Texas - all wrapped up PLUS the Sun

My search for cryptids continues once more. I wrapped up my time in the hill country area of Texas and then made a large looping circle towards Abilene before going north of Dallas and then onto Paris to experience the total eclipse. More on the eclipse but first I have to address questions I have gotten on how my search is going and if I have found Big Foot or any other cryptids yet. First off, I am eminently confident in my search methodology and targeting of breweries, wineries, distilleries, cafes, coffee shops, et. al. as those are the places one would expect to find beings tired of be hunted in their natural habitat and so go there to hide from the general searcher. But then one asks, why am I still searching. I have become convinced that the only logical conclusion is that the secret global cabal that has been suppressing all public disclosure of the cryptid population has finally caught up with my searches. I have been tantalizing close many times only to have victory snatched away at the last moment like a referee in close game calling a penalty when none existed. Clearly changes will need to be made to allow me to shake these nefarious quasi-illuminati. More on that later.

Last picture of my site in Spring Branch. Should you ever find yourself in the area, stay at Spring Branch RV Park. Tell Paige and Mike hi as they are awesome. I could have stayed there for years which is why it was important to get out before I had a Hotel California situation. 

Enjoying one last latte at Buchannan's in Blanco. Really nice place with tasty looking bakery. Upcharge for oat milk, but it beats the stomach pain I get with real milk.

More cool root pictures of the trees on the Guadalupe River

At the top of the hill you can see for miles. Quite lovely

Lucy doing her thing (laying down and being lazy)

Ozzy always ready for the next adventure

Great view of the flora of the area

I like this picture. No real reason other than I like trees. That is a nice tree. Oh, I like that boulder, that is a nice boulder.

Unfortunately as I left the hill country I also left the brewery, winery, and cute cafes for the more open spaces of Texas. The upside of this was that I was unable to go to many establishments in my search as I would have liked. I instead was forced to go on long hikes with and without the hunting hounds. I will share a smattering of these pictures but as I look at them again, they fail to capture the scenery. It was actually very lovely with a mixture of cactus, trees, scrub bushes, and grasses. It also looks pretty similar despite from being different parks. Now to be fair, I wasn't driving all that far so it shouldn't be surprising. 

Got a great spot right on the water at Lake Brownwood State Park

Lake Brownwood. Rained for few days so the trails were a bit wet

Ozzy leading the way

Lucy coming back so I can pick her up and carry her. I have heard it referred to as "coddling" but I prefer to think of it as enabling. 

Sunsets were pretty at this park

As I said, it was lovely. This is one of those instagram style pictures to sell you on the lifestyle. It was actually awesome here and just as picturesque as this looks

One more gratuitous sunset picture

Someone put this heart shaped cactus on the tree along one of the trails. I found it interesting and lovely, but I am not sure if this was sent to a woman would she it cute or would she think it means my heart is full of pointy needles. 

I also was able to see an American Bison (aka buffalo) at one of the places I stayed. The actual park was not worth talking about but the laundry facilities were clean and that was my reason for visiting.

Bison kept as a tourist attraction. Actually not a bad life and far better than spending a lifetime in a cubicle

Finally found a cute place. I had lunch here and headed back to the bar later. Their old fashioned was grossly overpriced but they are well intentioned so I'll let it slide. To make it even I won't mention any names.

My next park was Possum Kingdom State Park. I chose it from the title of a Toadies song which seemed to be as good of reason to stay at a place as any.

I found this humorous. I think this is a solid idea as snakes in the shower or toilet would be weird, whereas snakes on a plane would be a movie.

Sunrise while walking the dogs. I should mention that sun rises at about 7:30 am so I was not up too early.

Another state park on a lovely lake

View from the top of the hill. Great hiking trails here and one even had a greater than 20 degree incline. That was a workout.

I got to experience a nice hail storm. I recorded several videos of the sound as it was like someone was firing at the trailer. Thankfully no damage to the truck or camper as the hail was larger than a quarter (which is about one inch). 

I then made my way to Denton, TX. I had been there before in my working life as I installed an automation system in a distribution center there back in the 1990's when I was an engineer. The city has grown a lot since then.

Denton County Brewing. Great bar space for patrons a good selection of beer. 

East Side bar in Denton. They had a plethora of craft beers on tap and food trucks outside. This stout is the Luck O' the Squatch out of Sherman, TX. 

