Getting Around

It looks like getting around here may be easier than we thought. There are basically three main East West roads where you find the main stores. US 83 is a bit hard to navigate because the access roads on each side are one way. On these access roads are the main stores like Walmart, HEB, Target, and K-Mart. Here too are the big malls as well as the many strip malls.

North of US-83 is Business 83. This is a major E/W street and it is two way so it is easy to find things. The third main road is Griffin Parkway. Business 83 and Griffin Parkway are filled with the smaller local stores and shops.

There are many North South roads big enough to be called main roads. Once we figure out what N/S road where we want to go is near it will be much easier to get where we are going.

We visited Home Depot yesterday and I picked up some lumber to build a couple of steps. Each site here has a cement patio and it is raised just enough to keep the steps on the motorhome from opening. Home depot had a 4 step riser so I bought one and cut it in half to make two 2 step risers. That along with one 8 foot 2 by 10 was enough to make the steps. I was very pleased that the woodworking shop here has a lot of great power tools that made the job a snap.

We also made a stop at Camping World and picked up a small round plastic table for eating on the patio. A few items for the sewer were also needed. A quick stop at Wallmart and HEB were necessary to get a few grocery items.

I see Marsha has returned from doing the laundry so we will grab a quick lunch and head out to explore a bit more. We are meeting with the manager in charge of the workampers on Friday for an orientation and tour.

Inherit the Wind... Part Two

I am surprised that we made such good time today. We had to pack up the motorhome in the pouring rain this morning and it barley let up the whole day. I took a peek at the radar and it was a huge storm cell covering most of Texas. We felt very little wind on the road, yet at the moment we have some very heavy wind coming from the north.



It all brings back memories of the heavy winds we had all last winter in the Hill country of Texas. I managed to get the satellite dish to stay in an upright position but I had to drive two additional stakes into the ground and attach two bungee cords to hold it down.



We are spending the night at Canyon Trail RV Resort. Canyon Trail is a very nice place with paved roads, concrete pads to park on and concrete patios. All spaces are full hook up and include Wi-Fi and cable. The cable is just a basic ten channel package so I am using the dish.







For those of you wondering how the cats are managing, you can rest easy. The boys are getting along just fine but I am sure they are getting tired of traveling and would love to spend more than just one night each place. They protest being closed in the bedroom as we drive down the road, but if we could trust them to keep out from under the dash they would not have to be closed up. Lucky for them we will only be on the road one more day.

The above picture is our rig at Canyon Trail. Note how green the grass is. Last year with the drought it was all brown.

What a day

Today was an almost perfect day. There was no wind and no rain and the driving was so easy. We did find the roads that really need the Obama Stimulus in Arkansas. Some spots were like driving over railroad tracks for miles at a time. Once we hit Texas the roads got much better.

We were expecting to stay a a new campground advertised on the TACO web site. We came close but as we approached the road the campground was on we turned around and left. It was no more than eight feet wide and tree lined on both sides. It is not a situation I wanted to get into. We did see another campground a few miles back on I-30 and headed for it. The people that own it are from PA and bought it less than a year ago. It is a small place and right off the highway. They said it was in terrible shape when they bought it and have been working for the last few months getting it in shape.

My guess is it will take them at least another six months to turn it into a really good overnight stop. We will check back on our way home next spring and see how things have improved.

Tomorrow we will be heading for New Caney, TX. which is just north of San Antonio. Just two more days of travel and we will reach our destination. Tomorrow is a 5 to 6 hour drive and then Tuesday will be a short 4 hour day of driving. It is getting late and I am very tired so we will continue tomorrow.

RV with a View

We woke up this morning to a little drizzle and a bit cool, but so much better than back home. We had a pleasant trip to West Memphis, AR with the exception of a lot of road construction. It seem that providing employment for road workers is the full extent of Obama's stimulus. To top it off they really do not look like they need repair. We lost about an hour today due to the road work on I-40.

