May 11, Wednesday; At Lake Brownwood State Park

Met couple briefly parked adjacent to us as they were getting ready to pullout. They had bought current trailer in 2019. This was their first longer trip – staying out 6 months. From Georgia, he had retired a couple years ago, she retired recently. Travel 3 to 4 hours only per day. They will be heading into New Mexico, then north to visit daughter. He was working on his bike rack when I approached. It was mounted on rear bumper of trailer. He showed me how he had reinforced the bumper mount by adding gussets and plates to frame and welding/bolting further. He had lost a nut on a bolt on the bike rack. I check my supply but none big enough…I need to carry 3/8” or bigger nuts probably also.

Met the Millers when I went to the shower later in the evening. They were walking their 2 dogs (Australian shepherd and white, small dog). This was their first stay in this park which surprised me because they were from Brownwood. They had moved here a year ago from California. His family was from Texas and he still had family in area. She was from 5-generation family in California that were farmers in the area north of Sacramento. He wanted to get back to Texas and they had decided it was a good time to leave California. He had been a doctor in California and now was working for Blue Cross. They recommended an RV store in Brownwood – Kanar RV Sales, 1526 Early Blvd, Early TX – it had been very helpful to them when they purchased a used one. They confirmed the Railroad Museum would be a good visit. Also suggested an antique store, Duke Street Antiques, that they thought I would enjoy.

Drove around park…Most shady spot with full hookups is #86 in our camping area (3-5” unlevel between wheels) with view of lake. Very hot, and not very busy…Park often fills up and probably getting ready for end-of-school and Memorial weekend.

5/12, Thursday; at Brownwood State Park

Up at 7:20am; 74F, 67% RH Inside, 69F, 81% RH Outside

Visited with neighbor in Fleetwood Excursion CityScape Class A RV. Wasn’t sure if it was old or new – appeared in good shape and had a unique look. Turned out to be old – 2002. They bought used as one owner in 2013 with 22,000 miles. Driven a lot since then – coast to coast. They live in Arlington Texas and were here 2 nights to visit friends who owned a ranch nearby. They left today headed for Georgia. The wife had almost worn out the internet with her persistent searches for this particular model. After 2 years of looking, they found this one in Houston and quickly bought it. He is handy and acknowledges he’s done some fixes to it and regular maintenance but, overall, it performs well. Some items that they had originally been looking for: Caterpillar engine, Onan generator, accessible storage space. It has a standard water heater but they are OK with that. He would have showed us the inside but they needed to get on the road and we need to head into Brownwood for some exploring.

Arriving in Brownwood, we first stopped at Duke Street Antiques that had been recommended to us. Interesting store with many quality antiques. We ate lunch at Underwood’s Cafeteria, a staple in Brownwood. The cost of the entree includes unlimited sides, drinks, dessert and bread. Plenty of food (and good). Brought leftovers for tomorrow. We then visited the Lehnis Train Museum (and Brownwood Visitor Center)…$3 each for old folks. We were the only ones there. Most of the items in the museum had been collected by a man who had worked for the railroad for 49+ years. Anything that became obsolete, ceased to be used, or nobody knew what to do with, he saved and collected it on their farm. In later life, they weren’t sure what to do with it all. A lawyer from Austin with a love of trains worked with the man and city of Brownwood to reach an agreement for donating it. With money from both TXDot and the city, a building was built to hold everything. In addition to all the memorabilia – including several model train layouts under construction – there are, in an outside area, a Pullman car, a caboose, and a depot that you can walk through. Definitely worth the money!

Our next stop was the Intermission Bookstore. It was housed in a building that previously had been one of 10 or more theaters on its street. When the army had a training facility here, there were many soldiers needing entertainment. When the bookstore owners moved in, they had stripped out the inside of the building when they started to remodel it and revealed the original walls from the theater days. Above where the balcony floor had been can now be seen the discoloring of the walls where soldiers had slept with their heads against the wall; at the end of each row was a crude silhouette image of a soldier. Interesting store – sort of a mix between a Half Price Books and a Barnes and Noble. Bought a couple books for the grandkids.

Our last stop was at Walmart for gas and some supplies. Back about 4:30pm. 99F, 20% RH at campsite; Inside 79F, 42% RH. We had left the shop fan running on low while we were gone powered from solar battery…broke about even energy-wise. We plan to run the fan overnight from the battery just to exercise it.

5/13, Friday; Brownwood State Park, moving day to Copper Breaks State Park

Up about 7AM; Outside, 71F, 81% RH; Inside, 74F, 72% RH

Left 10:15ish, arrived Copper Breaks State Park at 2:15pm with one stop for restroom and gas in Benjamin Texas. Set up about 1 hour – also extend awning and set tie-downs due to southwest exposure. Visited packet pickup tent for cross country race to be held tomorrow. Sold out at ~60 participants. 50 mile, 50K, and 17K courses. Starting at 6AM for longer race with course open until 10PM. One younger woman was certain she’d win the DFL Award (Dead Freakin’ Last) which actually will be awarded for each race length. Took shower at nearby restroom/shower building…not busy, good water pressure and temperature. Quite a few people arriving in our camping area – we assume for weekend or maybe for the race.