Home

We arrived home last Sat. about 1:00 p.m. EST. It's nice to be home but I need lots of naps between unpacking the RV.

I will tell about the Natchez Trace Parkway later when I can put on some pictures. Right now I am at the public library using their computer. I have no internet, no cable TV, and no phone until April 4. Add to that the fact that one of the outlets in the kitchen isn't working and every time I use the microwave I trip a circuit breaker. Hey, this house is over 100 years old so what do I expect.

Scooby went back to the rescue people on Monday. He dragged me all the way from the car into their building. They tried to put me off but had no luck. So I have a peaceful house with 3 dogs who do what dogs usually do - bark when someone knocks on the door, ask to go out now and then and expect doggy treats on a regular basis.

I got to see the Grandkids and Greatgrand kid on Sat. afternoon. Carson is 9 months old and crawling and squealing and grabbing and waving. Normal kid.

I just wish spring was really here but it will be soon.

East of Shreveport, La

I decided to spend the day here at the same place and rest up and wait for the weather to clear. It has worked nicely. About noon the sky cleared, the rain stopped and the RV stopped rocking.

I feel much better with the extra day of rest also. I have even decided to try driving the Natchez Trace from Jackson, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. It is supposed to be a very scenic drive plus I cut out Memphis which is always a mess.

This may delay my getting home - oh well. I have to stop and smell the roses sometimes.

Somewhere east of Shreveport, Louisiana

What a couple of days, driving in the wind. It gusts from all sides, no way to prepare for it. I am afraid to even take one hand off the wheel to hold it in front of the air conditioner vent to dry the sweat off my palms. At least I am out of Texas tonight and have WIFI here at this campground.

Texas driving is interesting. Most of their roads have a wide apron, almost another lane. If you are slower than traffic (and I always am, even at 65 & 70 MPH) they expect you to pull over on the apron and let them go by. I have done this several times when I could see far enough ahead that there was no one stopped in that lane. They also have a system set up for evacuations. There are movable barriers in the middle of the thruway so you can move over to the oncoming lanes when that kind of emergency is declared. There are signs telling you when and how to do it. But the apron is to be left open for emergency vehicles.

Let me explain the picture at the top. Today I stopped at a Kroger to pick up some of my imitation cheese. As I passed the back of my RV I noticed that the spare tire was hanging way back from the bumper. The welded connections to the bumper had torn loose. It wasn't that way this morning when I started out. A wonderful Kroger worker came over and helped me take the spare tire and bracket off the bumper and put it into the RV on the floor. That was a new bumper last summer so it will go right back to Adventure RV and they will fix it.

Then the nice Kroger worker pointed out that one of my tires looked low. So I stopped at a tire store and had them check the air pressure and add air to all my tires. I run them 10 lbs. lighter than it says on them. Someone told me that was a good thing to do. Hope they were right.

Then there is my rattle. It started a couple of weeks ago on a short trip. When I stopped I noticed that somehow the vent fan over the stove was on. The last day I was with Linda & Bob, Linda took a short ride with me to try to find the rattle. I had stopped several times on my own but when you are stopped it doesn't rattle, when you are driving you can't find it. She determined that the rattle was inside the housing around the microwave and vent fan. So now that I know where it is and know I can't fix it I can ignore it - almost.

I got my fake soy cheese and had a sandwich for lunch. About an hour later I started feeling sick, very sick. I had just bought the cold cuts but they are going out tonight. I was in the middle of I-20 in Shreveport when it became intolerable and took a random exit and pulled into a liquor store parking lot and ran for the bathroom with a bucket in front of me and the back of me on the toilet. I was just in time. I'm feeling a lot better but will see how I do tomorrow. It was also very warm in the RV so I turned on the generator and the RV air conditioner the rest of the trip to this campground. A friend of mine named Jon suggested that with this size RV the engine AC might not be enough to keep it comfortable (it was 80 degrees inside). Thanks Jon.

I had planned to be home by the week-end but things can happen so I'm making no firm plans. Luckily I have my 2nd home right here with me - with a spare tire in the middle of the floor. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and laugh about it.

