We arrived at Lake Casa Blanca state park in Laredo, Texas on March 17th and stayed there until March 23rd. On Friday, the 18th, we phoned Nuevo Laredo, Mexico to make a dentist appointment for Dave. We found out just before leaving Lo de Marcos that he needed a crown but it would take two weeks to get it made. We didn't want to wait. He got an appointment in Nuevo, Laredo for Tuesday, the 22nd. We didn't mind staying in Laredo for awhile since we had a lot of errands to do.
We took in the trailer tire which had a slow leak, to get it repaired.
It had a screw nail in it.
We got caught up on laundry.
Dave fixed the kitchen sink again, but this time he did a super heavy duty job. A word of advice: don't travel with your heavy inserts in the sinks. When you're bouncing down the road your caulking will come unglued.
While I had no sink, I did dishes the old-fashioned way.
Dave installed baby locks on all of the cupboard doors that fly open when were travelling. Oh, the pretty purple dog poo bags tied on the handles are a reminder to us to not yank the doors open until we get used to the idea of the baby locks.
I super cleaned the trailer, but didn't take any pictures of it. No more sand. Boo-Hoo.
We really enjoyed the park.
It was a nice place to go for walks.
Well, except for this. After seeing this sign, I was definitely watching.
Once again, we met up with Charlie & Cathy, who we met in Lo de Marcos, and they joined us for a fire.........
.........and a shot of tequila.
We had lots of trails to walk. This looked like an old church.
One night we went for dinner to Rudy's BBQ which was pretty awesome.
Dave walked across the border into Mexico for his dentist appointment. He ended up changing dentists. The first one he went to, the dentist went into a closet and started a generator to turn on the lights and his computer. Dave just didn't get a good feeling from him.
We noticed that our trailer tire was low again so Dave took it off and went back to the tire place. Turns out there was a second screw nail in the same tire. Pretty sure we picked those up our last night in Mexico.
We took Cleo to a dog park one day and made her do some tricks. She wasn't thrilled.
May the force be with you.
March 24: We left Laredo and drove to Weslaco, Texas along the Rio Grande River which is the border between Texas and Mexico. We were amazed how many border patrol vehicles we saw.
This is the entrance to Texas A & M University. I like their world globe.
There was a semi tipped over on its side in this underpass.
All along the roads people were selling piñata's for Easter. Being in Laredo is very much like being in Mexico. Most of the people that live and work here are Mexican. Most signs, including in the grocery store, are in Spanish. Mexicans really love their piñata's.
The cemeteries are very colourful with flowers and decorations.
More Easter decorations being sold.
We were quite surprised to see that schools had fences and guards at the gates.
More Easter goodies for sale.
We missed our turn into the RV park so Dave did a u-turn in a very small parking lot which happened to belong to a driving school. They could have taken a lesson from him.
That was a pretty easy day.
While driving around Weslaco the next day we came across this elephant.
I think it was advertising a circus.
We really enjoyed the pool at the RV park.
It was a very friendly park. I'm guessing that's because it was occupied by 80% friendly Manitobans!
After staying there for a couple of days we went to Aransas Pass which is just past Corpus Christi.
I have to say that what we saw of Corpus Christi from the road was pretty ugly. It's all about oil production.
We went over a long bridge which took us to Aransas Pass.
The RV park we stayed in was very different. Very clean & well kept but definitely not a place we would want to spend much time in.
Dave was very excited when we checked in, to find out that there was a music night that evening.
I stayed for two songs, then he was on his own.
He escaped when he had a chance.
It's a good thing we had asked if we could bring a beer, because it's not allowed. Coffee & dainties were served. I think that's the only reason Dave stayed as long as he did. He likes dessert. 😋
The next morning it was very foggy when we got up, but it slowly cleared up. We decided to go see Port Aransas.
To get there we had to take a ferry, which is free!
They have five ferries which constantly go back and forth. It's a very short ride.
You can drive down the beach.
You have to buy a parking permit.
We went for a long walk. What a great place!
This was Easter Sunday so it was pretty busy.
I could have cried when I found out we could have camped there. That's my kind of camping! So much better than the creepy place we were in.
We should have brought a longer rope.
These garbage cans made Dave feel little.
Sand in my toes and I'm happy again. We got a little wet sitting with our feet in the water.
Time to go back to catch the ferry.
There are several people in the water fishing.
We went to our trailer and changed out of our wet clothes, then went out for a margarita.
Back to the cult.........I mean RV park.
On Monday, March 28th, we left Aransas Pass to go to Austin.
We weren't sure what to think of this sky, but all the clouds blew away.
The pictures I took, don't do it justice, but the flowers on the sides of the road were gorgeous.
You can just make out downtown on the left.
We stayed just outside Austin at McKinney Falls State Park.
When we were checking in to the park Dave spoke to the park ranger and asked him about snakes. He said there are rattlesnakes and water moccasins, but he's
only seen two water moccasins since he's been here, one in and one out of the water. Enjoy your swim. And we freak out about leeches!
Now we're going to see the lower falls.
That evening we drove into Austin to see some live music. We went to Sixth Street which is where all the action is. There is live music in every bar, mostly country, but also some good rock 'n roll and blues.
We picked up a slice of pizza to take to the bar with us. We went to Friends, which has live music seven nights a week and no cover charge.
The band was excellent. They were a blues band which had Ginger in the name. Two of the band members had just met and I have a feeling they just made up the name because I can't locate it anywhere. They were not the band that was supposed to play but we were sure happy with them. They played a lot of Stevie Ray Vaughan and did it well.
This light fixture has mini donut decorations on its branches. We are standing in a very long line at Voodoo Donuts.
We figured they must be good if the line was that long, and they were.
The next morning I took Cleo for a walk around the campground.
We enjoyed a fire with our morning coffee.
We drove into Austin in a misty rain.
It started to clear up when we got to our destination, the Lady Bird Lake hike 'n bike trail.
Can you tell we like him?
We had to deal with some major traffic getting back to the campground.
Yesterday morning, March 30th, we were very sad to leave that great campground.
We made our way back to Lake Casa Blanca State Park in Laredo.
We stopped at the tourist info centre for maps on our way into Laredo. I saw a path leading off the parking lot and told Dave that was probably the dog walk area and that he should take Cleo for a walk. When I returned to the truck Dave was not impressed because he had seen a snake. I asked him if he'd taken a picture. Haha.
This female Cardinal keeps pecking on our windows. I guess she can see herself.
We had a pretty spectacular sunset last night.
The reason we came back to Laredo is because Dave had a dentist appointment in Mexico today to have his permanent crown installed. He is back already and very happy with it. I'm happy with the price. $420 Canadian.
I'm starting to get a bit annoyed with this bird.
We are leaving tomorrow and going to San Antonio.
