2018 Winter in Texas

Post by **JEBar** » Mon Jan 22, 2018 8:00 pm

beautiful day ..

.. during a morning trip to the UPS Store in Willis, TX we stopped by Kroger .... that store has to be one of the nicest Krogers we've ever visited .... the afternoon was perfect for firing up the Holland Companion to grill bacon wrapped shrimp on the barbie .... love it ..Smile

.. when the sun went down, the temp started dropping like a rock .... they are calling for it to get down to 34 tonight ..

Post by **RanchRoper** » Mon Jan 22, 2018 8:12 pm

Those sure look tasty. I see parts of Texas on the news getting pounded with storms, travel safe.

Post by **JEBar** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 9:49 am

its hard to believe that we've already been in Texas for 2 weeks .... today is shopping day and pack up day .... shopping includes filling one of the truck's tanks, meds (Walmart), some paper products and food (Sam's), some hardware (Lowe's) .... thankfully, the weather has improved, rain is supposed to have moved out of the area .... we hope to be on the road around 9AM tomorrow for a short (120 some mile) drive to Thousand Trails Colorado River Campground .... https://www.thousandtrails.com/texas/co ... ampground/ .... rather than traveling interstate highways that take us through Houston, we are considering going back roads .... this will be yet another first for us

Post by **JEBar** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 7:42 pm

today's drive went well .... Colorado River campground is full so we are currently parked on a temporary, water & electric, site .... hopefully, a full service site will be available in a day or so .... deer came out just before dark

Post by **TRock** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 9:08 pm

I would think that the temporary spot has fairly good service. How many places bring supper with the meat that fresh..lol All kidding aside , I have enjoyed Texas so far through your eyes, or camera.

Post by **JEBar** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 10:17 pm

TRock wrote:I would think that the temporary spot has fairly good service. How many places bring supper with the meat that fresh..lol All kidding aside , I have enjoyed Texas so far through your eyes, or camera.

kind words appreciated .... we really enjoy spending our winters down here .... a while ago a couple from Oregon who we first met a couple of years ago arrived ..... we will be camping with them for the next week ..... over the years we have made many friends who we really enjoy visiting with from time to time

Post by **GFK** » Tue Jan 30, 2018 8:47 am

JEBar wrote:today's drive went well .... Colorado River campground is full so we are currently parked on a temporary, water & electric, site .... hopefully, a full service site will be available in a day or so .... deer came out just before dark

Looks like fun and relaxing.

Post by **JEBar** » Wed Jan 31, 2018 12:23 am

yesterday's drive from Conroe to Columbus took us 2 hrs 3 min to cover 125.3 miles .... during our 2 weeks in Conroe we drove 230 miles .... past experience in this area motivates us to carefully filter the water .... the first picture below shows our filter system after being in use for 2 weeks at Lake Conroe .... the two brown filters were originally snow white .... this morning we moved from the site shown above that has limited facilities to a full service site shown below where the water filter system can be seen .... we are now settled in for the next 3 weeks and my wife has the washer going .... yesterday my 10 month old computer stopped working and we had to find a local repair facility .... today they called and let us know they had to replace the hard drive .... they had it ready and this post is being typed on it .... in the when pigs fly category, I've really gotta love Texas

Post by **RetiredSeabee** » Wed Jan 31, 2018 8:01 am

Love the pig sculpture!

Post by **JEBar** » Wed Jan 31, 2018 10:13 am

I do toooo .... I can't look at it and not smile ...

Post by **JEBar** » Wed Jan 31, 2018 11:51 am

the yellow warning sign sure sends a clear message .... its easy to see impact damage so there must be a history of problems .... the sign is suspended over the road in Columbus, TX .... the bridge is on I-10 shown with a Walmart big rig crossing it....

Post by **The Wiz** » Wed Jan 31, 2018 4:46 pm

Post by **JEBar** » Sat Feb 03, 2018 5:03 pm

it was pretty dang cool outside this morning (still is) .... it took a bit more charcoal than usual to cook breakfast for us and some friends in our Dutch Oven, no surprise there .... it was pretty dang good, even if I do say so myself ....tomorrow's evening menu calls for smoked baby back pork ribs .... it will take most of the afternoon to prepare them .... at least dessert is ready, the cake shown below was just taken out of our Dutch Oven .... lets just say, it sure smells good ..Smile

.. things are looking up, while light rain has moved in and out since 5:30AM, according to the weather radar, the front has moved on east of Houston .... they are calling for it to get up into the mid 70's tomorrow .... sure hope so, that will be most welcome

Post by **JEBar** » Mon Feb 05, 2018 6:56 pm

another day, cool and cloudy day .... the campground's water was turned off for most of this morning .... the same plumbers who fixed the broken pipes over at Conroe were here today .... so far as I know, there weren't any issues like the one with the black tank cleaner hose ..

