Thanking my Lucky Stars

 

We were driving along to Lake Brownwood State Park for our New Year's camping trip and I came across this:

It truly is amazing when we think about all that exists out there beyond the blue of our atmosphere.  It reminded me of the Christmas camping trip two years ago when we got up early to see the James Webb Telescope launch, and the incredible pictures that have been sent back along its journey. 

We settled into the park Saturday afternoon, snuggling down for a "cold winter's nap" as the temps were going to be just above freezing overnight this weekend.  Nothing that we haven't experienced before.  But thinking of things we haven't experienced before, let me back up a moment and tell you about the drive across and refueling the truck in the little town of Early.  

We stopped off at the Allsup's gas station, which had a separate island for diesel pumps, and the prompts for the singular diesel nozzle asked you to select either "Tractor" or "Refer."  We both kinda looked at each other, having never been presented with this set of options before, we surmised that Tractor would be farming equipment and reefer would be like a refrigerated trailer on the road.  And with that, we started pumping fuel.  

And then I thought - well, why didn't we ask Uncle Google?  16 gallons in, I Googled and we found out: we had it backwards! Whoops!  Next fast Google was "will red/tractor diesel harm my truck?" (no) and then "what's the fine for putting ag diesel in an on-road vehicle?" ($10K!!) and then "how long will my engine stay stained from red diesel dye?" (it clears out after 2-3 more tanks' worth of fuel, but the current fuel filter will likely stay stained until we replace it).  Fast learning, and grateful that we didn't cause any harm. 

Thank goodness the stars aligned on that one!

Settled into our site for the long weekend, we were really surprised with how low the lake water level was. Water data is showing that the lake is only 60% full - and with the really long shorelines, you can tell it's not at its prime.  All that being said, it's too chill to swim or enjoy water sports this weekend, so we were content with just taking a walk along the water's edge and getting some steps in.

We spent Saturday evening with some of our favorite space-themed movies playing in the background (The Martian, Oblivion, Despicable Me, The Fifth Element) while we waited for midnight.  As a surprise to RDB, I signed up to have our names engraved on a microchip as part of the "Message in a Bottle" campaign NASA is running for the Europa Clipper orbiter that is launching in October of this year to orbit a potential water-based moon of Jupiter.

We're going places, y'all! ;-) 

(Speaking of “going places” - NYE I was chatting with a.Fox about tacos and she said they were fixing a batch for her in-laws next Saturday and somehow I ended up booking a flight to Arizona to join them for dinner! AND I’ll get to have dinner with WLTR on the return trip thanks to a 5 hour layover in Denver on Sunday! I blame it on the champagne and flight credits burning a hole in my pocket... and the homemade tortillas - how could I resist?) 

As midnight approached, RDB wanted to walk over the moment of New Years and I just happened to grab the trash from cooking lunch on our way out of the camper.  We ended up literally "taking out the trash" and walking into the New Year.  New tradition? Maybe so!

Monday we made our way over to the Brown County courthouse. It was an interesting building of red brick and tall columns supporting the second story veranda above arches that lead to the front entry.  It may not have the same architectural draw of some of the other court houses we've seen along the way, but it was interesting in its own right.

The former county jail across the street, with its stone-hewn castle-like style, made for an interesting contrast.

Back at the campsite, we went for a late afternoon walk around our camping loop and over to the fishing pier, taking time to play for a bit along the jagged limestone rocks exposed by the low tide. I of course managed to stab my palm and injury myself on those rocks; the painful scrape becoming a nice counterpart to the massive bruise forming on my thigh from running into the table in the camper earlier. RBD calls me his Clumsy Girl. (He’s not wrong, y’all.)

RDB was wise to check the weather forecast for our drive home Tuesday and realized that there was a high probability of rain starting in the late afternoon.  So we called it a night at a decent hour (kinda hard after staying up late for NYE and then sleeping in Monday morning while all the other campers backed up to head home.) and turned in for the evening.

As we said our goodnights, we reminisced about the last time we were at this campground- the week that we eloped on a camping trip - and how we wouldn’t mind coming back to this quiet and peaceful place again. (Maybe next time we won't wait ten years between trips!)

To know that there is so much out there in the galaxies and universes beyond ours, and that the odds of the composition of stardust that created our unique DNA just happened to be on this Earth at the exact same time, in a way in which we could meet, appreciate, and love each other - and share these sweet moments together - to know how unrepeatable those odds are simply reminds me, year after year, of how lucky and blessed I am that I get to share this life with you, RDB.  I thank my lucky stars for you.

“If we have souls, they are made of the love we share, undimmed by time, unbound by death.” - Jack Harper, Tech 49 

We were at Lake Brownwood State Park, Willow Point, Site #19, 50a/W. Only one Lego unlevel to the driver’s side, this spot is everything you’d want: easy to back into, no overhead obstructions, nearly a 180* view of the water and a stones throw from the bathhouse should you need it. Only downside would be the picnic table set towards the back drivers side - great if you’re using the tent pad, not so much if you’re in a hard-sided rig. Plenty of bird life around the park and we saw lots of people boating and fishing in the lake.  

