Well, that was an easy day...

Leaving Fredericksburg, we had a couple of choices: a long day to get home or a short day and start prepping the motorhome for unloading.  We opted for a short driving day - easy.

After being down for a week, there is always a bit more to put away.  Knowing that the motorhome will going into the storage unit, there are some considerations for that.  Some of these things we can do a day ahead of time, much of it will have to wait until we are home.

So, today: less than 100 miles.  I was hoping to not have to drive in the rain... yes, the rig handles fine, it just makes a mess of the exterior.  Mother Nature laughed at me and turned the rain on overnight.  And, this morning.

After getting the utilities put away, the site we were in was long enough to get our "train" all hooked up in the site.  It was overcast, but not raining when we left...

Rufus settled in on Joan's lap...

I have mentioned before that the boy gives good hugs...

About the time we got onto the Interstate, a spitty rain started...

It wasn't a downpour - just enough to make sure everything gets water-spotted.

We try to time things when going through any big cities - San Antonio is the 8th largest city in the country.  Our timing was good, even though the west portion of this road seems to always be in some state of construction.

We stopped to gas up the motorhome and rolled into our RV park for the night before 1:00.  Like I said before: easy.  I got us an extra-long site so we don't have to unhook, and we'll be able to take our time draining tanks.  It was already 91º when I checked in... some of what I have to do with the coach is outside.  Yep, this will give me a taste of what is waiting for us at home.

The Airport Environment...

It's not secret how I feel about flying commercial these days - it is more expense and endurance than it is a treat.  Yes, I remember when flying commercial was "an event"... people dressed up and the airlines treated you like a valued customer.  Contrast that to today's flying, where you are herded like cattle and nickle & dimed for anything they can think of.

I also fondly remember our own flying days: when you taxied up to an FBO, and they would bring a rental car right out to your plane.  Some FBOs really understood how to make a customer feel special.

This morning, we had breakfast at the Airport Diner at the Fredericksburg Airport, where the booths have a view of the airport environment.

When Joan checked their business hours, she found that the diner was closed Friday and Saturday due to a "special event."  So, today was pretty much our only shot at breakfast with an airport view.  When we got there, the special event was pretty obvious: a gathering of King Air owners...

For those not familiar with these aircraft, they are a business class turbo-prop.  I consider them the top-of-the-line in executive transportation, until you get into the business jet category.  And for some use, the King Air is a better fit than a business jet.  I didn't know they had gatherings of King Air owners, but what a great place to do this... besides all the touristy stuff and wineries around Fredericksburg, this airport has a hotel not just at the airport, but adjacent to the taxiway...

A nice start to the day.

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A bit more touristing in downtown Fredericksburg before wrapping things up.  We stopped in a general store (not to be confused with the Five & Dime from a few days ago)...

Joan was interesting in some wine tasting; you can see where my tastes lie...

And on to the wine tasting.  Some of the wineries in the area have tasting rooms (selling rooms?) downtown, so you don't have to drive to the winery.  I have done them before, but wine is wasted on me... "Can you taste the hint of oak from the barrels?"

No, it all tastes pretty much the same to me.  I don't do the tastings anymore.  Now, if they had different types of Coke (there used to be a Coke store in Las Vegas that did that), I'd be all in.  Joan found several that she wanted bottles to take home with us...

Ready to roll in the morning.

Preppers...

Last year when we were in this area, we took the scoots out on some back roads and wound up passing by some "interesting" places... like a place offering "survival training" and another place that was selling "after the shit hits the fan supplies."  Preppers.

Today, we were preppers, but not that kind.  It was time to find out if Joan's new scoot would fit in the cargo trailer.  I was concerned that I would have to remove the rear rack that holds the large top case, and is bolted to the frame.  I knew that would be a job.

But, before doing that, I asked Joan if she wanted to take the scoots for a ride before the heat of the day... "No, I need a day off from riding, but I would appreciate it if you would take mine out and give it a good shake-down."

Umm... OK.  I guess I better learn how to start it, since it is quite a bit more "whiz-bang" than my Vespa.  ;-)

My first impression when putting my butt on the seat: this thing is big.  Yes, that is perspective.  We have owned full-dress touring bikes, but the last few years have been on small scooters.  But, the windshield is over arm's length away, while the one on my Vespa is much closer.  The Yamaha is wider.  Longer.  Heavier.  I can see why Joan was saying this will take some adjusting after her PCX.  I went through the same thing when going from the PCX to the Vespa.  This Xmax is another step forward in mass.

