Just a short note for tonight—we got home Friday about noon—and I will slow down enough to write in a day or two! Between cleaning the house so we can move in, moving all the food and clothes into the house, cleaning all the camper stuff to have it ready in an emergency, and tidying up the yard, I manage to stay busy!
So, hang tight, I will be back to write about the last days of the trip—and then winning Two ribbons at the Livingston Art League’s annual art show on Saturday.
We are about 130 miles from home! Had we been 20 years younger, we could have continued on up to Livingston, but we aren’t—and we didn’t. Age has bestowed wisdom on us—why drive until 4 p.m. through rush-hour traffic and arrive exhausted??
Yesterday we stopped early to visit Harrell and Tommie Sue’s new house in Bulverde, TX. It is located just off Hwy 46 around San Antonio, TX. Wow, what a nice place! They were so lucky to find this gem in the Hill Country:
Isn’t it nice? Their new house came with built-in pets—lots of deer! This morning, this guy was enjoying his breakfast just past their deck.
Down hunters, down! No guns allowed! These are pets!! (Not pests!)
Don’t they look happy in their new house! We had a wonderful visit with Tommie Sue and Harrell and some of their friends who live in the areas. We all went to dinner at a place called Antlers. The food was some of the best food we have eaten in a restaurant all year! Larry was in heaven with his Chicken-Fried Steak dinner!! He has really missed that since we left last December.
This morning we were finally able to get the truck and car car inspection stickers done in Spring Branch—so 2 of our 3 vehicles are done! Yippee. We tried in Junction, Segovia, and Bulverde yesterday with no luck. Each inspection station was either out of stickers—on the 6th of the month, ill employee, or wouldn’t do it on wet streets. It is a battle every year to find someone to do the inspection. Why?
We are in Brookshire, TX, at Houston West RV Park for the night. We just have to get past the morning rush hour traffic coming into Katy and then pick up the toll-road around Houston for the last leg of the 2,000 mile trip! I estimated 10 days for the trip, but because we stopped to visit with friends, it will have taken 11 days—not bad for two old folks traveling East!
Just a short note. We ran into rain and fog just before Ozona, TX. The weather report for the San Antonio area looked too iffy for us, so we pulled in to Junction, TX, to the North Llano River RV Park. It is a very nice park and we have started staying here coming and going through Texas.
Tomorrow night we will be stopping in Bulverde, TX, to visit Harrell and Tommie Sue Hicks in their new home. We expect to do about 200 miles toward Houston the next day—stopping in Katy, TX.
Then if all goes well, on to Livingston!! But, like all our plans, it is subject to change—due to any number of reasons, smile! Check back to see how far we get Thursday.
I wrote this morning from El Paso, TX. Today we drove about 260 miles to Fort Stockton and checked into the Comanche Land RV Park. Not much to look at, but full hook-ups for just $16.
Here are some of the photos from the last few days:
The desert is a dangerous place—for Saguaros at Holt’s Shell station. These snakes are about 6 ft. tall!
Here we are parked in Cochise Terrace in Benson, AZ. And this is Don and Sharon’s beautiful spot.
It rained during the night and I got up early to take some photos of the clouds.
Texas Canyon with its beautiful rounded rock formations shaped by wind and water is one of my favorite spots along the I-10 corridor..
So many are perched precariously on top of each other, I don’t think I would like to be up there in a storm with strong winds! Watch out below!!
One of the reasons I didn’t get to post on Sunday afternoon is that we had a small maintenance item—well, actually a big one! When I pulled of I-10 for the Anthony Flying J, I noticed the car seemed to jerk when I stopped at the light—and again after fueling. Once we got to the American RV Park, Larry took a look and noticed the ball on the stinger was lose. As he had just tightened it the day before because it felt lose when we hooked up, we decided a visit to share some money with Camping World was in order! I mean, who wants to lose a car in downtown El Paso???
We picked up a new stinger and ball, but forgot that we had reversed it so it raised the ball, not dropped it two inches. Larry’s big tools to reverse the new one are in the storage locker in Antioch. Back in the car, back down the hill—return the first one and the only thing they had was a straight stinger with 3 different ball sizes. Bought that and new pins for the hitch and back to the campground to install. It is working great—and feels more stable than the old arrangement.
Once the work was done, I had to go do a load of laundry which took a while—so it was dark and almost bedtime before I could post. And I was just too tired at that point—off to bed!
RVing really is the art of adapting to new situations without a lot of cussing! Minor cussing allowed, but major cussing is reserved for medical issues—as they are the situations that really count in one’s life!
Junction, TX, is our destination for tomorrow.
We are in Texas, but just at the border in Anthony, TX. We have about 800 miles to go in this 2,000 mile trip.
