Our weekend started Thursday evening with a nice cookout at one of the members of the church. Bill and Linda, past NOMADS, had invited the team to their place for the evening. The pastor and his wife, and another couple from the church were there. Bill grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. The burgers and dogs were great, but the fixins that the ladies prepared were even better. We had a chance to see a large flock of wild turkeys walk through Bill's back yard. One of those turkeys would have made a good cookout on the smoker. This evening was the perfect end to our work week.
Friday morning with a trip to Laughlin Air Force Base to get Sharon's ID card renewed. The drive to Laughlin takes about thirty minutes from Brackettville on very straight roads, and at a speed limit of 70mph. 70 doesn't sound bad until you realize that the highway, US90, is mostly two lane. Back home they might post 55 on it. Upon arriving at the security gate at Laughlin I asked the security guard where pass and ID was located. The guard, a civilian security employee, wasn't very sure where it was, but tried to tell me anyway. I would loved to have been the driver in the car behind me watching this guard giving me directions. Imagine taking your left hand and waving it across your chest in an arc motion. Well, that is what the guard was doing. He was trying to tell me that he thought the building I was looking for had a curved drive in front. He kept using the curving motion to indicate the curved drive. He told me that it would be the only one with a curved drive. Right. There were three buildings with a curved drive. I decided to find the Air Force security police station and ask there. Finding the police station was simple, find all of the police cars. A sharp young NCO told me where I needed to go, he even went outside and pointed the building out to me. Now we were on the way to customer service. Yeah, the military now has a customer service center. I guess after being retired from the Air Force for 23 years some things do change. It only took a few minutes for Sharon to sign it and be led back to the ID office. I thought we were going to have to really wait awhile due to the many young military personnel waiting in the lobby. Shortly after Sharon was called to the ID office a young NCO came and requested everybody else in the lobby to follow her. They were all young Second Lieutenants in processing to the base. Laughlin is a pilot/navigator training base, so I guess they all are there for flight training.
After we left Laughlin we headed into Del Rio for Home Depot and lunch. When we got into Del Rio I missed the turn to stay on US90 that would take us to Home Depot. That was not a big problem until we got to the US/Mexico border. Good thing I was able to turn around without crossing into Mexico, we didn't have our passports with us.
We did find Home Depot without any problem after we turned around and got back on the main road. Sharon has been doing some painting and need a new paint brush to do some trim work with. After she selected the brush that she wanted we were ready to leave, but it was a little early for lunch, so I had time to just roam around Home Depot. For those that know me well you know that I love roaming around in Home Depot, Lowe's, Tractor Supply, or any other toy store like that. At eleven o'clock, Sharon said it was time to go for lunch. Oh well, all good times have to come to an end.
We had decided to go to Rudy's BBQ for lunch. Several of the locals in Brackettville had highly recommended it to us. The first thing the cashier asked us is if we had ever been there before. When we told her no, she gave samples of some of their BBQ meat. The smoked turkey and the brisket were very good, so that's what we had. The food was very good, and a lot of it. So much food that we had enough left to take home and have for dinner that evening. Rudy's is a Texas chain, so if you are ever in Texas try and find one, it will be worth your time.
We headed back to Brackettville for a nice relaxing afternoon doing laundry. The RV park's laundry facility has three washers and three dryers. That's not many machines when there are probably fifty or more RVs parked in the park. Sharing the machines with two others, was not too bad, just took about four hours to do two loads of clothes. It really didn't matter, nothing else to do but rest.
Saturday started with a nice breakfast. The winter Texans, those that come down south away from the snow and cold up north, sponsor the breakfast to raise funds for their many activities during the winter. It is also a good time of fellowship with the other RVer's in the park.
