2012-04-05 the 11th Street Cowboy Bar - Bandera,TX

With lots of folks arriving on the 1st day of the rally, it seemed like a good time for the men to do the cooking.
So we did what all red blooded American men do in that situation
  ..... we went out to eat !!

 It was a 30 mile trip to Bandera Texas to the 11th Street Cowboy Bar

It was very crowded but there was room for everyone
 .... and everyone was hungry

 Of course this was a little different type of restaurant.
They provided the side dishes and fixin's and the grill but we brought our own meat to cook. 

It was here that Ms Susy decided her favorite cut of beef is now T-bone steak

 You had only 1 chance to get it right so Roger kept a close eye out for ours

Stan and Mel seem to know exactly what they were doing and waited until the coals were just right

So I waited to see how they did and then plopped ours on next to theirs

By this time I think the ladies were getting a bit hungry
and Big Greg had to reassure them they would not be disappointed

The steaks came out Greeeaaat!! and we all went home satisfied !!!

 2012-04-04 Pre-Hill Country Rally

We arrived in the early afternoon and were given the 1st spot as you enter the park

Ms Susy as usual began by setting the party atmosphere

Many of our forum friends that we have traveled with while on 'Vacations' were already here including 

Big Greg & Judy, Jeff & Susan, Stan & Connie, Paul & Dottie and Mel & Dee

Sadly missing were good friends Bill & Judye, Ron & Lois, Dave & Trish & Tank :(

After setting up we realized it was 5 O'clock (No Really it was !!) and time for the normal HitchHiker social

(Did I really say normal and HitchHiker social together .. Oops!)

 Lots of friends we hadn't seen since the October rally near Nashville TN and friends we had not made yet?!

 Of course there were introductions and discussions of what was happening in the world ... 

I did tell you it was a social right ? 

... so we left solving all the National/World Issues until the more formal meetings :)

These next couple of pictures I borrowed from Big Greg and Paul's blogs  .. Thanks Guys!

(Better to ask forgiveness than permission)

 Behind the patio is a very high/steep cliff that descends to Johnson Creek ...
We were told that the day before, some Young'ens were diving/jumping from the bluff into the creek.....
Man ...I can barely remember the days when I was invicible !!

It's very beautiful in the Hill Country this time of year

Lots of wild flowers

 And other assorted interesting facts

Well tomorrow the 5th is the official start of the rally, but for us, this was a great way to start

Next up are the activities and places we visited during the rally

Cya soon

3/29/12 thru 4/4/12 Austin Texas

 We arrived around 5pm ... Yes we got here during rush hour traffic, but in this town Midnight is still busy.

We Stayed at the Lonestar Carefree Resort right along side Interstate 45.  Too tuckered to do much the first night just found our site and hunkered down.  We spotted a beautiful 36' Premier with nobody home.  Vowed to knock on their door the next morning but, Low and Behold when we went to breakfast the next morning they had already pulled out.  We posted on NuWaOwners.org that we spied a HitchHiker and in no time we were contacted by Paul and Sarah who were headed back to Missouri where we had just left.  Small world isn't it.

The next few nights were loaded with music down on 6th Street.

This night was a jam at Sams Towne Point.

Just what the Dr ordered for our son JD

 We met up with Susy's friend Seneca from Kansas City, who went to Portugal to teach for a couple of years, but had recently returned and settled in Austin.  Tell me these girls can't get CRAZY !!

 This was taken at JAX, an outdoor open jam near Texas A&M campus. Their are alot of fine musicians in Austin but JD made us proud as usual !

 We met up again with Seneca and her friend Mike one evening on the Congress Ave bridge to watch what is billed as the regular evening flight of 1 million bats at sunset.  We were disappointed that they did not come out until well after dark and we could barely see them.

 All was not lost as Mike sprung for the ice cream from a colorful vendor

 During our ill fated wait, we were entertained watching the local sculling competition and some paddle boats that were vying for the best view of bat show

 Of course we eventually found our way down by the Texas Capital building but unfortunately I do not always remember the camera :(

 This was our site at the 'RESORT'

 Nothing to write home about but they did start repaving the day we left so we had a mini adventure just trying to get out

Ok  ... internet is a little better here so I will do my best to get caught up on our travels

3/28/2012 - Leaving Kansas City to start our life as Full timers

3/28/2012 - Leaving Kansas City to start our life as Full timers

 

Three days from our official retirement date (April fools day :) We left Kansas City on our new full timing life. We first headed to Thackerville OK and a reunion with our very good Hitchhiker friends Ron & Lois at the Winstar casino campgrounds.  It was an excellent campground with large sites.  Since it is a new campground there were itsy bitsy teeny trees.  This will be a great place when they grow upThe other thing that made it great was signing up for a casino card and getting our stay and breakfast for FREE.  Free is definitely GOOD!

I almost talked Miss Susy into pulling the 5er out to start our journey but it was a little chilly that morning and her feet got cold

 We made plans with our musician son JD to come with us and we would make a stop at Austin Texas.
He has his own Blues / old Rock N Roll band in KC and is Quite AWESOME !! Wish I could play and sing like him :(
Here he is with his Momma !  Awe !! this brought a tear to my eyes

 We did meet up with Ron & Lois as soon as we were settled into our site.  We really appreciated that they changed their travel plans just so we could meet up for one night !  Did I mention they are Awesome people!
As you can see, Lois looks very happy to see us but Ron appeared to be slightly overcome. (said it was just something got in is eyes ) They must have been joyful tears because we all went to Toby Keith's at the casino for some really good vittles and visiting

I wrote this more than a month after the fact because our internet has been less than perfect
I promise to catch up on our stops in Austin, Hill Country Rally, Visit with Susy's Momma and where we are now in Livingston Tx

Cya Soom