Food

As humans, food is always the issue a couple of times per day. There are usually two choices: eat in or eat out.

Eating out in southern Alabama is somewhat of a challenge if one wants to avoid eating food which is drowned in hot buckets of oil.  Most restaurants seem to rely on a deep fryer for almost everything. We like seafood BUT it is very hard to find seafood which is not drenched in unseasoned flour and drowned in hot oil. Whether fish, crab, shrimp or oysters, they are prepared identically. The worst part is that it all begins to taste the same. Yes, of course, a few restaurants do exist that have some seafood options that aren't deep fried. But 95% of the seafood here seems to be breaded and deep fried. And “fish” in the local area is usually farm- raised catfish from Mississippi.

But seafood is not the only problem. Breakfast is another issue. Besides the problem with grits as the common starch on a breakfast plate, side meat is also a problem. We've been to several places that deep fry “breakfast sausage.” Some places have sausage links that they deem to prepare in a fryer instead of a cooking on a flat top grill. Though the term “breakfast sausage” may mean the traditional link sausage (“Jimmy Dean” etc.) or bulk sausage patty, but in some places it means a chunk of smoked rope sausage which is split down the center and deep fried. Of course the menu is unclear as to what type of sausage is being served. Wait staff are not that helpful either as they may or may not know the difference. Caveat emptor.

And then there is bacon. Normally, bacon is thick or thin, crispy or wimpy, smokey or not smokey. It is a challenge to order anywhere. I don't like bacon which cracks whenever it is dropped on a plate. I like it with an oink or two left in it. I have had omelets containing bacon strips and pieces. Some more crisp than others. But there is something very wrong with omelets advertised as containing bacon which is nothing more than Baco-bits crumbles. It is something you don't want to eat twice. Trust me.

Donna and I had breakfast at a popular restaurant in downtown Fairhope (a good sized community) and she ordered an egg with bacon. You guessed it: the bacon was deep fried! The bacon was so crisp it shattered by looking at it. The waitress checked on us and Donna commented on the incinerated bacon. Apparently, the owner overheard the conversation and came to discuss the issue. The owner stated that people like their bacon crisp and, therefore, it is deep fried. Donna was told that if she didn't wanted it deep fried, she should have ordered it prepared differently. Really? Who would ever think that bacon would be deep fried? A deep fried easy-over egg, anyone? We haven't rushed back to that place.

We have been accustomed to the fact that wherever we park our rig, that “butter” and “cheese” means different things to different people. When asked for butter, waitstaff will invariably bring some form of margarine and very seldom butter. Butter comes from a cow, oleo from a plant. How hard can that be? It's like asking for a rib-eye steak and being served a pork chop. Okay, maybe not quite. And cheese is the same way. There is a lot of very good cheeses made in this country, but little of it has made it to this area. Cheese usually means something akin to Velveeta. It's like that cellophane wrapped yellow gook that you see in the dairy case. Cheddar cheese on the menu means that the yellow gook was not cellophane wrapped by the producer.

Eating in has never looked better. And, by the way, buying cheese at the local grocery labeled as 'Made in Wisconsin” is not a sure fired way of getting a quality product. If the label says “Crystal Farms,” run towards the box of Velveeta. It's probably better.

On the Road to Alabama 2014

Well we are back on the road again.  We left Wisconsin before the weather soured on October 21 and headed south towards Alabama.  Leaving mid-morning, the first day on the road was uneventfull other than the occasional road construction. We over-nighted in Effingham, Illinois. We left early the next morning travelling I-57 to I-55. As we wanted to avoid Nashville, we headed through Memphis. Again road construction. 

 We continued south on I-55 until we turned east on highway 82 near Winona, Mississippi. East on 82, we stopped at a KOA in Starksville. It was a very pleasant surprise. Very nice campground on a small lake with a water park. Level lots with concrete pads. Like all KOAs, it was a bit expensive. We enjoyed the evening and would definitely return if in the area again.  A view from our front door:

On Thursday morning we got on highway 45 just east of Starkville. The road was 4 lanes through Mississippi and we made good time. However, once in Alabama, the road went to only two lanes and the road became narrow and twisty. Traffic built up and it was a slow go all the way to just northwest of Mobile. There we picked up I-10, survived the George Wallace Memorial Tunnel, and took 181 south once we made it over Mobile Bay. Then it was a short uneventful drive to our destination, Escapees Rainbow Park, near Summerdale. We hope to remain here for the winter unless we find a reason to move on.

