Here I am with my absolutely stunningly beautiful wife.
Haircuts were not the reason we came to Seattle this January. While we were here we both had the opportunity to go to our daughter’s salon. We took advantage of that, and the result is in the photo above.
While our grandson was having his music lesson, Sher and I went with our daughter and son-in-law to a brewery/restaurant in the town of Bothel, north Seattle. This place was opened in 2015 serving brewed in house craft beers and food made from locally sourced ingredients.
We ordered the “Brewer’s Choice” selection for our flight to taste
The variety of beers was fun to sample. Sher and I liked the Tangelo Sour Ale with a sour citrus taste and a low IBU of 18. Our favorite turned out to be the Grappen Belgian Tripel. This ale is an American version of the famous Belgian ales. The 8.6% ABV and an IPU of 24 fits the bill for me for sure. We always enjoy trying the different beers in the flights. Sher and I are starting to know what we like and don’t like.
Current listing of the crafted onsite brews
The food was Excellent! This was my bacon cheese burger . Yum!
The food at Beardslee Public House was just as good as the beer, IMO. The burger I had was delicious, Sher enjoyed the tomato basil soup, and the kids had a huge appetizer sampler plate. The atmosphere here was informal and comfortable. Service was excellent and very friendly. Yet another good time during our winter stay in Seattle!
Tonight we had supper with our family at a great pizza joint and pub. The Elliott Bay Pizza & Pub has outstanding pizza. They also offer sandwiches and pasta dishes.
Very very tasty pizza!
This is a very popular place and we had to wait about 20 minutes to get a table big enough for all of us. The facility offers family seating as well as a 21+ bar area. Once our food arrived I could tell why the place was so packed.
Love the pink elephants
We are certainly enjoying this retirement thing!
The pub also has a great variety of craft beers from local breweries. They state there are 20 craft beers in a changing rotation, and also a selection of local wines. All in all we all had a very enjoyable evening. It is fun trying different restaurants when we travel to different parts of the country.
My gosh has this year gone fast, or what? We started the year traveling from Indiana to Harlingen, Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. Park Place RV Resort was our home for two months. Some pure tourist type stuff was of course a requirement in the new to us area. The border with Mexico, those daunting US Border Patrol SUV’s and the fence/wall were eye openers for us. We enjoyed the sights of Port Isabel and the beaches of South Padre Island. That 55+ RV resort living helped us realize that we liked being “Winter Texans”!
Nice concrete patio at our site in Harlingen.
One day we went to the border wall in Brownsville.
The Port Isabel lighthouse
We spent some time in March with family in Austin, then back to Indiana. It took a bit to get back into being in the Midwest again, but there was lots we did over the summer. We try to go to as many musicals as we can at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre in Indianapolis. An excellent buffet and even better show make for a great evening out. In May we also set up at the US Highway 40 Yard sale in Dunreith, a small town between Greenfield and Richmond, Indiana. For four days folks travel the highway looking for treasures and bargains.
Musical “Hairspray” at Beef and Boards
Our set up for the Highway 40 Yard Sale
Camping with kids and grand kids became a fun past time this summer. We took our RV and our kids brought their tent(s) for themselves and any of the grand kids that could come along. An Ohio State Park, US Forest Service Recreation Area, and a Jellystone Park RV resort served us well. Never a dull moment when camping, especially in West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest after a toad strangler of a rain which flooded a tent. Yes, we were able to sleep 6 fairly comfortably in our 24′ Class C Four Winds. We had to use an alternate route to leave the area as the main road was washed out.
Spacious campsite in the Monongahela National Forest
West Virginia’s Horseshoe Rec Area
Our campsite, tent is out of site on the left
Entrance to the Ohio State park, lake in the background
Gorgeous end to the day at Ohio’s Kaiser Lake State Park
Another summer highlight was our trip to Niagara Falls. The guided tour was definitely worth the cost. The small Gray Line tour bus picked us up at our RV campground. The tour was all inclusive, including of course the famous Maid of the Mist boat ride taking you into the soaking up close view of the falls. If you have not been to Niagara Falls, go!
Here we are after our Maid of the Mist adventure. That is the American Falls barely visible between us.
Restaurant view of the Horseshoe (Canadian) Falls. The food was good, too.
Sher and I were pretty busy during the summer, including some additional selling at several town festivals. By the time the end of October came around we were ready to head back out on the road and head south once again. We had talked before about visiting the Diamond Mine State Park in Arkansas. The weather had been rather wet, but we decided that it would be a great time to check this place out on our way back to Texas. We went and had a ball. No diamonds found, and the muddy ground was hard to traverse. But, we have a bucket of neat rocks for our rock garden.
