Giving Charlotte a break from old folks transport, we lingered around the Colorado River RV Resort campground all day.
We took a walk in the sunshine. I watched some racing on TV. Peggy graciously dug in against the income taxes. We had text exchanges with the kids. We were boring. It was fabulous.

Today we were free of any pesky chores so we went exploring again. We elected to go north.
Our first destination was The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, an illegal but tacitly accepted bordello that was in business from the early 1900’s to 1973. The very same business is mentioned as “that little house in La Grange” in ZZ Top’s song “La Grange.” We started out in the center of town and consulted our fancy phone to find the location of the famous cathouse, called The Chicken Ranch. We found the correct road but it was only after further phone consultations that we found that we should actually be looking for the ruins of The Chicken Ranch. The location is a brushy vacant lot with a barbed wire fence between it and the road.
Apparently, in 1976 two Dallas lawyers bought The Chicken Ranch and moved it (the prostitutes? the building? the clients?) to Dallas where whatever it was burned down. It was probably quite easy for lawyers to become pimps since they are adept at regularly fuc…… mistreating people.
We felt compelled to give ourselves a reward so we stopped at a nearby barbecue place in Ellinger called Peters BBQ. It is a small roadside joint with absolutely fabulous ribs and chicken. The sides are buffet style and they also have a soft serve machine for those with room for dessert. Their meat was fantastic and we both found their cornbread stuffing tasty. Their beans are also very good. We spent $32 for two, including 3 sides each, tips, two drinks and one dessert. The place is on TX-71 in Ellinger near Hruska’s Bakery.
We then started a big back road circle to the east, then north, then south through the surrounding counties. We passed through little towns named Fayetteville, Willow Springs, Industry, Nelsonville, Bellville, Phillipsburg, Brenham, Burton, Carmine and Giddings before passing again through La Grange on our way home. The Texas countryside can be stunningly beautiful. Of course there are bumpkins who keep everything they ever purchased in their yards but most of the rural residences are very handsome and some of the houses in the towns are absolute architectural gems. This place looks how rural America looked to me back in the 1960’s; quiet town squares, two pump old gas stations, awnings covering the town square sidewalks.
There’s a few pictures you can see if you click here

All our required stuff was done for a while so today was dedicated to aimless wandering. We bypassed our usual home-cooked breakfast and got a pretty early start. Our first stop was at Shipley Bakery in Columbus where they offer some tasty sausage rolls. Peggy popped inside and snagged a few and quickly returned with her loot.
The sausage rolls might be kolaches, local specialty baked items that are basically a puffy piece of roll with a meat core, with or without the addition of cheese, jalapenos and other things I can’t remember. The meat does not stick out the ends; the things look like rectangular dinner rolls on the rack. I am certain they are bad for me because they are very savory.
We started our exploring in earnest by cruising the streets of Columbus admiring a few of the stunning residences downtown. Then we hopped on a two-lane blacktop west to Hallettsville, another small rural Texas town with the city hall at the center of a main square surrounded by business storefronts. They remind me of towns I passed through on vacations when I was a kid. It is nice.
From Hallettsville, we took more pleasant narrow two-lanes to Schulenburg, another town with a city hall in the middle of a square and businesses facing the square. In all the other little towns we have visited in this area, the city halls have been impressive domed structures with clocks facing out from the cupolas. Schulenburg’s city hall is a low, government-looking masonry structure with a flat roof. No clocks.
From Sculenburg we got on US-90 and headed back to the Columbus area and our traveling home. Since we got such an early start (due to a psychedelic sunrise), when we returned to the Invader, it was not yet noon. We decided this was unacceptable.
We made preparations and soon departed for Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge about 35 miles southeast. The visitor center is near the south border of the refuge so we approached from the southwest. That drive took us through some gorgeous Texas prairie and forest areas, over many small rivers and alongside many ag fields. Just before entering the refuge, we stopped to admire about 100 sandhill cranes with their spiffy red topknots that were browsing a rice paddy.
Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR is a recent addition to the list of federal refuges. There is a small visitor center, a 5-mile driving loop and some trails. We took the driving loop and we spotted a bunch of hawks actively hunting, some soaring black vultures, four deer and many lightning-fast songbirds but no prairie chickens. Maybe next time. There is no entry fee at the refuge.
We took the long way home on the back roads. We like the back roads.
The sunset was stunning again this evening. Got great sunsets and sunrises in Texas.
See today’s pix by clicking here

