Day 21 and Home Tomorrow

 After saying good bye to our friends we went out looking for yard sales. I did find a few things--a purse to keep in the trailer, a puzzle for Oliver and a weird looking ceramic thing shown below.

We always see lots of old cars in Las Cruces.

Next up, the incredible farmers' market, everything from street musicians (even some young kids performed), home-baked goodies, fresh roasted coffee, plants and yummy looking produce to photos, painting, knits and fabric items. I didn't find anything that needed to go home with me.

Great old theater!

What I didn't spend at yard sales and the farmers' market, I more than made up for here at the Bernina quilt store--no fabric, just patterns.

El Paso to Las Cruces

Not quite as scenic as some of other parks where we have stayed, but this is convenient. You see us getting ready to take off for the quick trip to Las Cruces.

After stopping at a Camping World for info on tires, and a stroll through some of the RVs for sale, we got to the Las Cruces RV Park, set up then headed for lunch at La Posta.

Very yummy meals in a great setting. I really like the big flowers on the oilcloth table covers. After lunch we wandered through the shops before going back to the trailers. Cary and I checked out the park library and have spent some time looking at magazines and watching  American Pickers (we don't have cable at home so we have to catch this while we can).

Last night on Facebook we discovered Tina and Tony are engaged. Cary emailed her about having to discover it that way, so she called, but that was a few hours ago and he told her to email him the details...oh, well. Stay tuned!

I had to get us all together one last time before we parted ways (temporarily). Rick and Dottie will head to Benson in the morning and we are staying one more day. It has been a very fun trip.

Marfa, Texas

 Cary has been a fan of the movie, Giant, ever since his mom took him to see it at the Paramount when he was 12 years old. He has always talked about seeing Marfa where parts of the film were made. The wide open spaces in other parts of Texas were also used.

It was nice to finally be able to go there.

Photos of the stars were hanging behind glass,

and a TV was showing the movie. Here are Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean (who died before the completion of it).

Marfa courthouse

A view in a store window, no connection to Giant.

Cary spotted this Allstate motorcycle in an alley as we walked back to the traileer. Allstate was sold by Sears.

We had lunch parked in front of the Texas Highway Department. Kenya got to get out and stretch her legs.

The V on the mountain is for Van Horne, our original destination. It was too earlly to quit for the day, so we drove on to El Paso. Two nights in Las Cruces (La Posta here we come) and then home on Sunday.

On the way to Marathon

Wide open spaces, ahhh!

The Pecos River--I wish I could have gotten a good picture of the great rock formations along the highway--very colorful in spots.

In the town of Langtry

 A very neat museum and the court house of Judge Roy Bean. There didn't seem to be any record of the judge actually sentencing anyone to hang.

Posing for pictures

Can you tell it was a very cold day?!

Here we are at the Marathon RV Park. There is not much to Marathon, but this is a great park with cabins that are also available for passing tourists. The owners are really nice.

Our rig with the accompanying scenery. I am writing this the morning after our arrival, using the furnace with a 37 degree temperature reading outside. Brrrr!

Yesterday...mostly waiting on tires

Here we are on the side of Interstate 90. Luckily we were alerted to a problem so we pulled over. A tire had separated (naturally on the driver's side)! We called Good Sam (if you don't have this roadside assistance service, you should). We waited about an hour, but the weather was great and I took a few pictures.

This very nice person stopped on the frontage road when he saw where we were, asked if we needed help. Very nice.

Being close to Lackland AFB, we got to see lots of planes flying over.

 This was across the frontage road from us!

I love the name of this company:

"What Happen?"

Juan, the owner of the company, was incredible. He did ask Cary to pull off a little more onto the shoulder..

Then crawled under to make the change.

    This is the tire. We did not want to be driving without a spare, so Juan scouted out some places for us to check.He waited until we were safely on our way before he also took off.  A Discount Tire was nearby (San Antonio), but it turned out they didn't have the right size. We waited about five hours in the strip mall parking lot (again, nice weather), had lunch, went to the Goodwill store (I found a cute sweater for Kaila), and I did lots of crossword puzzles. James, the guy assisting us, came over when it was all done and thanked us for our patience. He said if all customers were like us, only his two little boys would cause the gray hair. He is only 27 (yes, I asked) and I couldn't see a single gray hair.
    Dottie and Rick came back right after we pulled over on the Interstate, but we sent them on ahead. They secured our spot in the Uvalde RV Park and at 8:30 p.m. when we finally arrived, guided us into it. Thanks to our very good friends!

Quail Springs RV in Uvalde, very pretty. It stormed all night, but let up for our drive.

These guys tried helping Rick and Cary as they got our rigs ready to go!

Austin and Bastrop

We got to our campground, Highway 71 RV Park near Bastrop, Texas yesterday about lunch time. The place was closed but the manager gave us the gate code so we could get in. We had already seen the LBJ Library four or five years ago, but Rick and Dottie had not. There were a few changes and there is usually a temporary exhibit in these libraries too. So we decided to return. It was great.

Just a sample of the many bills LBJ signed into legislation, along with each of the pens he used

Pictures were hard to take and there was just so much that I am only showing a sample of the many displays here.

One whole section was devoted to other presidents and the various goings-on in society that influenced the government. Another section was a tribute to the presidential photographers.

This was an "animatronic' of LBJ telling jokes! When we turned the corner and saw it, each of us jumped a little.

LBJ known for his contribution to health care

As a former teacher, he knew what he needed to do for education.

Immigration reform

I think this is Ike, JFK and LBJ

This statue was outside the library as we left.

Cary noticed a quote inside that I missed to the effect "I could walk across the Potomac tomorrow and the press would write 'The president can't swim.'"

Not much has changed since those times.

We found Cary waiting outside for us, trying to warm up!

Rick then very patiently found a Walgreens for me so I could refill my migraine medication (what a nuisance), and we did some more grocery shopping--hopefully for the last time before we get home.

After a very brief rest and some lunch, Rick and Dottie were ready to go explore Bastrop. Cary went with them while I had a yogurt and did a sudoku!

Quaint little town. The car museum they hoped to see had moved to San Marcos.

 A real barber pole!

An old fashioned drug store

They all got a scoop of Blue Bell ice cream here.

Back for a little more rest before supper. We got taco fixings at Walmart and now we are about ready to collapse. I cannot begin to thank Rick enough for all his driving! On to Uvalde tomorrow.