Getting ready to head to the muddy field and begin our search for diamonds
Here I am shovel ready to find one of those huge diamonds shown in the picture next to me
On to Texas with a quick stop in Texarkana. There the courthouse is positioned literally on the Arkansas/Texas State line. Interesting to say the least. We stopped at our family’s place in Austin for a couple of days before we went to our spot at the La Hacienda RV Resort in Austin. The La Hacienda is a Sun Resort property, complete with all the expected facilities. We have been here since the first of November. The past two months have given us a chance to explore the Austin area. The Hill Country is filled with wineries, breweries and distilleries. Yep, we have enjoyed more than one of these establishments.
A beautiful Saturday at the Bull Creek Park in Austin
Los Pinos restaurant is only 1/4 mile from our RV Park!
2019 has been quite the adventure for Roadtirement! We can’t list everything, but know that we have had a great year. In figuring up where were have been, we discovered that in 2019 we actually lived 5 out of 12 months as Winter Texans. This could get to be habit forming! We are going to start 2020 by going to Seattle to visit our daughter and her family in January. Stay tuned, we’ll fill you in!
Wishing you and yours and all our friends a safe and prosperous New Years!
Maj and Sher
Sher and I had a ball one Thursday night at the Family Business Beer Company out near Dripping Springs. This brewery is co-owned by Jensen Ackles who was Dean Winchester in the CW smash hit Supernatural. One of the other co-owners, Gino Graul, was there the night we went, and we had a great conversation with him. We enjoyed a flight of four after the bartender was kind enough to explain what was new to us information about different beers. We also enjoyed the trivia contest as well. We came in last, but had a fun time.
When in the Austin area we strongly recommend a trip to the Family Business Beer Co. It’s kid and dog friendly, has a great food truck, and of course great beer! Here is the website.
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Santa is visiting our RV!
Maj and Sher wish all our friends a blessed and happy holiday season. We are enjoying nice weather in Austin, Texas this year. Have a safe and Happy New Year too!
The first Saturday in December saw a lot of rain, including a spurt of sunshine during the rain. This lead to Earth sharing one of its most beautiful displays: The Rainbow
And when conditions are right you are blessed with a double rainbow.
There are few things in Nature that bring as much awe as a rainbow. Enjoy
This morning most of Indiana has been hit with an ice storm. Luckily there are only spotty power outages, as reported by local media.
Tree branch covered with ice
A leaf hanging on
Thankfully we do not have to travel anywhere today, as the hazardous road condition warnings are out for the rest of the day.
Saturday morning, November 10th, saw union members of IBEW local 481 braving brutally cold temperatures and wind to install the long strands of LED lights on the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in the center of downtown Indianapolis. This is the traditional start of the Circle of Lights celebration.
Working hard to get the lights up
Putting on the finishing touches
This year the lights will be turned on on November 23rd. One lucky kid will be picked to flip the switch and turn on the lights! (The contest is going on right now: a coloring contest.) 2018 will be the 56th year of this beloved Indy tradition. The lights come on at 7:30 that evening after a delightful variety show with local talent. Oh, and a huge fireworks show will follow the festivities.
All the strands are up
Close up of the top
If you have any plans for any kind of camping and plan on staying at commercial parks and campgrounds, you owe it to yourself to invest in a membership in Passport America. This discount club offers half price camping at over 1900 campgrounds across the US, Canada and Mexico. The yearly fee is only $44.00, and if you join through our member number, C-647737 thru January 2018 you will get 6 months free membership.
Some of the features that come with membership:
All new International Camping Directory with nearly 1,900 RV Parks and Campgrounds
Personalized embossed 50% discount camping card
FREE trip routing, campground updates & valuable info on-line 24/7
FREE Smart Phone App with complete park listings and “Find Park Near Me” feature
FREE RV America E-Magazine with updates on new parks
A friendly and professional staff who is always happy to serve you!
A welcome sign to see at your next campground!
This is a no-brainer, folks. You will pay for the membership after a couple of nights of 50% off camping fees! On our way from Indiana to Texas we have saved $30 in camping fees and stayed at nice RV parks with WiFi and full hook ups. Remember to join with our referral number C-647737 before the end of January 2018 to get 6 months free membership! Go to the Passport America website for information and to join! You’ll be glad you did.
