It’s time to get out of Dodge. There’s a storm a brewin’ and I’m a goin’.

If you watch the Weather Channel at all you may have seen that central Texas is now marshland. The state is like a doughnut of land with a lake in place of the doughnut hole.

By a marvelous twist of fate I was not anywhere near Pizzaville for the worst of it. (I was actually in a galaxy far, far away. I had a great time, and that will be in a later story.) I was watching the Weather Channel while I was gone, and that was scary enough. You all know how I feel about these big wind and water storms. I’ll take a good ol’ west coast earthquake over that any day. By not being in Texas for the storm, I’m sure I’ve saved years of my life. Years that would’ve otherwise been lost to the stress and fear of being right there.

Tornadoes touched down around Pizzaville (none too close to the RV park). Many people were evacuated from homes and RV parks all around south central Texas. Cow-Chicken-Oil town is completely flooded. Dams broke, river banks overflowed, roads washed away. And so did some homes. Several people lost their lives and more are still missing.

Today I moved three hours across south central Texas Hill Country. (Yes, you can drive three hours straight in Texas and still be in the same central area of the state.) Yeah, yeah, I know. Three hours doesn’t seem that far when I realize I’m still in Texas and still in Hill Country. Although, this part is hillier (yes, that IS a word if for no other reason than I just made it one) and I have yet to see a cow. And I think I’m nearer to civilization. Not by much, though. And perhaps this park will provide long-overdue fodder for Tales From the RV Park.

As a farewell to Pizzaville and the surrounding area, I bring you a fancy courthouse, and a giant cow statue.

We’ll start with the Caldwell County Courthouse in Lockhart, Texas. If this courthouse looks familiar, you are not hallucinating. Well, not about this, anyway. About fifty movies have been filmed around this courthouse and in Lockhart, Texas.

Caldwell County Courthouse, Lockhart, Texas. (The jumbotron in the bottom of the photo was only there for an event and is not usually present.)

But this photogenic courthouse is not as unique as you might think… well, as anyone not from Texas might think. Small town Texas is full of picturesque courthouses, each one unique. If anyone is aware of other states that have fancy courthouses, I’m curious to know where they are. I’ve not seen any like this on the west coast. 

And now for cow.

I have not seen one cow since the first half hour of my three hour trip to the other side of Hill Country (I’ll have to come up with an appropriate name for this new town once I get a feel for the place.)

Proudly displayed in front of the Sirloin Stockade in Lockhart, Texas, is this cow on wheels. I don’t know her name, but I recently learned the black and white cows are Holsteins. (Don’t ask any more questions, that’s all I know.)

Here’s Bessie the Sirloin Stockade Cow. (I’m calling her Bessie because I want to call her something.)

Bessie’s behind.

To quote a friend, ‘Look at the size of that ass!’

Seeing bovine behinds in front of you is a common sight while driving around the cow portion of Hill Country.