The Eve of a New Year and a New Life

It's like being on the brink, isn't it?  Like standing at the edge of the diving board or looking out over the road you're about to travel.  Something new's about to happen.  That's where Al and I are.

We've decided not to rush down to Lady Lake (we're both really worn out from traveling - especially Al, who's been doing all the driving, plus working!!) so we plan to drive to Lake City today, which should mark the end of our journey along Route I-10.

I sit here this morning in the RV Park outside the city of Tallahassee, listening to wild birds call to each other while I look at a very misty morning in the middle of the woods.  Yes, this park on the outskirts of a major city is in the middle of the woods.  We heard gunshots after dark last night (I sort of think/hope it was someone hunting) and police sirens this morning.  The dichotomy of the peace of the woods counterpointed by the violence  implied by the gunshots and sirens strikes me as interesting, as does the reflection of ancient violence (remembering how the native American tribe was kicked off this land) still lingering in the area through these same implicitly violent sounds.  Clearly this philosophical turn of mind indicates that I haven't had breakfast yet.  Go eat something, Dru.

Okay, breakfast, philosophy, and traveling now done.  For some reason (probably fatigue) my photographic timing has been off all day, and out of 28 photos taken, I've got 10 that are even somewhat publishable, though I must admit I took a number of decent photos of other cars on the highway and two or three passable pictures of our rear-view mirror.  I think I won't share those...

Anyway, the route from Tallahassee to Lake City was pretty much the same as it was yesterday -  fields with crops or animals or marshland.

Same ol' pretty places

Same ol' pretty fields

Same ol' nice farms

The road was much the same also.  It made us glad we were only going 100 miles today.  We sang nonsense songs to each other to keep ourselves amused and awake, and Dorian tried to sing along even though he didn't get the gist of the songs.  Polgara chimed in too, in her own key and with her own "lyrics" but we like it when she actually sings, since she usually just sort of screeches.

Finally it happened - after 2000-plus miles along route I-10, we came upon the magic, long-awaited signs:

The road south to Tampa, Ocala, Orlando, and Lady Lake!

  With no particular fanfare we bid goodbye to the 4-player game of competitive tailgating we had been watching and to I-10, which had actually become pretty soporific if you must know the truth, and headed southward, abruptly feeling the crosswind that had been a tailwind for all those eastward-facing miles.

Our destination for the day was only a few miles south on Route 75 but we immediately saw different signs of civilization in cow farms, horse farms, and what will certainly become ubiquitious golf courses.

Those tiny things in the distance are horses

Cows.  Large, black cows. Plentiful.

Here are a few examples of the farms we passed by.  I declined to photograph the golf courses, since if my visit to The Villages last year is any indication, we will quickly have our fill of golf courses.

Since it's Saturday and Al didn't have to work, we left the last place early (the gunshots the night before may have had something to do with our eagerness to depart) and arrived at our next RV Park at about 2 in the afternoon.  Having had our fill of pizza during this trip we were delighted to discover that the local restaurant that delivers to the RV Park is Chinese - and they have just delivered our food!  Back at you in a while!

Well, we've had our lunch/dinner and shared with the birds, of course.  Eating is social and when WE eat they had BETTER eat or we'll hear no end of it.  Makes for a happy home and LOTS of housework afterward.  Birds throw food.  SUCH fun.

Anyway, we're now playing with the air conditioning for the first time, because the mild breeze from outside is only cooling the RV down to 80 degrees; a temperature at which Al is guaranteed to melt.  We've really arrived in Florida now, and have bid the threat of winter farewell.  Yeah, yeah, I've heard all about Florida getting freezing nights once in a while but in comparison to snow and sub-zero degrees that make our getting-old-already knees hurt, this is just fine, thank you.

In the meantime, we tried to find a bottle of Martinelli's with which to celebrate the New Year but were unable.  I guess we'll have to toast January first with Diet Pepsi; a very discriminating beverage, I assure you. Besides which, if all our other travel nights are any indication, we're likely to be fast asleep well before midnight arrives.

To you all we wish the safest, most enjoyable, healthy, and happy New Year, and all the best in 2012.  

It's Interesting That the Name of Florida's Capital City...