I started the bike up and rolled off by myself.  I rode through town (Fredericksburg is hoppin' on a Saturday morning) and got out where the speed limits increase... with the speed limit being 70, I fit right in doing an indicated 80 mph.  I'll have to put a GPS on it to check out the speedometer; my Vespa is quite a bit optimistic (more than 10%).

Good wind protection with the windshield and front fairing.  I moved my free hand around to check the air-flow... nice design.  I turned off on a side road where I could try out the ABS brakes: yep, they haul the bike right down.  A U-turn in a single lane; plenty nimble.  Some roll-on acceleration tests - even at 60 mph, you feel it when you open the throttle.  No idea what the top end is on this thing, but it felt decent at 80 mph.

Back to the highway and heading for town, the speed limit dropped from 70 to 55.  As I slowed down, an SUV came up behind me.  Fast.  Then passed me on the right... on the shoulder.  I figured: just another aggressive Texas driver, but this had Mexican plates.  The dumbass got caught at a red light in town and I pulled up alongside them... I motioned for the passenger to roll down the window... a smiling lady who looked to be in her 30s; the driver looked at me (he wasn't smiling) and I said, "Here in the United States, it is illegal to pass on the shoulder."  He nodded, but I am pretty sure he had no idea what I was saying.  It isn't just Texas drivers.

Back home, I gave Joan a rundown on what I thought of the bike: short version - it is great.

We took the owners manual out to the bike and started learning about the dash display: average fuel burn, trip meters for miles and hours, maintenance stuff like miles to go for the next oil change, outside air temperature, and a few other things I am sure I am forgetting.  The keyless ignition is something different for us, so a learning curve there, too.

And then... the decision that we were probably done riding while we're here and time to see how everything will fit in the cargo trailer.  I had moved the adjustable chocks forward as far as they will go (without rebolting through the floor).  I had originally set up the cargo trailer for the V-Strom I had at the time; long wheelbase on that bike, so I was hopeful that the Xmax would go on that side and then I'd put the Vespa where the PCX used to ride.

With the top case off, the Xmax fits; there is a long rack on the back of that bike with the top case off.  Neither bike will fit in there with the top case on, but those come off with the push of a button.  Not only is the Xmax bigger physically than the Vespa, the top case on it is considerably larger than the Vespa's.  In fact, the two top cases are made by the same manufacturer - they even have the same mounting mechanism.  Lo and behold, the smaller case will fit on the Yamaha, even with the ramp door closed.  We strapped down both bikes...

They fit!  You can tell the size difference between the Xmax on the left and my Vespa on the right.  The Xmax is chocked with the front tire almost a foot further forward than the Vespa, as well... trying to leave some room at the side door to get in and out of the trailer.

With that task done, when we are ready to head out of here on Monday morning, it will just be the usual utilities to put away and coach>SUV>cargo trailer to hook up.  We'll have time to go out and tourist about with the car tomorrow.

We have our heads into getting home.  I knew that time would come.  This has been a great summer out.  :-)

Whirlwind...

More running today than we've done in quite a while.  What?  No, not running as in jogging... running as in: making miles.  It is over 90 miles from our RV park in Fredericksburg to AF1 Racing in Austin.

AF1 Racing made us a good offer on the 2019 Yamaha Xmax they had, and Joan was excited about it.  In the grand scheme of things, I think this will be a better owner experience for her.  She has been looking for something bigger and with more power than the PCX.  That is a good way to describe the Xmax - about twice the CCs and horsepower of the PCX, and about 110 pounds heavier.  Also, more of a sportbike feel to it.

Well, first we have to go get it.  We talked about taking the cargo trailer, but Joan said she'd rather ride the PCX in to Austin and ride the Xmax back.  To avoid the hottest part of the day (another hot one here in Hill Country, with Austin predicted to be 100º again today), we decided to be rolling by 8:00 this morning.  I got the scoots out...

That's my Vespa in front, her PCX in back.  It was a delightful 72º when we geared up.  The ride to Austin was uneventful, even though it is a lot of highway and city traffic (something we try to avoid with the scoots).  We rolled into the parking lot at AF1 about 10 minutes before they open (at 10:00)... the employees there were busy bringing bikes out to put them on display in front of their building.

We went inside and waited for Sean (our sales guy) to finish moving bikes, then we started the paperwork.  It all went smooth and easy, with no "Gotcha!" sales tactics.  When we were done with that, I went to their parts department to pick up bar end weights for my Vespa.  We went outside where Sean went over some of the different features of the Xmax...

