Day spent in limbo

We dropped off the MH on Monday, located a paw Friendly hotel and hoped for quick turnaround. But alas, it was not to be. Turned out I should have requested a single hydraulic cylinder assembly versus multiple. So with that Ron will be ordering an additional set of supply and return hoses cut to size to connect all the songs up to the new location of the hydraulic reservoir. we should be able to pick up the RV this afternoon however we will have to return once the new hoses come in so and then we will complete the transformation from the old Atwood levelegs system to the new Bigfoot hydraulic leveling system.so stay tuned will keep you up-to-date currently we are a new Frost self or Braunfels on New Braunfels however you want to pronounce it and Susan's inside the bank and we will be going on from here stay safe.

Safe journeys and travels.
Susan Tilley Dakota and me.
The girls RV

Final Days before Leaving the Coach

We left Elk's lodge (Kerrville), early today. Our destination, Boerne's Rv., in Boerne, Tx. My plan, really, remove and replace the Atwood Level Leg system. I mean, I have enough spare parts to keep us going, but, I am just tired of worrying, when the next issue may come up.

Working with Ron, and the extended warranty, we were allocated funds for 2 legs and labor to remove and replace them. This now puts us within range of a new system. This system should be trouble-free for rest of our life.

But hey, enough of that, let's get back to some unique places we have visited.

We took the back-roads to Comfort, and along the way we stop at a small local park.

next stop was a small town called Waring

Our final stop before we arrived into Comfort was this Historical marker on the highway:

Safe travel and journeys
DaGirl Rv
Susan, Tilly, Dakota, and me

Right Turn Only

Ever been on a road, highway, and you see a sign like this;

Then you drive down and you get ready to do what the road sign instructed:

Safe travels 

DaGirls Rv

Susan, Tilly, Dakota and me

The Cartoon Saloon - Too

Art of the Draw

For JP Rankin and his small collection of characters that you can find most days hanging out at the Cartoon Saloon, it’s never long between belly laughs. Built in Rankin’s property, the Cartoon Saloon is unlike any “bar” you’ve ever been. No security system. No cash register. Heck, there’s not even a real door. It’s literally a shack on the side of the road where you can stop by most any day, have some free BBQ, grab a beer from the cooler on the floor, and experience the uniqueness known simply as The Saloon.

Rankin, who is an insurance adjuster by trade, is also well known as a Cowboy Cartoonist. There’s actually a professional organization tied to this industry, and Rankin is professionally employed by Leaning Tree Greeting Cards who use his work on postcards. With comics of old cowboys, leaning against a bar and making jokes, then you would see why something like the Cartoon Saloon came to life.

Rankin begins, “About 5 years ago my youngest daughter and myself were sitting around the house near Christmas and we had an overabundance of empty beer cans lying around us and I told her “We should go hang these in one of the trees out front.” So we did. I’m the guy that will drive 50 miles out of the way to see something silly, and sure enough it became a tradition for us to create the Lone Star Christmas Tree (situated next to the Saloon). So for Texas Independence Day, we said we were going to go stand out by the tree and give out free hot dogs and beer. So we put a sign up and the next thing you know we had 30 people lined up down the road wanting free beer and dogs.”

He continues, “At that point, I had said I wanted to build a little replica of one of our cartoon bars and we could cut caricatures…and the next thing I know it’s a 10×12 building we were planning. We were looking for pallets and my friend gives me these HUGE pallets, way bigger than I thought…and so it went from 150sq feet to 400+ square feet very quick. In all my cartoons the buildings in those cartoons reflect what we built. The funny sayings, the oddball characters, the swinging doors…and we created that. We built it on donations and the next thing you know for less than $1000 we had it done. It cost more in beer than the lumber and materials. People would just leave stuff out there for us in the morning to donate to what we were doing.”

With help from such characters as Brian Coyle, “Biscuit”, Paul Denmark, and Gaylon & Trina Morgan, a lot of beer cans, some good laughs, and the Cartoon Saloon and Lone Star Christmas Tree was born.

As for the “business model”, there isn’t one. Rankin explains, “I wanted an attraction, not a business. As far as ever opening it as a business, never. I don’t want to ever go through the red tape and nonsense associated with it. It’s never closed and never really open because there’s no door so if you come by on a Saturday then there’s no door so do what you want. We just don’t encourage overnight camping.”

