It felt so good to load the truck, pay the bill and check out of the hotel. As nice as Shay, Linda and the rest of the staff were, we were there too long.
OK, its 11 a.m. and we don't pick up the RV until late this afternoon. What will we do with ourselves all day? We started out checking out the area neighborhoods. There is lots of building going on in this area, new neighborhoods are springing up all over the place. We rode up and down streets for several hours, even stopping in model homes just to pass the time. We were surprised at how much house you get for the money in this part of Texas. Homes that would sell for $250,000 in Delaware were for sale for $100,000 in this area.
We then stopped to have something to eat to pass some more time.
This building consists of 3 main rooms, one being much larger than the others. The main room was exhibiting the military through the years with uniforms from the Civil War until present day dress uniforms and BDU's. Bob and I felt very comfortable in this room given our military backgrounds.The next room we went through exhibited art work from the local school students.
The third room we visited was a total surprise. It was called the Egyptian room, complete with a gold throne and a very ornate coffin, for the lack of the proper term. One of the residents of this town has a sister who is a world traveler and these are "souvenirs" she brought back. Gee, and we only get the occasional refrigerator magnet or T-shirt.
While Silsbee seemed to be a dying town to us with all the empty, decaying buildings we learned that things are starting to turn around for the townspeople. Back in the day this town was an important hub for the Santa Fe Railroad. Whether it will ever be the large commerce center it once was remains to be seen.
We made our way to the body shop around 4:30. There were about a half dozen employees working on our rig pulling the tape off the graphics and windows. They had just finished the clear-coat application around four o'clock and it was still tacky. They told us to come back around six. We got a few miles away from the body shop and decided that maybe we should ask if it would be better if we left the rig there overnight so that it could finish drying. We thought about the bugs that would hit the front of the 5th wheel and adhering to that tacky surface. Not something we wanted to deal with. The only problem was they were closed on Saturday's as a rule. We made our way back and talked with Jeff, the body shop owner. He agreed that it would be in our best interest to do so. He asked if we had checked out of the hotel and we told him that we had this morning. He told us to go back and he would foot the bill for us and to come back in the morning around eight and he would meet us there.
Just hours after we checked out of the hotel we were so glad to leave we were back. "Our" room had already been rented out so we checked into a new one. Right next to the elevator. Even the bed vibrated every time the elevator was called for and we could hear it. It was going to be a long night!
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