The weather here has been up and down with a very cold start like most of the country. We are told that the average winter here has only a few nights below freezing. In the last couple of weeks, we've had those few days already. One night we survived 21 degrees. On nights with a hard freeze we unhook our water hose and use only drinking water we have set aside or use water in our tank for non-drinking purposes. We don't drink water from our storage tank as we have not sanitized it. Daytime highs have ranged from the upper 40s to the mid 70s.

We came here without reservations expecting no problems. However, we were lucky as we got one of the few sites where we could extend our roots for several months without having to hopscotch about several sites. Who knew? Now if only the weather would cooperate a little.

A Wisconsin Poem

It's winter in Wisconsin
And the gentle breezes blow.
Seventy miles an hour,
At thirty-five below.

Oh, how I love Wisconsin,
When the snow's up to your butt.
You take a breath of winter air,
And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful,
So I guess I'll hang around.
I could not leave Wisconsin,
'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!

Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site

On a cool and cloudy day, we drove to Stonewall--about half way between Fredericksburg and Johnson City--to visit the state park which bears President Johnson's name http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/lyndon-b-johnson.  Directly across the Pedernales River from the state park is the  LBJ National Historic Park which includes the LBJ ranch http://www.nps.gov/lyjo/planyourvisit/placestogo.htm .

Entrance to the state park and an auto tour through the ranch are free.  At the ranger station, we received a free cd for the auto tour (cd needed to be returned at the conclusion of the tour).  The cd contained historic information and described the buildings, etc.  The park included the Sauer-Beckmann Living Farm.  Guides here were in period dress and presented farm and household living as it was in  for the German immigrants to the area in1918.  

The state park also had a very interesting video telling the history of LBJ's wife, Lady Bird.  She was a powerful force and financial whiz in her own right.

Our route took us past the school LBJ attended--a one room school house which held 7 grades:

And then we followed the road through the ranch and past lazing Herefords.  The ranch is a working open range ranch.  We finally ended at his house, known as the  "Western White House."  LBJ spent about a quarter of his presidency staying here. 

Many heads of state visited here as well as Vietnam war era military operations were planned here. 

We paid $3.00 each to tour the house.  The house was furnished in the late 60s early 70s style reflecting his presidency.  We saw the famous bank of three televisions in both the living room and bedroom which he had on during the day.  The volume was kept off until he saw something interesting (usually war protests and the like).  The three television reflected the three available networks:  ABC, CBS and NBC.  Photography was not allowed in the house.

And, of course, we saw his version of Air Force One parked in back of the house:

The runway is still intact and the taxi way lies adjacent to the back of the house. 

Adjacent buildings house some of his autos and other historical  items.

The blue vehicle in the back is a car/boat and was used to drive in the river which lies at the front of the house.

And, of course, from where all the wisdom of his presidency was verbalized:

At the time, he was not one of my most favorite people because of the war.  However, he  certainly had a very strong and positive domestic record ranging from the Civil Rights Act to Head Start.

On our way out of the park, Donna said her goodbyes.

Not too many bluebonnets were found here either!

Bluebonnets Part 2

We noticed in a San Antonio newspaper that there would be a "bluebonnet walk" just to the west of the city.  Since we were still on the hunt for the Texas state flower and since at least one of us needed a little exercise, we decided to check it out. 

The event was to be held at the Shooting Star Museum just south of Castroville.  The town lies about a 45 minute drive southwest of Boerne.  Founded in 1844, it is known as the "Little Alsace of Texas."  Alsace is a region of France on its northeastern border with Germany and Switzerland.  Apparently its heritage is traced back to that region. 

According to its website (http://www.txtransportationmuseum.org/shootingstar/) the museum: "is dedicated to the preservation, perpetuation and exhibition of vintage aircraft, historical aviation items, antique automobiles and early 20th century farming equipment and gasoline engines."  Whew!  Most people would call it junk in a shed.

So we drove our newly washed truck down two gravel roads and onto the property.  Driving into the property we knew we were in trouble.  The parking lot had one other car belonging to the caretakers.  We visited here about 7 years ago and did enjoy the landscape.  But this year for the advertised  bluebonnet walk, there was dirt, dust and gravel.   It was a much too dry a year for these wildflowers.  We did find a few that had gone to seed.  You would think that an establishment that advertises a "bluebonnet walk" would not force you to walk 100 miles somewhere to find them.  Ah, the disappointment.

But we did tour the museum.  It was free after all.

 

 

The museum was a large shed used by tinkerers to tinker on their old vehicles, planes and what not.  A little bit of everything from the 20th century can be found here.