...is an old Apalachee or Muskogean Indian word meaning "Old Town" or "Abandoned Town" or maybe "Old Fields"; so named because the native Americans were brutally kicked off the land by Hernando De Soto.  Like so many historical places, Tallahassee became the capital of the then-territory of Florida in 1824 because it was convenient for area politicians.  It was located halfway between St. Augustine and Pensacola..  In 1827 Ralph Waldo Emerson called the place "A grotesque place of land speculators and desperados."    Isn't history fun?

Oh, I must tell you my theory on why the restrooms at RV parks include showers.  I base this theory on personal experience with the shower in our RV, which I utilized this morning instead of visiting the one provided by the RV park.  See, RVs are designed to stuff as many small versions of "real life" amenities into as small a space as possible.  As a result, we have kitchen with sink, microwave, stove/oven, fridge/freezer, small sofa, dinette, bathroom, shower, and teeny bedroom, all squished into about 31 feet of space.  The shower is just about big enough for a man Al's size to stand upright in.  Not turn or move his arms without smacking against a wall - that would be too much to expect.  Now, remembering that Al has two bad knees, we brought with us the stool he uses in the shower - and it JUST fits.  I can sit on it and actually find space to put my feet on the floor but nothing extra.  I have no idea how Al manages it - I think he must be double-jointed in his ankles or something...  So imagine me sitting on the stool, scrunched up, trying to adjust the water temperature coming through the hand-held shower head..  AHA. Now we've come to the reason the parks offer showers.  There is no way on earth the water can be adjusted to anything other than "Scald" or "Glacier".  I reminded myself of this truth this morning as I attempted to wash my hair (and myself, of course) without either cooking or chipping off icicles.  After several minutes of knob-twisting I settled on "Well, okay - it's not TOO cold" and got the job done.  It's back to the RV Park showers for me!

Today's drive was a little over 150 miles, and somewhat boring; consisting of more long, slow hills bordered by trees with occasional breaks of marshes or planted fields, and once I caught evidence of strip-mining!  It was also getting warm which made Al and me somewhat sleepy.  About halfway through the trip we pulled into a rest stop for a nap, and miraculously, the birds respected this and kept quiet the entire time.

During this trek we also discovered that Polgara, our Orange Winged Amazon Parrot likes opera.  We put on "Carmen" to amuse and keep us awake, and much to our surprise, Polgara kept singing along with the arias.  Not so much the interludes of music, but she had an especial fondness for the baritone solo!

Anyway, the rest of our journey was uneventful.  About 40 miles west of Tallahassee we crossed into the Eastern time zone and go figure - our birds KNEW when it was 5pm local time and insisted on their supper!

Here are a few photos I took along the way.  We've decided not to push the final 206 miles tomorrow but to go maybe half way and finish the trip on January first.   Since we'll be leaving Route 10 in favor of Route 75 going south down the center of the state, perhaps we'll find some new and interesting things to see and photograph!  For now- goodnight, all!

Pretty place we noticed

Lush trees lined the road

We passed this lake just as the sun was going down

Tilled fields for a change!

It looked like they were growing a pondful of upright sticks!

We Have a Nice Day and Reach Florida At Last!!!!

Well, this morning dawned bright and crisp in Mississippi and I hobbled across the way to do another two loads of laundry (it seems I can never catch up - I can only do 1 or 2 loads at a time - especially with my knee making it difficult to walk and carry a full laundry basket at the same time).  While waiting for the machines I took a brief stroll down toward where the site map indicated the bayou was located so I could measure for myself how much in peril the two little boys who appear to live permanently in the park might be.  Happily, I saw that there was quite a goodly amount of brush and scrub before the water itself began and I felt better; having imagined Rippy the Gator wandering from RV to RV in the middle of the night hunting for leftovers or small pet animals that might've been left outside.  No, I think the campers were all pretty safe from Rippy.

Once laundry and work were done we took off as usual, riding through more wetlands and forest as Mississippi gave way to Alabama.

I'm not exactly sure whether these two photos were taken in Mississippi or in Alabama - but the scenery was the same in both so I suppose it doesn't really matter much...

We noticed that the sport of competitive tailgating is also played in Alabama but we declined once again to participate.

Traveling across Route 10 one only passes through the very bottom bits of both Mississippi and Alabama so it wasn't very long before we came to the city of Mobile.  Once again, we mostly skirted the city but as you can see in the below photo, the city itself is very pretty!  It also had something else we hadn't come across before in our cross-country journey - a TUNNEL!!  Not very long or deep but sort of fun, actually.

