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| Lots of deer around the park |
Our drive from Mill Creek to Jim Hogg
was an easy drive of about 4 ½ hours and, thankfully no wind for
most of the trip. We did have a bit of a scare as we pulled out of
the site, though. The engine RPM's ran way up and stayed even when
Rich released the fuel pedal and depressed the brake. He had the good
sense to turn the key off, then tried again with the same results.
After checking things out, he realized that when I had vacuumed the
truck the afternoon before I had replaced the floor mat on his side
on top of the gas pedal. Oops! That won't happen again.
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| Wonderful authentic Mexican - even had goaat tacos! |
The scenery changed fairly quickly from
the tall pines to short oaks, junipers, wide-open grasslands, and
long trains. Where in parts of Texas we had seen crops and cattle
sharing the land with oil firlds, the farther west we travel this
trip, we saw more and more land used solely for oil production–
derricks and pump jacks abound along with oil storage tanks and
tanker trucks parked within a ten-foot high chain link fencing and a
lone travel trailer or fifth-wheel presumably providing security or
management for the area.
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| Great Greek food |
We passed several places where the
stench from the oil was overpowering. I can't help but wonder about
the health risks the oil field workers are being exposed to. Remember
all the health problems the volunteers who helped with the cleanup of
the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that happened in the Gulf in 2010?
And these volunteers were not exposed nearly as much as the workers
in the oil fields. Did you know that the earliest known oil wells
were drilled in China in 347 using bits attached to bamboo poles to a
depth of 790 feet?
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| Our nice campsite |
We grabbed a bite of lunch in Rockland
at Taqueria Banda and were pleasantly surprised with soft chicken
tacos and Mexican Cokes. Mexican Cokes are made with sugar instead of
high fructose corn syrup and are so very much better – they taste
like the Cokes from years ago. It is the only kind we buy now.
We were pleased to see a good variety
of shopping within only four miles of the park – a nice change from
twenty or more! We were the only ones occupying a site in the first
half of our loop – I'm sure that won't last long, but we'll enjoy
it while it does.
The weather was wonderful – not bad
in the sun and in the shade with a light breeze (and there is always
a breeze in Texas in the spring) I need a light-weight jacket. Rich,
of course, was happy in shorts and a tee shirt. In spite of the great
temperature, we were thankful for the covered shelter – these were
about twice as large as usual and it was nice to be able to put our
chairs and Dicken's bed in the shade without worrying about the
ever-present wind taking the awning down. And, thinking about the
strong winds in the southwest in the spring – it would be nice if
the slide covers could be easily removed or unhooked from the slide
so they don't get torn in the wind but could still be used in
low-wind conditions. We saw deer every day in the park and I saw my
first roadrunner! No photo, but it was cool to see.
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| Anna and Kevin |
Our one side trip while at Jim Hogg's was up to Waco to see Kevin, Anna, their three kids and new dog. It was great to see them again and we were pleased they had time to spare with their crazy busy schedule. Kevin is staying busy at Baylor and Anna has her hands full with three little ones only a year and a half apart (the two younger ones are twins). We spent a delightful afternoon and evening with them and enjoyed a wonderful roast beef dinner.
We noticed a soft spot in the floor in
front of the sink and stove and also found a crack in the fiberglass
siding – both worrisome. Forest River says the soft spot is from
high use compressing the foam under the floor (better than a water
leak), but we have to get an estimate on replacing the entire side
before they will talk with us about that problem. Not real happy on
that one.
As much as we liked the park, the
showers and restrooms were some of the worst we've ever seen. No
dressing area outside the small shower stall and I'm too old and
heavy to strip in front of anyone other than my hubby and doctors! To
add insult to injury, they were push-button activated and no
temperature adjustment. In spite of that, we will probably spend time
there again – with a near-by H.E.B store, big-box stores within 20
miles if we need them, cheap prices in Texas, and two wonderful
family-owned restaurants a few miles away Placka Greek Restaurant and
Sierra Mexican Restaurant – it's hard to beat. Add in the park is
rarely crowded, and it's hard to beat. We'll bathe in the RV :)
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