Compare that photo above with the one of Joan standing by the PCX (the red scoot) and you can see how much bigger the Xmax is.  The Xmax uses a fob instead of a key, so as long as Joan has the fob near the bike, she can start it, lock it, open compartments, access the huge storage under the seat, etc, without a key.  It is a different riding situation, and that and the larger bike will take some getting used to.  Riding the 90+ miles from Austin back to Fredericksburg will give her some time with the bike.

Ready to roll...

Besides the size difference, this new scoot hauls butt - although we won't be doing it, it will run 90 mph.  On the ride home, I asked Joan, "How do you like not running out of throttle when going uphill?"  She smiled.  We have both enjoyed the PCXes, but it is nice having more power for the times we want (need?) to make some highway miles.  Is it faster than the Vespa?  Oh, hell yes.  Will Joan be leaving me in the dust with the Vespa?  We'll see.  It will take her a while to get used to the extra heft of this bike, especially when pushing it through the curves.  The PCX was sporty... this Xmax is sporty and more powerful.  The Vespa continues to impress me.

Before committing to buy the Yamaha, we had made reservations for the factory tour at Collings Guitar, in Dripping Springs - that is located between Fredericksburg and Austin... the timing was such that we had just enough time to get the scoots back to the RV park, change clothes, spruce up slightly, and get in the air conditioned car to drive over an hour back to Dripping Springs.  Not enough time for a leisurely lunch, so we picked up Mickey D's along the way.

Why didn't we just hang around Dripping Springs with the scoots until the 3:30 tour at Collings?  Thanks for asking.  The temperature was pushing into the 90s when we left Austin.  We knew we would be tired after the Collings tour, and better to be in air conditioned comfort at that point.  So, approximately an extra 120+ miles (60+ by scooter and 60+ by car).  Collings only does their factory tour on Friday; limits it to 15 people on the tour, so they frequently turn people away.

Do you have a Collings guitar?  No, but I have admired their guitars.  More hand work than the Taylors I own.  Are they any better than a Taylor?  Some would say so.  They are very nice wood guitars.  No, I have no intention of getting one - the Emeralds are still my favorites.

We drove up to the building where the Collings factory is located - no signage and no customer parking.  We went inside to make sure we were in the right place.  Definitely a different experience from the Taylor factory tours we've done, where they have all kinds of guitars you can try and a large store full of Taylor "stuff."  Also, Taylor allows you to take photos during the tour, Collings does not.  Collings is also a much smaller operation.  Taylor makes hundreds of guitars every week, Collings makes 25 or so.  Taylor has engineered automation into much of their process, relying on hand work where necessary; Collings only automation is using a CNC machine to cut out their basic guitar shapes.  Is it better to sand or apply lacquer by hand instead of using robotics to accomplish similar results?  Well, the Taylor way is certainly more efficient.  End result: they both make fine guitars.

The only thing you can buy at the Collings factory is in this small display case...

 

Caps, a dozen t-shirts, and a couple nice leather guitar straps.  Yes, I did pick up a t-shirt as a reminder of the experience.  No guitars to play at the end of the tour, either.

And then, the almost hour and a half drive back to the RV park in Fredericksburg.  I think I will turn in early tonight.  ;-)

I'm melting...

If you said, "The Wicked Witch of the West, Wizard of Oz, 1939," you get 25 bonus points.  If you said, "Jim in Texas Hill Country, right now," you get no bonus points, but you are right on the money.

Joan wanted to walk through Wildseed Farms, a place that sells all manor of good, but specializes in plants, planters, and this time of year: gourds.  Always a bunch of photo ops there...

 

 

 

And, of course, the obligatory selfie...

 

Back into town - a walk about and lunch at Burger Burger.  Yes, they have burgers.  Almost as good as Black Hills Burger & Bun Co, but no cheese curds.  Good chili on their burgers, though; and a heap of french fries to go with it.

We went back to one store that had shoes that actually fit my fat feet.  Designed in Hawaii (and there are a lot of fat-footed folks there).  I picked up a pair, and we'll see how they do.  I don't think they will replace my SAS shoes, but these should be good for driving.

There is a plan coming together for tomorrow: AF1 Racing made us a very attractive deal on a scoot Joan tried yesterday.  We will be making another run into Austin tomorrow, and we'll see how it all plays out.  In anticipation of some shifting of things in the cargo trailer, I took the scoots out and repositioned chocks.  If I measured correctly, the Vespa should just fit on the other side, if I take the topbox off.