Mobile, Alabama

We've noticed that since the marshlands began in Louisiana, we've spent a lot of time on highways raised over swamps or waterways etc., and just after coming out of the tunnel in Mobile we found ourselves once again on a raised highway.

The tunnel at Mobile

This was a rather long roadway but made me think of the roads leading along the Florida Keys.  Long, low roads with nothing but water on either side.  Interesting, to say the least.  The waters were populated both by boats and by waterfowl - I'm unsure of which group was having the better luck at fishing...

Tree-lined highway

On the eastern shore of the bay we noticed that the swamplands seems to diminish and the land was more filled with forests.  Tall trees lined the highway and marshes gave way to dry lands, meadows, and woods.   We saw a sky filled with puffy little clouds - something one doesn't see all that often in Southern California, actually, and we enjoyed the sight immensely. 

Finally we saw the long-awaited sign ahead of us - we had reached Florida at last!!

Florida - YAY!

Soon after passing this sign we traveled over yet another raised highway - this time over Escambia Bay.and onward through lush meadowlands and forests.  We had finally reached the state that is to become our new home.

We made our way to a little town called Holt and located the RV park that had enjoyed the best rating according to the Good Sam Club.  As we pulled in, we looked around at the somewhat shabby surroundings and Al said he had a bad feeling about the place.  I shrugged and went into the little cabin-converted-into-an-office to check in with the two ladies behind the desk.  Well, one of the things I always check for at an RV park is the availability of Internet access, since Al needs to work for at least 6 hours each weekday.  This place was listed as having access, so I asked whether we needed pass codes to get online (this is standard procedure at most of the sites we've stayed at).  The girl looked at her colleague sort of blankly then said to me, "Well, the internet in the area I'm putting you in is working, so when you log onto your computer I can give you free access for 15 minutes."

Now I stared blankly.

"Is there a way we can buy access for longer than that?" I asked.  "My husband needs to work both in the evening and in the morning."

"Oh, well I can sell you access for two hours per visit," she offered.

Somewhat horrified, I asked if there was no way more time was available.  She made a phone call to her boss while I imagined having to drive another 160 miles to Tallahassee.  She came back stymied, as though obtaining more than 2 hours of access was something unheard-of, or super-human at the least.

I bit back a whole lot of comments but actually behaved and checked with Al as to whether he'd rather take the day off work or just find another place.  Of course he wanted to leave so I went back into the cabin-converted-into-an-office, got a refund and asked if the other RV park just down the road on the other side of the highway offered internet access.  The two ladies claimed ignorance but the first one suggested that we invest in some sort of internet access card because you never know which RV park was going to offer internet.  I smiled pleasantly and explained that in over 2000 miles and 14 different parks, hers was the ONLY one with such a paucity of service.  I then bid her a good life and went back to the RV.  As Al turned us around I phoned the other park and was assured that they offered high speed access. 

Five minutes later we were checked into what turns out to be an entirely charming little park, and what's more, I asked if we could have a space near the laundry facilities so I could maybe catch up some more, and they put us RIGHT NEXT TO THE LAUNDRY!!!!!  I can hardly believe it but I've just caught up with it for the first time since we left California!

Here are two views of the charming little RV park we ended up in.  The only thing that could have made this stay better (so far, anyway) was if there had been a restaurant that delivers but the host and hostess told me that Holt is a really tiny little town with only 2 restauarants in it and neither of them employs enough people to be able to deliver anything.  Luckily, we're prepared for such eventualities and dined quite adequately on stuff from our freezer.

By the way, in case you were wondering about it, we're still on Central time (I know Al and I were wondering about it!).  The panhandle of Florida is Central time until about the area where Georgia's western border lies.  About the town of Chattahoochee, speaking longitudinally, though we won't pass through that town.  I expect we'll see a sign along the road announcing that we really ought to catch up with everyone else and re-adjust our watches.

Tomorrow's goal is Tallahassee; as I mentioned above, about 160 miles from here.  Then the last push of 206 miles on Saturday and we're DONE with the traveling.  Not with the adventure, mind  you - we'll continue to live in the RV at least until closing on the new house, and Al is giving serious consideration to having workmen come and paint and replace flooring etc., which will mean I'll have to delay the delivery of our belongings.  I'll be keeping you posted day by day until the actual move-in begins!  Keep on reading!  

