Rainbows and Stars and Bikes and Trains

So, yes, that's a double rainbow on our drive down to Brazos Bend for the weekend....

...where we got to enjoy Rich's new Kawasaki SYSX300 sport bike (surprisingly comfortable!)...

...which we drove over to the Rosenberg Rail Museum... 

...with it's 100 year old still-operational signal box, and fully restored passenger car...

...various accruements and relics from the hey-day of rail travel....

...and miniature trains that speed along their tracks and spark your imagination.

We enjoyed a loooong lunch at Ol' Railroad Cafe...

...and then for dinner used our new tiny Webber grill to cook...

...hotdogs, of course! And enjoyed them with really good ketchup, and a really good movie...

...before riding over to the George Observatory where we saw Mercury before sundown...

...and then returned down the red-lite path to see the rings of Saturn after dark!

Brazos Bend is a great park for wildlife (deer! and aligators!)...

...and for slow days packing to go back home.

Brazos Bend State Park, site #225.  For a few more pics, go here.

Summer days in Somerville

Ah, summer.  Hot, sticky, wonderful Texas summer. Remind me again why we leave our air conditioned house to go hang out in a travel trailer in the park?

Well, for a lot of reasons, actually:

You can play Greed on the bed in the camper Saturday night after you realize you've left the bike keys at home and will have to spend the better part of Sunday heading back home again to pick them up. 

You can stay at a state park that really needs your support after flooding damaged two of the camping loops back in 2015.  We really enjoyed the way they had the sites set up in the Old Hickory loop where we were - each site was set back into the trees and the park kept the underbrush intact, so that you had nearly complete privacy from the other campers nearby you.  

You *might* be lucky enough to find a local hole in the wall place, because their outdoor decor (Mater!!) catches your eye on the way into the campground.  Freedom Ranch Cafe is on Park Road 57 and is absolutely worth the drive back out to enjoy for dinner.  I wrote up a quick review for them out on Yelp - definitely 5 stars all the way around!

You can hang out with your puppy - who can't seem to get enough of rolling in the grass, chasing and chomping after bees, and basically just being a blur of activity until he's exhausted himself.  

You can ride your Harley over to the Blue Bell Creamery in Brenham, TX.  It was the first time I've been able to make it over to the Creamery during the week while they were actually in production.  They wouldn't let you take photos from the observation deck, but it was soo cool to watch the ice cream being packaged into various cartons.  BTW, you can follow our motorcycle adventures real-time over on Instagram: @twowheelthrills 

You can also enjoy a giant scoop of ice cream, fresh from the Creamery, for just $1.  Rich and I shared one that neither of us had had before: Sea Salt Caramel.  It was the perfect combination of sweet creaminess and salty savoriness.  And the giant flag of ice cream cartons there in the parlor was pretty cool, too.

And finally, you can travel across the southern parts of Texas, from Houston to Somerville, to Kerrville and really enjoy the back road beauty that our state has to offer.  More reasons to come in a bit as I blog about our Fourth of July week at former state-park-turned-city-park: Kerrville-Schreiner Park.  

We stayed in Site #88 at Lake Somerville State Park Birch Creek Unit.  As I mentioned, two of the other loops were closed for maintenance while we were there.  Close walk to the bath house, mostly level sites. The privacy from one site to the next was a BIG hit with us. It was enjoyable and close to the town of Brenham, where there's  fair bit of small country charm to enjoy as well.  I know I've said it a lot, but we could certainly see ourselves coming right back here again.... just this time, we'll make sure we have the keys with us!

For more camping photos, go here.

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

"Here we go camping again," I posted on FaceBook, "who nose what kind of adventures we'll get in to!"

Sooo, I'm typing this from my kitchen table.  Back at home.  In the middle of a camping weekend.   Because there was a short list of items, we realized on the way to Lake Somerville State Park, that we had forgotten: from needed medication (me) to motorcycle keys (RDB).  What was it someone said about the best laid plans of mice and men...?

Without the bike keys, it meant last night we slept with the bike in the toy hauler like we were boondocking.  I figure it at least gives us an idea of what it'll be like with Diesel and the Harley in there with us (more space than we imagined, actually).  For those who were worried that Diesel wouldn't be coming with us anymore, or that he wouldn't have enough space, I'm here to tell you he probably had the best night sleep out of the three of us.

The cats, on the other hand, were not exactly happy to see us home early:

Dang it, Mom, meow I have to hide all the cat-nip.

We grabbed the items we needed, had lunch with Bestie, and then spent the better part of the heat of the day at home (blogging and watching YouTube videos) before heading back over to the park.  When it comes to learning new habits in a new camper, you just have to be patient and flexible.