We’ve been here before for our wedding, ten years and two months ago: We could do it, ya know…

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PS - talk about thanking our lucky stars?  We pulled into the storage facility to put the camper to bed, and I heard this *woooooish* sound coming from under the camper as I went to open up and unload the fridge.  After 5+ hour drive home, it was in the literal last 5 minutes that we got a screw in our trailer tire that was very quickly flattening out!!  I cannot say how grateful I am that it happened where it did, as super low speeds, and not out on the highway between the middles of nowhere!

*Tent on Wheels at DISNEY* M-I-C (See You Next Time!) K-E-Y (Why? Because we LOVED it!)

It's always a sad day when you have to pack up and head home from a great camping trip, but I think post-Disney vacation blues is a serious condition!  We struck camp from Disney Sunday morning, dropping the golf cart off, hooking up, and starting our 995 mile, 14 hour and 34 minute trip back home. 

On the way across, we spent the road time listening to the Spotify playlists my team had made for my birthday - an eclectic mix of rock, rap, country, easy listening, Latino, and Disney songs.  I arrived home and they had even sent me a lighted plaque with a QR code at the bottom that lead to one of the playlist songs!

On our way home, we fired up the Audible app and listened to David Grohl narrate his book, The Storyteller.

We really enjoyed listening to his book while supplementing the stories he told with Google searches of the concert where he broke his leg, the Fresh Pots coffee promo, the harmonica surprise from Huey Lewis and the Foos, and his performance of BlackBird at the Oscars. Getting to listen to the author of a book read their own story is such a cool thing (Matthew McConaughey reading his book Greenlights is another one we loved to listen to on road trips).

We stopped every hundred miles or so to fuel up the truck and take a stretch break. We appreciate the set up at LOVE's because they're really designed for tractor/trailers, which makes navigating the gas station easier.  We were prepared for the fuel costs for this 2400 mile trip, but it certainly hurt our budget a bit as fuel prices rose subsequent to the Russia/Ukraine conflict.   

We stopped over the KOA in Milton, FL.  We pulled in after dark, and noticed quite a bit of road noise, but the stop was super convenient right off the highway.  

We were in site BN1, which was really easy to get into and pull out of the next morning.  The campground was well kept and had a cute hay bale decoration right up front as we left.

RDB was up _early_ that next morning and we were on the road by 8am.  I must not have had a good nights sleep, or maybe all the running around at Disney finally caught up with me, but I dragged a pillow into the truck with me and zonked out for the first several hours of the drive on Monday.  We were making really good time, as we had our next stop at the KOA in Lafayette, LA which would only leave about 3.5 hours to home Tuesday; we had it to the KOA by noon and decided to go ahead and stop, have. good meal, and rest for the evening. 

This KOA was larger than most we've stopped at.  The sites surrounded a lake with paddle boats to rent. There was a putt-putt course amongst the large old, moss-draped oak trees.  In the office, there was a detailed and beautiful quilt in the front office and we were impressed but the incredibly friendly front desk wishing us "safe travels." 

We dropped the camper in Site 309 and then took off for a little afternoon adventure.  Food first - we relied on Yelp to help us find a spot and once again, Yelp didn't disappoint.  We had lunch at Bon Temps, and as the name implies, it was GOOD.  The jalapeno cheese grits would be worth driving back to Louisiana for! 

And if there's something that Louisiana is known for, it's good food.  Good and spicy food. So it's no surprise that it's also the home of Avery Island and the Tabasco Brand Manufacturing Plant and Museum.  

I had the chance to drop in for a tour back in my road warrior days, and since then have really wanted to take RDB over to see how our favorite flavor-enhancer is made.  It was a total spur of the moment detour for the day, but was 100% worth it!

I'm a little sweet, and a little spicy! 

The viewing area into the manufacturing plant was the only thing that was on the 'tour' the last time I was there, so it was neat to see how they expanded out to include the people-sized bottles and other various props and historical objects.  You have the opportunity to walk a self-guided tour around the property, pretty much seeing the process from seed to sauce.

In addition to the little red peppers that Tabasco is known for planted there on the island, there's also a significant grove (or several, actually!) of bamboo. 

During WWII the Tabasco 'family' worked with the USDA to plant over 60 species of bamboo on the island, and nearly 35 of those still exist. (No surprise there - bamboo is sooo invasive!)  We stopped by the gift shop before we left, and I'm pretty sure we spent more on souvenirs from Tabasco than we did at Disney World!  (Also - those cinnamon Tabasco suckers were over the top delicious!)

We packed up the next morning and finished out the last leg of the trip home.  The great thing about Lafayette, LA is that it's less than 4 hours from home - not any longer than a normal weekend camping trip.  We were home in plenty of time to get a little laundry done and set up the camper as our "guest house" for WLTR, in town for the weekend and hanging out at our place!

We had bought a bottle of scotch before we left, with the thought that we might share Walt Disney's preferred drink (Scotch Mists) with others at the campground, but with all the fun we had in the parks and everything else, we never had a chance.  It turned out to be the perfect night cap of this dream of a vacation trip we had!

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Be sure to check out our other posts from Tent On Wheels at DISNEY!