January 14, 2024

 

On January 7th we loaded up and set our on our Winter Adventure.  "Adventure" is thee key word. As we drove through Kewaskum a black cat ran across the road right in from of us. Maybe we should have turned around them but we did not. 

As we turned on to South HWY 43 we came across a very recent roll-over with several cars parked alongside the highway. No police or rescue personnel present and we had to drive through a debris field, hearing the crunching of plastic under our wheels.

Then as we headed down the highway, a semi truck tried to run me off the road. He was about half way past me and decided to move into my lane. I hit the brakes and pulled to the side. Day one was an adventure.

We stayed Eagleville, Missouri that night. 461 miles the first day. We were the only camper in the campground. Snow on the ground and 26 degrees. We only pushed the bed side out, hoping things would not freeze up. 

                                            Red sky in the morning sailor take warning.

                                            Red sky at night sailor delight.
 

We headed to Wellington, Kansas the next morning, leaving a just after 7 am. The weather forecast called for snow after 9 am. We did manage to get about 3 hours of clear roads before the snow started coming down. We were on the Turnpike so very limited exits. We drove about 100 miles in the snow averaging about 45 miles per hour. Needless to say it was a long day on the road. 

We were only going to stay in Wellington for a day but extended it to 2 days because of the snow and ice. 

Expecting better weather and road conditions on day 4, we skipped the next planned spot and headed straight to Grapevine, Tx. 

Grapevine temp was upper 60's when we arrived and it hit 70 the next day. 

We met up with our friend Ginny at the Stockyards in Fort Worth, TX. We walked around the square watching the long-horned cattle parade down the street. 

 

We sat outside a small cafe drinking coffee and catching up as it has been a year since we had seen each other. We also visited a local pub and afternoon cocktail. Diane visited the ladies room and came back with pictures that lined the bathroom stalls.

I had to check out the men's room but it was only pictures of old women and cats. How disappointing.

We ended up at Billy Bobs Restaurant  which boasts having more than 17 million people come through its doors since 1981. There is an arena for bull riding (bucking) attached to the bar. Merle Haggard once bought a round of drinks consisting of 5,095 shots of Canadian club whiskey for the entire audience.  It is three acres under one roof. 

                                        Walls are lined with hand prints of famous people that performed here. I have my hand in Stoney Larue's handprint. He is a Texas singer.

                                            There are bar stations throughout this place.

                                            The Arena

 

This picture is made up of guitar picks.

                                                         

Saturday we met up with Ginny and Juan for dinner at Tolbert's restaurant in  historic downtown   Grapevine. We spent 2 hours catching up and finding out what they have been up to this past year. It was an enjoyable evening. 

Today we are staying put in the RV as temps this morning were at 15 degrees expecting to get up to 20 degrees this afternoon.     

Tomorrow we head for Fredericksburg, TX .  Temps in the mid teens when we get up. Ya would think we were still in Wisconsin except for the lack of snow.        

And Yes the adventure continues as I just lost all the photos I took since we left on the 7th. Was in the process of downloading them to thee PC when all of a sudden they were gone.  Been working for over and hours to restore but still cannot locate. :)