West Texas Trip - Catching Up

(Since we were often in places without internet connections, I blogged anyway, and am posting belatedly.)

DAY ONE: The Start of Our West Texas Trip (May 15)

Got up and had breakfast in the trailer. We stayed in Somerset, just outside south San Antonio, 6 miles from Lytle where SO has some business with one of his customers. They’re having a Grand Opening and he agreed to attend. I took him to the store in Lytle and dropped him there, then drove into San Antonio. It took about twenty minutes to get passed Lackland AFB. Brought back a lot of memories. I foolishly thought for a second that those were the good ol’ days, but the only thing good was that the kids were little and full of joy, but my marriage was already shaky.

Had the dog with me and we stopped at a PetSmart down Loop 410 at the Sea World exit. Sea World did not exist when I lived in San Antonio, but some of the area is familiar all the same. I swear the dog recognizes the PetSmart sign. She started twirling in circles as soon as we turned into the parking lot. There were lots of dogs inside the store, and she was just too excited to behave. But she was funny.

SO called as I was walking into Target. His back was killing him standing around the store, and he asked me to come pick him up. I went ahead into the store to get snorkel sets for our trip to Balmorhea, then drove back to the Lytle store. He was waiting out front.

We went back to the trailer and chilled for the rest of the day. I cooked ham steak because there just was not a place to eat out in Somerset. Cooking in the trailer's teensy tiny kitchen is a real challenge. I had planned ahead though and kept it simple. Opening cans, making salad, etc. Brought along a buttermilk pie I had made at home for the trip.

After supper, the dog and I walked though the nearby cemeteries. There were three all together, one Latin, one for the Barker family who were apparently a prominent ranching family in the area, and the third cemetery was mixed. I have always found folk cemeteries especially interesting. One of the headstones in the Barker cemetery had two tokens sitting on top of it that looked as if they had been there for ages. One was a metal Christmas that has nearly lost all of its paint. The other was a jolly fat man, but not bearded like Santa Claus. I picked them both up to inspect them, and wondered what the significance of them was to the person buried there, or to the person who left them.

The cat has come along on this trip and he has pretty much taken over the trailer. But he’s doing much better than I anticipated. He continues to surprise me with adaptability.

Onward....

DAY TWO: Del Rio (May 16)

Kitty was not as good with traveling today. He yowled most of the four hour drive.

We have a spot in a brand new RV Park two miles from Lake Amistad. On the way here, the sliding door on the bedroom inside the trailer fell down and pulled the runner from the ceiling. Our first priority was to get the door back up. My SO had thought out the problem and his solution required a trip to Home Depot, which we remembered passing on our way through town. Repairing the door took most of the afternoon, but we did get it done in time to make a quick trip to the lake. We took our fishing rods and the dog, found the pier right where the internet had told us it would be. We tied on our new lures, and fished for about an hour. I had one strike but it has been so long since I have fresh water fished, that I forgot all about having to set the hook. Damn! It was still lots of fun.

I had no idea Lake Amistad was the second largest lake in Texas, or that there were so many fabulous weekend homes overlooking the lake. We rode across the bridge to another spot with a pier. Border Patrol are all over the place, which is good, but it still made me feel uncomfortable. I can just imagine how a Mexican-American might feel. We found the other pier but it was occupied by a bunch of kids so we didn’t stop. The dog really doesn’t like kids, and it was too hot to leave her in the Suburban.

Ate at Luby’s for supper. I really miss Luby’s but not if this one is an example of what they’ve become. I guess I miss the OLD Luby’s. It’s no wonder they’re going broke. The food was cold and tasteless, and service was nonexistent. Pretty soon cafeterias will be relics of a past time just like some of the falling-down drive-in theaters you still see occasionally in rural areas.

The cat kept me up most of the night last night. He loves getting to sleep with me, but I’m hoping he will be so tired from the drive that he’ll lay quietly at my feet. I have felt like a walking zombie all day.

Onward ...