Today we had some mundane stuff to address. No matter how much fun you can have traveling, you still need to do the laundry every so often. We were lucky when we arrived at the facility laundry and found all machines available. While we waited for the machines to give our clothes a whirl we walked to the activity center to use the wifi.
The wifi…uhh….well…sucks. When the system lets you log on, it stutters a bit before reporting that all websites in the world are not able to communicate with you. Sometimes it doesn’t even do that. If you need wifi while here in Columbus, don’t come to the activity center at TT Colorado River.
After the laundry was done, we took our mirrored bedroom closet door to a local glazier, Columbus Glass, in Columbus. Through poor interior design, the mirror had cracked. When we took the mirror into the desk, the nice lady greeted us and then told us that they could fix the mirror. She even told us how much it would cost, installed, and that we could wait or they could do the work and call us when it was done. We left the door.
We headed down the road to the HEB and picked up some groceries. Before we could get out of town, the glazing outfit called and said the work was done and we owed them less than $11. Columbus Glass was great. I wish all RV repairs were performed as well and priced like this place.
Our pesky errands completed, we headed back to TT Colorado River. The bird and other wildlife abundance here is amazing. The river right outside our window is very nice and the sunrises and sunsets here are spectacular. We are pretty content here.
See pictures of today’s fun by clicking here

Today was a travel day. We gathered up all our stuff and put it away, disconnected from the utilities and left the Leander KOA. Before we could leave the Austin area, we had to deal with the grim reality of the mystifying Texas toll roads, seemingly endless highway construction projects and towing a big trailer through a maze requiring multiple quick lane changes where the maximum distance between vehicles is 4 feet.
The toll road system has signage that is suggestive, at best. The toll road signs are mounted on posts near the toll road with obscure directional arrows such that idiots, like me, can never be sure they are taking the correct ramp. The only way to tell that I was positively not on the toll road was that there were traffic signals on the cheapskate sections.
Many taxpayer dollars are being spent to ascertain that all the toll-free sections of Austin limited access freeways are restricted, narrowed, detoured and liberally supplied with temporary road surfaces installed by dropping the paving material from a bomber flying at 60,000 feet. The reason for all these conditions is apparently so thousands of tons of heavy equipment can be cheaply stored alongside the alleged improvements which extend throughout the metropolitan area. We did see some pickup trucks with emergency lights flashing from their lightbars but no actual activity by any workers. We thought this strange since we passed through their terrifying funhouse before noon on a weekday.
After an almost unendurable passage through Austin’s labyrinthine roads, we broke out of the metro area onto TX-71, a wide, mostly multi-lane highway extending east-southeast toward the Houston area. The road surface is a little rough and the bridge approaches are potholed along this stretch but the highway is very wide so sharp-eyed drivers can maneuver around the bottomless paving defects.
After a hundred miles of pleasant driving, we came to Columbus, Texas, a quiet little town maybe an hour west of the Houston metropolitan area. Near Columbus, we pulled into Thousand Trails Colorado River RV Campground. We have been to this particular campground before and we loved it since they have large spaces, nicely landscaped grounds and an extraordinary variety of wildlife. Last time we were here we spotted armadillos, deer, bluebirds, black vultures, cardinals, pyrrholoxias (birds – sort of a gray cardinal), yellow warblers and meadowlarks, Carolina chickadees, big fat squirrels and turtles on the banks of the adjacent Colorado River, not to be confused with the real Colorado River in Colorado.
We found a spot backed right up to the river and set up for a one week stay. It is very quiet here; about the only things we can hear are a bird symphony, the rustle of the water flowing by and occasional distant train horns. It is very nice. Not long after we settled in, we spotted meadowlarks, warblers, bluebirds, black vultures, fat squirrels and a wandering herd of deer before the light failed. I can hardly wait for daylight in the morning.
Pictures are available. Click here

