Travel Day to Belton Texas

 

OHHHH….AHHHH…..Are we there yet? Wait I am still in bed…or should I say the recliner…never made it to the bed. Yes it is Thursday and I have to pack it up…back it up…and hitch it up. Sherri is pouring the coffee I can see her through the slits in my eyes. Even with the glaze I can tell it is her and and she is getting the first cup so I must get up and get my share of the ration. After all I need that caffeine to get my joints bending and legs moving.

OK I am up and I am drinking coffee…of which I have to eliminate before pulling out on the highway. Why do I do this to myself each and every time I travel I drink too much coffee and then I have the over active bladder…which has me pulling off the road several times to empty the onboard water tank….well you get the idea.

Coffee was consumed in record time and I was in the shower and out the door…I did slip on some clothes…and I was hard after my chores. I had listened to the weather and they were saying that we had a good chance of thunderstorms this morning and afternoon so I Rain-X’d the windows on the truck and tried to get the inside somewhat clean. I also had to run down to the gas station to fill up at $2.59… then back to hitch up.

Soon we were on the road and headed south on Interstate 35. Sherri and I discussed our plan…which by the way we decided that we did not have…so an attempt was made to make one up. We finally came to the conclusion that we would be better off if we got with Mike and Leslie and let them help us make a plan.

We arrived at Belton RV Park about 12:45 and went into the office to see where they had put us. While we were checking in Leslie and Mike came in the door and we had to stop and get our hugs…after all we had been apart for 3 days! We got parked and before the diesel cooled down Leslie and Sherri had dinner plans made and I had to get back in the truck and head back out on the highway.

I was hungry or I would have put up a fight. We decided on  Chili’s and just before I turned into the lane going there the plan changed to Olive Garden…OK you all know how that story goes…I am sure and if you say no your lying. I swerved over in front of two other automobiles almost hit the curb and shot across three lanes of traffic to go into the drive way at Olive Garden on two wheels. With my passengers all screaming “What the Hell are you doing” I calmly parked in the first available slot nearest the building. I think that will be the last time anyone changes their mind on eating places when I am driving…even though I did an excellent job in changing directions they all were a little frayed around the edges.

We were seated in a…Not too busy Restaurant…with a not too busy waitress and ended up with the meal from hell. It all started out with a 45 minute wait on a meal that did not come due to what we found out was a dropped serving tray with all our food on it. They could not have come and told us that the food had been scattered out over two isles 15 minutes ago…oh no they wanted us to have to ask where it was. Well…bless Tweedalie Dee’s heart she had forgot that she had dropped it and had to re-order or she would have told us. Makes you wonder how often that goes on. Also makes you wonder if it was scraped up off the floor…re-heated and then brought out to our table???

Well Mike and Sherri ordered a creamy soup and Leslie had a different type of soup. Me I had the fat boys dish…pasta and meat balls…and to think that my balls might have been rolling across the floor one isle over…I dare not wonder. We did get our meal and Mike and Sherri were not at all happy with their soup consistency…you would think that if it came off the floor it might be a little thicker than it was…

We ate our meal and had a good visit and then it was time to pay the check. Upon inspection of the check Sherri noticed that they charged me for two balls that should have come with my order to begin with. When I told the waitress about my two extra balls she said, “Oh yes they probably wrote it up as Pasta and More”. Well that struck me as kinda odd…she was the one that wrote up my order and I could not figure out who “They” were. But “They” did charge me for two balls. I got the two that came with the order  but not the two “They” charged me for….were those the two that rolled across the floor?

After much commotion at our table the manager came over and told me that he would comp me my dinner and only charge me for the soup that was watered down. I then told him that Mike and Leslie too had to wait for nearly an hour for their food and it was not thick…as we were told it would be…by “They”. The Manager agreed to comp Leslie and Mike’s two soups and that left them paying for two salads and me paying for one watered down soup.

Coming across the dam at Lake Belton.

View from one of the sites at Cedar Ridge Campground

Sites have tables and covers. The lake is low here. Normally you cannot see that much of the cliffs.

Not sure what site this is but it is nice. The views here are great.

Then it was on to Belton COE Park…I kinda knew how to get there…you know kinda…Well I got us there and we found a real nice park with no one at the gate. We decided to just go on in and look around and then stop back by the gate on the way out and get a map of the park so we could mark our favorite sites. This park is located along the edge of the lake and the views are really great. We found several favorite spots and finally found the gate attendant making her rounds. I asked if she had a map of the park we could have but she said she did not have one with her but that if I met her back a the gate she would get me one. “Be sure to give me about 30 minutes”  She said.

“OKie Dokie”, was my reply and we went on our way exploring the park. We arrived back at the gate about the time she was pulling up to the office. I met her around the side and asked her if I should wait here or should I wait on the other side…. “Oh you will have to wait at the window on the other side” she said. “You will have to give me some time to get my things together” …Now maybe it is just me but what “Things” does she need to get together in a gate booth. “It will take me 15 minutes so  you will have to wait”…OK so maybe it is the drought that they have been having down here in this part of the country that has made all the folks here a little unstable? First the waitress at the restaurant forgot she dropped the tray of food and now I have a lady that needs 15 minutes to get two pieces of paper together open the blinds and slide the window back put the two pieces of paper between the index finger and thumb…I did check and she had a thumb…and hand it to me.

Not bad for a day on the road. And to think I almost killed us all to get to the Olive Garden…that day in Belton Texas….

Somewhere in Time