 

 

 

 

Gasoline engines, anyone?  Many of these are from old washing machines.  They claim that each engine runs.  We did not test that assertion.

 

 

 

All types of farm supplies were also evident including John Deere seed containers.



 

 

And how a shipping container for lutefisk arrived here from Norway was a well kept secret.  Perhaps some Norwegian took a wrong turn in Stoughton.

 

 

Instead of bluebonnets outside, we found an old passenger transport from a long lost railway station. 

 









 

 

 



The "museum" was a working shop with various members in and out to do their thing.  It even included a quilt shop and a military uniform display.  But not even a vase of bluebonnets!  Oh well.  Maybe next year.

On The Hunt for Bluebonnets

Spring in Texas is noted for the beautiful displays of the wildflower, bluebonnets.  A member of the same family as are lupines,  they are as prevalent in the spring Texan landscape as dandelions in a highly manicured lawn in June. 

So early one morning sitting in the local Denny's eating breakfast, we looked out over the beautiful Interstate 10 scene, and noticed a mass of these blue flowers in the median between traffic lanes.  We had heard the best place to view these flowers was in a wilderness area near Fredericksburg.  So we finished our breakfast and headed north to find the rumored blue bonnet heaven.

As we did not know exactly where we were headed exactly, we stopped in downtown Fredericksburg hoping to ask one of the locals for directions.  Well, unknown to us, the town does not open until 11 AM.  So pickings were small.  But we did find these rather stiff fellows hanging around a local hotspot:

After a rather long and twisted conversation, we were finally told that our destination was the Willow City Loop about 20 minutes northeast of town.  So we thanked these "local color" and turned the truck towards the promise land.

The Willow City Loop  is billed as THE iconic Texas hill country experience.  This scenic area is a 13 mile private ranch road traversing Coal Creek through canyons and low lying areas used as open range for cattle.   Signs posted on the road remind the visitor that this is private property and it is illegal to stop along the roadway. This photo (not mine) shows the area in which we travelled:

The road through the ranch is a rustic, narrow, two-way mostly paved road.  The open range is controlled by cattle guards which look like this:

Fencing would be tied off at both the right and left and the roadway is over the grate.  Texas cattle are afraid to cross the open grate because it resembles a large barbeque grill.  Therefore they stay put and do not escape.  As an aside, these guards are not found in dairy country as cows there view the grate as a fancy foot massage.

We were hoping for scenes like these taken on the loop in 2012  (not my photos):

 

 

Our flower hunting trip was disappointing.  We were led astray.  I am sure those fellows in Fredericksburg were having a good laugh at our expense.   We saw more bluebonnets along the interstate at Denny's in Boerne.  The winter has been much to dry for these showy displays.an in this tourist destination.  The road was interesting and the non-flowered views were worth the drive. 

 

On the way back home we stopped at a large seed company and found these in their parking lot:

 

 

At least we found some!  We were made April fools.

 



Our Electric Usage mid January to mid March, 2013

As noted in an earlier blog, we are at an RV park in which our electric use is metered. We pay a monthly rent plus a monthly electric use fee. Having a meter allows us to track our usage.

During the colder days that we were here, we used our furnace (propane with electric controls and blower), 1 or 2 small ceramic space heaters (1500 watt each) and electrically heated hot water. We used each sporadically but usually used one or two devices each day for a period of time. During a 60 day period from mid January until mid March, we used a total of 623 kilowatt hours (KWH) of electricity at $0.13 per KWH. This averaged out to 10.4 KWH per day or $1.35 per day for electricity.

However, since mid-March, the weather has warmed considerably. We have not used our furnace, space heaters nor the electric water heater--we used the water heater on propane instead. Therefore, our daily electric usage has nose dived. For each of these days, we have used approximately 1 KW--or, $0.13 per day for electricity. (1 KWH is the amount of electricity required to burn a 100 watt bulb for 10 hours.) This 1 KW of usage includes using our television and satellite antenna system.

On the weekend that we were at the Butt Foundation camp, our usage dropped to 0.5 KWH per day. The usage was to run the refrigerator, gas alarms, etc. Also, we did not unplug the television to reduce the usage further. So during these "not-home" days, our electricity cost was 6 1/2 cents per day.

Once the cooling season arrives, air conditioning will dramatically increase our daily usage and cost. However, we hope not to be at a metered park to determine exactly how much more we would pay.

Sometime in the coming months, we are going to try to determine how long we can live off just our 12 volt batteries and not plugged into the grid. Time will tell.