By the way, I want to most sincerely thank all of our friends and relatives who have been commenting, phoning, and emailing to us during this amazing journey.  Keeping in touch with you all has meant a great deal to Al and me - we look forward to hearing from you, and each contact is a treasure!  

Wish us luck and a good RV park in Tallahassee!

You Cross the Mississippi, You Get To Mississippi. It's Inevitable!

Hi!  Okay, so I exaggerated last night - we did NOT visit 3 states today; only two,  We decided not to push so much today, and beside which, there's another, maybe sillier reason we're stopping tonight in Mississippi.  See, we've been carefully using our Garmin for this entire trip and we've come across a few RV parks that the Garmin could not recognize.  We were able to locate them anyhow but I think I've noticed that those parks Garmin couldn't see were also the parks in which we had the worst internet connection.  As it turns out, my original idea was to drive straight through Mississippi and stop in Mobile, Alabama.  Aha.  When I went to program the address of the RV park in Mobile, Garmin couldn't find it!  Besides, it was over 170 miles, and Al is getting TIRED from 2 weeks of driving every day so I backed up and found a nice-sounding park in Gautier, MS which Garmin located in a snap.  Therefore - here we are.

I also mentioned that last night's RV park had a lovely little fishing lake.  This morning when I got up it was covered in mist so I couldn't resist going out and taking a few photos of it.  What do you think?

Well, check-out time in these parks tends to be between 11 and noon so as soon as Al was done working we wrapped up and went along our way.  Once again the road was surrounded by tall trees with glimpses between of marshlands and bayous (most of them brown, for some reason) and woods.  I took more photos than usual today, because it developed into a very lovely afternoon, so though I'll post some here, I will make a new album on Facebook so you can see more of the pretty sights we drove by.

Meanwhile, we did not go south on I-10 to New Orleans, figuring it would take extra time and probably several pig-out meals besides.  We stayed on Route 12, which cuts straight across the state, skirting the north end of Lake Pontchartrain.  Before we knew it, we saw the following signs:  Since it was time for a break anyway, we drove in, to discover that the Mississippi welcome center was ALSO the John C Stennis Space Center, which is a rocket test site run  by NASA.

  

Prettiest rest stop we've seen!

They offer tours of the space center but we didn't want to leave the birds alone in the RV for any length of time so we declined.  Anyway, the park is very pretty - all set up for picnics and dog-walking and welcoming and stuff like that.  Probably the prettiest "rest stop" we've come across on our journey.  So we stopped and we rested and felt very welcomed.  

Naturally, this part of Mississippi looks a great deal like the part of Louisiana we left behind, but during today's drive we noticed that the Texan sport of Competitive Tailgating is also played in Mississippi.  We even saw some 18 wheelers trying to outrace one another.  That, or what we thought was one trucker honking his horn at the other was actually the rarely-heard mating call of the Giant Kenworth.  Not sure.  Anyway, it was a bit scary to watch so we backed down and kept to our usual 10mph below the speed limit. MUCH safer that way.

Soon we came to the Biloxi River, and the entirely unpronounceable Tchoutacabouffa River (sounds like the person who named that river had a really bad cold on naming day!).  Shortly after that we came to Biloxi itself.  Well, we sort of came to Biloxi.  Everyone knows that highways are usually set in the back row of towns, so you rarely ever get to really see what a town looks like when traveling this way.  Let's just say we passed by Biloxi and waved hello in a southward direction as we did so.

A little while later we reached Gautier and entered this lovely park that I mentioned at the beginning.  It's much larger and spread out more than the other RV parks we've visited, and the Sioux Bayou runs right nearby.  One thing I especially noticed was that the rules and regulations here have a stipulation I haven't seen before... Rule #11 says, "BEWARE OF ALLIGATORS".  Yeah, really.  It does.  

See?  It really does say that!

Think I'll resist the urge to take a walk by the bayou...

Tomorrow we pass through the rest of Mississippi, take a quick look at Mobile and other brief parts of southern Alabama, and finally - FINALLY - F*I*N*A*L*L*Y - reach Florida!!!  Well, okay, it's just the panhandle, and it will still take us until Saturday to reach our final destination but still...FLORIDA AT LAST!!

