Tuesday 1/4/22 Minden, LA to Waco, TX

Tuesday 1/4/22 Minden, LA to Waco, TX

Up at 7:30am to 28 degrees but sunny.  We were on the road by 10:30am and it was 44 degrees by then.  A balmy day.  Beautiful and clear.  We took advantage of some wifi access to try to make progress on the OPB.  We couldn't stay long enough to catch up since we still wanted to stop and check out some sites along the way to Waco, TX.

Just another frozen sunrise - no Tequila.  

Every morning that the car starts is a GOOD morning.

But eventually the sun really punches through.

Clean bathrooms and showers.  So far, the cleanest of the trip.  

30 degree hike to get to them however.  Eldon declined.

Blogger at work.  Moreno finds comfort no matter where we find ourselves.  That is some dog.  Sleeping on the king size bed is nothing new for him.  Whether it be at OPH nor in the Alto.

Welcome to Texas! Will take 3 days to get out of Texas.

We arrived at Carthage, TX to pay tribute to Jim Reeves.  That is mom's all time Country and Western singer (Hall of Fame) of which she was also a personal friend.  Even Eldon had direct contact with him when he was little.  Eldon that is.  

Mom and dad had travelled to this site when it was inaugurated in his honor.  Mom was Secretary of his fan club, and is still revered on the various Jim Reeves web sites and probably Facebook pages.  He was from Carthage and the following photos show some of what we saw.  It was WAY more than we expected, and we missed the museum in town, by not knowing about it.  

  

Jim's beloved dog Cheyenne's grave, Moreno paying respects.

Jim's wife Mary's grave.

Moreno waits patiently while I check out some plaque.

After patiently waiting for me, Moreno and Eldon play some run and catch me by Jim Reeves site.  Next stop was at the Waco Mammoths site of dinosaur (no Clara, the dinosaurs were dead by 70 million years, these glacial age elephants) bones.  

The Mammoths were trapped by a mud flow and entombed in the mud.  There are over 20 of them, mostly juveniles and females so the thinking is that a familial herd was essentially wiped out in one flood event.  The display was sub-par according to Eldon.  I did get to add another Stamp to my Passport book.  Moreno was also rewarded by getting a Bark Shield for his collar to make him an Official Park Ranger dog.  So all in all, a good stop.  Below you can see him on duty.

We finally make it to our next campground where Moreno gazes over the Brazos River.  Across the river (or tributary creek) there are some sheep being herded by a couple of beautiful pure white dogs.  It's amazing how well they do that.  At one point there was one that strayed and the dog goes to pull it back to the herd.  Then when Eldon went to the bathroom the dogs signaled (with a special bark) for the sheep to be quiet and they all stopped "bahhh ing".  They also retreated from that area to better protect themselves from Eldon.  Amazing.  Dogs are so sensitive that way.

So now it's time for dinner.  We picked this spot so I could try to do some blogging.  The site,  Flat Creek Farms RV Park had very clean restrooms and showers.  The site itself was very "sterile".  No real charm except the sheep herd across the creek.  

Eldon again excelled in preparing a yummy meal.  Pasta and bread.  He is a Master Chef.

 

 

Red bell peppers, onions, and the meat from the rack of BBQ ribs we did not eat the day before. Then add more Red River Ranch BBQ sauce and you have the classic Texan Italian version of a pasta sauce.  Of course he also added in the two little plastic containers of BBQ sauce that came with the ribs, two packets of ketchup that were "just lying around" and honestly, no one really knows what else he tosses in.  But, it manages to taste good so no complaints.

But do you think anyone in Texas has heard of Orcchietta pasta shapes? Means "little ears" of course.

It even tasted good, and we had enough left over for the next day, and a desire to actually eat it.

I really appreciate his culinary skills.  I just do dishes, no different than at home.

Personally, I think that doing this blog has made my hair even more grey.  It doesn't seem to bother Moreno who again finds a spot on the bed to "sleep".  Eldon has also added some more grey due to my constant repetition to questions he has answered more than "a thousand times".  Thanks for your patience Eldon, I love you:):))