor in stock (most unexpected!!). The boys put in the replacement sensor, we did a road test, and everything worked!! Yay, team!! Whew!!

We were so lucky to have had Chris and then the competent crew at Corley’s. And that we could park somewhere safe until we could get the problem resolved. Several things to be put on tomorrow morning’s “Gratitude List”!

Our checkbook didn’t get hurt as badly as we’d feared (even though Cummins wouldn’t cover the sensor), so off we went heading north. On the road again!

Alaska 2010 – Day 4, Kerrville, TX, & Hill Country Tour

On Sunday, May 9, our friends/neighbors from Retama Village down in Mission, TX, Doug & Laura Mayer, arrived to spend a couple of days at Buckhorn Lake RV Resort and to play some golf with other Retama neighbors, Ken & Sue Gambrell (who’d also arrived Sunday and will stay for the summer). Great to see them all!

We’d been looking forward to a visit with the Mayer’s. Life in Retama gets full and busy; this was a great opportunity to just hang out. The four of us decided to take a drive up the Guadalupe River; locals had said it would be a beautiful drive. It became an extraordinary tour of the Texas Hill Country. The Guadalupe is a very important watershed and water source for this central part of Texas. There’s also a lot of history to the communities which sprang up along its banks dating back to the early settlers and to the days of the huge cattle drives.

We headed west-southwest along the river from Kerrville. It developed into a fascinating loop tour! The countryside along our route was stunning. It was indeed the Hill Country – limestone hills (almost mountains!) and cliffs, sweeping vistas no camera could capture, cool green along the river, ranches, and a significant number of “game farms” where exotic deer, for example, are provided for “canned” hunts.

Each game farm has very high specialized fencing to keep the exotic wildlife IN; and white-tail deer are so common in this area, cattle ranchers sometimes use this fencing around their fields to keep deer OUT!

There were also many goat farms, so many as to pique our curiosity – were they grown for their milk (therefore artisan cheese-making)? Hmmm. Granted, they’re hardy creatures so can survive in this rocky country with its thin soil.

We did see a lovely herd of longhorn cattle. If they don’t typify the Great State of Texas, what does???

And wildflowers, such beautiful wildflowers, just covering the roadsides! Drifts of yellow, with bits of orange, and balanced by clumps of white, lavender and even burgundy. Fresh spring greens in many shades. A visual feast!

We kept seeing a striking burnt orange flower with yellow tips. (There are some in the picture above.) There were huge spreads of these here and we later saw them all the way up through the Texas Panhandle; I found them intriguing! They are called “Indian Blankets” or Fire Wheels”. Here are a couple of close-ups:

During our tour, we kept crossing the extremely curvy Guadalupe (known by many locals as the “Guadaloop”). Each crossing has a specific name as you’ll see by just these two examples:

(So who were the Smith’s?!?) The number of river crossings was amazing! Each one is named and helps to identify where you are or where you live.

Just past River Inn Crossing, south of Hunt, TX, on Highway 39 southwest of Kerrville, is the “Boot Hill Ranch”. We HAD to stop for pictures! How refreshing to see such whimsy! There was about an eighth or quarter of a mile of fence posts topped with boots, every possible kind of boot in every possible color!

Continuing on, the banks of the Guadalupe are lined with cabins, church camps, and weekend homes. This area is within an hour-and-a-half or two hours of San Antonio. It would be feasible time-wise to escape to a riverfront place here or one of the large homes up on a nearby hilltop or ridge spine.

Texas has a remarkable collection of state parks, expressing the diversity of this huge state. We toured Lost Maples State Park and it is no exception…a great place for hiking, wildlife viewing, and has a small campground with many long, level sites. It was lunch-time; conveniently a volunteer in the park’s Visitor’s Center was able to recommend a small Mexican restaurant, Mama Chole’s, in Leakey (“Lakey”), just down the road. It was very, very good! I would definitely recommend it if you’re touring in the area.

We saw country today that many visitors might not see while touring the Hill Country. What a special day it was! Great friends, spectacular scenery!

Alaska 2010 – Day 3, Kerrville, TX

It was a grey and misty day for the most part, a nice lazy kind of Sunday, and Mother’s Day to boot! So, I worked on the blog and Richard repaired some gear and generally tinkered.

Late afternoon, we decided a change of scene would be good so went into town for dinner. We’d passed an intriguing place called Mamacita’s. By its scale and something approaching grandeur, it stood out from the rest of the Kerrville scene—seemingly 3 stories high. So we opted to give it a try and were pleasantly surprised! The pictures which follow will be self-explanatory for the most part.

 
The two photos below really explain the whole concept of this place, which made it all the more intriguing and a contrast to the prevalent Hill Country flavor in these parts.

How many times do you visit a restaurant which blends Moorish (Persian), Spanish, and Mexican cultures?? And still tips its hat to the legend of The Alamo?? In its crazy way, it all worked and was kind of charming. The service was pretty good, given the Mother’s Day dinner crowd. The food was pretty flavorful (we shared a “shrimp fajitas for two”), the salsas not overpowering so, all in all, we were pleased. Oh, the prices were reasonable as well.

