I awoke last night with a terrible stomach ache, a rarity for me, and didn’t get back to sleep until about 5:00 AM and sleeping only another hour or so before getting up—is this a sign of things to come? We were ready to leave early enough this morning, but were welcomed with hearty goodbyes from the neighbors.  Gosh, it sure is hard to leave good friends!
We were on the road by 8:45 AM, our scheduled departure time.  Our route on Tuesday was east on US Highway 83 to Pharr, then north on US 281 to Falfurrias, east on Texas State Highway 285 to Riveria, then north on US Highway 77 to La Grange, a distance of 318 miles.  After about an hour, we were met with strong northerly headwinds, and dust so heavy at Falfurrias that we could barely see.  According to the National Weather Service, winds were 30+ miles per hour gusting to over 50 and continued for the next 250 miles, abating to about 10 miles per hour just south of Lagrange. Outside of La Grange was the famous Chicken Ranch, a brothel made famous when ZZ Top released its classic rock song “La Grange”.  Of course, La Grange was also the inspiration of the hit stage musical play in 1979, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, as well as the 1982 movie based on that play.  The Chicken Ranch was closed in 1973 largely through the efforts of the Houston television reporter, Marvin Zindler.
We parked for the night at Colorado Landing RV Park in La Grange on the banks of the Colorado River. We only hooked up the electricity, but the rates were still $34, and the wi-fi was terrible!  We have stayed there several times, but will have to rethink it on our next trip.
Dinner was at Frank’s Restaurant in Schulenburg. Schulenburg is home to descendants of German, Austrian and Czechoslovakian settlers who remained in the area because the rolling hills and forests reminded them of their homeland.  The area still shows evidence of their culture. Local bakeries are noted for their kolaches. Other immigrants of Jewish descent also made Schulenburg their home and many of them became merchants. I digress.  Frank’s is a delightful 4 out of 5 star eatery, and everything is great.  We particularly like the sausage, kraut, and German potato salad dinner which is served everyday.  Frank’s has been in the same family for 84 years, and we highly recommend it.