While I worked on the trailer, in the steaming heat, Joan did laundry.  In the air conditioning.  But, hey, don't worry about me... except for that puddle of sweat in the trailer, I'm fine.  Really.  Without Joan to look while I close the ramp door of the cargo trailer, I had to depend on the aforementioned measuring.  Close...

 

That's the rack on the back of the Vespa on the left; the closed ramp door on the right.  There is at least 1/16th of an inch to spare.  Yeah, that's close.  I don't want to be forced into getting a bigger trailer.

On the bright side: I am in air conditioned comfort in the coach while I write this... and before going back out into the heat.  The local weather weasel just said, "Besides the heat, the humidity will be oppressive this weekend."  I hope he is as wrong as most of the others.

 

Around this time last year...

... we were in the same place we are now: Fredericksburg, TX.  We didn't get much scooter riding in last year because it was rainy and chilly.  This year: it is hot (in the 90s) and dry, with a hot wind... also not much fun for riding the scoots.  Today, though, there was some scooter content.

It was a road-trip kinda day, taking the CR-V into Austin.  Now, on the map, Austin doesn't seem very far away... in reality, it is some highway, some secondary roads, lots of traffic, and a couple hours.  We made that drive for several reasons: a scooter recon at AF1 Racing, the Vespa dealer where I got new tires last year.  The just got a BV350 Piaggio scooter, and Joan wanted to look at that.  They also have a "like new"Yamaha Xmax.  I was hoping Joan might want to try on a new Vespa, too.

We had a few other "big city" things to buy, but I really wanted to do lunch at Chick-fil-A.  Sometimes you just have that craving, and there is no Chick-fil-A in the Black Hills.  Yes, I know: all the good eating places in Fredericksburg... well, the heart wants what the heart wants... and the stomach works on that same plan.

After working our way through all the traffic (I could not live with this kind of commute on a daily basis), we rolled up to AF1 Racing...

Nice place, good selection of scooters and motorcycles.  The Xmax was sitting outside...

Inside, we met with Sean the salesman and looked at the BV350 that just came in yesterday...

Swoopy Italian styling; I am not a fan of the green, Joan kinda liked it.  I suggested she take a look at their Vespa selection...

Her butt barely touched the seat, and... "Nope."  She has ridden mine; she doesn't care for it.  I enjoyed looking at the new ones, but I have mine just the way I like it.

The BV hasn't been prepped to ride, but Joan got to "test sit" it.  Sean asked if she'd like to take the Xmax for a ride... yep.  She changed into long pants, put on her helmet and gloves and...

She was quite impressed with the Yamaha; she said, "You should give that a try!"  I put on long pants, helmet and gloves, and went for a shorter ride.  I was impressed, too.

Back inside, Sean gave us some prices.  We didn't leave with anything, but we'll be discussing options.

The other running we needed to do (re-supplying) was all close by and didn't take long.  And then...

Yeah, it was as good as I remembered.  ;-)  Kinda worth the long drive.

Eating Italian in a German town...

Fredericksburg (TX) is a German-settled town in Texas Hill Country.  I'm sure most folks would consider it a tourist town, because their Main Street is just so darn cute.  Lots of shops, restaurants, wine tasting rooms, etc.  After lounging in a bit this morning, when we did venture out, the first stop was at the local Visitors Center.  If you read all the brochures, booklets, and magazines, you wouldn't have time to go to any of the places advertised.

We walked around Main Street a bit.  We spent quite a bit of time in a store that had OluKai shoes - made in Hawaii, where they understand wide feet.  We self-served it and I tried on a bunch of different shoes... one maybe.  I had ordered some online last year, but sent them back because they didn't work for me.  Being able to see a bunch of their styles in person was helpful.

From there, it was off to lunch at Pasta Bella, an Italian restaurant that reminds us of something out of NYC.  The food was outstanding.  Then, more wandering the main drag.

We were in this 5 & Dime store last year - a fun place for a walk through.  Plenty of "Hey, do you remember these?" moments...

We went into some of the shops, even picked up a couple things.  The sign in front of this store made me chuckle...

After a stop at the HEB, it was back to the coach.  A hot day here; the a/c feels good.  The local TV stations are out of Austin, and this morning they were talking about how hot it has been: breaking record high temperatures on 11 days this September.  So far.  Expecting another record-breaker today.

