Heading East

Today we are heading  East.    We drove longer  than our usual.    We stopped at Sky City  Casino  in  Acoma,  NM.   Exit 102 off I40.  We parked in  the truckers lot.    We arrived around 7pm because  of the time zone change.    We applied for players club.    That entitled  us to  $25 each  in free play.   $2off the buffet.    The buffet was $12.99 before the discount.    It was average  food with friendly service.    We then used our free play on the slots.    Won zero.   We returned to the Rv and went to  sleep.   

Liberty haven Ranch, Morristown AZ

We have been  staying at  liberty haven Ranch in Morristown, AZ.    It was an rv Park  we found  on Passport America.   There are only  two sites here with water and electric and gray water discharge.    It is  an interesting place.   After driving through an electric gate we parked the Rv.   We met with Jean and her husband.   It's their personal home Ranch.    They were  welcoming  of our large  dogs and the dogs  were able to run loose with their five dogs.    They even were able to swim in the large kidney shape pool.   The views out over the desert and mountains are impressive.    Mike,  Carolyn  and Eamon came to visit  for the weekend.   Eamon  was able to assist with feeding the two horses a mule and chickens.    They even have a pistol and rifle  range.    Jean picked Swiss chard and we will  try it out at dinner tonight.   

Cattlemen's Steakhouse at fabens ranch

We are heading across Texas. We decided we don't need hook up tonight.  We have shower water and solar.   We started looking for free Rv parking spots.   While doing that I saw a Cattlemen's Steakhouse and ranch fabens, tx.   This would have us arrive at 7pm.    Leave us a 3 hr drive tomorrow.   I called cattlemen's steakhouse, they have Rv parking and we can stay overnight free.   So that plan sounds fun.   The place has many great reviews.  

Texas Cowboy Crawl

We met at the Longhorn Saloon with Mark Mims and his daughter Serena.  He brought his trailer with four horses.    We were to ride our horses through town and stop at some local cowboy bars.
My horse is Chili, Norm's horse is Oreo.  We were given a quick how to lesson, signed our release form and then we mounted our horses and headed into town.  
This is the first time Norm was ever on a horse.  
Horses must stop at traffic lights.   We went through town and had our first stop at The 11th Street Cowboy bar.    We hitched our horses at a hitching post.  Unmounted the horses and went in the bar.  It is a very old bar.  there are bras and other memorabilia of the past hanging everywhere.  We could only get beer or wine.    No pretty fruity drinks here.  
After a couple of beers there we headed down to the river and walked the horses along the side for a bit.   At one point my horse decided to trot faster than the others.   I pulled on his reins to stop him, but I was hanging on tight with my legs and feet, which apparently means go to the horse.  So he was going fast.   They told me to let go with my feet and he stopped.  
We went on to the next bar.   It is the second oldest longest running bar in Texas.   We hitched our horses out back and went in the back door to the Arkey Blues Silver Dollar Saloon.   It is a dark, smoky, basement bar.   There is a band playing country music.  We had a beer there and then headed next door to the Chicken Coop bar.  We went in there and had a fireball shot.   I was gabbing to some poor guy named Tom.   He was watching football, this is the first football conversation I have had in months.   I decided to root for the Greenbay packers with only 2 minutes left in the game.  They were ahead and I was thinking I could get a cheesehead in Arizona where the superbowl will be played.   But, unfortunately, when I pick a team, they lose, and they did!  (Sorry Tom!!)
We headed out back, got on our horses and headed back to the Long Horn Saloon.  We ended our horseback riding for the day.  I gave my horse a big hug.  We went into the Longhorn,  listened to some country music the band was playing.
We left there and headed to get some much needed food at the Brick's River Cafe.   We then headed home.   We walked through the drive through beverage barn and into our RV.     We went to sleep right away.  I cannot handle a pub crawl anymore!

We decided to stay

We have decided to stay to do the cowboy weekend.    We moved our RV to a campground right next to the bar crawl.    It is not a nice campground, but there will be no driving after drinking.   The RV park is called Bandera RV park.   The owner is nice, we talked to him on the phone.   $20 a night full hook ups and wifi.   He said he was putting us in his new section and there would be dirt instead of grass.   We said that was fine.   We checked in the sites are very rough looking.    We put our RV in its site and headed to town to see the shootout.

Our unplanned stop, my as well find a steak

Earlier today we had an unfortunate event with the window break.   After diverting into San Antonio to get it repaired without success, we decided to look for a campground off I10 .  So I started up the passport america app.  I found a couple.   So we headed into Kerrville and located a campground called Triple T RV park.  $17.50 a night with full hookups and wifi.  We picked our site and hooked up.  After speaking with the staff and asking for a good place to get a Texas steak, we went to OST restaurant.   It was a neat place, with John Wayne memorabilia.  We ate our dinner in saddles at the bar.  The food was okay, definitely not a Texas size steak.   We dd speak with other resturant customers who told s that the town we are in is Bandera, s the cowboy capital of the world.  They told us there is an old style shoot out on Saturday and Sunday there is a pub crawl on horses which returns to a bar with country music band.

Was it a bug??

While driving  on I10 in Texas  East of San Antonio  something  hit the window  on the driver side it shattered  the outside  layer.    We duct taped  it and started to  do research.    I  called  Gulfstream they stated our window manufacturer  is out of business.    They did state  any window repair place  could  fix.    So I called  ahead  to San Antonio and spoke with  a glass place.     Upon  our  arrival they informed us it would take about a week.  they would have to remove the whole unit and order a new one and fabricate it.   Since our plan was to head to Norm's mom house, we decided just to continue on.  

The fire museum of Texas, Beaumont, Texas

Another Harvest host location,  we are allowed to stay in their parking lot overnight free.  We went to the museum today.  The admission is free.    It is a small museum, very nicely done.   Outside are Dalmatian colored fire hydrants and the (third largest) fire hydrant in the world.   It was a publicity hydrant placed by Disney when the movie 101 Dalmatians came out.  

The Rig Museum, Morgan City, Louisiana

Thanks to Harvest Hosts we are staying for free at a real offshore drilling rig.   We took the personalized tour.   $6,   Virgil a supervisor gave us a personalized tour.   We saw the living and eating and working quarters aboard an offshore oil drilling rig.    Unique experience.   

The French Quarter, New Orleans

Today we are staying at the French Quarter RV Resort.   It is in the French quarter and is $50 a night.  That is half off with passport america.   The place is nice, behind a brick wall with spikes on top. It also has a security gate.   There is a nonheated pool, and hot tub.   There are nice showers and restrooms.   The sites are brick and neat.   After checking in at elevyn we headed by foot to Bourbon St.   We went for a reminiscent hurricane at Pat O'Brien's, then we went across the street for an Elvis burger at Yo Mamma's.   This was a reminiscent place also.   From when we went on the cruise out of new Orleans 4 years ago.  We had a couple of hurricanes while walking back to the Rv park.  We went to the hot tub and pool.   It is cold at 47 degrees.  After a nap we returned to the French quarter.  Norm has broken down and has put on long pants.    That is a first since we left.   We walked around had a dinner of gumbo, jambalaya and chicken wings.   We went back early.   Took the dogs for a walk at the nearby park and went to bed.