An Interesting Day in Louisiana

This morning dawned clear and warmer than it's been for us lately.  Since Al had to work I decided to do some laundry, so took a load down to the RV Park's laundry room.  There I met Crazy Louisiana Lady.  She had her stuff spread over the 3 washing machines available in the room, and started to explain in hurried and somewhat disjointed tones that she worked as a night auditor at a local hotel and thus never really had time to do her laundry.  Apparently this was her explanation for rudely not letting me have one of the washing machines.  She loaded up all 3, then after announcing that the washers took 30 minutes and the dryers 45, she proceeded to tell me her life's story, including husbands, ex-husbands, dogs, parents' troubles, and how she keeps in touch with them no matter what, even though she's 54 years old and lives in her mini rv because she can't afford anything else though they designated that their house would be hers one day and....zzzzzzzz

Okay, so I smiled and nodded a lot, and soon Nice, Sane Lady came in, also with a few loads in her basket.  She and I and Crazy Louisiana Lady chatted until CLL's 3 loads were done, and she put them in 3 of the 4 dryers.  She then ran off - I don't know, to go visit the swamp or something, and NSL and I chatted on for a while until at long long last the one load of laundry was done and I FLED back to the RV lest I run into anyone else I needed to talk to.

In the meantime Al was having trouble connecting to the internet to get work done - which was odd since the evening before we had had no trouble.  Maybe a lot of other RVers came into the park overnight and they were all going online to check their email or something.  In either case, we decided we'd had enough of Lake Charles, and took off eastward.

Well, we learned some things on this trip!  First, we kept seeing signs advertising "Boudin & Cracklings".  We knew what cracklings were but I had to look up "Boudin" which turns out to be descriptive of a selection of sausages - Cajun or Creole, no doubt.  No, we haven't tried any...

But we passed a lot of wet lands - this whole part of Louisiana is just a few feet above sea level, which explains all the swamps and wetlands.

Since the internet connection here is so funky I'm trying to load my photos onto an album on Facebook for you and if the first few look somewhat skewed it's because I spent the first hour of travel with Dorian on my lap, insisting on getting some scratching, petting, and general adoration.  Hard to take photos with one hand while petting a brat with the other.

Anyhow, some of the areas we passed were very beautiful - right out of Pogo or any other image of swampland you'd like to visualize. We passed through a long, beautiful area called Henderson Swamp which was apparently fed by the Atchafalaya River (great name, isn't it?).  The area went on for about 17 miles before drying out some time before we reached Baton Rouge.

We noticed that so far, in our trip through Louisiana, there have been no "rest stop" or picnic areas on the road - just exits that you apparently had to already be familiar with.  When we needed to take a break from the 155 mile drive today we pulled into a truck weigh station and just pulled over,.

So, there we were, only about 22 miles from our RV Park destination and suddenly we were in the most horrendous traffic jam!  What was going on?  Well it appears that Baton Rouge is doing some major highway renovations, and both I-10 and I-12 were all sorts of under construction!  Sadly, this made our entire visit through Baton Rouge one large, major traffic jam!  Oh well -

At the end of the road we found this very pretty RV park with its own fishing lake but the trouble is that it's obviously very popular, and not only is the internet very slow as a result, the park requires that every computer have its own logon code - and we found this out an hour after their office closed, so Al has to check his email on his business computer - which is frowned upon.  I think I'll try to hurry off my netbook so he can use this computer instead...

Until next time -  tomorrow we visit three states in one day!!!

Yes, Virginia, there IS an end to Texas!!

First things first - Al wanted me to post this photo of our tiny, little Christmas tree that we brought with us, so we could wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah and anything else you enjoy celebrating at this time of year.  I should have posted it yesterday  but was having such a bad time posting ANYTHING that I didn't have the patience to fight with the internet connection to add it.

Anyway - we hope you had a very wonderful holiday - ours was...wet.   It rained all the way from San Antonio to Houston (as I mentioned) and then the RV Park was probably our least favorite.  We DID enjoy sharing Christmas breakfast with the birds though - that was excellent!

So this morning dawned grey and drippy in Brookshire, the little town west of Houston in which we stayed, and since Al had the day off work, we just put ourselves together and started the day's journey to Lake Charles, Louisiana.  The map we're using in Trailer Life shows that Route 10 goes through the middle of Houston.  Boy, does it!  We must have driven through 15 miles of metropolis! Here are some photos I took of this beautiful city:

Some of the highways 

Part of Downtown - very pretty! I was impressed!

This interesting building is a hospital!

