A Little Time in Texas

Lake Whitney

Texas is a great place to be in the spring and fall. (Summers not so much.) And an added benefit is the many Thousand Trails RV parks scattered across the state. As I've probably noted many times, all of the Thousand Trails parks are free to us on account of our annual dues, which pay for our camping. The only exception to that rule is that some parks charge a premium of a few dollars a day for 50 amp service. Manageable.

So once our repairs were done, we headed to Texas for about three weeks. 

Our first stop was Lake Whitney.  Lake Whitney is about a forty minute drive northeast of Waco. While we were there, we finally got to visit the Magnolia Silos, owned by the famous duo of Chip and Joanna Gaines.  I took my "birthday dinner" as a lunch at the Magnolia Table restaurant, which serves only breakfast and lunch for the time being. I hope they eventually expand into dinner because it's a wonderful place to eat. The restaurant is clean and beautiful, the staff are friendly and helpful, the food is delicious-- made from scratch with real, local, and mostly organic ingredients. It is a true "farm to table" experience. And considering all that, the prices are quite reasonable. We definitely splurged, and indulged in some treats in honor of my special occasion.

At Magnolia Table. Mark had breakfast
I had lunch--chicken salad sandwich and
butternut squash soup.

That said, the Silos are a bit gimmicky in my opinion. The grounds are beautiful. The merchandise is lovely. But everything is a tad overpriced. We lookey-looed around and bought a few trinkets, but that's all. After resting up a bit with a cup of coffee, we headed home. Was it worth the bother? Absolutely. I definitely recommend at least one visit... and if you take along your lottery winnings, you can get some pretty nice stuff there.

Magnolia Silos, Waco TX

We couldn't get a longer stay than a week at Lake Whitney because the park was full beyond that time period. So we headed north to Lake Tawakoni, which is about an hour east of Dallas/Fort Worth. We've been at Lake Tawakoni several times, now, and like it better each time. They are upgrading many of the sites to full 50 amp hookups, and we were able to snag a good spot next to the open field. Even though we were on the main road, the trees and woods behind us and the huge open field in front made it feel more secluded than it really was. 

At Lake Tawakoni

At Lake Tawakoni

The downside of Lake Tawakoni is that there's absolutely nothing to do there, as far as "attractions" go. They do have a nice hot tub that we made use of a few times. Otherwise its glory is a peaceful week of sitting in the woods. Now, if you have a watersport vehicle--a boat or kayak or canoe...or you love to fish, then Lake Tawakoni will have what you need:  a lake. We don't. But we enjoyed it all the same. We stayed fifteen days, and that was enough for me.

Yesterday we left Texas and headed for Louisiana where we will spend the next three months in the Hoffman back yard (Melanie, Mark's daughter & her family). Part of the reason for the long stay is to visit with family, but a bigger reason is the rising costs of travel. We're beginning to slow down quite a bit, and next year the plan is to move less often and stay longer wherever we can. 

This week is Thanksgiving. I hope you are able to spend it with family and friends, and that you remember to take the time to reflect on the goodness of our God and thank him for his blessings and provisions.

"Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:19-20

God Bless! & Safe travels...

Driving through Minneapolis on our way south.  It's still
beautiful... from a distance, at least.

Minneapolis

Walking down by the lake, at Lake Whitney (the water's low)

At Magnolia Table... waiting to be seated

At the Silos. Trying to find the entrance.
(There's a bit of construction going on.)

Mark loves the old cars and trucks

October in Minnesota

It can be risky spending the month of October in Minnesota. Blizzards have been known to occur in this month from time to time. The temperatures can bounce all over the place and the weather is always unpredictable. So we were a bit concerned when we learned that our grandson had chosen the latter half of this month for his wedding. 

What's a grandparent to do? We weren't about to let unpredictability keep us from a wedding. Besides, the chances were just as good for good weather as for bad. 

So we parked our coach back at the Pettit "back lot" after Door County and hoped for the best. 

It turned out to be a surprisingly mild October. As a matter of fact, there were more 70 degree days in a row in October in Minneapolis than in any other month this year-- eleven, to be precise. (I know this because I am currently working on a temperature blanket for a certain Minnesota-born grandchild.) 

So we took advantage of the nice weather and attended yet another car show with my brother and sister-in-law, George and Bev. This show was put on by a local car club called "The Frankensteiners." It was held at the Cambridge Fair Grounds, and all the participating vehicles put out buckets of candy by their cars and trucks, and the visitors brought their children, dressed up for Halloween, to trick-or-treat. George thought he had over-bought on the candy for his bucket, but ended up running out before 11:00 a.m. (the car show runs until 5:00). Mark enjoyed the event more than I did, mainly because Mark cares about cars. I left early and let him hitch a ride home from George. Still, it was nice to get out in the sunshine and visit with family.

George's '39 Chevy

Bev & George

We left our RV parked in Isanti the weekend of the wedding and drove the car up for the event.

Our grandson, Riley and his bride, Mari, chose an absolutely beautiful venue for their wedding in northern Minnesota near Marcell. We stayed in a cabin in Marcell with Mark's daughter, Melanie, and her family. We arrived Friday afternoon and were there until Monday morning. The wedding was on Saturday. The cabin was beautiful, and well-stocked with towels and bedding, and cooking/eating necessities. Melanie cooked all the meals for us, except those connected to the wedding-- a Groom's dinner and a post-wedding breakfast where the couple opened their gifts. On our last evening there, we built a fire outside, roasted hotdogs, made S'mores, and listened to the eerie shrill cries of foxes in the woods.

Our room at the cabin in the woods

View from the sliding door of our room at the cabin in the woods

The wedding was fabulous! I've never seen a more beautiful wedding venue. The ceremony was held outside under the pine trees. Check out the video. The swaying trees were absolutely mesmerizing.