Today was a rest and relaxation day. We got fuel for tomorrow’s drive to Columbus. We went to the liquor store next to Costco to buy some Irish Cream sold here under the name of Blarney which makes me wonder whether or not we should drink it. Other than that, we were quite sedate and spent a good part of the day in unproductive, fun stuff.

Trevor and Gina were gracious enough to offer their guide services to us again today and we jumped at the offer. Unfortunately for me, they are still dining under the vegan lifestyle and I was skunked on getting any food that I would normally consider palatable.
Today’s dining selection was Thai Fresh. On our way in, we were happy to see that we had not chosen an easy place to park because a sign fell off the roof of the building where we were originally going to park. The sign made a wet slapping sound as it hit the concrete where we didn’t park. The Thai Fresh Restaurant does serve some meat items but today they were out of the chicken I ordered. There was one other lunch suggestion that the staff made; it was a pork belly sandwich with stuff on it I normally would not put in my mouth because of my peculiar dining habits. It also did not have any meat on it – nothing but fat. After a considerable wait, the food started to arrive in little dribbles, delivered by a guy with horn-rimmed glasses missing one of the temples. The glasses fit funny giving the wearer an appearance of having one enormous eye and a patch of flesh where the other eye should be.
The restaurant has a “no tipping” policy which is appropriate because the prices are pretty high and management can pay their staff quite well out of the excessive amounts collected with the bills. In summation: this is not the type of place I would normally go although I imagine rich vegetarians might like it. Service is almost glacial. Maybe they should rescind their tipping policy to get their staff moving such that ordinary viewers can see they are not statues.
We left Thai Fresh and wandered through the Bouldin Creek neighborhood to look at the spectacular architecture of both the residences and nearby downtown Austin. Austin has some magnificent highrise buildings, all surrounding the muddy brown state capital building.
We drove over to the state house, parked and strolled over to the capital building to take a look inside. Donald Trump was recently inaugurated as President and it seems quite a few women are really pissed off about that. There was a large demonstration crowd of mostly women on the steps of the capital and they were not using endearing terms about the new administration.
Once we got inside, we were exposed to an absolutely stunning rotunda with massive wings extending in four directions. We wandered through some galleries with many pictures of Texas legislators, many of whom seemed to have served for life. We visited both the senate and house of representatives chambers which are liberally decorated with much gingerbread and architectural confections. The building is impressive and visiting is free.
We felt compelled to again seek rewards for our day’s activities so we wandered through some gorgeous Austin neighborhoods before stopping at the Beer Plant, another place that, unfortunately, only served vegan fare so I settled for a few varieties of porter for dinner. Peggy had to take over the driving responsibilities but we eventually made it back to Leander without getting stabbed by the Texas DOT toll thieves.
Texas toll roads only allow two forms of payment; get an RFID chip for your rig and an account to pay or you will get a nice picture and bill in the mail for every time you screwed up and got on the tollway. There are no toll booths so occasional users get rogered. We would not get our bill by mail until we returned to San Diego which will not be until after a warrant would be issued for our arrest for non-payment. There are no signs or posters telling idiots like us where or how to get an RFID tag from TxTex so that doesn’t work either. We like many things about Texas but their toll road system is difficult for non-residents.
There are some Austin photos if you clickhere

