Livingston Accomplished!

   After weeks of preparation and planning, the 12 days spent in Livingston, Texas for two Escapee Boot Camps ended in success!  We're eternally grateful to instructors Glyn Carson and Art Jacobson and their wives for helping us out with a tremendous number of private lessons, many of which were doubles.  These guys worked super hard with very few breaks in their schedules and did a phenomenal job!  We actually left Glyn behind with several lessons to complete.  Our students are awesome, too!

It looks to me like Teresa and Kris have heard Mark's Boot Camp opening joke before!

Jim Koca fielding questions at the "Full Timer's Forum" following dinner Saturday night

   Following George's final seminar, he came down with an awful cold.  We had hoped to replace the lettering on the front of the coach which has deteriorated over the past two years, but the weather was so unpredictable we had to cancel and think about having it done at a later date.

Diane and Glyn Carson at Florida's Kitchen

   We were able to enjoy dinner with the staff at Mark Nemeth, the Boot Camp Director's place, and dinner with the instructors and their wives as well as with the former owners of the school -- Dennis and Carol Hill.

   Mac the Fire Guy (Mac McCoy), was the missing link due to unexpected surgery, but the local fire department was able to put on a demonstration for the participants and Mark does have a videotaped presentation of Mac's seminar.

Really, Art and Karen, do you want to leave us?

   The back roads between Livingston and our next stop in Georgetown, Texas showed us a lot of wilderness on Monday.  I enjoy photographing barns out the motor home window.  Occasionally I actually get a fairly good shot.  We finally found a place to stop to give the dogs a potty break, but they got goat-head burrs which I got to remove from their paws, the floor, and my shoes instead.

Reminders everywhere that we've entered the Bible Belt

The best darned barn Valerie's camera could capture from the window today

Those pesky goat-head thorns attacked our dogs

   Our Austin, Texas instructor, Bruce Scoggins, had suggested that we stay near him at the Jim Hogg Army Corps of Engineers Park on Georgetown Lake since the first choice of Idyll Glen Park was unable to accommodate our rig on Monday.  We enjoyed a beautiful lake view with 50 amps and water for $12/night (half price) with our senior parks passport.

Sunset at Lake Georgetown

Instructor Bruce Scoggins and George

   We enjoyed a nice breakfast meeting with Bruce on Tuesday at the Monument Cafe, which was just delightful, and then returned to the rig to prepare for check out before the 2 p.m. check-out time.  As we left the park two baby deer very near the road slowed us a great deal.  

   Only very briefly did we entertain the idea of going to Phoenix via the northern route across I-40, but a check of the weather quickly put the freeze on that plan.  We did experience a couple of frosty nights in Livingston -- just enough to remind us how much we dislike the cold.

Monument Cafe in Georgetown was a really nice place with good food, too!

   George drove a short day as I seem to be catching his cold and we'd been up early with a sick dog.  We found a Walmart just outside San Antonio in Boerne, Texas, where we obtained permission to stay the night and will fuel before we leave for a full day of I-10 tomorrow.

Maybe you can see the baby deer -- one beside the road and one in the shadows in front of the tree.

   I am reminded that patriotism runs deep in Central Texas, with flags flying each direction you look.  We saw lots of gigantic American flags and lots of Texas Lone Star flags as well.  The weather has been mostly sunny in the 70's and, at least so far, a very pleasant trip.  There have been many signs that we're in the Bible Belt, and many species of cactus are cropping up everywhere.

It was difficult to leave such a pretty site at a good price today.

   We're looking forward to a quick visit with friends, Don and instructor Sharon Del Rosario in Benson, Arizona in the next few days before heading up to Apache Junction for two months of relaxation and time to prepare for our 2014 season.

Home at Walmart Supercenter in front of the Visitor Center in Boerne, Texas for the night

Ready to roll!

   But before we took off this morning, George and I posed in front of the lake for a "selfie", which I understand has just been named the word of the year!  Aren't we just a stylin' old pair with my bad hair, George's very little hair, and our red eyes and noses?