After breakfast, Ralph, Virginia, Sharon and I, headed for Eagle Pass, Texas. Eagle Pass is about 50 miles southeast of Brackettville. Sharon and I have been to Eagle Pass many times before on our way to Piedras Negras, Mexico, on mission trips there. We have always driven into Eagle Pass from the northeast, went to Walmart, then into Mexico. This time we went in from the northwest. We had never realized that Eagle Pass was such a large town. We went into the downtown area and were surprised at the many downtown businesses. We parked and walked around town for awhile. We went into one little grocery store that we had noticed from the street that had a large party department. The party department was as nice as going to Party City. Sharon and Virginia both picked up a few items from the party department. When we were checking out the owner of the store came up to us and started talking. He was a very nice gentleman. His family had been in business in that same location since 1938. We were going to lunch after we left the store, so we ask this nice gentleman if he could suggest a place. He suggested two places, one we found out was closed on Saturday afternoons. But the other, the Charcoal Grill, was open. His recommendation was a good one. We really enjoyed the restaurant and the food. After lunch we head back to Brackettville.
When we got back to the RV, Sharon and I decided to take a golf cart ride on some of the many, trails at Fort Clark Springs. The trails are for hikers, bicycles, and golf carts only. We had a nice ride and saw some deer and wild flowers on the ride. Some of the deer were in one of the residents yard where the home owner was feeding some of the deer from his hand. They are very pretty deer.
Sharon and I spent the rest of the day again just relaxing. I know, sounds like we relax a lot. Well, we do. But we make up for it Monday through Thursday.
Sunday was another wonderful day at church. The Methodist church in Brakettville is very blest with the pastor and his wife. The little church was almost standing room only that morning. There were many visitors that were traveling through the area, or had just arrived for a long stay. The people of First Methodist are some of the friendliest I have seen outside of our home church at Fairview.
After church we had cook-out at our RV. Sharon and I had bought some brats at H.E.B., a Texas grocery chain, that I had wanted to cook. the package of brats was too large for us, so I thought it would be good for a cook-out. Ralph, Virginia, Kent, and Martha brought all the fixins to go with the brats. Turned out to be a very nice afternoon. We all got a chance to talk and share more of our NOMADS adventures with each other. Then is was time to get ready for Monday. REST.
Now back to laying tile. The women also got back to work on their painting. The sanctuary is about half done, and looking great. The women are having a lot of fun climbing up and down ladders, getting up on the scaffolding, and even paint dying their clothes. The men got right to work on the floor. We spent a lot of time measuring and laying out the starting point for the tile. We wanted to make sure that the tile would come out even on the sides and into the back rooms and kitchen. Once we were satisfied that the layout was good, we started laying tile. Our time spent laying out the floor for the tiles paid off. The tile is going down very neatly, that is square, and straight. We are almost half through with the main part of the floor. We still have the two small classrooms and the kitchen to do, along with the other half of the main floor. Laying the whole tiles, 12" X 12" square, is simple once it is started correctly. The hard part will be when we start cutting in the small pieces along the edges. But we have plenty of time, so we can be patient.
Like to leave you with some pictures of the past few days.
These are the turkeys in Bill's back yard.
Some more turkeys in Bill's back yard. Oh, I'm wrong, that's Ralph and Bill watching over the grill as the burgers and dogs cook.
This is the Casa De La Cultua in Del Rio. Sharon and I stopped by there to see what it was. It is a culture center primarily used to display art of the community, and for dance and exercise classes. There was art work from the local schools on display. Many talented students had their work displayed there.
Walking the streets of Eagle Pass. Virginia on the left, Sharon on the right.
One of the many flowers we saw on our golf cart ride.
Another one of the flowers along the trail.
Axis deer in one of the residents back yard.
Martha looking excited about being up on the scaffold to do some painting.
Sharon painting some trim around one of the stained glass windows in the church.
Ralph on the left, and Kent on the right, laying tile in the fellowship hall.
The floor in the fellowship hall, half done. Many boxes of tile yet to be laid.
I probably won't post again until Friday, so you all have a great week, and
Remember, God Loves You
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