I picked up my brother JT (remember the super computer has been providing two character randomly generated letters for my siblings while everyone else is getting a single character) at the airport as he joined me for the solar eclipse. For the first time in many years I had a human co-pilot while towing the trailer as we headed to Paris and the county fair grounds for the Escapees/Xscapers RV Club's gathering. The dogs didn't appreciate being delegated to the back seat as they felt they had done a great job as co-pilots as they had seen my son B doing the job years before and they knew that they had slept as well as he did. Alas.

The gathering (technically called a Bash) was awesome. The people in this club are very nice and helpful and are fellow travelers but not all full time on the road like me. Many are though so it is nice to have other people who understand the ups and downs of the road. I even joined the retirees (nearly all under 65) for a social event called "Day Drinking". 

I have shared this story several times, but I will also include this here as it was amazing. Originally the long range forecast had predicted rain for Sunday through Wednesday. As it turned out Saturday and Sunday were sunny and pleasant in the mid to upper 70s.  On Monday morning it was clear with some high clouds but by 10 am the clouds had rolled in and it was officially overcast with an occasional glimpse of the sun. I looked at the satellite imagery of the cloud cover and wind direction and based upon my electrical engineering experience I knew the clouds would dissipate. As the time of the eclipse started (about 12:30 pm) we all gathered in the main area of the grounds to experience it together. What we primarily experienced was a peak at the sun through the clouds every few minutes. Despite this disappointment, we could still see the moon slowing moving and blocking the sun. Again, convinced that the clouds would blow away we waited patiently for the totality which was expected around 1:45 pm. Finally at about 1:25 pm in the distance we could see the edge of the clouds and blue sky beyond. As the wind continued to do its job, at about ten minutes before totality we had a clear unobstructed view of the sun and moon. The temperature continued to drop and it got darker and darker. Finally totality hit and everyone cheered and then just sat in awe at what we were experiencing. It was beautiful and lasted for over four minutes. The time flew by and as the moon made its way and the sun reappeared, the temperature instantly increased and brightness returned to earth. I highly recommend that once in your life you make the effort to see a total eclipse as the difference between 99% and 100% is greater than you can ever imagine. I took pictures but digital cameras try to do too much to make it all look right without proper filters. Thankfully several people at the Bash had the proper filters and were able to capture what we could see with our bare eyes. And yes, at the peak of the totality I did stare at the sun without the glasses so now you know I am a rebel and a bad boy.

This was the best I could do with my cameras.

This is what it looked like for most the eclipse, It's hard to describe the experience other than it was awful. Literally, I was full of awe.

As the moon transitioned, we got a bit of a glow. Or for those of you with vision issues, that is also what it could look like. 

When in Paris, one needs to see the Eifel Tower. This one comes with a giant red cowboy hat so it's amazing. Take that France.

Right next door is a great memorial to veterans. Seriously impressive and sad at the same time.

Every night of the Bash, they have entertainment. This was a very loud band that really rocked. It would have been better to have been outside, but what I have not mentioned is the severe storms we received after the eclipse that ended up flooding everything including the grassy fields where we camped and where the stage is located. No pictures of that as it is not good content.

107 Restaurant and Beer Garden. Catfish was delicious and they serve craft beers from the area. I had my first catfish last year in Kentucky and I can't believe I have gone this long without having this fish. It is so much better than cod, perch, trout, and even walleye (blasphemy I know).  

I am at the Bash for a few more days, and then headed to sell the trailer on consignment. Yes, I could sell it for more by myself but then I would likely need to have a place where one would sell the trailer. As I intend to move faster over the next few months that means storing the trailer somewhere. Despite years of working for a utility, doubling down on sunk costs and keeping depreciating assets are not my thing therefore I am more interested in getting rid of this platform so I can move on to whatever is next. Sometimes the quickest way off the ledge is to jump and that is my current plan. I have not come to resolution yet but I will continue to keep you in the loop. Looking over my blogs you would know that I have stayed in hotels, a Shepard's hut, cottages, in addition to RVs. As a matter of fact, I didn't decide on a RV despite owning many over the years until I bought my teardrop a month before hitting the road. It was never my intent to stay with an RV but rather to explore using whatever makes sense at the time. Whatever happens next, I will need to become more stealthy to avoid the aforementioned international secret cabal suppressing knowledge of Big Foot and other cryptids. More on this to come. 

Also I plan on being in Wisconsin in May for the month splitting my time betwixt B (SEWI) and C (NEWI). If you are interested in meeting up in person, let me know as I would love to see y'all.

Until next time,

Thor

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