More about small Texas towns

Coleman RV Park, Brownfield, TX June 27, 2016

Rowena, Eola, Brownfield…the list goes on. Small Texas towns that on the surface seem tired and worn out, but digging deeper you find they each have their own unique charm.

For instance, Bonnie Parker of “Bonnie and Clyde” fame was born in Rowena. It’s also home to the Horny Toad Brewery that we mentioned in our last blog.

And in Eola, Mark Cannon moved from Seattle, WA to this little town in the early 2000’s and purchased the abandoned school building. He began an ambitous endeavor that included restoring the buildings, opening a restaurant, operating a hostel and creating a brewery. And he did all this by himself. EJ and I sampled the beer and the Farm House Ale was excellent.

We forgot to mention that our departure from Dad’s yesterday was delayed due to rain. While we waited for it to stop and the roads to dry a little, Dad called to let us know the replacement motor we had ordered for his bed had arrived. This worked out well because we were worried how anyone was going to get down on the floor under his bed to replace the part. So I got to take care of it and tested it to make sure everything still worked after the new motor was installed.

After leaving Dad’s, our first order of business was to find a place to refill and dump as the only facility we’ve had for the past 2 weeks is an electric connection. We stop at San Angelo State Park to use their sani-dump for $10. Finally we are on the way to Brownfield, TX.

We had forgotten that we had visited here in the past until we arrived at the free campground, Coleman Park. That’s another thing we really like about small Texas towns. Compared to the other 45 states we’ve visited, Texas towns have more free, or donation oriented, city/county campgrounds. Here is the Brownfield brochure.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by a city employee who welcomed us and pointed out the only 50 amp connection in the campground. He came by the next day to make sure our stay was pleasant.

The other thing that is amazing is that these little campgrounds are rarely used. There were 12 sites and only 3 occupants the night we were there.

Breakfast the next day was another experience however. Google Maps told us there was an interesting sounding restaurant about a half mile away. Great, we can walk and get some exercise and some food. We walked to where Google said the restaurant was and found nothing but an empty lot and some houses. We called the number listed for the business and there was no answer. Well darn!

We decided to settle for McDonalds which was about a quarter mile from where we were standing. After walking over there, we find the dining room is closed for renovations. Dang! We end up walking ever further away from Big Guy to a Burger King. Oh well, at least it was eggs and sausage.

The walk back was getting warm and it was time to head to our next stop, Ruidoso Downs, NM.