We spent the previous night in Benson, AZ, where Sharon and Don Del Rosario call “home.” At least that is where they own a lot and storage shed, smile. We passed through Tucson early Sunday morning and then ran into a lot of wind. So, we decided to stop in Benson and wait til the following morning to pass through the AZ and NM dust-blowing areas. I have photos of the Del Rosario’s homestead, but I am short of time this morning. Will try to post this afternoon from Fort Stockton.
We had a lovely visit with Don and Sharon and all went out to dinner at Pablo's in Benson. It was nice being able to spend some time hearing what wonderful adventures they had this summer.
It rained in Benson and Lordsburg Sunday night, so we didn’t have any trouble with dust or the wind. However, instead of spending the night in Deming, NM, as planned, we decided we had to push on to make today a shorter trip of 250 miles. We stopped and ate our lunch while visiting with Jim and Penny Scott and continued on to Anthony, TX, to stay at the American RV Park just up behind Camping World.
More on that later today. We are headed for Fort Stockton for tonight—a long haul for us on this trip—256 miles! Chat with you later today!
Today was another short driving day. Yesterday we drove 60 miles from Gila Bend, AZ, to Casa Grande, AZ. I wanted to get closer to Tucson in order to go through the area between Casa Grande and Tucson early in the morning to avoid possible dust storms. We ran into a dust storm on the way out last December and it was very scary. If we needed a reminder of dust-storm dangers, which we didn’t really need, sixteen cars and trucks piled up Tuesday in that area resulting in 3 fatalities.
And the best reason for the Casa Grande stop was to visit with long-time friends, Jerry and Mary Frye. They have a beautiful fifth wheel set up at Fiesta Grande RV Park for the winter season. We missed seeing them this summer in Poulsbo, WA, or on their way south, so it seemed as the perfect time to visit. We planned on going to the Elks’ Club, but I happened to notice Fiesta Grande was a Passport America park…perfect for us!
The Fiesta Grande is a wonderful destination park for spending the winter season!! However, the traffic in the east end of Casa Grande, as well as the number of people in In & Out Burger and Wal-Mart is enough to send me running to QUIET Quartzsite—during the busy season in January! Wow, Wal-Mart felt like I was in an area for a popular concert or ball game—people every where! And it was Friday and before the busy Snow Bird season has started. Where did they all come from?
We had a lovely visit with Mary and Jerry catching up on all the news and Mary fixed a delicious dinner for us. She is a outstanding cook! And the desert---ahhhhh. Let’s just say Carol fell off her “sweet-free life” again. It was a good fall----and I enjoyed every yummy bite!
Today we are with long-time friends, Don and Sharon Del Rosario. We weren't sure we would stop as we wanted to get past the dust-blowing areas around Wilcox, AZ, and Lordsburg, NM. However, the wind picked up in Tucson and was blowing pretty good 25 miles west of Benson, so we stopped for the night and will get an early start—again—to get to Deming, NM, tomorrow. We did manage to drive about 90 miles today.
Don and Sharon has have a beautiful RV lot in Cochise Terrace in Benson, AZ. They were able to borrow an absent neighbor’s lot for us for tonight. We are enjoying catching up on all their news. They live a much, much more active life that we do, smile. Fun to live vicariously through their adventures. Several years ago, Sharon showed me how to blog and started me on my path to long-winded posts. Blame Sharon if you are tired of reading what we do, smile.
Photos tomorrow of this area. We are moving—just really, really slow. It is okay, that is what retirement life is all about.
We made it out of California this morning! The last 20 miles involved driving on new-graveled highway—what a mess! I was afraid we might have coated the front of the car, but it was fine when I stopped to check.
We are at Holt’s Shell Station and RV park for tonight at the crossroads of I-8 and Butterfield Trail in Gila Bend, AZ.
The desert air is crisp and feels so inviting. I have missed it. We have the air conditioner running instead of the heater. I expect the heater will be on tomorrow morning as mornings are a bit too chilly for Larry.
This place is interesting. In addition to a Shell fuel station for autos and big trucks and a RV park, it offers free water and dump station to desert campers as well as a touch of Mexico for shoppers.
And for those who want to shop in Mexico without crossing the border, here you go:
Didn’t see your heart’s desire? Walk around the corner.
I wanted to adopt this flower, but it was $129. A bit beyond my budget!
It’s five foot tall and would have added some life to our yard in Texas! Well it was fun looking, but I don’t have ANY room in the truck, camper or car for “treasures.” We are loaded to the brim!
Tomorrow night we are going to live in a bit of luxury at the Fiesta Grande RV Resort in Casa Grande. Our friends Mary and Jerry are there for the winter season. I noticed it was a Passport America park and called for one night’s reservation. It is a super nice park! It is fun to splurge once in a while! More tomorrow night.
