Marble Falls to Euless

We motored around Marble Falls today, stopping at Ken's Catfish and Barbecue for lunch. Catfish being one of our favorite foods, we find it hard to pass up one of these joints. It was quite good, and our hankering was fully satisfied. This was a nice little burg and quite picturesque, especially along the high cliffs of the Colorado River. We drove along a narrow residential lane on the south bank of the river and admired the river view of some of the houses built precariously close to the rocky edge. We saw a realtor's yard sign in front of one of these and called the listing agent just to see how close we came to guessing the price. It was a nice place with a guest cottage, but not nearly as large as our 3,500 square foot house in Dallas. Prior to making the call, my guess on the price was $450,000, and I think Sandy's was something less. When the agent told us it was priced at $1.4 million, I just about ran off the road! I guess I haven't been keeping up with the real estate market.

On our way back through Burnet, we stopped at a place that sells park model trailers. These things are a curious phenomenon, rapidly gaining in popularity, according to what I have read. It's essentially a small mobile home that's more the size of a travel trailer (no more than 12 feet wide). It's not designed for RV travel but for towing to a semi-permanent location then set up as a second home or vacation cabin. For some reason, I find them mildly appealing, I guess because of their simplicity and ease to maintain. It would be unthinkable, though, for one of these little things to be your only permanent residence. There's just not enough room. It's funny how the aging process turns things upside down. Just ten years ago, I would have still have been in the "acquisition" mode in terms of housing. Bigger was always better. But, as I'm on the older side of middle age, I marvel at the change in my priorities. Nowadays, I'm focusing on what I can get rid of. Keeping up our big house is a constant hassle and a monstrous expense, and I won't be sorry to see it go after Mindy moves out. I'm looking forward to retiring, jettisoning much of the stuff we've accumulated and simplifying our lifestyle. I think I would be perfectly happy with a condo or something similar, where all the upkeep is someone else's problem, and it would serve as a home base for what would be a constant pastime of RV travel. Now, if I can just get Sandy to buy into it!