Trippin to Texas

Left Virginia but these last couple pictures are of the fun we had our last few days!  We finally ventured to Roanoke and visited a couple breweries.  We had a good day there and were advised to check out an awesome beer store!!   Stocked up for when we travel and can not find good beer.  Of course we spent way to much but had fun and will have fun sharing it if anyone wants to come visit us before it gone.

Made some travel food that didn't make it to the truck for travel.  Ruby, friend in Kentucky introduced us to this combination and we will forever be grateful.  Who would have thunk!!

While I was mindelessly surfing the internet I discovered a beer fest in a corn field in Indiania!!  Your can bet your bottom dollar we are going next year.  We have a wedding in September in Wisconsin and will head this direction before next years fest in October.  I bet we can talk the organizers of this fest to let us stay for free and help set up, pour and then take down and clean up.  This is a huge fest and I really hope we can  make it.

Well here is a guy that has another skill to ad to his resume.  Zero turn!!  He only hit a few things and didn't kill any small rabbits or yappy dogs mostly because he didn't go fast enough to catch them!!  I think he had fun riding this bad boy!!

Our last fires in VA were doozies.  We collected so much left behind wood from other campers that we never had to buy any.  I think this hunk of wood took 2 days to burn.  We did however burn it all and it was perfect fall weather for fires.

Good buy Smith Mountain Lake (Lager not lake but I can call it whatever I want).  We took a cruise on the lake with the most excellent campground owners we have had the pleasure to meet thus far and had a blast.  Stopped at a marina/restaurant for some food and beer and enjoyed the ride back for a sunset cruise.  We will miss these guys with out a doubt.

Road trip began with a stop in Tennessee!  We have been in this state numerous times but never stayed over night and had any adventures!  Checked off another state!!  Yippy!  My map is getting filled in! We stayed at a beautiful little park called Cherokee Dam Campground.  There was a fishing tournament just ending so there were tons of boats coming in with all their fishies.  It was fun to watch and listen to the prizes these people get for just fishing.  CRAZY!!  We stayed two days and walked around the park and of course went disc golfing and beer drinking. Our site was right on the water so we had entertainment all day.  Campground was close to Knoxville, TN so there was much to do but not enough time to do it all.  So many other adventures awaited

We opened a card we found in our camper that said DO NOT OPEN UNTIL YOU HAVE LEFT THE CAMP!!  It was from our wonderful boss lady Angelee and there was an awesome bonus in there with instruction to use it for BEER!  We have put a dent in it but I am certain it will not run out before we plant ourselves for the winter.

WHY OH WHY DO WE WALK IN THE WOODS!!

We were just about done with our beer adventures in TN when I was almost attacked by an enormous killer spider in the brewery!!  The brewery workers were looking pretty scary too.

Back on the road.  We Blew through Georgia and Alabama and headed for Mississippi.  Another state we have been through but never stayed.  

We spent two days at a Corp of Engineers Park called Twiltley Branch Campground.  Another campsite on the lake.  We went disc golfing and saw this really ugly duck a whole in a tree and a giant leaf!!  YES, this is exciting stuff!!! Don't question my enjoyment!!

 

BARK not yappy BARK!!!

We were befuddled by these tree penis' growing out of the ground all over in the state park.  What the heck are these things.  I have no other way to describe these!!

Moving on & Louisiana bound.  We joined Harvest hosts and stayed at Abita Brewery north of New Orleans.  We parked for free in the parking lot for one night and had big fun.  We once again spent time with my cousin Anna and here wife Pam.  It was great to catch up some more.  Her mother and mine never talked through their adult life so we never knew our cousins. Time to change that!!

We left the brewery in the morning and ventured a whopping 2 hours to our next stop.  Wildcat Distillery at Gator Cove.  This was an old sea food restaurant turned into a distillery.  Once again we parked for free and went into the distillery for an awesome tasting of all their rum.  Some of this stuff you would never guess was rum from the taste of it.  There was barrel aged Rum in different barrels and some that was rectified with things for flavor.  We purchased 2 bottles in the end and went to sit our back where we parked to watch Deer and peacocks wander about. The bottle Dick picked out tasted more like bourbon.  It was aged in a Buffalo Trace Barrel so......  Mine was flavored with all the good stuff that is in a bloody mary!  It is amazing and needs no tomato juice.  I will however mix it since I do not wish for premature liver damage.  I will also try to save some for my friend Ann in Wisconsin who is also a bloody mary fan.  If she is not longer a fan, I guess I can drink it all.  We will definately be back to this place if ever we are passing through. 

