Again? Seriously?

We had to go to go to the Dallas area to pick up the new tongue jack. If you remember, Jim used the last one as a plow and bent it. $300 later we had the part and were now hungry for some BBQ from a place in Burleson that we'd heard great things about. 

Hard Eight BBQ did not disappoint. The entrance brought us through the smoke room with lots of stainless cutting tables and huge smokers. Walking past them we followed the path to a huge warming table where seemingly endless food choices beckoned us to fill our plates with way more than we should. The ribs were cut to order right there by a server whose deft hands cut our meat like he was born with knives in his hands. Then we went into another area where side dishes were self serve, and finally, loaded with our plates of gluttony, we settled in the dining area to enter our food coma.

BBQ serving area

Jim's spicy sausage

Hard Eight BBQ has 5 locations in TX. I can definitely recommend them for a unique BBQ experience.

After we rolled our overstuffed stomachs out of there, we went back to our campsite to begin repairs to the tongue jack. Jim was definitely capable and had it replaced before we were scheduled to leave for our next destination in Point, TX.

Jim replacing the tongue jack

While at Lake Whitney we had occasion to visit a local branch of our church in Hillsboro, TX, and had an extremely positive experience. The friendly faces reminded us of our home branch and we felt like we'd known these people forever. Our 2nd week there the branch president asked if he could now send for our records and officially make us members of that branch.

As we traveled through Hillsboro I commented that it seemed like a peaceful town. Jim pointed out there seemed to be a disproportionate number of bail bondsmen. Hmmm.... maybe I should reconsider my assessment.

We were scheduled to leave Lake Whitney on Thursday, 2/3. But the weather report predicted snow, sleet and temperatures in the 20s. So we called Thousand Trails, who owns all the parks we go to in the winter, to ask if we could schedule our move to Wednesday. They were very accommodating and not only moved this date up a day, but also moved all our other reservations as well.

We were in TX last year for what they refer to as "snowmagedden". This year we've apparently come for a repeat performance. In scheduling our winter travels mostly in TX, we had hoped for some warmer weather. But this makes 2 years in a row with snow, ice and cold temperatures. Granted, it's not as cold as NH, but this is not what I imagined by being a snowbird. I really don't think TX will be on the destination list for next year!

The view from my door. Again? Seriously?

Pear cactus is usually green, but turns red when stressed by cold temperatures.