January 25-28, 2020 - Wichita Family; Travel Day Holiday Park, Benbrook TX

January 25-28, 2020 - Wichita Family; Travel Days Holiday Park, Benbrook TX and Lake Corpus Christi State Park, Mathis TX.

Saturday, Jan 25, 2020
After waking this morning we followed our normal routine, then made lunch before heading to Heath's around 12:30.  We visited with Heath and Roman today as Casey, Abram and Gideon made a trip to Parsons to see Casey's great-grandma.  We stayed and visited until about 5:30 or so.  Roman is trying to earn money and one of the things he is doing is giving 10 minute massages for $1.  He first gave one to Papa, and then he massaged my shoulders and neck - I'd give him another $1 in a heartbeat.  He did a great job for a third grader.  

Roman likes to wrestle with his dad.

When we left we were both tired and decided to splurge for dinner at Logan's rather than go back and cook something tonight.  After ordering a salad for me and chicken strips for Dean we left with enough leftovers for Dean to enjoy tomorrow for lunch.  I still have my leftover chicken Parmesan from Friday night.  I'm glad we both enjoy leftovers!



Sunday, Jan 26, 2020
We had another slow morning before we headed to church at Pathway, where Jarred is the Cafe Leader.  The past few weeks they have had a series of "At the Movies" and today's sermon revolved around Guardian of the Galaxy.  I've never seen the movie but found the entire sermon to be quite interesting, and how they used the movie to correlate it to God's love and his word.  

Afterwards we returned to Bentley where we enjoyed our leftovers and relaxing for the afternoon.  

Around 6 we headed back to Pathway for a special event this evening, where Jarred's Pastor Ordination Ceremony was held.  It was a very nice event, attended by several of their closest friends and several family members.  We were thankful to be able to attend as it was a very special event for Jarred, Andrea and their family.  We are both extremely proud of him.  

We had the opportunity to visit with Heath, Casey and the boys for awhile afterwards.  We were happy for the opportunity to see them all before heading south tomorrow.

As I mentioned they were having an "At The Movies" series at their church.  They currently have the church decorated for "Toy Story".  I thought this life size Battleship was pretty cool, as well as the other decorations shown below.

We walked out to our vehicle with Jarred and Andrea, wishing them well as we headed back to the RV for the night.  Tomorrow we will begin our trek south.

On the way back we made a quick stop at Dillon's for bottled water.  We will not be hooking up to water after leaving Wichita until we arrive at Mission, TX.  While we will have water, we typically use bottled water for making coffee and drinking when we are not hooked up to water hydrants in a park.  Once we returned to Bentley I remembered I wanted to get three cans of Great Northern Beans for the white chicken chili I made this afternoon.  Rather than go back we'll just stop somewhere tomorrow after we arrive at Holiday COE Park in Benbrooke, TX.  



Monday, January 27, 2020 - Travel from Wichita, KS to Benbrook, TX

We went to bed around 9:30 last night so I was awake shortly after 4 this morning.  I've been trying to do exercises in the morning to help my neck and this morning I felt pretty good.  It wasn't long and the coffee was ready.  It was a little warmer this morning but I'm thankful we are moving on as Tuesday Wichita is expecting snow and much colder temperatures.

We pulled out of the park at 8:31am.  Our timing on the Interstates were great - missing all of the early morning traffic.  It wasn't too long until we traveled into Oklahoma.

I wish I could say it wasn't too long until we reached Texas, but it took several hours before that happened.

Red River -- boundary of Oklahoma and Texas at this point.

Welcome to Texas!

We had a good drive all the way into Texas.  When checking our route to input it in the truck GPS we discovered the exit ramp we needed to take was closed until Jan 28.  So before we left we took time to make some changes in our route.  It would not have been too bad except for two areas.  One took us through a back road/parking lot to another road that required us to turn left on a heavily traveled road with no stop sign.  Even though we had to wait a little longer than at a stop light, we finally had a break in the traffic and were thankful for that.  Our second interesting challenge was being rerouted through Springtown, TX just as school was letting out for the day.  The route took us by three or four schools within a fairly short distance.  There were police officers at every corner along the route, I suppose to keep speed down with all of the schools in the area.   