We have finished our necessary re-stocking of supplies and, therefore, we had the day to spend with Trevor and Gina who are cronies of ours from San Diego. They were nice enough to guide us through the highway hell that is Austin. We are thoroughly confused about how the roads and highways are configured here and were delighted to have some instruction.
We picked our friends up at their apartment and asked them to take us to a restaurant. Unfortunately for me, they are vegans and finding a restaurant that caters to both eating styles in Austin is impossible. We started by going to the Bouldin Creek Cafe where they offer an assortment of meatless dishes, much to my chagrin. I ended up with eggs and hash browns cooked in something other than butter that were almost tasty. Peggy got a form of Eggs Benedict that had a slab of material called Satan or something to replace the normally quite tasty Canadian Bacon. Despite the served food consisting of little bits of various veggies and fruits, it does not stop the management from charging exorbitant prices for the parsimonious servings.
We made a stop at Austin’s Zilker Botanical Garden which is a nifty oasis in the midst of a huge metropolitan area. After a bit of wandering there, we all decided we were both thirsty and in need of a reward so we hopped into Charlotte and made our way across town to Austin Beerworks where they serve excellent porter and also allow dogs. Many very happy dogs were spotted and petted while malingering in the fine alfresco patio.
Our day was about done by the time we had enough porter so we dropped Trevor and Gina back at their apartment and blindly attempted to find our way back to Leander and stay off the toll roads that are ubiquitous here.
There are two pix if you click here

Right close to the Leander KOA we were able to find some stores where we needed to go. We started out with fuel but soon followed up with a visit to Lowe’s (12 volt fluorescent lamp) and a stop at Costco (too much food to fit in the freezer). After one of Costco’s terrific polish dogs each, we moseyed outside the store where they have a separate, attached liquor store, not affiliated with Costco other than having a common wall. They do not sell Kirkland Irish Cream in this store, even though it is Costco’s brand. They sell Bailey’s for about $35 a handle but we found a nearby, dirtbag Irish Cream product called Blarney selling for $19. We got two.
Our route through Texas going through Austin is fortuitous because two former San Diego friends of ours, Gina and Trevor, have been living here for the last year because that’s where Trevor’s work took him. We barged into their neck of the woods hoping to have some time with them and, zowie!, they will be available for escorting the elderly around town tomorrow. I understand there is a place where a big cloud of bats erupts from under a bridge or a cave in the evenings and I would be delighted to see it for myself.

Today we reluctantly departed from TT Lake Medina and headed northeast. Due to the nature of Texas geography and traditional routes for trade, there are no roads directly from areas west of San Antonio to the Austin area. To start our journey, we were obliged to go southeast. Near San Antonio, we joined up with pretty heavy traffic on I-10 until we got to I-35 where we turned northeast.
On the map, San Antonio and Austin look like cities 60 miles apart. In reality, it is pretty much continuous city all the way up I-35. Moderately heavy traffic but pretty good roads once you get the hang of how they are laid out.
North of Austin we pulled off at TX-189, not to be confused with TX-189A which is a toll road. We drove along the cheapskate route for about 10 miles and then turned east on Hero Road where we pulled into Leander NW Austin KOA. We generally shy away from KOA facilities because they are expensive and crowded but decided to give them another try. When we called in advance to make a reservation, the nice lady (Mary) indicated it would cost $120 for a five night stay. That sounded very reasonable so we went ahead and booked the spot.
Upon arrival, we found out that Mary was bonkers and, in addition to $44 they had already collected from us, it would be another $177 to stay in their unremarkable park for five days. We forked over the $100 in mordida and pulled into space 9, a pull-through. Mary, who was not in the office at the time of our check-in, called later in the evening and initially tried to blame an office trainee named Margaret for the initial $120 quote. Peggy calmly told her that she had only spoken with Mary before, never Margaret. At this point, Mary started getting excited and naming other blameworthy folks, including the customer. My dear Peggy actually had to raise her voice, a rare occurance, when dealing with the blameless nincompoop. After a bit of Peggy barking, Mary resumed trying to be reasonable and said she will see what she could do, which will probably be nothing. Now I remember why we don’t stay in KOA facilities. They are expensive and crowded.