So long Livingston, hello Dublin

Yesterday was a slow day, just getting everything packed up for the trip to Dublin, Tx.  And beginning at 6:00am, while it was still not hot (it never got cool), I washed the rear exterior of the camper and then washed Big Gulp top to bottom.  I can't have my bride riding around in a grungy chariot.

Today I rolled out of bed at 4:30am and started doing final preparations for hitching up.  Cyndee,,, not so much.  She came along about two-and-a-half hours later.  But we still did great at getting everything together and getting connected to the new hitch.  Seeing how well this new hitch works I now realize how really old and tired my other hitch was.

There was plenty of time to write posts yesterday, unfortunately I had maxed-out my data plan on the jetpack.  We have to stay off the jetpack until our service rolls over on the 26th.  Our voice minutes ran out as well.  We are text only on the phones for a few days.  But we are back online tonight via free Wi-Fi at the Camel Stop RV Park in Dublin.  I guess I really hammered the phone lines doing all the things that had to be done to be a Texan.

The morning started in hot, humid East Texas where there has been plenty of rain and green meets the eye from every view.  As the day aged we eased towards the central plains of the state.  The temperature rose significantly and the humidity dropped precipitously.  Lush green was replaced by varying hues of yellow-green and brown.  You could tell that rain had been present at one time, maybe in late spring, but by the look of things today it has been too long since the last one.  Wind also became a more and more prominent feature as we traversed north and west.  Not because of storms or anything like that, it just blows.  When you grow up in wind country you learn at an early age to never let go of a door you are opening or to set anything down lighter than an anvil or else 'the wind 'l have it'.  Stepping out of a camper is a tricky thing in the wind.  You are pretty high off the ground and the steps are steep.  The wind can grab the door and throw you out on your ear.  We are having to recall our old habits for living in wind country.

But the day was not just about the weather.  We stayed on TX-6 for a good part of the trip and this road took us past some spectacular ranch and farm houses.  Some were modest in size, some were absolutely enormous, but they were all gorgeous.  Most were built using traditional materials for the area such as limestone or rock, and you could see community pride in the little towns we passed through by the way they took care of their homes and public buildings.  The county courthouse in Centerville blew me away.  Built in 1886 it is a structure that seems almost gothic.  It had a prominent clock tower and large, rough-cut limestone blocks.  I really wanted a picture of this structure but there simply was no place to park 60 feet of truck and trailer.  We had to keep going.  However, after parking the camper we went into Stephenville for a diet cherry lime-aide from Sonic.  Stephenville had their own old courthouse with lots of character.

County Courthouse, Stephenville, Tx

We pulled into our RV park just outside of Dublin a little later than we had hoped for. 

Nice, long, level spot.  That tall bush to the left is what passes for a tree around here.

Very clean and spacious park.  If we had satellite there would be now worry of obstruction.

It was mid-afternoon, scorching hot and we had not stopped to eat.  Starving, we unhitched, plugged in the electricity got both A/Cs cranked up and promptly left to find someplace with food and air conditioning.

That someplace turned out to be Woody's Wood Fire Grill.  It was practically across the street from the campground.  It looked a little questionable but we did not really see anything that grabbed our attention when we passed through Dublin either.  So we crossed our fingers and went in.

Big Gulp was almost as big as the restaurant.  And yes, we were the only ones there.

Not bad, it was more a bar than it was a restaurant.  We were starved, if they had something to eat we were going to stay.  Which brings up another adjustment, one I wish I did not have to make.  In Texas the restaurants still offer; "smoking, or non?".  I have traveled all over the world and the U.S. and with the exception of some of the smaller villages in Taiwan and Texas there is no smoking allowed in the restaurant, period.  Having a smoking section in a restaurant makes no more sense than having a peeing section in a swimming pool.  Okay, I'll get off my soap box.

So, we are going to try to stay on the reservation with our diet and get a grilled chicken salad or something of the sort.  But then the menus are laid in front of us and there it is, with a picture and everything, a great big 'ol chicken fried steak.  With gravy and potatoes and griddled Texas toast.  We both ordered one.  I'm going to hate getting on the scales in the morning.

Neither of us had eaten such a heavy meal in a long time.  They practically had to roll us out to Big Gulp.  Now I remember how I got to be a double XL.  But it sure was good.

We went back to the camper until the day started to let go of some of the heat and took Big Gulp into town for its second drink of the day.  It took about 64 gallons of fuel today, but I did start the day with only three fourths of a tank so I did not burn all 64.  Tomorrow we'll start with a full tank and should be able to make the three hundred miles to our next campground.