Days fly...

RAINBOW'S END-Escapees

Livingston, TX 77351

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RV life:

Since we are STILL in Livingston, TX, I don't have much to blog about. We live a quiet life, so day to day activities are quite boring to write about. For us, it's nice. Little responsibility, not many expenses.  

We laugh, because there are things that Scott would like to do but says..."I don't have enough time in the day".  Of course he stays in bed until noon most days. Not actually sleeping, but after he wakes, he reads, then has a cup of coffee and reads some more while watching TV. Before he knows it, it's noon. Sometimes he'll start cooking breakfast, which I love because by the time he finishes, it my lunch time.

I get up at the crack of dawn, thanks to Devin. 

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 Scott passes time by cooking quite often. He made a hearty tomato sauce with this hunk of meat, slow simmered until it could be shredded in the sauce

The dogs pass the time staying cool indoors...

or Devin keeping busy outside with Mom.

That is a 12" ruler in that hole. We are undecided whether to stop him or just let him have fun. As you can see, we let him have fun. We have bought a couple of bags of dirt and grass seed, to repair his digging when we leave.

I pass the time crafting and baking. Lyla loved licking the loaf pan clean.

CRAFTS: I'm still cross stitching most of the day outside. People are starting to become curious as to what I'm doing all day, sitting in the same position. Haven't worked on the sweater much. By the time I come in at 7pm from cross stitching all day, then I need to fix/eat dinner and it's almost time for bed! Another day flew by.

I did complete a soap saver that is loosely based on this SOAP SAVER pattern. A soap saver is a pouch that you can throw in all those little end pieces of soap instead of throwing them out. I put a sponge also in the pouch. This soap saver is made out of beading hemp twine, so it also acts as an exfoliater.

FOOD & BEVERAGE:

Being from NJ, we are somewhat prejudiced in that you can't get good Italian food outside of the NY/NJ area. We were pleasantly surprised by this strip mall restaurant.
The walls were completed covered with murals of grape vine fields, etc.
Service was good.


Stuffed Mushrooms: Excellent. Very flavorful bread crumb type stuffing with mozzarella cheese melted over the top.


Chicken Fettucini Alfredo: Very Good. Fettucini cooked just right. Nice bite size chunks of chicken and the sauce was delicious. You could really taste the REAL cream as one of the ingredients.


Spaghetti & Meatballs with marinara sauce: Very Good. The sauce was simple but tasty. There were six or seven small meatballs, that were average in flavor.


Pizza with peppers & mushrooms: Not as good as our local NJ pizza place, but I would definitely get another. The mozzarella cheese is excellent tasting, which is important. Their crust was somewhat soft and thicker than what we prefer.
All in all definitely a place to check out. We plan on returning.
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Scott is a Port and Sweet wine drinker (yeck).
Taylor's Fine Tawny Port:
$13.00 Scott's rating 3.5 out of 5

This is his cheap go to, usually easy to find Port. It's a rare port (& probably terrible) if it's under $10.00.
He has been having a very difficult time finding Port in this part of TX. So he's had to start switching to sweet wines. I'm happy about that because wine is a lot cheaper than port and Scott drinks more than I do.

Wimberley Valley Winery Texas Country Cellars Sweet Red: 
$5.50 (on sale) Rating 4 out of 5

I even like this wine. It's definitely got a fruity taste with a sweet finish. I tasted it at room temperature. This would definitely be a nice wine chilled and to be sipped on a hot day.  Would also probably make a nice base for Sangria. 

Sangria basic recipe

1 bottle red wine

Sliced oranges, peaches, strawberries, lemon, lime, etc.

1/4 cup sugar

Optional:

1/4-1/2 port or  Cpt. Morgan Rum, or Vodka or Gin or Triple Sec (orange liquor) 

Ginger ale or seltzer to add some bubbly.

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Since our Alaska trip was cancelled and since we've been stuck in Livingston, TX for over a month (ugh!!!!), we've decided to skip San Antonio and just cut across the northern section of TX quickly and travel to central & northern NM. We haven't been impressed with TX. It actually reminds me of NJ, which is not a good thing.