Day 25
A wet soggy day limits our planned outings. We visit the State Capitol for a tour and observe both the Senate and House in action as the session runs until June 1 and then not again for 2 years. I wish the Florida Legislature would meet only every 2 years, or better yet less frequently. We get stuck at the Capitol while waiting out another monsoon and get a good laugh at the people who leave thinking their umbrellas will be of any use. Several return to the Capitol when they realize their mistake and are soaked. When it lets up a little, we drive around downtown and end up turning around a couple times when streets are under several feet of water. Yes, the flash flood warnings ring our cell phones all day. Supper at Ramen Tatsu-ya was Aaron’s choice and a very good one. My first experience at a ramen restaurant and hopefully not the last. Not at all like ramen in a microwave cup familiar to all college kids. Dessert in the coach is mamey ice cream pops from Hendersonville, NC. Due to my incredible restraint, they make it to Aaron’s visit which was the plan. Rosemary had her frozen coconut yogurt. Hoping for better weather tomorrow.
May 24, 2015, Sunday, Austin, TX
Day 24
A visit with Joanne to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for a very pleasant half day. Checked into the Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Resort. For supper, we head to the Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, TX, about 30 minutes away. I have been looking forward to Salt Lick for years since my old friend Hank (who had family in Austin) and I used to talk about it. I also saw it featured on one of the BBQ shows on TV. We arrive at 5 pm and are overwhelmed by the crowd. Checked in and told a wait of about 2 hours. Fortunately, Salt Lick Cellars is on the premises and we partake in a sampling of Texas wines. Surprisingly good wines and we buy a bottle of Salt Lick BBQ Red. A Sangiovese and Dolcetto blend, no bbq sauce. We meet up with Joanne, Judi and gang and have a beer, byob. Luckily, the beeper goes off at 6:05. Bench style seating and family style meal with ribs, brisket, sausage, coleslaw, beans, potato salad, pickles, onions, jalapenos, bread and our beer. All you can eat and I ate all I could shove down. The ribs were definitely the best I have ever had and the burnt ends of the brisket were also outstanding. And they kept bringing more every time we asked. At the end, still plenty of food on the table and take home boxes filled enough for us and for Judi’s family to take. Salt Lick lived up to my expectations. A evening walk around downtown and a stop at the bridge to watch thousands of bats fly out to feed at dusk. A heavenly day.
May 23, 2015, Saturday, Austin, TX
Day 23
Easy 250 mile drive to Austin. Visit Joanne who cooked us supper, pick up Dr. Aaron at airport and drive back to the coach in a monsoon, cell phones-a-beeping with tornado warnings and flash flood warnings. Fortunately, no damage to the coach. With holiday weekend and UT graduation, we could not get into campground until tomorrow. So with permission, we spend the night at the Austin Ridge Bible Church who has a very large parking lot. Very quiet but downside is we have to be out by 8:30 am before the flock arrives.
May 22, 2015, Friday, Greenville, TX
Day 22
Realizing the stop bolt on the driver side slide was “repaired” while in Red Bay I measure the fixed bolt with the other stop bolt and discover the fixed blot is out about 1/4 inch more than the other. I call Tiffin and am told the bolts are adjustable. So I get the tools out and crawl under the slide and do the repair correctly this time. Problem solved. We head to our first National Park this trip, Hot Springs Nat. Park. The area is covered with naturally hot springs, 143 degrees. The park surrounds the city of Hot Springs and the area is loaded with fountains each with the hot water pouring out of them. Like little kids, we have to stick our hands in every fountain. The park includes bath house row which dates from the 1830's. The current structures date from about 1910-1920. Hot Springs was a destination for the wealthy and not so wealthy as most folks did not have hot water back then. Each bath house tried to be more elaborate than the next one. The Fordyce Bath house is the park centerpiece and included a tour conducted by park ranger, Toni McDowell, whose great aunt was a bath attendant at Fordyce. This was Toni’s (and the park service’s) entrance into tracking down and interviewing 34 former employees of the bathhouse together with their stories including tales of Al Capone and his annual visit. His “musical instrument” case remained at his side during visits as well as 2 bodyguards. One of the bath houses now contains the Bath House on Tap, a microbrewery. A perfect place for lunch washed down with a Foul Play Stout. A visit to the park’s observation tower of 210 feet offered a great view of the area and the Ouachita Mountains. Back to the coach about 3:30 and hit the road for 230 miles to Walmart in Greenville, TX. Our first night driving after supper was uneventful.
May 21, 2015, Thursday, Hot Springs, AR
Day 21
At last we depart Red Bay! Our planned 3 days in Red Bay turned into 10. However, we now have a “new and improved” coach. We head west. About 140 miles to Horn Lake, MS, and the Memphis Barbeque Co. restaurant. Located just south of Memphis, TN and home to multiple award winning ribs. Ro and I share a combo platter. First up are complimentary pork rinds. The best I have ever tasted, light and crispy. I don’t think I’ll mention that to my cardiologist. The BBQ sauce was very good as was the brisket and pork but the ribs were disappointing, overcooked and falling off the bone requiring a knife and fork to eat. Continuing west, we stop for the night in Rockport, AR, population 792 but it has a Walmart Supercenter. It seems like a Walmart at just about every exit in Arkansas, home state of Walmart. We covered 330 miles today and throughout the day we experienced a new annoying tapping sound in the coach. It appears to come from the driver side couch and stops when Ro sits on the couch. So first on tomorrow’s agenda is a call to Tiffin.
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