Austin, TX

I left about 10:00 a.m. this morning and didn't stop except for pit stops and lunch and gas until 5:15. This is a Federal Immigration checkpoint. It is about 50 miles north of the border. When it was our turn a car in the line beside us was stopped and a big beautiful Doberman held by a Federal agent was lungeing and barking at the cars trunk. I wanted to see what they had found but Scooby was going crazy at the window and I was waved through without any checking at all.

We ran into slow traffic at Victoria, San Antonio, and Austin. I thought Sunday would be a good day to travel but a lot of people were going home from a week-end outing. It is also spring break time.

These cactus grow wild in the fields and people use them in their natural flower gardens. The dogs got into one while trying to meet some other dogs. Red has licked all the hair off the top of one of her feet. Scooby has a scrape under one of his leg pits (?). I found 4 ticks the last 2 days we were in Los Indios. 3 were on me and one on Scooby.
The checkered flag is where I want to go, the green arrowhead is me, I don't understand the white arrow. Maybe they thought it was a divided highway. I found it in spite of the confusing instructions.

When I arrived at the campground I had picked it was full. I hadn't called ahead as I wasn't sure I would go so far. They were kind enough to fit me in between another RV and a pile of gravel. They even strung an extension cord from their shed so I have electricity. It is supposed to be very windy tomorrow and I had planned to stay here for 2 nights before moving on. I will look for something further along the way but not too far in case that wind gets really strong. There is always Walmart. Don't know if I will find any WIFI but I am enjoying it tonight.

Los Indios, TX

Three wilted dogs trying to find a cool spot. The RV air conditioning was able to keep the temperature down to 80 inside when it was 104 outside. The outside thermometer cringed and went blank today after it hit 103. It has been 18 months since this area was 100 degrees and the record was broken for this date.
As a result we have decided to move north tomorrow to avoid the heat. It's no fun being cooped up in the RV with no WIFI and no cable TV. I can only read for so long.

This beautiful flowing bush is happy in these temperatures.

I should be home in a week or so but will take my time and watch the weather as I go. People tell me that the snow has melted out of my driveway.

Los Indios, TX

If there was a way to teach Scooby to ride this thing I could take shorter walks. This is one of the 2 exercise bikes in the new rec building pictured below.

This is the old building that is right across the street from where I am parked. It has 3 washers and 3 dryers, plus clothes line, and a bathroom with shower. They say it will be torn down soon. This place is only open Oct. thru April. I'm beginning to understand why. It is 87 degrees outside. The local news has upped their prediction for tomorrow by 1 degree -- to 100. That is hibernation weather for me. I melt.

The WIFI doesn't work and they tell me that they expect a repairperson in a week or so. This is a very laid back park to say the least. The fishing is in the canals nearby. We walk by them when we take walks. There are too many dogs in the park that start barking at us when we walk by so we go out of the park. I was told a propane truck would be by today but haven't seen it.

I didn't post yesterday, didn't have much going on. This is actually very relaxing. I am doing a lot of reading and getting ready to make the trek north. A lot of the people who were here Monday when I came have already left. I guess it's about time.

Is the snow melted up north?

Los Indios, Tx

This morning was chilly but there was a great difference of opinion on how to dress. The nearest man has on a winter coat, the guy next to him is in a short sleeve shirt and the man they are talking to has on no shirt at all. I took this out my RV window so as not to disturb anyone.

I walked the dogs, read a lot, and enjoyed the weather. The local news says it will be 99 degrees on Friday. WOW I will burn up some of those killiwatt hours with my air conditioning.

I have been amazed at the birdcall sounds the grackles make so today I tried to record one with my digital camera. I got two 20+ second recordings before someone walked by with a dog and Scooby and Red went into their impression of attack dogs. The dogs were tied outside. In trying to get hold of Scooby before he broke his leash or his neck I inadvertantly pressed the record button on my camera. The video shows the ground and my feet but the sounds are amazing. I tried to upload the grackle video but it wouldn't go. Some kind of error. Maybe I'll try to put it on youtube sometime.

I am still at the rec center to get online. People are very friendly here. There are a couple of card games going on here involving nickles.