The tentative plan is for a road trip tomorrow.

First day of fall...

And you know what that means?  Yeah, it's still hot in Texas.  ;-)  Today was the first time in several months that I opened the door and felt the heat when I first stepped outside in the morning.  It was already in the upper 70s when I took Rufus for a morning outing.

It isn't a surprise; we knew we'd have "another summer" when we left the Black Hills.  For the two months that we were at Hart Ranch, I think there was only 2 or 3 days when it got to the 90s.  That will be the normal here for a while.

The current plan: spend some time in Fredericksburg before we head further south for home.  We'll play tourist for a week or so.


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Rolling.  No fun tailwind like yesterday - a quartering crosswind most of our drive today, but it was single digit speeds... not hard to drive in, just cuts the fuel mileage a bit.

Interstate to start our drive...

On to the two-lane, hills and curves...

You may be familiar with the highway in Nevada that has the name "the Loneliest Road in America"... this road must be a close second.  In 50 miles of this road, I could count the number of cars that went by the other direction, and only two that passed us (going the same direction).  And, of course, no cell service.  Yep, lonely.  Really hoping we didn't have any kind of vehicle problem out here... might get eaten by the buzzards.

The terrain has changed, too: the farm fields and oil wells have given way to short trees...

The road wasn't perfectly smooth, but it wasn't awful (are you listening, Oklahoma??)...

I got some lap time with Rufus...

We could see evidence of game ranches (tall fences) and some interesting plants...

The only animals we saw weren't "game" - some miniature horses, long-hair goats, and something laying under a shadetree that looked like it might be a water-buffalo.  It was into the low 90s at this point, so I'd be laying under a shadetree if I didn't have the air conditioning in the coach.

As lunch time approached, Joan said, "I think this town coming up might have a McDonalds - how does that sound to you?"  I am always up for their french fries and an apple pie, and willing to eat a burger to get those.  Joan is generally not a fan, so this question had my attention.

I asked, "Do you think there's a McDonalds out here?"

She said, "I think we've stopped at one before at the next town."  I wasn't sure...

Yep.  While she went for food, I fed Rufus and walked around the rig, checking tires, etc.  A good stop, and as you can see in the above photo, room to park the rig just past Mickey D's.

You can tell we are approaching the Texas Hill Country: more hills, trees, and the sandstone type rock... and then, a vineyard...

As we discovered in our stay in the area last year, there are a lot of wineries in the area.  And, trees...

We pulled into the RV park, and I went in to register while Joan unhooked the CR-V from the coach.  Apparently the lady at the office was listening when Joan made the reservation; she said, "Oh, you're the people with a cat that walks on a leash."

It was 92º when we were getting set up for a week's stay.  Yep, I remember how to sweat.  It took us a while since we had to move the cargo trailer and car around in the site.  And, set up all the utilities (if just overnighting, we often just plug in electricity so we can have air conditioning; maybe cable.  But, we always travel with at least 2/3 in the fresh water tank and empty holding tanks.  Easy.

We will get to play tourist for a while and start to acclimate to the heat before we head for home.  Obvious that we are not on a schedule: after 5 days of driving, we have covered about 1,300 miles.  It looks like this week will be warm and dry here.  At some point, I am sure I will need ice cream.  Joan will want some wine.  Probably not because of me.  Probably.

We are both looking forward to looking around the area.  It was chilly and rainy for much of the week we spent here last year.

Rufus peeked his head out the door, felt the heat, and said, "Oh, hell no."  He will acclimate, too.


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After 5 days of driving and not re-supplying, we felt the need to hit up a grocery store... it so happens that there is one of the best HEB stores we've ever been in right here.  "What's HEB?" you ask.  You have never been to Texas, huh?  HEB is a grocery chain based out of San Antonio.  Texans tend to be quite loyal to Texas institutions like HEB and Whataburger.  We have an HEB in our small town, but it is much smaller and less full-featured than this store.  A huge produce department, in store bakery, a well-stocked wine department, an impressive deli section, a great selection of "pre-prepared fresh meals" (yes, that's what we're having tonight), a huge frozen food section (really, I have never seen so many different kinds of frozen pizza), a great artisan cheese selection.  I could spend hours in there.

But, not this afternoon - we had to get back for Rufus's suppertime.  ;-)

Produce...

A small portion of the pre-prepared meal choices...

A wine tasting machine...

A pretty Blonde checking out some wine...

Yes, it is starting to feel like we are home.  :-)