We had a nice, quiet, and restful night at SES, and awoke and hit the road early (for retired guys) around 8:30AM for Austin, TX, with stops along the way to see sights that Tom had researched.

We realized immediately that Texans are serious about roads and driving fast (most designed with Bentley Systems software, so they are of course safe.)  We were amazed at the 75 mile an hour speed limit on a divided – but not limited access – road, and 70 mph speed limit on a 2-lane road.

Our first stop was at Chariot and Winged Man in Sealy, TX, which was a few minutes well spent.  We saw several cool metal sculptures, and broke out our selfie stick for pictures with the main one.  We were stopped by a somewhat grumpy old guy in a Kubota ATV, who asked if we brought a trailer to bring stuff home.  We should have talked to him longer, but we did not.  We did notice a sign that the entire property (24 acres) was for sale, and the biggest signs were promoting salvage items.

Next stop was the Texas Cotton Gin Museum in Burton Texas.  We were the only guests there. The cheerful young lady – Stormee – asked us if we were there for a tour.  We said sure.  She said that was too bad, since it was wet, meaning the Gin was slippery, so we couldn’t take a tour.

She then asked if we were from a cotton family.  When we said we were not, she asked what we knew about cotton.  We admitted that we knew very little.  She then patiently and thoroughly went through the museum’s exhibits.

Did you know where the term “gin” came from on the Cotton Gin?  It is simply as shortening of the term “engine” – saving a valuable syllable.

Did you know where the term “fair to middling” originated and what it means – it come from cotton grading – Fair is best, middling is – uh – middle grade, and ordinary is the lowest.  If you are fair to middling you are doing better than average.

Did you know that there are different color cottons – genetic alterations that can make cotton blue, green or brown?

On the subject of Boll Weevils, we mentioned our trip to Enterprise Alabama, the home of the monument to the Boll Weevils, and showed Stormee our blog pictures of Enterprise.  Stormee said Enterprise was on her bucket list.

Scott thought this was the best small museum we’ve ever seen, and Stormee was the best docent you could imagine. Tom agreed with both points.

Since we were in Burton, we went to see the “errant” granite block that fell off a passing train car.  From the previews, there was a plaque on the block describing the event, but when we got there it looked like they were remodeling the display and the block with the plaque was gone. Another “errant” block was standing in in the meantime. Obviously, it was no where near as interesting as cotton stuff.

Next stop was at a Walmart for food and better water hose materials.  Turns out that they were a regular Walmart not a supercenter.  We then went to a true Supercenter and bought a few good items and a new water hose that is easier to connect and store.

Then we arrived at our next, two-day stop – Riverbend RV Park https://www.riverbendaustin.com/ in Lake Austin.  While very nice with only 5 spacious (for a commercial park,) it has only a restroom with no shower facilities.  It rained all afternoon after we arrived. We’re hoping for a better day tomorrow so we can rent some Kayaks tomorrow and do some exploring, and then watch the Super Bowl along with the rest of America.

Dinner was a mostly successful experiment – spaghetti and meatballs cooked together in the Instant Pot.  Tom thought it could have used some more spices, but it was just one pot…