Last Week at Garner

Sunday February 7: Did our usual Sunday thing, into town for shopping and such. Judy wanted a haircut so we spent some time at Wal-Mart for that and managed to get her old old sunglasses repaired (the lens had popped out). Wal-Mart is pretty good about fixing glasses regardless of where you got them. The lens in her new ones also came out and last week they took care of that too – and all at no charge. In the evening we reacquainted ourselves with Canasta. We had the Rushes over and played a game. Took a little getting used to things but we had all played before.


Monday February 8: Awoke to chilly temps and heavy dew today. We have to wait for the sun before we can paint. Weather prediction for the end of the week is not good, for here or back home. We see that the east coast is getting another blast and DC has turned white! There is another storm moving in to us from the west which is supposed to bring sleet and freezing rain beginning Wednesday and stay through all of Thursday. With the threat of the bad weather we hope to get in our hours. In the afternoon we moved on to the last bath house for us to do. We worked longer than normal, but did not have that much to do before finishing up and we did complete the job. All the park rangers have to do now is the trim on the new windows they have yet to install. As we are out of painting jobs (no materials for the old workshop) talked to Greg the lead ranger about doing some chipping on Tuesday. There’s a lot of brush in the four other loops from trimming the park folks have done. So it looks like we will have to do some chipping before Chicken Earls on Tuesday.

Tuesday February 9-Chicken Earl Day: At a little after nine, hooked up the Bandit Chipper and headed to through Persimmon Hill and Live Oak loops. When we started, the piles were pretty small and we all thought it would not take long at all. As we rounded the curve larger and larger piles and lines of brush/cuttings came into view. We had planned on knocking off about noon to make it to Chicken Earls, but the brush just kept coming. We finally finished in Live Oak at it was nearly 2 by the time we returned the chipper. Chicken Earl was waiting!!

As promised here are some pictures for your pleasure. When we arrived the wind was cold out of the northwest (though the sun was bright) so we opted to sit in the truck and eat.

Earl went to great expense to have this sign constructed and approved by the local zoning authority.

But that expense was nothing compared to the lavish seating arrangement.

You walk up to the window and order your dinner and drink (you have your choice of sweat tea, sweat tea or sweat tea) and its help you self from the big orange jug on the counter.

This is Chicken Earl talking to Bill Rush.

Earl told us that this is the 3rd location for his place. He sold out twice and each time bought the business back because people complained that the chicken was not the same. He fries in a large deep cast iron skillet. He fries two batches, strains the oil then cooks one more. The oil is then saved and he takes it to his place. There he converts it and burns 50% diesel and 50% oil in his ’96 Ford.

So that’s Chicken Earl’s place and story. Oh, almost forgot, Earl will be closed on the 16th. He’s going in for surgery so they can “take out” three vertebrae out of his neck….his words.

Later we found a lumber yard that deals in only cedar. Picked up two nice cedar poles to be made into hiking sticks.

Thursday February 11: Yesterday started out pretty dreary and we did not believe we could get in any real work, so we went into the Hill Country BBQ for breakfast with the Rushes. They must use extra large eggs for their omelets, because they are huge! We were so full but decided to walk Lilly and maybe do some litter pickup to get in a few more hours. We left about noon and did not get back until after 2:30. It was overcast and a little chilly, but we picked up 5 bags of trash from around campsites. Judy was also taking the opportunity to search for antlers. When we were here five years ago she found a complete set in the woods.

Wednesday night was our last dinner and game night. Only three couples are staying on so we exchanged email addresses and took lots of pictures. This is the entire group with the exception of Ruby Hersh (she’s a volunteer who actually lives here in an old old trailer – long story have to go into it some time).

It was overcast, drizzling and cold so most everyone is taking the day off. We have more than enough hours in and after the long walk yesterday decided to just enjoy the day. In the morning took care of laundry and did a few things to get ready for pulling out in the morning. We want to be on the road by 9 so the satellite dish was relocated for the night and the bikes were loaded. This means much less to do in the early morning and it is supposed to be COLD. We came to Texas for warm weather – where is it?

Friday February 12 – Lackland: We did get on the road at 9 after stopping by the office to bid the folks there farewell and leave copies of the pictures with Rick, the manager. The FamCamp at Lackland had some space so we set up camp for a couple of days. Lilly’s check-up went fine and she received all her shots and checks. They even verified that her ‘chip’ was still active. The vet clinic is only a few blocks from the campground, so we walked. After the vet trip we paid a short visit to the BX and picked up a few needed items, like a new kickstand for my bike and a cheese cutter. We saw a number of young recruits with family members. There must have been a class graduating this weekend.

Lilly is enjoying the warm sun at our temporary home at Lackland AFB for two nights

On arrival C5’s were doing ‘touch and go’ landings on the Kelly Field runway. These belong to the Air Force Reserve unit assigned here. There is also a large contingent of F-16’s assigned to the Texas Air National Guard. So we hear lots of airplanes.

The C5’s look like they will fall out of the sky the look so big and appear to be moving so slow.

For dinner we decided to try a Bill Miller’s BBQ and found it very good. The brisket was really tender and they don’t skimp on the side dishes.

Saturday February 13: After a leisurely morning we headed to downtown San Antonio to visit the Market Place and the River Walk. The Market Place has changed over the years. The first time we were there, the year I retired from the Air Force, it was all in one older building and it had a number of real small shops full of Mexican items. Over the years it has expanded into what was the old farmers market and many of the shops are run by the same group. Think we may have visited 90% of them in our walking. A little after noon we began to look for some place to eat. We had planned on hiking the half plus mile to the River Walk, but were a might tired and hungry. We found a Mexican place (well in reality that’s all there is to eat there) that had just opened. We were the only ones there for a while then some others found their way up the stairs to Senor Teque’s Grill. Had a nice lunch then made the jaunt to walk some along the River Walk, and it’s a good thing we ate, because most of these places have only outdoor seating, and it is still cool in the shade.



Tomorrow begins a new week and a new park. We are to meet up with Rushes about 9 on the road.