It was chilly and breezy but the hosts passed out lap blankets to everyone to help keep us warm. After a short ceremony, we all went inside where the heaters were to enjoy beverages and hors d'oeuvres. 

Here comes the bride!

The bride and groom chose a western theme for their wedding clothes and decor-- horses (Mari is an equestrian), jeans, cowboy hats and boots, western style vests for the guys, and plaid everywhere. It was adorable. 

Horse corral

From the right:  Riley, Mari, wedding party

I've included lots of pictures below. Dinner was pizza... not especially "western," but more affordable than feeding a hundred people steak, I suppose. If costs were cut, that was the only place...and really, who ever remembers the food at a wedding anyway?

We arrived back at our RV on Monday afternoon, and Tuesday we packed up and headed out of town. Next stop was Choudrant, Louisiana, where our esteemed mechanic, Ronnie Wolfe, would tackle our non-working generator, and our non-working basement A/C.

I'll just tell you the good news now:  The fixes were made, the cost was relatively low (lower than we expected), and it only took one day to put us on our way again in good order. Ronnie's a genius-- I keep saying that, I know, but it's true! Eventually we're going to need work done on our bedroom slide--the motor needs to be replaced. But that will have to wait until next year, and we're trusting God to keep it working until we have the money to fix it.

That's it for now. More pictures below. Safe travels to one and all!

The bridal shower -- lovely event

Place setting markers were coasters made of a slice of pine

Reception table setting

Reception - setting up for hors d'oeuvres

Maegan (mother) and Mark (grandfather) (of the groom)

Giant barn, decorated for the reception

Guest's pathway to the wedding ceremony

Riley walking in his mom

Cathedral in the Woods - Bride's entrance

Let's get this party going!

I'm pretty sure someone somewhere is tossing a bouquet

Dancing the night away

I believe that's Olive she's dancing with

Weddings are so much fun!

That's Asher in the foreground smiling at the camera

Evening around the fire

Door County, Wisconsin

 

Tranquil Timbers RV park, Sturgeon Bay, WI

I've been out of commission for a while due to a technology breakdown. My computer would not start up. Ultimately I had to send it back to the manufacture for repair. But I'm now back in business.

Our last travel adventure was Door County, Wisconsin. We were there for two weeks, parked in Sturgeon Bay at the Tranquil Timbers RV "Resort" (an Encore park). For the record, it's not a resort as one might think of a resort, but its an okay campground.

Door County encompasses the little peninsula that juts off the top of the state of Wisconsin between Green Bay and greater Lake Michigan. Door County is famous for its cherries. It is also famous (or should be) for its cherry wine. So the scope of our travels involved more or less two things:  cherry pie and cherry wine... and we enjoyed both.

You may wonder where Door County got its name. We didn't, really. Some things you just accept without question. But we learned the answer to this question while on our tour of Washington Island.

Washington Island is the largest island just off the tip of the peninsula. It has a distinctly Norwegian history, so it was especially interesting to Mark, who is distinctly Norwegian. We saw exactly four attractions on our tour:  a farm museum, a beautiful beach, a shop with fudge and pastries, and a replica of an old Norwegian church-- "Stavekirke". There's a similar replica in North Dakota that we've visited. This one was a bit smaller (if I recall correctly) and the landscaping a bit more rustic. We interrupted preparations for a wedding, but they were gracious enough to allow us a few minutes to look around.  At the shop we visited there were the grass-roofed houses that are common in Scandinavian countries. Sister Bay, a town along the west shore of the peninsula has a famous restaurant, Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant, with a grass roof upon which you will often find goats grazing. We passed it once or twice on our travels around the area and didn't see any goats, but perhaps it was the goats' day off.

The "Viking Tour Trolly"

Grass-roofed buildings on the shop grounds

Stavekirke

Barn Loom at the Farm Museum

Schoolhouse Beach

And, lest I forget... Door County was named for the treacherous waters between Washington Island and the mainland. So many boats have sunk in that waterway during bad storms, and so many people have lost their lives, that it came to be known as "Death's Door"... and so, the name "Door" County. I suppose "Door County" is better than "Death's Door County."

Now for the recommendations:

Every place sells cherry pie, but all cherry pie is not created equal. Ingredients are key.  Good ingredients translate into good taste every time. The best cherry pie award goes to Elsie Mae's, and Grandma Tommy's is runner up. Both are made from scratch with real pantry ingredients, but Elsie Mae had the best tasting crust. 

The best winery award goes to the Door Peninsula Winery. They have a huge selection to choose from, free tastings, and great prices. Their selection of cherry wines is amazing. Whether you prefer sweet, dry, sparkling, or anything in between, you will find something to delight your taste buds. They also have a good selection of traditional grape wines and other fruit wines such as pear, plum, citrus, etc. We visited all eight of the wineries in the area, but this one was our all-time favorite.

Door Peninsula Winery

Also, while we were in Sturgeon Bay, we discovered a wonderful little restaurant tucked out of the way nearby our campground called Mary's Waterfront Grill. We ate there three times. The food is wonderful and the outdoor seating has a view of the channel that passes from Green Bay on the west side of the peninsula to Lake Michigan on the east. 

Mary's Waterfront Grill

View from the outdoor seating (back yard)

After Door County, we headed back to Isanti for a couple weeks. I'll talk about that in the next blogpost.

As always, God bless and safe travels!

More Pictures...

Clipper ride to Washington Island

Stavekirke

Farm Museum cabin

Farm Museum cabin

Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant. No goats today.

I believe this is in Egg Harbor, a lovely little town.

Egg Harbor waterfront park

Egg Harbor & Mark