Tuesday, May 20, 2014

GETTING READY FOR OUR 40 DAY LEWIS AND CLARK CARAVAN!!!


Here are some pictures from our last days on SPI before our friends started to head their separate directions.
Ed and Gwyne, Linda and Bill, John and Susan with us enjoying the sunset at Louie's Backyard after the Seafood Buffet!
It was a perfect evening for the sunset dinner catamaran cruise.
We even had live music with lots of food. 
Our buddy Bill
Ed and Gwyne
I know Ed you thought you were going to sail the boat
 BUT
 You understand you're a passenger like us!
John and Susan - Now don't they look like they are having a great time!
Linda, Gwyne and Joan with
Bill - The chick magnet!
 
 
Then it was St Patrick's Day!  Time to celebrate!
 
And we did!
 Joan wanted to make sure she wore green!
Actually she was selected as the "Queen" and wore her crown.
 Geez Jim - aren't we carrying this wearing green thing a bit to far!
Jim was selected King - but no crown for him - a mustache instead??
 What a great luncheon we had.
Marcello's Restaurant in Port Isabel.
 Jim and I
 Jim and Susan

 Our Hostess - Mary
Thank You for arranging this St Patrick's Day luncheon!

Then it was off to the beach to try to get some surf fishing in amongst the barrage of weeds and strong currents.
 Some pompano started to come back finally.
 Baby stingrays - nothing big like last years rays.
Ed is asking Bill
Did you take the weeds off your hook
and
 put those two whiting on from out of the bucket???
 I guess that's a NO!
  You really did catch them.
  Ed is in the background trying to catch anything
and Bill caught a double!
  Your a tough one to fish with Bill.
But I'm not giving up!
 Here fishy fishy!
  Ed!
You need bait on the hooks and put your line actually in the water!


And now time to celebrate EASTER!

 Joan told me I better behave or else
GEEZ!
How could I turn down Mary.
She selected me as the Easter Bunny!
 
I was selected to be the Easter Bunny
 and give presents to all?????


Time to close the last chapter of 2014 on SPI!
 
 Wednesday May 7th 
Joan and I left the KOA in SPI.
So long until next year!
 
We drove to San Marcos, Texas, and met up with our friends Ed and Gwyne who live in San Antonio.  We had a great time sailing on Canyon Lake in their sail boat, enjoyed an overnight stay at their beautiful new house and visited what is claimed to be the bbq capital of texas - Lockhart.
Saying so long to Ed & Gwyne in front of their house.  All moms received a red rose at church for Mother's Day!
 Pecan Park Campground in San Marcos, Texas
Joan enjoying her new rocking chair from Meghan and Brad!
So we hear that Lockhart, Texas claims to be the BBQ capital of Texas.
Lets check it out!
Smitty's barbecue is listed in the top five bbq places in all of Texas.
Lots of free parking at Smitty's.
This is Texas - partner!
One of four smokers hard at work. 
 
You order what you want by the pound.
Place your order.
  The pit master turns around to the smoker,
 takes the meat out of the smoker
 places it on the butcher table next to him
and carves your order.
Your order is placed on fine china plates
known in these parts as
   "BUTCHER PAPER"
YUM YUM local root beer with
Ribs, Brisket and Sausage.
 
 
 Time to take a break from BBQ and go sailing with our friends
 Ed and Gwyne
 at Canyon Lake.
Our Captain - Ed
We're getting ready to head out!
A "Red Solo Cup"
Gwyne's famous Margaritas!
 
 
After an absolutely gorgeous day sailing and staying overnight with our friends
we all went back to Lockhart, Texas
 for Mothers Days

YUP more BBQ!
Number two on our list to try was "Blacks"
 
Here are just a couple of "Black Facts"
 
Number of flavors of homemade sausage offered at Black's BBQ: 4
Kind of ribs we offer at the Original Black's BBQ location in Lockhart, Texas: 3
Number of days we've been in business in the Barbecue Capital of Texas: 30,089
Number of miles Lockhart, Texas is from Austin, Texas: 30
Number of miles Lockhart, Texas is from San Marcos, Texas: 17
Number of places that serve better BBQ than the Original Black's BBQ in Lockhart, Texas: 0
Year the current Black's Barbecue pit was built by Edgar Black Jr.: 1949
Number of pounds the Black's BBQ pit holds at one time: 500
Number of Generations Black's has been in business in Lockhart, TX: 5
Edgar Black Jr., the founder of Black's BBQ current age: 89
Norma Jean Black's, co-founder of Black's BBQ current age: 84
Kent Black, the President and Pit Master's Current Age: 60
Street address number for Black's BBQ on Main St.in Lockhart: 215
Population for Lockhart, Texas; the Barbecue Capital of Texas: 12,000
Number of hours each day Black's BBQ is open: 10
Number of Sausage Rings made per week at Black's BBQ: 5,000
Number of days per week Black's BBQ is open: 8
Number of Hours Black's Brisket is cooked: 14
Kinds of Shiner Beer Black's sells: 6
Kinds of beers Black's BBQ Sells: 10
The temperature of the pits at Black's BBQ: 300
The age of our cutting blocks at the Original Black's BBQ: 60
Different types of meats we sell at Black's BBQ: 8
Number of ingredients in Norma Jean's Bean Seasoning: 5
 
I guess this must be good
Every bbq place says theirs is the best.
  Lots of strong opinions and debates over bbq around here.