Something they do in this part of Texas that I noticed and wish other metropolitan places would do is, when you're about to come to a confusing area and need to be in the correct lane to take the proper highway, each lane has the route it delivers you to painted right on it so there's no confusion.  Fabulous idea! They should adopt that in every city in the world!

Anyway, the rain stopped and started the entire journey of 184 miles, and we sank from 1500 feet above sea level down to a few below!  We have most definitely left the highlands behind, and it was with some elation that we crossed into Louisiana from the seemingly neverending state of Texas.    Texas had a lot of pretty places but also had its share of not-so-pretty places.

Of course there were oil refineries!

some pretty places, too

But...oil refineries.  Texas. You expected  this.

Louisiana almost immediately seemed more pastoral - certainly more wet!  Almost the moment we crossed the state line we encountered a swamp!  It was pretty, actually but I wasn't quick enough to photograph it.  Things tend to rush past you at 65mph.  

Nice little Louisiana farm

Another farm we passed

Wetlands - a LOT of lakes, streams, and marshes

And rivers. Did I mention rivers?

So on we drove, encountering woodlands and farms and wetlands - a lot of birds of prey; most of which I SUSPECT were falcons.  Large, light brown, and all over the place.  Just like yesterday, a great number of hunting birds were in the skies, though in Texas they tended to be darker and larger - more eagle-shaped, and today's were...well they were really pretty!!  

Finally, after what seemed to be a very long, dreary drive, we crossed a very tall bridge which overlooked...Lake Charles! 

Yes, there IS a Lake Charles!

 We had arrived at last, and to ice the cake, the rain stopped for a little while to allow us to check in to a very pretty RV park called "12 Oaks".  Once again, very nice people working here, and they gave us a spot directly across from the office and the laundry room (since I MUST catch up with the laundry again!).  Perhaps they took pity on me as I gimped into the office with my snazzy cane!  By the way, I'm happy to report that my Klutz Injury is beginning to feel better.  Still hurts but the swelling is going down and I think I'll be fine - plus I'm discovering that this cane is good for picking things up, turning on lights that are too far above my head for me to reach, and scaring birds into behaving!  

Anyhow, we plugged the RV into the electricity and water connections and stepped back inside- and not even 2 minutes later the rain began in earnest!  Our host also recommended a seafood restaurant that delivers to the RV park!  What a treat!  Shrimp scampi, deep-fried biscuits (I wasn't crazy about those but Al enjoyed them), homemade onion rings, cheese sticks (the birds love those!), salads and fries with brown gravy.  I think I may like Louisiana!!

Christmas Day in Texas

    Merry Christmas to all!

We started the day by sharing Christmas breakfast with the birds.  Here are Rover and Polgara enjoying their share.  Sorry for the lack of light but the flash scares them.  Soon after breakfast we took off towards Houston in another overcast, sprinkle-y day.

Today was another day of seeing a lot of animals- mostly on the ranches that stretched San Antonio all the way to Houston - sheep, goats, pigs, cattle of every variety - I even saw a longhorn cow!  Plus bison!  Now, I don't particularly know why but all day long we kept seeing hunting birds all over the place, soaring around over our heads.  Perhaps the recent rains drive rodents out of their dens andthe pickings were particularly good.  We even saw a buzzard standing on the side of the road - I couldn't tell what it had caught but it was busy!

I also noticed an interesting thing on the highway between San Antonio and Houston.  A lot of the drivers seem to be involved in a sport I can only call "competitive tail-gating".  I haven't seen this sport played elsewhere along our journey but today we've seen a lot of people playing this game...I wonder how one wins???

During our drive we stopped at a tourist-y souvenir shop where I picked up a pretty cane to help me with my injured knee.  I had admired this cane online for quite some time, and was actually able to obtain it!  You can't really see in the photo to the right but the deeper layers of laminate show up in twists as you look down the stick.  Red, yellow, blue, etc., and the primary color's more plum than pink, the way the photo looks.  It's garish and kind of wacky, which is why I like it!  I also actually helps with the knee injury!  Amazing!

So today we went up and down more hills but ended up at a much lower altitude - about 300 feet instead of 1500!  Aha!  Now if only the clouds and rain would go away!

