March 17, 2016 - Caldwell, TX to Elgin, TX

Erwin was the first one up, turned the hot water on, went back to sleep. It takes about 30 minutes before we have hot water for showering.

The sky is all grey!  At least, it is not as hot as it was yesterday.  We will take it over a hot or raining day for traveling.

Back to Texas 21 West toward Paige, TX.  Two lane highway, roads good condition, but shoulder was not wide enough to pullover.  Lots of metal sculptures in the town of Caldwell, but there was no place to pull over. A disadvantage when riding in a big rig like ours.  

It got foggy, the the mist started then turned into rain. The traffic was light, which is a good thing.

Edith wanted to stop by a place that has a big Mailbox in Dime Box, TX (yes, dime box!), but did not see it on TX 21.  There is another roadside attraction in Dime Box, but we would have to get on a county road and we did not want to take a chance of going there.  There is always another time.

We turned right to US 290 toward Elgin, TX. There was construction along the way and they were repaving the roads. 

There was a big fire somewhere and there were firetrucks, police cars, some trucks, etc.  We did not know if it was a prescribed fire or not.

We were not too sure if we could drive our Lil' Home (LH) to our friend’s house, decided to leave it at HEB grocery store.  Erwin got the permission from the store manager to leave it on the parking lot for few hours. Overnight parking is not allowed.

We had lunch at Southside Market & BBQ on Highway 290 E in Elgin, TX.  It offers authentic Texas barbecue, Elgin Hot sausage, Beef brisket, pulled pork, etc.  They also has a small store selling BBQ sauces, seasonings and marinades. 

Edith's Smoked Half Chicken

Erwin's Pulled Pork Sandwich

After lunch we contacted Jack to let him know we were in town and ready to visit him and he told us to come on over.  It was a good thing we did not bring our LH over to Jack's house because of this. We would not have made it around the stalled broken down trailer!

We knew Jack when we all were students at Gallaudet. It was good to see Jack again.  His roommates were there, also. The last time we saw three of them was 2 years ago.  We stayed for few hours catching up on some news.  When we asked Jack about campgrounds nearby he suggested us to check out one that was not so far from here.

We went by the campground, was not comfortable about camping there because most of them were permanent trailers.  A police car was there and the officer was talking to one of the neighbors.  We turned around and left.  On way we were pulled over by the same officer who was at the campground.  Edith wondered why she was pulled over. She was not speeding.. It turned out that the police officer told us that the right brake/signal light was not working. What a big relief!

That is the police car leaving after letting
us know about the brake light

Edith wanted to check out Elgin Cemetery. It was not big, but had some interesting tombstones. There were few ducks hanging around.

Tufted Duck (white one) and his shadow

Obvious of which team he favors!

In safe hands!

We found out there is a Walmart not so far away from HEB, so we moved to park overnight.  Of course, Erwin checked with the store manager first and the manager said it is not a problem if we park far away from the store entrance. 

The sunset was very interesting. That was the view from our LH parked at Walmart parking lot.