Ed
 Looks like we have leftovers for tomorrow!
That's a beef rib mixed in with those pork spare ribs!
I really think Ed just took too big a bite of the sausage!
 
So my vote is
Smitty's for Ribs - great flavor, moist, fall off the bone
Blacks for Sausage - just a really great smoky mild sausage - perfect
Blacks for Brisket - this was sooo moist and tender - wow


Ed tried for several days to get us to
Buc-ee's
With approximately 60 fuel pumps and diesel at $3.42/gal I was sold.
  Inside their store is truly amazing.
When visiting
You MUST check out the bathrooms - Amazing!
  Truckers are not welcome here.
Ed really wanted us to stop
WHY?
 So he could shake Buc-ees hand!!!
Okay Joan
You can let go of Buc-ees hand.
I think he's going for my pocket.
Sorry - empty!


And so it was time to leave our friends
 Ed and Gywen
to start heading north to Missouri
for our caravan.
 
 
Before leaving SPI we purchased a TST Tire pressure and temperature monitoring system in hopes that this would provide us with some security since we had two previous belt separations with the stock and replacement Goodyear Marathon tires.
All I will say is this was one of the best investment we made.  It detected the loss of air in the tire pictured below, as our third belt separation on a 1 year old tire was happening.  We would strongly recommend anyone who travels to own a TPMS system like this
TST 507RV model.
 
So we called for roadside assistance to change the tire for us.
 
72 miles down the road this is what happened!
  The hub that has no tire, is where the wheel/tire that was put on by road side assistance used to be!!! 
The wheel/tire snapped all 8 lug bolts off the hub!
  As soon as this happened, the tire in front immediately blew up
actually exploded without warning!
 
This one hurt - ALOT!!!
 
After a four day delay and the good fortune of meeting the best people in the world who went sooooo far and beyond in helping us, we got back on the road safe but a bit beat up.
All new axles, suspension, tires etc.
These were our HEROS!!!
 
Left of me is Floyd Bailey - a good Samaritan who stopped along the roadway after seeing what a mess we were in and stayed along our side insuring we made the necessary contacts with the proper vendors who scrambled to get us the right parts.  Floyd will remain a great friend forever -
A Special Thanks to you!
 
To my right is Jim Friesen and son Kevin.  Jim owns TrailQuip Plus, LLC.
 located in Checotah, Oklahoma
 
This family owned business, specializing in the manufacturing of utility trailers plus other items for trucks and farms, made the mechanical repairs to our rv and even allowed us to stay on site while repairs were under way.  The catfish dinner was superb!
Daughter Melinda became close friends with Joan during our stay.
What a beautiful family they are - Thanks Again!
Their excellent facility! 
 Getting ready to pull out and have the rv checked over at Earls RV in Muskogee to ensure the kitchen slide is ok to move. It took a beating during the explosion.
 Just some of the trailers made by and for sale at TrailQuip Plus.
These guys do outstanding top quality work!

 
Others who helped us included: 
Cardinal Towing and Recovery - Eufaula, Texas
A&N Trailer parts - Tulsa, OK
King Tires - Muskogee - Thanks Steve!!
Tire One - Checotah, OK - Thanks Arlan
Earls Lake Country RV- Muskogee
 
 Thanks to each and everyone of you!
 
While in Checotah we did have a chance to drive through town several times and learned that a local country star is from here.
Maybe you can recognize her name?
She wasn't in town when we were visiting. 
What a cool place to be stranded in.

 
On May 16th

 We left Checotah and headed North to rendezvous in St Peters and then St Charles for the start of our Lewis and Clark caravan.
 
We were at the 370 Lakeside RV Park relaxing before heading to nearby St. Charles.  Our daughter Heather and her boyfriend Clay (whose family lives in St. Charles) visited with us.
 Heather & Clay surprised Joan with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

WOW!  What colors!

Heather and Clay took us to a wine tasting at the Wine Country Gardens and then a super lunch!


 Clay introduced us to wine slushies.
  Now this was something new and really good!!!
Heather and Mom
Glad we had a chance to be starting a caravan close to where she could visit us!

 

Then off to the second vineyard - Chandler winery.
What a beautiful location with live music.
We got a chance to walk around through some of the vineyard.




This years grapes are looking good so far!
Thanks guys for showing us around - we had a blast.
And some wine too.
  But not too much of course!
 Nice setting located in Defiance, MO.
 
 We hope all of our friends traveling this summer
have a wonderful and safe time!
 
Next posting coming soon
Lewis and Clark RV Caravan! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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