Texas - south & west to Tucson, Arizona

We left Dallas after a couple of days due to advancing cold weather and headed south to pick up our mail in Livingston. From there we headed to the state capitol of Austin because as true Texans we needed to see where our laws are made how our taxes are spent. We should have looked on the internet since we weren't allowed into the Senate or House but we did see some beautiful 8 pound door hinges engraved "Texas Capitol". With all the closed doors in the building that contract must have been worth a few dollars. There were other impressive building including the State of Texas Museum which traces the state's history from the time it was part of Mexico, then a country, a territory and eventually a state in 1845.
We left Austin after a couple of days and headed to New Braunfels to visit with Mike a friend of Bill's from high school. It was good getting together and we closed the roughly 40 year interval pretty quickly. He took us to visit Gruene an old German settlement which has become a yuppified center of Texas country & rock music.

After a couple of days in New Braunfels we set out for San Antonio which we remember from our first visit approx. 7 years ago as a very lively, energetic multi cultural south Texas city. Unfortunately it rained the 2 days we were there putting a thick damper on the energy. We did walk the downtown and despite the weather enjoyed the architecture, Mexican food, Riverwalk and last but not least we must remember the Alamo.

After San Antonio our aim was to visit some French friends Herve & Susan building a home in west Texas near Marfa. Unfortunately he needed to be back in France and she was very busy with catering obligations so it was not to be so we stayed on the highway for the next 2 days arriving in Tucson on Jan. 17. We're staying at a very large and active campground in southeast Tucson until Jan 24, swimming and crafting in 75F and bright sunshine every day.

It's sunny here in Texas

The title says it all. We arrived in Dallas to beautiful clear sunny skies and 60F (15C). It was a long flight but non stop from Frankfurt so at 10 1/2 hours was a shorter day than it might have been. We picked up our RV from the mechanic where it was being prepared and serviced, parking it for a few days at a campground in Arlington, Texas between Dallas and Fort Worth. The first day was spent shopping to provision the RV for the trip and Bill found some very nice steaks for the grill while Gisele stayed with the rabbit food. Last night we went into the old section of Fort Worth to walk around the stockyards and rodeo area, dining at a Mexican restaurant.

Back & Forth - The holidays

It seems like we just arrived in France and we're leaving. Jan. 6 we take off from Marseille and after a short layover in Frankfurt we expect to arrive in Dallas approx. 15 hours later. Our previous trip in Oct.-Nov. was exceptional with Gisele becoming a naturalized US citizen and then Bill driving like a maniac for 1500 miles to arrive at Yellowstone Park in Wyoming before the first snowfall and then being back to Houston in time for the ceremony Nov. 10. The entire trip turned into about 4200 miles over 5 weeks but it was a part of the US neither of us had been to before and well worth the effort.

Our time in France was also well spent with numerous parties, dinners and get togethers with friends and family. Despite unusually cold weather we were able to collect 180 Kilos (about 400 lbs) of olives from our trees which were crushed and strained into 25 Liters (approx. 6.5 gallons) of our own olive oil.

Our olives being crushed at the mill

Fireplace decorated for the holidays

The holidays seemed to arrive from out of nowhere. We managed to put up some decorations and host friends Giselle(G2) and Marco from Calgary, Canada.

 Giselle(G2), Marco, Gisele(G1), Claudette and Betty

Pierre (87 years old), Irene (101), Therese (90)

Gisele's(G1) family arrived a week before the holiday and stayed with us. Our brother-in-law Patrick made a delicious foie gras of which there is never enough and Bill made four fougasse (a regional specialty from his cooking class).

Branson, Missouri - The live music capital of the USA

Marty Haggard, son of Merle

Our campsite in Branson

Us with the cast from Top 10 Rock 'n Roll

It's now Sunday in Branson and we've already seen 5 shows. All were very good and some we considered excellent. The best in our opinion were a show called "Top 10 Rock n' Roll" and "SIX". We bought the DVD from both but are not sure you can get close to the same feeling as from a live show. Tonight we will go to a country music show starring Marty Haggard who is Merle's son. We'll let you know.

Us with 2 cast members from SIX

The Rankinettes from the Rankin Brothers variety show

Elvis impression from Rankin Brothers show

Penny Gilley and Jeff Brandt from her show

Heading south to Branson

We left Cody, Wyoming for Omaha, Nebraska via Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The country is noticeably flatter in this area and not very interesting.  We stayed in Omaha for a few days seeing friends and having some very nice meals as well as visiting the zoo. We basically relaxed after our frantic driving schedule over the previous 2 weeks. We head towards Kansas City, Missouri today and then on to Branson, Missouri.

Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse in South Dakota

MOUNT RUSHMORE

Another well know National Park in the USA is Mount Rushmore. Most Americans are familiar with it but relatively few have visited. It's very patriotic as well as inspiring with its 4 president's heads carved in granite at 5500 feet above sea level.

CRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL

There is another memorial about 17 miles from Mount Rushmore to memorialize an American Indian hero named Crazy Horse. It's a work still in progress after being started in 1948 and nobody at the site will give a completion date.

Yellowstone Park

geyser at Yellowstone

We left Jackson Hole, Wyoming for Yellowstone Park at the northwest corner of Wyoming. Traveling through this huge & magnificent park is something you've heard about your entire life. It seems like the hype would be impossible to live up to. Untrue! We spent 2 days and could have easily spent 2 weeks. The views are constantly changing and the geology is like nowhere else on earth.

geyser at Yellowstone

   Hot water vents at Yellowstone

temporary road block at Yellowstone

Old Faithful geyser at Yellowstone Park

After leaving Yellowstone we traveled north into Montana. Beautiful scenic drive with wide open spaces.

From Montana, traveled west to the cowboy city of Cody, Wyoming