Washington on the Brazos

This past Thursday we took a little road trip to where it all began for the state of Texas. Just about 35 miles north of Waller is a Historic site called Washington on the Brazos. The place where Texas signed their Declaration of Independence from Mexico.

In March of 1836 Texans met in an unfinished building to declare independence. 2 weeks later they adopted a constitution for the new Republic of Texas. Sadly nearly twenty years later the town was completely abandoned.

Independence Hall

The historic site today has an education center, museum, visitor center and replica of the unfinished building where the documents were signed called independence hall. There is also a nice walking tour with sign boards giving information about the town of Washington and the people who settled there.

Also on property is the working farm of Dr. Anson Jones, the last president of the 
Republic of Texas. His home was typical of many homes of that era having a dog walk between the two halves of the home. Dr. Jones named his home Barrington after his native town in Massachusetts.

Smoke House

Kitchen

Anson Jones family included his wife Mary, daughter Sarah, and three sons, Samuel, Charles, and Cromwell, Mary's four half sisters and the slaves. There are costumed interpreters to answer any and all questions about life of that time and about how the farm operated.

Barn

Slave Houses

Oxen

slaves quarters

inside the slave's quarters

There is a cost to tour the farm of $5.00 per person and $5.00 for the museum, or $9.00 for both. No cost to enter the park or take the walking tour of the town. A nice way to spend an afternoon and very informational. I highly recommend the Washington on the Brazos State Historic Site. Its just about 8 miles west of Navasota off highway 105 on FM 1155. You can download an app “Texas 1836” to your smart phone for a virtual tour of Washington in 1836. Visit www.wheretexasbecametexas.org or visit texasstateparks.org     

WORKAMPING

Workamping, an odd word. It's actually the combination of two words working and camping. Something a lot of full time RV'ers known about already. What some seem to forget is the work part. The way workamping works is you agree to help out at a campground by working in their store, doing maintenance, or any number of other NOT very strenuous or stressful jobs.

In exchange you get a combination of benefits. Like, full hook ups, free or discounted propane and laundry, sometimes even a small salary. Some places will only give you a free site but the amount of hours you work will be greatly reduced, giving you plenty of time to explore the area or just relax.

At our current workamping gig nobody expects you to work hard. Even the general manager has said several times you need to slow down. When it takes over two months to complete 1 project that should have taken maybe two weeks at most, and no we're still not done. I have to say Can we pick up the pace a little.

Now granted this is our first workamping job ever, we just started on March 1^st. Still too much of the real world job ethic left in me I guess. But come on we're not snails we can move a little faster. Don't get me wrong I'm all for taking it easy, that's one of the reasons we joined this fulltime RV lifestyle. But come on, let's get something done.

I know I'm going to meet a lot of different kinds of people out here. Some you will get along with others not so much. Everybody here is an adult, so why not act like one. You signed up for the job, you agreed to the pay and benefits. Now its time to do your share.

I know some people are going to give me a hard time and say things like, why don't you just do your job and stop whining or maybe everybody is doing what they can. That's fine. Say your piece, I have. It won't bother me one bit. I just think some folks that sign up for this don't understand the work part of it. Maybe they will learn maybe not.

Just saying

Safe Travels And I Hope To See You Down The Road