I had a great view of the tortilla machine (below) which rarely sat idle, churning out its flour or corn tortillas. It was really hard to get a good photo. Small balls of dough are dropped into a slot at the top left, are pressed inside the angled box, then plopped out onto a moving metal belt which carries them down through the spiral oven inside the clear glass just to the left of center. Once baked, they are carried up and out the angled ramp (at center) on a belt and off they flop onto a clean cloth (at right). They are carefully stacked by the machine’s operator, who then covers them with a clean towel (far right). Servers carefully use tongs to pick up the permitted number for each table and place them in colorful plastic tortilla warmers.

Here are some pix of the interior. You almost feel you’re dining in a courtyard or small plaza surrounded by actual businesses. OK, use your imagination! And guess what? There was even a small Starbuck’s Coffee shop! The best part was a stand-alone Dreyer’s Ice Cream Shop, accessible from the outside and inside. You know where WE had dessert!!

 

Ah, yes, The Alamo! (above)

And last, but not least, is our Richard in the Dreyer’s ice Cream Shop, where we purchased vanilla and chocolate frozen yogurt swirls. A perfect way to end a lovely evening and, for me, an enjoyable Mother’s Day!

Alaska 2010 – Day 2, Kerrville, TX

Yesterday (Friday 5/7/10), we made it to Buckhorn Lake RV Resort, Kerrville, and are in Site 6069 for the next couple of nights. This is a lovely place: upscale, just under $40/nite with FMCA 10% discount, live oaks, Goat Creek, lots of activities during the winter, sort of the Hill Country version of Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort in Mission, TX -- typical regional architecture of limestone rock buildings with metal roofs, surrounded by oak trees. Very nice, clean, quiet. As mentioned in our previous post, we arrived about 7:30pm. It was way cooler than the Valley; ate dinner outside; slept with the windows open! Sprinkles today and tomorrow. Nice. Oh, and lots of star jasmine in bloom -- luscious! And a mockingbird sweetly serenading us all at 1am!

Breakfast was served here in the park this a.m. (and all Saturdays 8-9a.m.) Then we hung out in camp stowing some of our gear. Early afternoon, we went to the Museum of Western Art here in Kerrville -- small but really worth a visit. It's on a hill covered with live oaks and bordering on some fine, large homes. Below are photos of 2 bronze sculptures at the front of the museum. There's a larger scale one at the rear overlooking the museum's Pavilion, but a catered wedding reception was being set up there so I didn't get a photo.

“Wind and Rain” by William Moyer - (Being a cowboy is not always a glamorous life)

“Out of the Mystic Past” by Fritz White – (Look for all the symbols of a Native American shaman)

Next stop: late lunch at Bill's BBQ on Junction Street. OMG, it was exceptionally good! We'd have to rate it right up at the top. Meat was well-flavored and particularly moist. Sauce not overpowering. Best potato salad and cole slaw I've had in a long time. I make better charro beans, however! Here are some pix:

Look for this sign (above) on the front side of the building!

That thar’s the truth, I’m tellin’ ya!

This is the heart of the restaurant. Meat is slowly cooked first on the two flat pits (now-covered and seen on right and in center) then moved to the enormous cylindrical smoker on the left. It stays there for the remainder of its required time. The baby-back ribs melted off the bone, the brisket was unbelievably moist and tender, and the pork roast was the same. This restaurant is definitely a “must-do” if visiting Kerrville!

Sharon Marino (left, whose son owns the restaurant) and Sue Lesser (right, holding a bottle of Bill’s absolutely delicious BBQ sauce!) who, with Sharon, made us feel so welcome. Thank you, ladies!!

Sharon likes the afternoon shift; it was either that, or get up at 4am to prepare the meat and cooking pits! She happily leaves that to her son. The restaurant’s walls are covered with all kinds of photos, artifacts, stuffed deer heads, ubiquitous beer signs, etc. The TV in the dining area was tuned to The Outdoor Channel. (What else? This is serious deer hunting country, and anything else which moves or flies!!)

Tomorrow (Sunday), we may drive west out along the Guadalupe River (pronounced by some locals as the “Gwaddle-loop”) toward the town of Hunt. It’s supposed to be a beautiful drive.

Alaska 2010 – Day 1, "On the Road!"

As you’ll see by my previous postings, I quit blogging part-way through last summer’s travels. I got more involved in the “doing” rather than the “writing” about our travel experiences.

This summer’s jaunt to Alaska will be such a special one that I need to be more faithful in recording it.

A special friend of ours, Steve Westmoreland, has thrown down the gauntlet by saying he’s become a “follower” of our blog and awaited future postings. (See the upper right corner and please sign up. You’ll receive email notice of any updates I make.)

