I’ve been thinking a lot about Murdo lately. Maybe because Kip and I moved to a small town in Texas about a year ago. We lived in a lake area community for several years before that and lived and worked in the big city of Dallas before that. I’m reminded of the similarities and differences in all the communities.

Van, where we live now, had a population of around 2,800, and Murdo’s was 488 in 2023. Murdo would be a little bigger if you counted the ranchers and farmers. Van has all the fast food restaurants, and the schools are bigger. There is no movie theater, and we have to drive to the next town about 20 miles away to the closest Walmart where we do our grocery shopping.

I remember growing up in Murdo, I felt a sense of belonging to a community. I can still remember the awesome way it felt to belong. School and  friendships were very important to me. I also grew up with a large extended family. My grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins were my lifeline. My older brother went away to college when I was in 5th grade, so all that family made me feel less like an only child.

Dogs used to have the run of the town in Murdo. Our dog, Berferd, thoroughly enjoyed his life there. Here, they have to be in a fenced yard or on a leash. They both love to escape if they get a chance.

One of our daughters and her husband live in a neighboring town about 7 miles away. Another daughter and a son and their families live in the Dallas area a couple of hours away and another son and his family live in Wyoming. A granddaughter and her family live about 20 miles away. We don’t see as much of any of them as we’d like.

Sports in Murdo have always been a big deal. It’s that way in Van, too. Kip and I need to start attending some of the local high school’s sporting events. Maybe that would enhance our sense of belonging. I just now came to that realization.

Murdo definitely had a grapevine of gossip. I wonder if it still does. I’m sure Van does, too, though Kip and I are not well connected enough to know. After living in the Dallas area for so many years, it’s nice to be in a smaller town again. It’s wonderful not to have the traffic. I wish I had a dollar for every time I drove down Main Street and around Brunskill’s hill in Murdo. We used to call it dragging Main.

Though we live in a relatively small town, it doesn’t feel like Murdo. The lake area was nice as we have a lot of friends there and that’s where our church is.

I feel like I’m rambling a bit here. That’s the way my thoughts have been. I hope you’re having a great day! Until next time…

We spent 4 glorious days at Jamaica Beach RV Resort. Tuesday, we took the ferry to Bolivar to check out a new RV park (Margaritaville). One of the campers we met at Lake Livingston told us about it. We had fun taking the ferry and watching all the ships. Wednesday, we took the dogs to the dog park and then went to the beach. Afterwards, we had lunch at Schlotsky’s. I had my favorite California chicken and avocado flatbread. It was huge and I ate the whole thing.

We left Galveston this morning about 11:00 and now we’re headed back to Lake Livingston for 2 days before heading home. We took the long way to avoid Houston and it’s been a nice south Texas drive. We should arrive about 5:30… P.S. we stopped at checkers and had a burger about 3:00. No dinner tonight.

We departed Lake Livingston Sunday morning and headed for Galveston. We were able to reserve four days at Jamaica Beach RV Resort. We have stayed here many times in the past, and we love it. It’s right across the road from a lovely beach. The beach isn’t as crowded here as it is closer into town. We would have planned to stay longer, but they have been totally booked for months because of spring break. We would try to find another park, but we decided we would rather not hang around with the spring break crowd descending on Galveston. This place is going to be crazy. Besides, all the other parks are most likely full too.

They have a large dog park here, so we took the dogs for some exercise before heading over to our favorite breakfast place. The Sunflower Bakery and Cafe. We had yummy waffles, bacon and eggs. We also picked up a Danish from the bakery for tomorrow. We’ll eat salads tonight.

Later, we went for a long walk down the beach. The dogs loved it!

Life traveling in the motorhome is good. We’re really enjoying ourselves.