A New/Old stop in Fabens

Yesterday (Easter) I enjoyed an Easter dinner at Flying J, traded travel bugs in Anthony and spent the night at the Texas Welcome Center, where they have WiFi. The WiFi at the state rest stops is usually pretty slow and it doesn’t support the VOIP phone very well. Anyway I was able to get out s-l-o-w-l-y with my other internet needs and it was a good quiet bedroom place, with only one other overnight RVer in the very large lot.

In the morning I went to Camping World and replaced my stabilizer jacks. When I inquired about checking my trailer brake problem I found that they would charge me about the price of a new one just to troubleshoot the problem. I said, “No thanks!” and went on down the road, geocaching.

I only did two caches, but one of them was very significant to me. Some of you may remember that my “Charley, my friend” travel bug, which memorializes Charley Hendren, was lost from a cache in El Paso. Well, today I started up the replacement TB in a cache about 2 miles from the academy in El Paso where Charley worked. Now it is headed on to Arlington, Topeka, Sheridan, and Douglas.

East of the cache about 20 miles at FM793 exit from I-10 is one of my favorite stops. I decided to drop in to Texas Reds for a hamburger (the greatest) and to work on the repair of my brakes – and then to park for the night if it was late enough. Well, “Texas Reds” is no more. Here you can see them putting up the new sign. I went in and met the owner and he assured me that although it is now going to be called “FastTrak”, the spirit and demeanor of the place has not changed. He has taken up where Red and his wife left off, and he intends to still have the lowest gas prices, best hamburgers and a welcoming place to get off the road for the night. I tried the western hamburger (1/3 # with onion rings and BBQ sauce, dressed with lettuce tomatoes, onions, etc.) and it is still as good as I remember. The place has a real kitchen where the hamburgers and an assortment of Mexican foods are prepared. There is no dining room – you eat in your car, RV, or take it to the Faben’s Inn Motel across the street.

I got my brake repair done as far as I can go today. The good news is that the brakes on the trailer and the controller wiring test out perfect. The bad news is that the problem seems to be a fatal error in the controller logic. I will have to find the controller install papers and warranty and proceed at the next appropriate place to get it repaired.