Author: rvingwithapurpose

Sunday, January 27, 2019

We had heavy rain overnight. The rain that was predicted for yesterday. So glad it was overnight and not during the day yesterday, and then today was another beautiful mild day.

This morning we went to church with Ross and Barb at Calvary Temple Church. The congregation was very welcoming. The contemporary music was very good and the guest speaker equally good. Ross was disappointed that we didn’t get to hear his pastor but we plan to listen to the stream next Sunday. The guest speaker was Dave Roever a Vietnam veteran, purple heart recipient and he has a full time ministry with wounded veterans, whether wounded physically or emotionally. It is called Operation Warrior RECONnect. He has an amazing testimony.

After service we had reservations as Camp Verde General Store and Restaurant. We were there early and had time to wander around in the general store. It’s not like Gibson’s from yesterday, in that they don’t have everything but they have some really nice things. Although tempted, our table for lunch came available just in time and we resisted any purchases. The original Camp Verde General Store established in 1857, was established to offer goods and services to the soldiers stationed at Fort Verde a mile to the west of the store. The camel sculptures on the property refer back to the US Army camel experiment at Fort Verde. Interesting. The grounds of the property are beautifully maintained and we had a fun time exploring prior to lunch. The restaurant is known for its reuben sandwich which we all ordered. It was very good as was the service we received. A fun time.

 

After lunch Ross and Barb needed to meet up with some friends who wanted some real estate advice from Ross. We went back to the campground and after our lunch settled a little took the opportunity to take the bikes out on the River Trail. What a grand time we had. We had a great ride in a great atmosphere. If we lived here we would want to ride the trail every day. It was heavily used today on this beautiful Sunday.

 

We still haven’t made it across the highway to the other section of this park to hike some of those trails but we have the rest of the week. It should be a good one.

Saturday, January 26, 2019

The weatherman had predicted rain today but it was a wonderfully sunny day. Cool early today with a low of 36 but after about 10:00 it was great with just a light jacket in the wind.

For breakfast Ross and Barb took us to Hill Country Cafe, a local legend. It is in the location of the first HEB grocery store. Can’t hardly imagine a HEB in the tiny space. We met some of Ross and Barb’s friends as soon as we walked in the door. It was a quaint little place with very friendly service and good food.

After breakfast we headed out on a driving tour of part of the hill country. It was a great day for the tour and of course all the time we are visiting with Ross and Barb. We first went out to the Texas Lions Camp in Kerrville. Ross is president of the Houston Lions chapter. This camp is for special needs children of Texas for summer camp. It is a great campus with all the regular summer camp activities available to the SN kids. They even have an equestrian program. There is a great view of the Kerrville valley from the top of the camp. We then drove through another Kerrville subdivision looking at deer and pronghorns before we started our drive to Fredericksburg. It was an interesting drive with several stops. We have decided we will probably go back to Fredericksburg one day during the week when there aren’t so many people downtown.

We did get a good visit at the Wildseed Farms store.

Then to St. Mary’s Catholic church. It’s one of the painted churches  and just beautiful.

After returning to Kerrville, we visited Gibson’s General Store. If they don’t have it, you probably don’t need it. Anne did leave with another pair of women’s small work gloves, which are hard to find.

A sampling of their merchandise:

After a nice walk, we returned to Ross’s home for a wonderful salmon dinner prepared by Barb. Wonderful day.

Friday, January 25, 2019

This morning was another beautiful morning in Falfurrias. Still a little cool at 43 this morning when we got up. We slept about an hour later than normal after our busy day yesterday. We first completed Fred’s travel day preparations. Then we walked down to Whataburger to pick up breakfast and returned to eat in Fred. It was then time to raise the jacks, air up the air bags, hookup the truck and then say our goodbyes to our team. Today we were the first to leave at 9:35 so we got hugs from everyone. We look forward to working with this group of NOMADS sometime soon. It’s been another great team.

After our hugs, we headed toward San Antonio, Tx with Anne driving the first leg. We headed out like we came in, on US 281 toward Alice. Rather then turning toward Corpus Christi, we continued on 281 toward San Antonio. Before arriving in San Antonio we stopped at a rest area and changed drivers. Today Max got the hardest part of the drive going through all the construction on I-10 in San Antonio. There were some really tight cattle chutes and nasty road construction. From there we continued north on I-10 toward Kerrville, in the hill country of Texas. Tonight we are comfortably parked in the Kerrville-Schreiner Park right on the Guadalupe River, and plan to be here for a week. This park was a Texas State Park at one point but was transferred to the city of Kerrville.

Anne’s cousin Ross, and his wife Barb from Houston have a house just down the road from the park and are spending the weekend here so we can spend some time together. It is great to see them. The past several years it seems we only see cousins at funerals so it’s nice to spend some good time visiting. Barb and Ross came to the park shortly after our arrival and took us on a drive of the immediate area so we could get our bearings. Since tomorrow may be wet, we also drove up one of the hills to The Coming King Sculpture Prayer Gardens. What a wonderful garden in the shape of a cross. In the centerpiece of the gardens is the 77 foot 7 inch Empty Cross. Click here for more information on the gardens and cross. There are many beautiful sculptures in the park as well. We might try to go back to see the cross at night.

After a quick tour of the town, we had an early dinner. Later we went to Ross’s house and just sat around and visited. Good times.

Thursday, January 24, 2019

It was cold this morning with a low of 35 but the wind was not nearly as bad as yesterday. By lunch it was great working weather with a bright blue sky and bright sunshine.

Dave and Rita led us in devotion today and talked to us about being worker bees. Dave read Ecclesiastes 3:1-13. The Bible speaks to us about work. What do workers gain for their toil? What does God gain from their toil. A bee makes 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey over its lifetime but that 1/12 teaspoon is necessary for the pint of honey sitting on my shelf. No one’s work is insignificant. It just might be the 1/12 teaspoon needed to complete the pint. God needs all our work to take care of His children and His earth. After devotion Dave and Rita gave us each a pint of honey from one of the church members and his bees. It is virgin honey primarily from Mesquite and other native flora and it is very good. We will forever remember the 1/12 teaspoon each worker bee makes in its life. Almost makes one feel guilty for covering a big biscuit with tablespoons of honey. Thanks Rita and Dave.

Today most of us headed back out to Josefina’s house to try to finish everything up. Stel, Jodi and Bev stayed at the church to do some touch up painting and cleaning up of that project. God really blessed us and with us all working together we were able to complete the back steps and handrails as well as the touch up painting, water heater shelter, and clean up by about 12:30. Didn’t think we would get it all done that quickly.

 

 

After lunch Max and Anne reinstalled the shoe mold in the church restrooms. The bathrooms look so much nicer now. The doors that Bev and Jodie sanded and touched up the stain and polyurethane look great. They make the entire narthex look better.

This team has been another great one. We’ve completed all the tasks we were asked to complete plus a few other things we just did because they needed to be done. We made wonderful new friends and have been blessed by the sweet congregation at Falfurrias UMC. Tonight the church gave an appreciation dinner for the NOMADS and the winter Texans. We had an authentic TexMex dinner prepared by the ladies of the church. Everything was wonderful. We will be sad to leave tomorrow but hope to return here another year.