Click on a photo to enlarge it.
On Monday, we drove into Texas and stopped at the visitor centre to pick up lots of brochures and info on various
places in Texas we wanted to visit. We also took photos of the Texas star outside the centre. We drove to Beaumont
and spent over an hour on the internet, did some research on where we could get a new toilet and also found out
about the terrible tsunami in Indonesia and Sri Lanka. We stopped at a Wal-mart for the night.
On Tuesday, we drove to Houston. This wasn't on our original plan, but we had found a toilet on sale at a large RV
place. "Houston we have a problem!!" So we drove through the maze of highways and then tried to find a toilet that
would fit in Winnie. The first choice was the toilet on sale, but the base was too long and it wouldn't fit. Other
toilets were more expensive but they were all too wide, too high or there were other reasons why they weren't
suitable.
So we ended up with the original toilet on sale and had to cut out some of the carpet so that we could fit it in.
We finally managed to get the toilet flat on the floor. The next problem was fitting the water pipe to it. The pipe
is made of really rigid rubber and we couldn't bend it to fit it to the toilet. This meant we had to cut it. We both
realised the significance of this - once we cut it, there was no going back. We would have to make this toilet fit!
So we cut the pipe and then had to try out various extensions because the pipe was a different size diameter to the
toilet connection. Helen kept going back and forth into the shop, fetching various connections that we had on a trial
basis. We ended up using four different ones, and the last two did the trick. We now have an S bend in the pipe as it
was the only way to get the toilet working.
Hurray!!!! Finally, we now have a new toilet that doesn't leak (touch wood!!). Then came the moment we had waited
for - the ceremonial throwing away of our old toilet and the fluffy cover that moults all over the place!
Well, the people in the shop won't forget us - we ended up having to take quite a few things back to get refunds.
But we spent $120 on the toilet and another $30 on various parts, so at least we made it worth their while. Houston
is now famous for a new toilet!!
By now, it was nearly 4pm, so we drove out of Houston and headed towards Austin, the capitol, and found a Wal-mart on
the way for the night. On Wednesday, Helen phoned up Barnes and Noble to get a book about Mexico for RV'ers which
we'd been searching for, for a long time. She finally found that the store in McAllen (border with Mexico) had a copy
and would put it aside for us to collect.
We set off at 10am and drove through thick fog. We didn't think we would be able to see much in Austin, but as we got
there, the fog cleared. So we drove to Lyndon B. Johnsons library and spent 2 hours there. It was really interesting.
The library contained 31 million pieces of paper!! He had a lot to live through as president. He came to power
because Kennedy was assassinated, then brought in the Civil Rights bill, which lead to riots, then there were two
more assassinations (Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy) and on top of all that there was Vietnam!
We found out that LBJ only slept four hours a night and that he brought in thousands of pieces of legislation to make
America a better place. Unfortunately, he's mainly remembered for the failure of Vietnam. The library was very well
laid out and it was free!! Plus you can park for free in the large car park. Well worth a visit.
Kirsten also took a double take when she signed us in the visitor book - there was another Keetz there! Someone from
Albuquerque in New Mexico but the surname was spelt the same and the "z" was written in the typical German way - a
horizontal line through the middle. Unfortunately, there were too many people there to find out who she was!
Afterwards, we caught the free (Arma) "dillo" trolley downtown and went on a free tour of the Capitol. We found out
that Bush actually comes from New England, not Texas, and that the legislature only meets for a few months every
other year - no wonder Bush has so many holidays!
Then we went on a trolley tour around Austin but got stuck when the trolley reached the end of the line in the middle
of nowhere and had to wait 15 minutes for the trolley to set off again! The best part about the trolley was sitting
on the back seat which went along the whole length of the back wall and where you slid from side to side as the
trolley whipped around the corners!!
We got back to Winnie at 5pm and he wouldn't start!! Nothing. No reaction whatsoever! Kirsten had left the lights on
the whole time and our battery was dead as a dodo!! Wonderful. Fortunately, we have a second battery. So we were
getting out our jump leads when a couple came over and offered to drive in front of Winnie so we didn't have to get
our back battery out. Another example of how helpful the Americans are.
We managed to get Winnie going, and then drove out of Austin to a Wal-mart in Johnson City. On Thursday, we drove to
Fredericksburg - a small German town. We spent a long time on the internet, updating our website and then bought some
German bread. We drove to a campground where we stayed for the next three nights over New Year.
On New Years Eve, the weather was really warm and sunny so we drove to Enchanted Rocks State National Area about 17
miles north of Fredericksburg. It was expensive to get in ($10) but we enjoyed the 4 mile walk around the rocks, on a
dry sandy trail passed lots of cacti and then scrambling through the rocks to get back to the car park. A fitting end
to the year, which began with a similar walk in Organ Pipe National Park in Arizona.
That evening, we watched TV on a comfy settee at the campground - something we haven't done for a while. We watched
all the reports on the Tsunami and the terrible, tragic situation in so many countries. We also watched the New Year
being celebrated in New York - an hour earlier than where we were and we only just managed to keep our eyes open for
our own New Year!
Our first task for the New Year, on Saturday, was to do the washing up!! Happy New Year! Then we wrote on the computer
and started doing a few jobs on Winnie that needed doing. Then we went over to the recreation room again to watch TV.
On Sunday, we got all the copies of our documents for Mexico that we needed and left the campground at noon. We hadn't
driven very far when we stopped for lunch - some very spicy sausages. We didn't know they were spicy when we bought
them!
It started pouring with rain on the way south to San Antonio, and the driving conditions deteriorated considerably. So
we stopped at a Wal-mart on the outskirts of the town. Then we stocked up on various food items that we needed for Mexico
and stored everything under the table. We are going to have to sort out all our cupboards to try and put everything away.
But we have too much! So it will probably have to stay under the table!