Wink

.. I have to hand it to this CG's staff, in addition posting notices, yesterday every camper was called and personally warned about the water being turned off today .... we figured that with the water off we might as well head over to Columbus to pick up a few items, including some packages at the local Post Office .... while wandering through the Columbus HEB we found some T-bone cuts of porter house steaks on sale .... a couple jumped into our shopping cart and we grilled them for a late lunch .... not up to SD steak standards but they weren't bad at all .... we have to go back to Columbus tomorrow and just might pick up a couple more ..

Post by **GFK** » Tue Feb 06, 2018 6:59 am

Those are a nice size. It looks like you did a great job cooking them also. I would probably eat salad for a couple of days after eating those. But, I would probably have to have a couple of beers to wash the steaks down too. So, it would be good eating!

Post by **JEBar** » Wed Feb 07, 2018 10:19 am

this morning we awoke to the sound of hard rain on the roof, flashes of lightening and heavy claps of thunder ..... that didn't really get my attention, been there done that .... sometime there after, my cell phone rang .... before daylight that is seldom good news and this morning was no exception ..... the lady said she was calling from Western Union and wanted to know if I was trying to transfer some money using a card and giving me the last 4 numbers .... that did get my attention ---- my full attention ..

.. I told her no and she said she'd cancel the transaction and recommended I call the issuer of the card to have it cancelled .... it was still too early to call back home so Maureen turned on her computer and checked our account .... she found the cancelled Western Union notation and thankfully that the account is in order ..... the minute our credit union back home opened we were on the phone, its really good to deal with folks on the other end of the line who know you .... a new card is being sent via FedEx and should be here tomorrow .... what a way to start a day ...

Post by **JEBar** » Tue Feb 13, 2018 7:27 pm

more cool and rainy weather but a change is on the way ..

.. they are now calling for a bit warmer, rainy weather to be moving in ..

.. oh well, as can be seen in the last picture, as dreary as it has been, the last couple of pictures show its better than it was just under a month ago right after we arrived here .... the first three pictures below show a small part of a buffalo herd that is only a few miles from our current campground .... some of those critters are huge .... the moss in several trees around our site is something we don't see back home .... question for anyone who may know, does it turn green in the spring or is it the color shown year round ..

Post by **JEBar** » Sat Feb 17, 2018 9:42 pm

we are due to move back to Lake Conroe on Monday so we started packing up today .... dusk to dawn lighting unhooked and packed, flag taken down and stored, awning carpet taken up, swept, and packed, grill packed, 5-step stool stored, tire pressure monitor activated and all pressures are as they should be, filled one tank with 30 gallons of pure #2 diesel and fuel treatment .... we hope to reach the point in the morning where all that remains is unhook form the campground utilities Monday morning .... as is our normal practice, when one trip is winding down, we begin planning the next .... for us, that will probably be a trip to South Dakota that will begin in late May .... time is passing all tooooo quickly

Post by **JEBar** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 10:45 am

its hard to believe that today is our last one to be camped here in Columbus .... 3 weeks have passed in a blur .... as already noted, most of the things we need to do to break camp have been taken care of .... our plans for this morning include taking down and storing the Port-a-deck, switching water softeners and recharging the one we have been using, cleaning the black tank, taking on 10 or so gallons of fresh water .... thankfully, the weather forecast for today and tomorrow is really good ... temps in the mid 70's, no rain .... as much as we have enjoyed being at Columbus, we are looking forward to getting back to Lake Conroe, it is one of our favorite areas

Post by **JEBar** » Sun Feb 18, 2018 8:07 pm

talk about a beautiful day, well today has been one .... all we have left for in the morning is to button up inside, pull the slides, unhook the utilities, hookup and hit the road .... we hope to be on the road around 9AM .... with no stops we should be back at Conroe shortly before noon