The very best part of the day arriving at the Tom Sawyer Mississippi River RV Park. This place is fantastic. We are parked in the motorhome section along the riverfront. All the lots are angled and staggered so everyone has a great view of the Mighty Miss. We are in the front row, just a mere 100 feet from the river. The view out our front window could not be better. We can sit in the living room or out on the patio and watch the river barges and other boats as they go up and down the river.

It is still quite warm here and for the first time on our trip we are not seeing any of the Fall colors. The trees here are still full green and have yet to turn. Traveling through the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee with all the trees in full fall color was a true delight. Speaking of the hills, I must say this year not having to go through some of those high mountains with this motorhome was a delight. Now that we are in Arkansas everything is flat again. We still expect to see some hills as we cross Texas but the worst is behind us.

More pictures of Tom Sawyer RV Park can be found by following the Link to the right.

On the Road... Finally

We managed to get up early this morning and got everything loaded in the motorhome. As we were ready to pull out of the driveway at 7:50 I noticed my cell phone had fallen off the holder. We searched the whole house, the motorhome and all the driveway and came up empty. I finally asked Marsha for her phone and called mine. We heard it ring in the motorhome and eventually found and retrieved it from a little recess in the slide.

Bottom line is we got started about 25 minutes late. The weather, of course, did not cooperate and it was pouring down rain and the wind got up to 20 MPH. Driving was a bit rough till we got to Indianapolis and the rain cleared up. Unfortunately I-465 South around Indianapolis was closed and we had to take the long way around, which managed to get us another 40 minutes behind.

Our schedule had us arriving in Elizabethtown around 3 or 3:30 but with all the delays we did not get here till a little before 5:00. The Elizabethtown Crossroads Campground is a very nice small, quaint campground. Over night sited do not have sewer but they do have a dump station we can use in the morning. They also have a super cable system that is included and had over 80 channels. I did not bother to pull out the Satellite Dish.

Today was our biggest day with having to cover the most miles so the rest of the trip should be easy. Tomorrow we head for West Memphis, Arkansas. We'll let you know how it goes.

The end of an adventure

Today is the final day for us at Twin Mills. We finished up moving everything over to our new lot for next year. Fortunately Rick and his friend came to help get the deck torn apart. After seven years it was like pulling a log stuck in mud. One section of the deck is over at the new lot for parking the golf cart on and Rick took the rest of it home with him.

All the blocks have either been taken or will be used on our new lot. Rick says he plans to make a walkway from the house to the drive with the ones he took. Louie and Gary will be taking the big blocks from the fire pit to use on their lots.

We went around to everyone that was here this weekend and said good by for the year. It has been a great season and we have had so many great times with all our friends here. We will miss the funny and sometimes serious chats around the campfire. I feel sorry for those that have to stay here for the winter and hope they do not have too bad of a winter. For our friends that also go to Texas we look forward to meeting up with them there.

We have just four days to get everything buttoned up at home before we have to hit the road. Depending on how the driving is, I hope to be able to keep you all up to date as we make our way across the country. Our best wishes to all of you and hope you have a great winter.

A new home

Another season of camping at Twin Mills is quickly coming to an end. It has been a great summer and we have enjoyed the company of all our friends.

We will be taking a huge leap next year when we return to Twin Mills. We have transfered to a larger "premium" lot. Our good friends Lew and Carol have decided not to return next year and have left me all of the great landscaping and hard work they put into their lot. We were a bit concerned about the additional cost but we feel the move up to a the larger site will be good on many fronts.

First we will be getting 50 amp service rather than the 30 we currently have. What a pleasure it will be to be able to run both air conditioners without blowing the breaker.

We have noticed over the last few years that our satellite reception has been becoming worse and worse in our current spot. It seems mother nature has decided we do not need to watch television and has grown the trees to such heights and widths as to block our view of the necessary satellites. The new location for next year will afford us an much better view of the sky and assure better reception of our satellite signal.

So with next summer all set for Twin Mills it is time to pack things up and head out for Texas. But that is another story.