While Rankin has a “regular” job, as do most of the volunteers that hang out at the Saloon, it’s a mutual appreciation for people that feeds them and keeps them motivated. “I’m not down there every weekend but it’s interesting to see where people are from and the characters that come through. I do like people and the diversity of our crowd, and one of the things that’s really funny is the people that say ‘Thanks for building this! That’s your place?’ and I just say ‘Sorta. It’s your place and my place and if you come hang out there, then you’re part of it’. There’s usually always somebody there on Saturdays and Sundays and I will be pulling out of the house and I’ll chuckle at people taking pictures and I just love their reactions. 99.9% of the people that come by are super respectful of it and it was a silly idea to start and has just grown.”

Rankin finishes, “Come drink a beer, write your name on the can, and we will glue it to the wall. Same with dollhttps://www.facebook.com/The-Cartoon-Saloon-Lone-Star-Beer-Christmas-Tree-610331809072193/ar bills. People have started writing on the walls, and I love the art and the scribbles.  We have a guestbook to see where people are coming from. Ireland was the farthest.”

Take a Saturday afternoon and go experience the Cartoon Saloon. On 473 between Sisterdale and Comfort, take a few bucks, throw them in the donation box and grab a cold one from the cooler. Meet the characters, have a laugh, and you will be enriched for the experience.

TheCartoonCowboy.com

Facebook - Clicky 

Safe Travels and Journeys

DaGirls Rv

Susan, Tilly, Dakota and me

Day Trip to Fannin & Goliad Texas

Our Goal on Easter Sunday - Day Trip to Fannin and Goliad Texas.

Our first stop was the Fannin Battleground Memorial:

Satellite View

When we arrived we notice the lack of people, in or out around town. Then as we pulled in to the battlegrounds parking lot, we saw that what a wonderful spot to spend the night. Anyway from people, highway and other noises.

The wildflowers overgrown -

The Battlegrounds Land was donated back in 1914 by a local land-owner:

FANNIN BATTLEGROUND STATE HISTORIC SITE. Fannin Battleground State Historic Site, formerly called Fannin State Park, is located less than a mile south of U.S. Highway 59 at Fannin, Texas, in eastern Goliad County. The site encompasses the grounds of the battle of Coleto, fought in 1836 during the Texas Revolution between the Texan force under James W. Fannin, Jr., and the Mexican army under José de Urrea. The defeated Texans surrendered at this site on March 20, 1836, and later were executed in the Goliad Massacre(see GOLIAD STATE HISTORIC PARK). The battlefield site was marked originally with a pile of rocks placed by William L. Hunter, one of Fannin's men who survived the battle and escaped execution at Goliad. On October 15, 1891, Solomon Parks, Sr., of Goliad replaced the rocks with a massive iron screw from a cotton gin. Two yokes of oxen and a crew of men were necessary to transport and erect the new marker. In 1913 Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Hanley of Fannin donated the land for the park, which was established through the efforts of Leopold Morris of Victoria, then a member of the state legislature; Mrs. L. G. Kreisle and the Fannin chapter of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas; and Goliad County officials. John Henry Kirby of Houston joined Morris in introducing the bill in the legislature, and John H. Bailey of Cuero (later of Austin) secured passage in the state Senate. Governor O. B. Colquitt signed the bill.

In 1914 the state built a rock wall around the park and set up a twenty-eight-foot grey-granite monument. Governor James Ferguson attended the dedication of the park. In 1965 the thirteen-acre park was placed under the care of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department by act of the legislature. Effective January 1, 2008, operational control of Fannin Battleground State Historic Site was transferred to the Texas Historical Commission by the Eightieth Texas Legislature. The gin screw now stands at the park entrance, and a small museum displays guns, implements, shot, and cannonballs exhumed at the site.

For more information - Press the Clicky below
Fannin Battleground, Fannin, Texas - Clicky

Then it was onto Goliad:

Brief Information:

Goliad (/ˈɡoʊliæd/ GOH-lee-ad) is a city in Goliad County, Texas, United States. It is known for the 1836 Goliad massacre during the Texas Revolution. It had a population of 1,908 at the 2010 census.^[4] Founded on the San Antonio River, it is the county seat of Goliad County.^[5] It is part of the Victoria, Texas, Metropolitan Statistical Area.

It seems the Historic sites were closed due to Easter and updating:

Court-House

Visit Historic Goliad - Clicky

Our final stop was Goliad Brewing, but when we arrived at the entrance, Oops, closed gate. But guess what, we met John who was arriving to do some Sunday works. He invited us in and a beer while we walked around.

AND WE FOUND A NEW DRY-CAMPING LOCATION

A few last photos from Fannin

Safe Travels and Journeys
DaGirls Rv
Susan, Tilly, Dakota and me