It wasn't long before we reached Weatherford, TX, located in Parker County.  As you drive through town there is a roundabout with the Parker County Courthouse located in the middle of it.  It is stunning!

Finally, at 4:57pm we arrived at our destination for the evening, Holiday COE Park at Benbrooke Lake, TX.  We stayed here two years ago as we returned from our first winter in Texas.  That is when our grandson Logan called to let us know that he was going to join the Navy.  Now, here we are working our way toward California in several weeks to see him.  

After setting up, we needed to fill up the fuel tanks for tomorrow's drive, and I still needed those great northern beans for dinner tonight, so we headed to Walmart less than 5 miles down the road.  Fortunately, a gas station was next door to Walmart, so it didn't take us long to get both of these tasks done.  After we returned I added the beans to the soup and 15-20 minutes later we were enjoying a wonderful meal.  It tasted better than any other time I've made it.  I think I'll always make it the day before from now on - the ingredients really melded well overnight.  

I worked on our route for tomorrow after dinner then read a book I started months ago for awhile before falling asleep in my chair.  Dean suggested we go to bed and I didn't argue at all.  It was a long day, and we have another long travel day tomorrow.



Tuesday, January 28, 2020 - Travel to Lake Corpus Christi State Park, Mathis TX.

It was close to 5:30 when I woke this morning.  I headed downstairs to start the coffee, then did a few exercises before pouring my first cup of coffee.  

After our two cups of coffee we both started moving around to get things packed up and it was 8:27am when we left Benbrooke Lake COE.

As we pulled on to Hwy 377, it was an overcast day.

It was a nice day and warmed up nicely as the day went by.  We neared the town of Hico, Texas and I had to take a few pictures in the downtown area.  The welcome sign just outside of town says "Everybody is Somebody in Hico".

Loved the use of the old bicycle to hand their sign.

I spent at least a couple of hours writing the blog while we traveled; and now this evening I'm hoping to finish it up and get it posted tonight.

We left Hwy 377 at Hico and transitioned to Hwy 281.  This is a road we've traveled many times since we acquired Bentley and our new choice of travel.  We have always enjoyed the drive.  It passes through a number of nice communities. Several miles north of Marble Falls I noticed a sign for the Blue Bonnet Cafe, known for their pies.  I reminded Dean we had still not stopped there and we needed to do that.  It's pretty tight to try and find a place to park the RV in order to have lunch.  I made a note that next year we should find an RV Park in Marble Falls, so we can experience the home cooking and most importantly the pie!

We stopped for a short break near Johnson City, then ate our lunch on the road.  An hour later and we were at the outskirts of San Antonio where they are doing an enormous amount of construction.  Traffic was slow here but it was always moving.  Here are a few pictures I took as we moved through the area.

Lots of green grass right now.

This flag was perfect for a picture!

Construction several miles north of San Antonio

South of San Antonio we stopped at a rest area.  These pretty little purple flowers caught my eye.

Air conditioning in January - I love it, but it seems odd!  77 degrees, we sure do love the temperatures.

Road to Lake Corpus Christi State Park outside of Mathis, TX - where we'll stay tonight

After getting Bentley parked and set up, we decided to explore the park, before driving into Mathis to get fuel and make a stop at a grocery store for sour cream.  We ran out last night.  It was so good added to the white chicken chili so we wanted more.

Beautiful flowers as we drove around Lake City.

This is Island Road...so pretty with the sun hitting these trees and grass.

Island Road

As we left Island Road there was a nice body of water between Island Road and these homes.  The sunset was so pretty on the water.

Another section where I was able to get a shot of Lake Corpus Christi.

As we left, we saw this Welcome to Lake City sign.

Looks like a ball of fire - beautiful sunset!

Bentley at Site 28 - Lake Corpus Christi SP, Mathis, TX

Each camping site has a similar covered picnic table.

We are so thankful for the safe travels we've had the past several days.  We look forward to seeing our friends in Mission and other areas of the Rio Grande Valley.