Captain’s Log: RV Wanderlust 05-26-2014

• Date: 05-26-2014

• Current City: Austin, TX
• Current Location: Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Park
• Site Number: 64
• Wi-fi Signal: Verizon – Very Strong / AT&T – Strong / Campground Wi-fi – Average
• Mission: Work, Meet with Bloggers, Appointments

• Compliment: 2 Officers, 1 Crew, 0 Guests
• Captain: Eric Highland
• Navigator: Brittany Highland
• 1st Mate: Trogdor the Burninator
• Guests: None

• Weather: Mostly Cloudy / 77°
• Precipitation: 30%
• Humidity: 77%
• Wind: 1 mph

• Fuel: 12.5 Gallons of Diesel – 1/8 of a tank
• Odometer: 101,142
• Generator Hours: 4611.8

• Estimated Date of Departure: Tuesday, May 27th
• Next Destination: McKinney Falls State Park in Austin, Texas

Special Orders: Departure Tomorrow

Captain’s Remarks

09:57 – We leave tomorrow for McKinney Falls State Park. Yesterday we went to see 1.5 million bats at the Congress Avenue Bridge and eat some amazing BBQ, and the day before I bought 24 DVDs for $47.

10:00 – Our time at Austin Lone Star Carefree RV Resort is coming to an end. We’ve seen a lot of folks pull in and out of here in the past couple of weeks and only met a few. Not that we’re not outgoing mind you, just that you’ll find that some RV parks tend to be more “social” than others. Here at Austin Lone Star, most people keep to themselves. They’ll give you a friendly wave as you walk by but not too much more than that.

So sometimes we just hang out by the pool by ourselves.

I like to meet new people, I personally prefer the feeling of community that seems to be more prevalent at National, State, and County parks more so than the general lack of community found at many private parks.

10:04 – Saturday we intentionally did not schedule anything with anyone. We needed some down time. It was so nice just to drive around the city with my best friend. Windows down, sunroof open, music playing. We had some errands to run anyway, like selling our old iPhones. We found this cool little stand called ECO ATM. Basically it’s a machine where you put your old cell phone in and it scans it and gives you an offer. If you accept it collects your phone and spits out cash.

Now loaded with mucho bucks we headed over to a local farmers market that is co-located at the Barton Creek Square Mall.

We bought some freshly made sourdough bread and just looked around at local products. We chatted with some of the vendors and just held hands a lot. We love supporting local when we can.

Though we love local, we admittedly like going to Target as well. It is a magical place. Ok, I digress… not sure what it is about Target, but sometimes we just walk around and look at things and buy nothing. We like the red color scheme and the wide aisles. Though it may be a little silly to most, sometimes we just choose to walk around the store aimlessly, and we’re pretty happy about it.

Brittany has been keeping a journal/diary for as long as I remember. She always buys her journals at Ross. Not sure why she always buys them there, but it’s a thing. She had just filled her last one, and so we decided to stop and get her a new one. Brittany’s journaling is really consistent. She has literally crates of them filled with her heart from when she was just a little kid until now.

We came home and Brittany whipped up some chicken fajita tacos. Then I took off to go buy some DVDs. I found this place called BuyBack. Have you heard of this place? They have a ton of used DVDs there and all at excellent prices.

I ended up buying TWENTY-FOUR movies! Included in that purchase was the entire first season of 24 for $1.99 and the Extended Collector’s Version of Fellowship of the Ring for $4.99! All in all I spent $47 including tax. Came home and watched Hitch (Starring Will Smith) with Brittany all snuggled up on the couch.

10:25 – Sunday (Yesterday) we went to the Austin Stone in the morning, that’s our local Austin church, we followed that up with breakfast tacos that were highly rated but truly subpar and mushy so I won’t mention where. Then we stopped at Academy and bought a tarp to cover our bikes with and some bungee cords. After that we came home and I watched Resident Evil and Resident Evil Apocalypse while Brittany did her own thing.

Unexpectedly, I got a call from my friend Vince Patton. Vince was the Eighth Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard. One of my mentors in the service, and the highest ranking Enlisted Man in the entire Coast Guard.

He asked if Brittany and I would like to join him and a friend for dinner and to go see the bats. So we picked the two of them up downtown and headed to Freedman’s BBQ.

The brisket was amazing and the company even better. After this we went to the Congress Avenue Bridge to see the bats come out. If you don’t know about the Austin bats, listen to this podcast that Brittany and I did about it. Unfortunately I think the bats were on strike and though we did get to see a few bats, we never got to see the mass exodus we were hoping for. We hugged our friends and called it a night.

Remarks – Today is Memorial Day and I’m so thankful to be an American. In an era where it is often politically correct to be anti-military, I’m highly offended by Americans who don’t understand what Memorial Day is all about. You may be one of those folks that does not agree with the decisions our government makes specifically when it comes to combat or our involvement as a nation in wars around the world. I respect those who have strong opinions about this topic, but understand that today is not the day to stand on that soap box. Today is a day of respect. Today should always be a day of unity in our country and never divisiveness.

I truly love our country. I personally spent 20 years Active Duty in the United States Coast Guard and was fortunate enough to live through the experience and retire. Not all who donned the uniform were so fortunate.  At some point every person who has donned the uniform of the Armed Forces of the United States has in effect signed a blank check to the people of the United States for an amount, up to and including their life.  The men and women who put on the uniform are servants. They take an oath and follow orders. Some never come home. Today we remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and their sweet families that were left behind. If you’ve ever lost a loved one in service to this country. My heart breaks for you today and I salute you and thank you for the sacrifice. ~ E

Navigator’s Addendum