Boy, the pressure’s on! So, get out your atlas and find the places we mention. Hey, we’ll supply the story and pictures. You can sit back, be entertained, and not have to pay the fuel costs! Just heard they’re about to go up. (Naturally! It’s approaching summer time!)

OK, Steve, here goes!

We finally left our home in Retama Village located down in Mission, TX, at about 11:30 a.m., Friday, May 7, much to the amusement of our pals who thought we’d NEVER be ready! On our first day, we hoped to get as far as Kerrville, TX, in the Hill Country n.w. of San Antonio. We were looking forward to cooler temperatures. It was to be 94 degrees today here in the Rio Grande Valley and the humidity was already stifling! Time to go!

Our motorhome’s starting mileage: 29,382 – make note cuz we’ll be keeping track and there'll be a quiz later! Oh, and I was so excited to be on the road again, I forgot to take a picture of us or the rig. Oh, well!

As much as we love to travel, we also love our winter perch in Mission and, in some ways, it's hard to leave in the spring. We'd planted a vegetable garden late last fall -- yes, tomatoes are planted in Oct.-Nov. for harvest in Jan.-Feb.!! We'd endured a historically cold winter (3 hard freezes, absolutely unheard of!) so lost some of our original tomatoes, replaced them, and -- as luck would have it -- they were just reddening as we prepared to leave. So, I picked what I could and these lovelies sit on our dashboard, ripening in the sun. I had also picked fresh basil and Italian parsley from my garden. Dinner on this hot, hot day will involve these things and some fresh mozzarella on a bed of mixed salad greens with balsamic dressing. With artisan multigrain bread, yummy!!

Our "road music" today was courtesy of Asleep At The Wheel, an Austin-based Texas Swing group led by Ray Benson. The group's been around for over 30 years yet remains as popular today as ever before. Last summer, we attended a Wheel concert at the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA, where they appear a couple of times a year. The place was full, jam-packed FULL, and I talked to several people who had actually flown in just for the concert. Now THAT's band loyalty! Anyhow, we have just about every CD they've made and it is fine toe-tappin' music! Goin' down the road, be happy music!

Leaving the Valley, there’s only one main road north and that’s US 281. We drove up to the Pleasanton exit (#103), headed west to Jourdanton, n.w. to Devine, to Hondo, and due north through Bandera to Kerrville. This is a slick and scenic way to bypass San Antonio. (Thanks, Becky D., for the helpful hint!). Last year, as we headed south, we visited Bandera, Boerne (pronounced "Burny"), and Fredericksburg, in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. However, we missed getting to Kerrville, so it became a priority for our springtime trip north.

We were immediately aware we’d left the Valley because 1) RV’s were now replaced by horse and stock trailers, 2) signs were predominantly in English, not bilingual, 3) after the Inspection Station at Falfurrias, we didn’t see any more Border Patrol vehicles, and, 4) we were heading into the Bible Belt. The farther north we got, the more churches we saw and the bigger they got!

Our lunch stop was in Amanda’s BBQ in Premont, just north of Falfurrias, TX. It looked promising but, instead, made us hunger for true Texas BBQ!

An otherwise unremarkable building facade, unless you look closely both inside and out.

A detail over the entry door…our first hint. I found the next two signs inside very comforting! The rest of the interior decor was, at best, “undecided”. Everything from a calendar with the local high school’s football schedule; to the crucifixion; to oil drilling company ads; to silk floral swags. Randomly interspersed throughout, though, were items which frequently referenced “Apostolic” and “Pentecostal”. Some restaurant patrons wore t-shirts advertising their particular church. Hmm, I better mind my “p’s” and “q’s”!

After lunch, off we went, grateful for our air conditioning and to be on an adventure!

Along the roadside were lots of wildflowers still in bloom. Splashes of Indian Paintbrush, lavender Thistles, orange and rust of Texas Fire Ring, several yellow, pink and white flowers. As we headed west away from US 281 and began our curve to the n.w., between Devine and Hondo, we began to see live oaks and juniper. We’d definitely left the Valley now!

The last leg, from Bandera to Kerrville, took us into the hills, past ranches with high fencing (exotic game ranches offering canned “hunts”) and those which were working ranches thus needed to keep deer OUT! There were grand hilltop homes made of local stone and positioned to have sweeping views. These are prime examples, along with older ranch buildings, of typical Texas Hill Country architecture. Imposing stone gateways with decorative iron gates led to these retreats. It’s only about an hour or so to San Antonio from here.

Finally, at about 7:30p.m., we arrived at Buckhorn Lake RV Resort just outside Kerrville. Several friends had told us about it so it seemed like a natural first stop. What a lovely place it turned out to be (please see our next post). Here are some pictures of the entryway. The whole place is loyal to the Hill Country theme and includes a full-size windmill in the center of a traffic circle.

The main gateway of local stone with the center logo which resembles a brand, “BLR”.

The park’s Office and General Store.

The entry looking down toward the windmill

Our motorhome, as seen just below the entry road and main swimming pool. We’re shaded from the afternoon sun by nearby oaks.