On to Texas!!! I don't want to alarm you or deter you from ever coming to Texas but you should be aware that there are Tree Alligators everywhere.  This guy was right our front of our camper and dam near scared the shit out of me!  He had an exceptionally long body and part of his lower jaw was missing.  Most likely from another scared camper who bashed him in the head.  BEWARE of all the scarry things in Texas.  We also had an armadillo almost attack us as we sat outside reading our books

Luck us.   We got to watch the Packer game with John Wayne. Packers sucked and lost but fun was had!

Tiny Rose of Texas (that is what I am calling it) It was only about 1/2 inch tall!!

WHO IS SCARIER!!//

It's a jungle out there in Texas so BEWARE if you ever visit!!!

We are planted for  a week in San Antonio visiting Dicks sister Barb!  If there is any excitement here you will have to wait until the next blog.

THE END

End of another GIG

 As we prepare for the upcoming month of travel, we are a bit saddened.  We have had a wonderful time here and were close enough to family that we got to see all the kids and grandkids.  Life is awesome.  

This was by far the quietest campground we have ever been to.  There were weekends when the camp was full, and you would think we would hear noise but NO.  Everyone heads to the lake for day and when they return are maybe just too tired to make noise.  That was fine for us! Campground drama is not pretty.  Been there, done that, over it!!

We were so fortunate to have the greatest campground owners where we stayed.  They were so AWESOME!!  They even let us take their camper on a 5-day adventure through the Shenandoah National Park.  Skyline drive was beyond awesome.  We met Charley and Ana in the park and of course ended up in a brewery then on to WV for more family time.

RGV (Rio Grande Valley) awaits us.  We are staying at Park Place Estates in Harlingen, TX and going to work in the activity's office.  It sounds like a stress-free job.  Less physical than all the weed whacking Dick had to do.  Poor guy!  I am sure that there will be some challenges at this new job but nothing that we cannot handle.  We will be working Monday/Tuesday which is awesome because the businesses we frequent are usually closed those days.  We will again have tons of time to explore or visit with anyone that comes to check out southern Texas.  Below is our new park map and address.  We are scheduled to be on site E-6 but that could change.  Yea, these parks pack in the people but last year we found out they are all cool people in the same situation we are and we have a common goal.  ENJOY LIFE!

Mexico is once again a hop skip and a jump away and we will definitely cross the border to eat, drink, and be merry!!  Maybe even get our teeth cleaned and some botox!!  Just kidding about the botox!  The golf coast is 45 minutes away so we will explore a bit over there as well

We are going to change our residency to TX (a.k.a. North Mexico) while we are there. WHY?  

Is Texas tax-friendly for retirees? Texas is a tax-friendly state, as it does not have an income tax. As a result, Social Security retirement benefits, pension income, retirement account income and all other forms of retirement income are not taxed at the state level in Texas.

Other States that are awesome for tax purposes are

Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming 

Just in case you want to move.

Research has led us to this decision and who doesn't want to keep all the money that is coming to them!!!!  I am sure it will be a pain in the ass changing everything over but it will pay off in the long run.

We have about 10 days left here then we begin our adventure south.  Thanks goodness.... the stink bugs are getting bad.  We have so many things that we didn't do while we were here but are thankful for all we did get to explore at a pass we are comfortable with.  No more of that go on vacation and cram everything into a weekend or week.  Retirement is awesome and I recommend you all do it as soon as you are able.

We are looking forward to rolling again. We joined Harvest Hosts. $99 for a year membership where you get to stay at farm, wineries, breweries. & businesses of all sorts for nightly stays and support and promote their businesses in the process. Stay at as many as you like across the country.  Such a deal.  More to come on our stays in the next writting.