The best time to start thinking about your retirement is before the boss does.

Working this week sure felt like being retired - camping across the country, doing what I love (my job), and spending a lot of time with RDB.  I'm not sure how we got to be so blessed, but I'm sure thankful for it!

I was scheduled to do a set of meetings in Jackson, MS on a Tuesday this week, so RDB and I sent Diesel to daycare, packed up the camper, and took off across the southern states on Saturday. Being the first time we took the bike along, we spent the better part of Saturday morning ensuring that everything was tied down tight.  First night was planned for boondocking in Louisiana, and then on to LaFleur's Bluff State Park in Jackson, MS - about 40 minutes from my client - after that.  

The drive itself was uneventful, in a good way, until we stopped to fix a sandwich at a Wal-Mart just shy of our camping ground.  While we stood in the shade and munched on lunch, RDB noticed that it appeared the camper-top on the truck bed had shifted backwards.  On closer inspection, not only had the camper-top shifted, but it appeared that the entire bed of the truck had moved backwards due to the weight of the trailer we were hauling.  

So we made a detour into the nearest CAT scales (after a funny phone call trying to figure out if we could actually _use_ those scales) and determined that we were exceeding our maximum tongue weight by about 80lbs; adjustments would need to be made before we head home in a few days, but we were comfortable with traveling the last 40 minutes to the campsite.  

LaFleur's Bluff SP is situated right in the heart of Jackson, MS and so there is plenty to do out and about in town (like having lunch at The Pig & Pint or dinner at The Manship Wood Fired Kitchen - big thanks to WLTR for the dinner recommendation!).  The park also hosts a bevy of recreational activities - from the usual hiking and fishing, to the unique: golf course, disk golf, a huge playground, and two museums.

We had to drop the truck off at a local dealership for a fuel filter change (we were working out all the kinks around truck issues this trip, for sure) and so we spent the better part of the morning over at the MS Museum of Natural Science.  It was awesome that we had the bike with us (the whole reason for  a toy hauler) so that we had a set of wheels to head down to the museum - where I think I fell in love with the tiny alligators.

They're so cute... when they're little!

They had a Ripley's Believe it or Not exhibit scattered through out the museum as well.  That brought along a few interesting items to check out.

I found Nemo!

Yeah, Toast!

Can you imagine what he could have done with a computer?

My hubby's such a good sport... ;-)

Man made matchstick car and a car made into a man....

Since this was a work trip, we couldn't spend all day playing around.  RDB got the camper set up so that I could easily hook into the TV and use it as an extra monitor on my laptop.  I'm so glad that he knows the ins-and-outs of technology stuff!

After I got a bit of work done, we went out for a ride on the bike.  RDB had downloaded an app "Offbeat Attractions" (for iOS) that maps out random things like the World Largest Ball of Twine and the Sweet Potato Capital of the World.  We did a quick search and found the Birth Place of the Teddy Bear  was just a few miles up the road in Onward, MS.  You can follow our motorcycle adventures on Instagram: @twowheelthrills 

Work on Tuesday was both good, and bad.  Good: it was an easy day with only two meetings and both were well attended (over 200 people!).  Bad: these were all-hands meetings because the plant is closing by the end of December, and the first wave of about 65 people will work their last day this Friday. I know that the group was appreciative of the information I had to offer, and several sat with me individually to 'run the numbers,' but it's hard at times to reconcile the feelings of overwhelming blessing RDB and I have, when faced with the emotions of what others are challenged with.  I was grateful to come home and snuggle the Teddy Bear who hitch-hiked back to the campground with us.

We packed up Wednesday morning, taking care to adjust - and then readjust - where the bike was strapped in.  Another visit to the CAT scales confirmed that we were now under the limitations of our tongue weight and could travel along safely home.  It was a long haul and I'm forever grateful for my "Camping Chauffeur" who trucked us the whole way home so I could be well rested for work back in Houston the next day.  I had to keep reminding myself: "this is Wednesday night, not Sunday night."

I could get used to that. 

LeFleur's Bluff State Park, in Jackson, MS, allows for a site-specific reservation: we stayed in Site #2.  We were pleasantly surprised at how level the pad was from side-to-side (when you first look at it, there's a pretty steep grade back-to-font, but dropping the tongue solves that.)  The site is directly on the waterfront and made for wonderful bird watching over the lake.  Short walk to the bathhouse, decent showers and good water pressure.  There's a gate code for entry and they emailed that to us ahead of time in case we arrived late.  We also received a call from the office the day of our arrival checking in on us.  (A really nice touch!) 

For more camping photos, go here.