11/5 – 11/9 Monday – Friday We are still involved in getting settled and finding our way around. It is interesting how here, like some of the NE states, they don’t bother to put street signs up. You must do a lot of guessing to get around or have a GPS to help navigate.
The homes run from some REALLLLY nice homes to some that look as if they should have been condemned several years ago but no one has gotten around to posting the notice. Concrete blocks are used in much of the construction. One home we saw today was made of poured concrete or thin concrete blocks with stucco outside. I am sure the fire insurance on that home will be much cheaper than that of the neighbors.
Something very prevalent in the area is the use of burglar bars on both homes and businesses, even in some nice areas and serious fences around homes. These are not your typical chain link or board fences, instead they are 7’ and 8’ metal and concrete fences the are all the way around the house with large gates to drive through. Another thing is the amount of graffiti on any flat surface from a highway sign that has nothing but a number to the side of a building or wall. Most of the bridge walls have managed to escape these delinquents attention.
Should you drive in the area, especially on US-83, be warned that TxDOT has designed the road exits where you exit on the backside of a bridge and the road you have exited for may be a mile or more down the service road. This is in contrast to a place like Houston where you exit for a cross street and you can see the traffic light or stop sign as you exit. If you guess wrong on the exit, it is easily 2 miles back to the business you just past. This frequently means you cannot see the business you want to reach and get off the road to pull into their parking lot. Here you must know your exit and get off without the comfort of seeing your destination.
I did some investigating and found the woodshop here at the park is a well-equipped shop in a large metal building. The machines are more of the lighter weight category, but they are all full size. They have wood and metal lathes, table saw, miter saw, grinder and a knife sharpener, routers, jointer, planner, drill press, radial arm saw and band saw; think that is all the power equipment. The tool room is well equipped with air nailers and staplers, Forstner bit sets, sanders, grinders, saber saws, quality bar clamps, just to name a few. Some of the people who come here spend so much time there that they have lockers for their projects. I have not had time to go there to work, but I did get some supplies to use for various projects just as soon as time permits. The only problem I found was the blade on the table saw is a carpenter’s grade carbide blade. I will be encouraging them to get a blade more consistent with cabinetmaking so we are able to do more quality work.
We did go out tonight and found the local Harbor Freight, and then we headed off to a Mexican restaurant that has been around for 24 years and has four locations in this area. It sounded as if this was going to be a good location, but as our RV club says, this was both our first time and our last time there. It is fun checking out places, but we need to work more on not setting our expectations quite so high, instead we should set a middle ground and then be pleased when the food exceeds this measure.
We just read a story in the AARP Magazine about a man who had never driven or camped in an RV who, when loaned an RV for a month and hit the road in the Northeast, found food at local restaurants vs. chain establishments to frequently be disappointing regardless how tasty the name sounded. These same entrepreneurs frequently advertised the best (what ever) in the state or region of the country, and then when you order it you suddenly realized the owner never leaves his or her home county.
At least at this Mexican restaurant the staff was Hispanic and dressed the part. Our waiter was an older man and he was dressed well above the level of the others. It did make for a fun experience in a new town, so the experience on a scale of 1 to 10 was about a 5+.
