We have now been in Texas for a month. We came here to attend Old Settler’s Music Festival and exchange a few hours of labor for free tickets. In 2019, on our first cross country trip, we stumbled upon this festival and were offered the chance to work for tickets. We have since learned that most of these big festivals run on volunteer labor. This knowledge has allowed us to attend other festivals in Utah, Idaho, and Key West Florida!
However, most festivals do not allow you to bring your dog. With this in mind, our friend Kaitlyn in San Marcos Texas had offered to watch Ginger for us while we attended. She asked us to come to her a couple days early to be sure her two adorable pitbulls and Ginger were cool with one another.
At first it appeared that everything was going to be copacetic, but soon Ginger’s playful nature irritated Kaitlyn’s older dog Shorty and they ended up getting into a scuffle that left Ginger with a bloody nose and Shorty with a bloody ear. Needless to say, leaving the two of them together for over a week was not going to work.
When we adopted Ginger, we knew there would come times that we would have to board her and now that need had presented itself. We found a very nice pet resort in San Marcos and made reservations to take her there. Over the next couple of days, we kept the dogs separated while we helped Kaitlyn wth a few projects around her house.
Also, while we were there, we determined that the little fridge we had bought for the van in 2019 was not cooling properly and was draining our solar batteries. Luckily, it was still under warranty. So, we packed it up and sent it in for service.
When it came time to leave for the festival, we dropped Ginger at the kennel and headed to Old Settler’s Music Festival in Tilmon, TX.
The fest didn’t officially start till Thursday, but our work schedule started that Monday. When we worked this festival previously, we had worked a couple days with the team that helps prepare the festival grounds and had camped with them. When they heard that we were returning, they offered to let us camp with them again. They call themselves “The 420 Hill Gang”. This is due to the fact that the spot where they camp is 420’ feet above sea level. (Of course that is not the ONLY reason they have chosen that moniker)
They set up a really nice camp with all their campers and tents in a circle around a huge grill where they cook communal meals and have guitar picking sessions every night.
We had a great week hanging out with our 420 friends.
This year, we had been assigned to work the team that makes sure all the other volunteer stations were stocked with water and ice to help combat the heat. The job as super easy and by the time the festival actually started on Thursday afternoon, we had already completed our required hours.
The funniest thing that happened that week was one night while hanging out with our 420 friends, someone asked Tanja what had we done with Ginger. She replied that since dogs were not allowed on the festival grounds, we had taken her to “the pound”. Everyone was shocked and outraged that we could be so callous. It was only after being accused of being a bad dog owner that Tanja realized she had misspoken and had to clarify herself.
When the festival was over, we picked up Ginger and returned to Kaitlyn’s house. We got an email saying that the warranty company had determined that the fridge was not reparable and they sent us an Amazon gift card for the original purchase price. Since we had been quite happy with the fridge, we used the gift card to purchase another of the same fridge along with a new 3 year warranty.
We spent another couple nights with Kaitlyn and then went to visit my nephew Danny and his family in San Antonio. We had a very nice visit with them.
After that, we returned to Kaitlyn’s one more time to pick up the new fridge. We also bought new all terrain tires for The Whale. I am curious to find out if they were worth the price!
After leaving there, we purchased an annual pass to all the state parks in Texas. We hope to visit as many of them as we can before we head back to Florida.
The night before last, we visited some Dutch people in Harker Heights, TX that Tanja knows through her sister.
At the moment, we are camped in a free Corps of Engineers campground along the shore of Lake Whitney. We will probably spend a few days here and then head north to the panhandle before it gets too cold.
That is about it for now. Will write more in a month or so.
Oh, and for those who have been following this blog for a long time and know how much trouble we had with destroying or abandoning step stools?
We are still using that same old ugly kitchen step stool. We have not driven over it or abandoned it once
Vanlife in the Whale 