Painted Churches of Texas

After we left Arkansas and drove through Oklahoma.  We haven't driven through Oklahoma in a couple of years and if we can avoid it we certainly will.  We took freeway, U. S. highway and toll road through Oklahoma.  The toll road was tolerable but the rest of the roads were horrible.  We hit Texas and breathed a sigh of relief because the roads are so much better.   We stayed in a little towns across Texas.  We took some state highways which were pretty nice roads although some not so nice.  We stayed in the Paris, TX and then Athens, TX - funny how Texans like to name their towns after capital cities.   We then hit the little town of La Grange, TX.  We managed to bypass Dallas and Austin. 

A few miles from La Grange is one of the famous painted churches of Texas.   These are churches built in the 1800's by German and Czech immigrants.  If you want to do the full auto tour and see them all you start by the town of Schulenburg.  We only went to see this one that was close to La Grange.  It was St. Johns and built in 1890.  The churches are famous because of the bright colors they were painted on the inside.  This one has an orange interior.  It was very pretty and very well kept.  It is still in use as a church. 

We are now in Corpus Christi, TX enjoying some very warm weather.

Govt Shutdown - Means no campsite

We had reserved a campsite at Horseshoe Bend Corps of Engineers Park on Beaver Lake in Arkansas.  Of course it was during the shut down so we didn't get to stay there.  We had to stay at another private campground a few miles away that was overcrowded.  Everyone was trying to get a campsite after the "good" campground was closed.  Horseshoe Park opened up on the last day of our stay but we elected not to move our rig for just one nights stay. 

We were there to visit friends who work at the corps park and of course they weren't working during the shutdown.  They showed us around the park and I took these pictures of the beautiful campsite we would have had as well as the beautiful view from the campsite of Beaver Lake.  People launch their boats and park them on the shore by their campsite.  The lake is huge and has walleye in it but we didn't try any fishing.

Missouri

         We managed to get through Kansas City in the early afternoon before the traffic got bad.  When we double tow we are very conscious of traffic so we try hard to avoid it.  We spent the night just south of Kansas City in a nice campground in Peculiar, MO.   We then went on to Branson where we are staying for a week.    We are close to Table Rock Lake and this is a picture of the dam on the lake.  The dam is one of several along the White River.  This dam is between Lake Taneycomo and Table Rock.  There were quite a few fly fishermen trying for the trout they stock in the lake.  This guy was having the most luck and was catching and releasing some beautiful trout.  You have to release them if they are between 12 and 20 inches.  It seems there are slot limits on fish in every state not just Minnesota.  When we first arrived the visitor center at the dam was open but it has since closed -- even though a foundation runs it the government shut it down. 

 

We went to one show here at Branson --- the Sons of the Pioneers -- playing at the Shepherd of the Hills Pavillion Theater.  It was a great show and one of the band members has been at it almost 50 years.  The band was started in 1934 and has kept going by getting new band members as the old ones retire or die.    Everyone knows a few of their songs -- Cool Water -- Tumbling Tumbleweeds, etc.  Of course they have you line up and take your picture and then sell it to you during the show.  I bought it and got it autographed.  What the heck!

 

We also had breakfast at Billy Gail's.  This is a very popular restaurant for breakfast.  They serve pancakes the size of hubcaps and are also known for their biscuits both of which are light and fluffy.   The restaurant is in an old log building that was once a gas station.  We went by it on Saturday morning and the place was packed with a very long line waiting to get into it.   We had been smart to go during the week and get there right when it opened at 7AM. 

Next stop Beaver Lake, Arkansas.

 

Camping -- on the road

We left the resort and headed down the road but we didn't get far.  Had to stop in Cloquet, MN at the ford dealer.  They didn't have the part we needed and couldn't get it quickly.  They told us we could get to our destination -- 150 miles and then get the truck fixed.  Well we didn't make 40 miles and had to get off the freeway and take backroads to the next ford dealer because we could only go 40 miles an hour.  We got to Pine City ford and they let us spend the night in their parking lot while we waited for the part.  They had the part the next morning by 8AM -  so we were on the road again.  It was just a bad sensor that had gotten all waxed up from biodiesel. 

We went to Precision Frame in Elk River, MN.  We had an appointment to have our axles realigned on the 5th wheel so they had us park in their parking lot overnight so they could start work on it right away at 7AM.  We did have electricity at both parking lots so I guess we were lucky.  They did a great job on our rig and we quickly went over to a campground in Ham Lake, MN.  Of course, you can't get anywhere in Minnesota without hitting some sort of road construction detours. 

We are now parked in Altoona, IA at a very nice campground.  The first picture is the Pine City "camping spot".  We did have a nice view of a little stream.  The campground in Altoona is very nice with a nice cement slab to park on as you can see in the picture-- in Ham Lake we were in a mud hole.    It wasn't a bad campground -- it just happened to be very wet and our site was not hard packed gravel like most -- just dirt.  Next stop -- Peculiar, Missouri.