We have pulled up our roots, packed the RV and are heading across America to see what we can see! No Covid, no hip pain, the RV basically repaired so it’s time to head out for sights unseen and sights to be seen again. I am going to try to keep a daily journal and then post it weekly as both time and internet permit. We are going to drive no more than 300 miles in a day and we’ll try to find Americana wherever we can.
So we’ve spent the past week preparing for today. We’ve organized and cleaned and stored all of our belongings in the coach and storage shed in Brownsville. It is amazing how much stuff one can accumulate in a short period of time. Sunday Vicki was treated to a wonderful afternoon of shopping and lunch with her friends Christy and Becky. A good time was had by all! I was fortunate enough to play a final round with my friends Keith, Robert and Marvin. Sadly, Robert and I suffered the wrath of Keith and Marvin in 18 holes of best ball. But still it was joyous. The week before Marvin and I put a beat down on Keith and another golfer Tom, although I did have to receive the tow of shame as my golf cart died after 6 holes.
Getting back to our Day 1 report. Having packed the rig 90% of the way, getting the rest of our poop in a group should’ve been easy. We did have several friends stop by to bid us farewell. After some near tears, we got back to put the finishing touches on the rig. Onto the creeper I went and connected the auto stairs when I heard water flowing out of the rig. I thought because I had raised the stabilizers I had somehow punctured our water tank. It turned out to be nothing because our pad is not completely level, water flowed out of the overflow valve. We’ve been planted for so long, forgot that I’d filled the tank completely and since it leaned a bit left, the overflow valve did its job. Just caused a bit of panic seeing water flow out so freely!! Took a bit longer than usual to get on the road as our skills of breaking down the rig have gotten a bit rusty.
Headed to Circle K to fill the gas tank, but only to discover that the ad caps prevented me from putting the nozzle in the gas tank. Are you freakin’ kidding me!!! So, we hooked up the car and growled a bit at Circle K corporate and down Military Highway we went. Made it just outside of San Benito when cars started honking at us. The backup camera was its usual fickle self and gave the ‘no camera signal’ message. We got pulled over and one of the bicycles had fallen over. Luckily it stayed on and didn’t drag behind our TOAD. Returning it to its upright position was painful and the bike rack self released with a thud and one of the bicycles handle bars caught me right on the nose. Didn’t draw blood, but sure made the eyes water!!!!
Had lunch at the center meridian rest stop on US 77 just past the border patrol checkpoint. The girls had a good walk although there were plenty of stickers in the grass. We then went and filled with fuel at a Love’s in Refugio Texas. Got a McDonalds ice cream and was thankful that the generator was back online to keep the coach cold. That shut down at 1/4 tank can be a bit annoying in the south Texas heat.
Arrived in Victoria TX around 3 to our campground for the night. Southbound 59 is an easy in-easy out park with nice pull thrus. Went to bed early and look forward to another fun day of travel as we make our way to Perry GA for the FMCA rally. Oh, and by the way, did I mention we’re still loving retirement?
Day 2:
Up early to a humid Texas morning in Victoria. A nice little campground with pull-thru, full hook ups and long enough to stay connected with the Escape. Vicki fixed a wonderful blueberry pancake breakfast and so we lingered around until 9. Met a nice gentleman from Missouri EnRoute to Brownville/Padre Island, so gave him Ellen’s card. Told him about our spot that’s up for rent. Hopefully he wants to stay for a few weeks. The drive to Orange TX was uneventful with our only slow down being downtown Houston as we transitioned from US 59 to I-10. Once on I-10 we stopped at Bucee’s for Lunch. I have found my new favorite thing with the Bucee’s Brisket sandwich. I finished an xxl and Vicki killed an xl and OMG!!! Talk about a bag full of deliciousness!!! I’ve found my new favorite thing!
Did have a bit of an encounter with Texas trucker in the last part of the trip. Was going East on I-10 when we tripped the breaker on the generator. So I pulled off the freeway onto the frontage road and started opening compartment doors to access the generator. I had parked in a new housing development construction zone entrance so I could be completely off the frontage road. Not a car or truck in sight. So I went to work on getting the front cover off the generator. Note to self, when running the generator for over 3 hours, the front cover tends to get really hot!! Anyhow, as I’m reinstalling this hot cover, two dump trucks arrive trying to get into the construction site. I was just closing things up, but instead of waiting for 30 seconds, they forced their way around me missing the car my mere inches. What a**holes!! Apparently Texans lack patience. Made it to Orange TX with no further issues. The park we are staying in is very nice. Level concrete site with full hook ups and grass for the girls to sniff in to their hearts delight.
Day 3
Up at 4:00 am to walk the dogs. Must not be sleeping well with the moon being full. Good thing we only have 105 miles to traverse today. Staying at Frog City campgrounds so that should be interesting in and of itself. With Texas in our Rearview mirror, we have entered the Sportsmans Paradise, Louisiana. Frog City is everything I expected. The folks are friendly, the park is clean and just like Texas, Louisiana so far, is sunny and hot! Walking up to the office, I was welcomed by 3 folks sitting on the front porch of the office, just a watchin’ the day unfold. We arrived just past noon so had a nice lunch and a nap. My goodness this retirement thing is exhausting.
