2021-04-28 South Llano State Park TRR Rally

 Just attended a great rally put on by the Texas Ramblin' Roses, a chapter of RVW (RVing Women). Rallies are beginning to pick up again slowly and carefully with precautions. We met at South Llano River State Park near Junction TX. Texas State Parks are really hard to get reservations at even during the week these days. I made mine about 6 months ago, the day the window opened. We also had ladies staying at two RV parks in town and driving out to us.

This was my first visit to this park and I was thrilled to see this sign when I got to the camping area. It seems like a lot of the newer campers like their sites lit up with neon lights like a bar. None of that here. When you turn off your porch light when you go in, it is dark, really dark and you can see the stars.

I had a nice site, easy to back into, fairly level, with late afternoon shade.

There were enticing roads to follow. This park is well known for being a birder's paradise and they have three blinds. They also have a turkey nesting area which is not open during their nesting time.

This road led to a day use area above the river.

The water was pretty cold but we had a few of our members dip their feet in and a crowd of them hit with water with kayaks several times. We also had women who like to fish.

The camping area is not right by the river which was a little disappointing. You can see the Turkey Roost area. And there were lots of hiking trails from easy to strenuous.

Cookie and Eva had coffee ready at 8 AM every day although I'm sure Jimmie was probably on her second cup by then.

The RV/water & electric hookup area is around one long flat loop. They also have a walking camping area for tents.

The early coffee group. Olivia drove out from her RV park in town for coffee.

We didn't have a meeting room since we were at a state park but we made do with a circle that just kept getting enlarged right next to hostess Rita's site. It was a little cool this evening.

We had lots of hikers in the group. Emogene led a number of hikes.

One afternoon it was pretty chilly so a bunch of us got together in Brenda's huge 5th wheel. She's a full-timer with a beautiful rig. Some were in the dining area.

Others gathered in the big front living room.

The kayakers were out in force several times.

We also have some very dedicated fisherwomen. They were fishing at the park in town where Olivia stayed. I think she has already set up a rally at this park next April because it is right on the river.

We all trooped in to Lum's BBQ for lunch one day. 

One of our members took a course and has a sewing machine repair business so Jimmie brought her grandmother's machine fresh from the attic to get some tips and help on cleaning it and getting it running again. And, she was successful after several hours of deep mechanical cleaning.

All in all, we had a great rally, got a lot of visiting done, and had lots of fresh breezy air to enjoy. Looking forward to another rally later in May.

2021-04-15 Flatrock Side of Hords Creek Park and Rancho Pizzeria

 The weather is getting chillier here in West Texas so we decided that we would spend our afternoon checking out the rest of the parks at Hords Creek. We were in the Lakeside Park campground. The Friendship Beach Area is reserved for Day Use. I like the fact that COE parks have separate areas for Day Use and Campgrounds are reserved for campers only. It's not fun to arrive at a park and find that your camping site is being used by picnickers.

We drove across the dam to reach the other parks.

This is the middle of the dam. You can see down the lake would be able to see even more water at the other end if the lake wasn't so low.

The Friendship Day Use area is very nice with a beach area and covered picnic tables just above. The covered tables would be much appreciated in the hot Texas summer sun.

Since the Flatrock Park campground is not open right now, we didn't know if we would be able to see anything at all. However, the gate was open so we went in to take a peak. They are working on one of the camping looks so we didn't go down there at all but we did get to drive around the other loops. They are very similar to the Lakeside camping area.

This leads down to a boat ramp. We didn't take many pictures because we didn't want to dawdle.

We decided that we would try another dining place in Coleman because we didn't really want to grill out in the cold. We arrived early and did a little more scouting around town.

We found a few more interesting murals. This one is celebrating Miss Rodeo Texas.

We headed to Rancho Pizzeria for dinner. Who could pass on genuine wood fired pizza. We were early so there weren't many people there but by the time we left, the tables were filled.

This is a close up of the pizza oven. You can see the wood in the back of the oven.

This young lady is cutting up a pizza fresh from the oven with the waiter ready to take it out to the right table.

This is a meat lovers type pizza. They are all thin crust with crispy edges We each had a different kind and all three were great.

We also each had a peach bellini with our pizza. They also had old fashioned type clear wine bottles with icy cold water on each table and were quick to refill the bottle.

All in all, dinner was delicious and the whole experience was wonderful! If you plan to give this place a try along with several other dining places and the Winery, be aware that they are only open Thursday through Sunday in the evening.

2021-04-14 Checking Out Coleman Texas

On Wednesday, we decided to head into town to have lunch and then see what there was to see. We saw several places to eat on line and decided to give the old fashioned lunch counter at the Owl Drug a try.

This place had real old fashioned ambiance going for it. There was a lunch counter and a few small booths.

The whole place was interesting so we decided to look around before we had lunch. As usual, Carolyn was on a photo patrol.

Everyone but Carolyn ends up in the pictures. Apparently this place has a famous Owl Burger.

Elvis was also a strong influence on the place. He was everywhere.

Looks like they have a fun bunch of ladies in Coleman. Too bad we won't be able to connect.

I told you Elvis was everywhere in posters, statues, and pictures.

Lots of other cute signs too.

Then it was on to lunch. We were thinking about grilling burgers for dinner so we passed on the Owl Burger although we saw several others having it and it looked good. Mary Jane and I opted for a BLT.

Carolyn finally settled on the Rueben. Both choices came with chips and were really good.

As we were paying for our lunch, Carolyn spotted this old fashioned candy from her childhood.

Once outside, we focused on Coleman scenery. The main street is really wide and divided by a center section which has old fashioned light poles and parallel parking on both sides in addition to the angle parking on each side in front of the buildings

One of the first things we saw was an original Library building and group meeting place. It is no longer the current Library building but definitely an interesting piece of history.

Next up was the Coleman County Jail which was erected in 1890 and used until fairly recently. The living quarters for the jailer were on the first floor while the second and third floors were used to house minimum and maximum security prisoners. Only one prisoner was hanged in this building.

It's a beautiful Victorian style building.

We found some interesting murals on the downtown buildings.

This one has brands from a lot of different ranches.

This mural is on the side of the current Library.

We also found this Winery right on the main street but it didn't look like it was open. Hmmm....maybe this was an outdoor seating area.