After our nap, it was just nice to relax outside. We set up our chairs under the awning. Vicki worked on a jigsaw puzzle, while I used the waterless cleaner and cleaned the passenger side of the rig which was out of the sun. Tuned in Pandora to the 60’s folk station and made a glorious afternoon with a cocktail of cold brewed coffee made into a yummy. Vicki is becoming quite the barista and it’s all alcohol free. We’ll see what tomorrow brings us as we head for Biloxi Mississippi. Had a wonderful shrimp and pasta supper compliments of HEB. Those prepared meals are so nice! Vegged in front of the TV until 9, took a gummie and called it a night. Just sayin’, still loving retirement!
Day 4
Up early yet again. Four o’clock is getting to be the new 7, wtf!!! Anyway, enjoyed extra coffee and got the rig broken down, gear stowed, dogs walked. Into the final procedures, car set up, bed slide in, front passenger slide in, entire wall doesn’t f***ing move!!! So now it’s problem solving mode. I go outside and try to figure what needs to be done. Vicki goes to the owner’s manual and uses her superpower of online research and we come up empty. Next step, go to campground guide to find a mobile repair guy/gal. Start calling at 8:30. They didn’t return my call until after 9:00. Myra said that she doesn’t do mobile work, but she knows a guy who does. Turned out to be a three way call and Don said he could be out in half an hour. Is that cool or what? Don shows up as promised and assesses the problem. I need a new motor for the back part of the slide as the pin on the shaft inside the motor has probably sheered off. If he can find the part, he’ll put it in and we’ll be on our way. Finding the part is harder than finding a Unicorn here locally so put in a call to Lichsenn in Indiana. They have the part, which cost $1800 and to ship will take 3 weeks and another $300. Wait I say, I have a motor back in the shed in Brownsville. So jump on the phone and who comes to our rescue? Why none other than Robert and Christy Stillwell, neighbor supreme and all that is pure and good in River Bend. Robert goes to the shed, finds the part, then takes it to UPS and sends it on Perry, where we’ll be able to pick it up, find a guy and install the slide motor. So for the next few days, we’ll be living in a submarine, but that’s the life of an RVer. We called Don back and after finishing another job, he came back and manually slid the long slide in with a bit of help from Vicki (who ran the control switch retracting the front of the slide) and me measuring the progression between the front and the back with a tape measure. I definitely got my steps in going from the back to the front several times.
We finally got on the road at 2:30. Much later than we usually do. Our chi was totally misaligned and so we did the best we could. Baton Rouge was a total nightmare in terms of traffic. It was literally as bad as Portland at rush hour. The only issue was that there were only two lanes of traffic in each direction and one of them was under construction. So it took almost an hour to go 15 miles which meant by the time we got to Biloxi, it was pitch black dark. Fred does not like docking in the dark. Thankfully, we are in a pull through and setting up was very simple. We’ll be interested to see what our park looks like in the daylight.
Day 5
Awoke after a wonderful night’s sleep to a brilliant sunrise as we walked the dogs for their morning constitional. Enjoyed a bike ride around the very nice park and did laundry. Took the rugs to the laundromat as the dogs had ‘a little accident’. So had a nice breakfast as we adapted to having a much smaller living space. Got loaded up and that’s when yet another major issue plagued us. After loading up the bikes I removed the batteries and put them on the bumper of the car. You can guess what happened next, I forgot to remove them and we drove off with them and didn’t realize it until almost 50 miles down the road. So frustrating!!! So now will have to find replacements and since they’re lithium, they are going to cost a pretty penny. Have been kicking myself for the entire day.
Crossed the panhandle of Mississippi. Had no issues on I-10 other than still heavy traffic. We did have an interesting encounter going through Mobile Alabama though. We came up on two Constables going code 3 down the freeway as they escorted a stretch limo in the slow lane. We passed them, but the tinted windows didn’t let us see inside. We could only assume it was either for a funeral or a VIP. But I’ve never seen an escort that was is the slow lane, going code and allowing people to pass. Interesting to say the least.
We arrived at our campsite Gunter Hill Campground just outside of Montgomery. An exceptionally clean and nice state campground. Our first stay at a corps of engineers facility. Very easy in and out. Exceptionally well maintained with very nice spacing between rigs. Our neighbors who arrived about an hour later are from Arkansas and going to Perry as well. Had a nice evening chatting with them as we had our coffee cocktail. Since we are surrounded by trees, Dish satellite is not possible so hooked up the blue ray and enjoyed “Heartbreak Ridge”. Heading to Selma tomorrow to ‘walk the bridge’ so truly looking forward to that. Also, tomorrow will give up another hour of life as we have sprung forward today and enter the Eastern time zone tomorrow. Man, how I hate day light savings time. But, did I mention? Still loving retirement!!