So once again we've arrived earlier in the afternoon than usual.  Tody we've stopped at a small park about 30 miles west of Houston, mostly because you apparently have to go all around hither, yon, and the next place to find the parks inside the city itself.  Simple is good except that being Christmas, the people running this place weren't in.  Now, those who are familiar with RV parks will know that there are accommodations made for late arriving guests, usually in the form of a special cabinet marked for late-comers wherein you fill out a form, find an empty spot on the map, deposit $$ in an envelope and put it into the slot where the hosts will find it the next morning.  Well, this place is a little less prepared than the other parks we've visited...their  late arrivals cabinet is NOT waterproof, and not only were the maps, envelopes and instructions soggy, the rate sheet showing what we're supposed to pay was entirely illegible, as was any indication of what the proper code is to get access to their internet service! (yes, I'm "borrowing" someone else's right now...shhh...)  So I put some $$ in the envelope, we drove to where I thought I saw an empty spot and luckily, it was.  I deposited my envelope and will go see the story tomorrow morning when the proprietor returns.  I keep half-expecting someone to drive up and knock on the door telling us that the spot we're in was supposed to be for them...Would I move?  Not likely.  Al's quite tired from the effort of driving this 32' BUS in rain and wind and deserves the nap he's taking!

Anyway, I was able to take a few photos here and there, so here they are for you.  I hope your Christmas was very wonderful and you have lovely plans for the New Year.  We'll keep you posted on our progress.  About another week to go!!

Just a nice ranch we saw

another nice place

the land is quite pretty (and large)

I bet the trees are lovely in springtime!

Still Texas, Part 4

Tis the day before Christmas, and in the RV

No rodents were stirring; just Al, birds, and me.

The weather was nasty; the rain didn't slow

from Junction straight on to San Antonio.

We traveled quite early and got to the park

a little past midday; the weather still stark.

While climbing around to plug everything in

I slipped in the rain and slammed bad knee and shin! 

Al came to the rescue with nonchalant shrug

and got me patched up and then plugged every plug

So now we sit warmly, the whole, traveling bunch

and happily wait for the pizza for lunch!

Sorry - I couldn't pass up the opportunity to create a bad "Night Before Christmas" takeoff.  The text is accurate though - the weather has pretty much sucked all day so far but since Al didn't have to work today we packed up and started traveling early.  I took very few photos today - mostly because it was so foggy and overcast - but once again we spent our time going up one hill and down the next, as you can see below.

 The radio station we were listening to at the time identified itself as part of "hill country" and brother, they were exactly right!  The other day we spent our time up and down hills at about 4000 feet, but today we had moved down to about 1500 feet above sea level.  Also, we started out about 50 miles north of San Antonio (and about 50 miles west of it as well) so we gained about 10 degrees in temperature as we approached, which is a really good thing!  Mid 40s beats mid 30s any day of the week in my book!

At first we continued through very sparsely populated countryside but after a while we started seeing lovely farmhouses and herds of cows, sheep, goats, etc. and soon afterward businesses of all sorts started to appear on both sides of the highway.  We had arrived in San Antonio.

This RV park is actually somewhat out of our way - but it was very highly rated by the Good Sam people so we're giving it a whirl.  We also found out that it's right next door to Sea World!  The park is very large and as usual, the people running it are very friendly and accommodating.

I mentioned that I only took a few photos today because of the weather - here are the rest of them that turned out publish-able, just so you can see what we were looking at:

This was one of the nice little farms that started springing up along the way.

The topography had become temperate but the fog prevented me from taking any good photos of it.  :(

 This actually was taken just outside Junction but again, the fog didn't let me take many interesting shots.  We'll try again tomorrow.



As I mentioned in the poem above, while walking around the site to hook us up I slipped in the rain and fell onto my already bad, left knee (OUCH!) and had one of those moments where you wonder how on earth you're going to get yourself up again!  I struggled to my feet as Al came to my rescue.  He swiftly put everything right as I came inside and slapped a cold bottle of water on my scraped and already turning black and blue knee.  Drat!  I love being graceful!

Well, things being what they were, we decided we didn't want to cook (especially with me gimping around and whimpering pitifully) so we called the office and asked if there were any nearby restaurants that delivered to the RV park.  Turns out there is - and because I mentioned I didn't want to walk to the office to pick up their menu because of my fall they were nice enough to deliver the menu to us!  We placed our order and got enough food to last us through tomorrow.  The best part is that absolutely everything we tried was delicious!    And it's only 2:45 in the afternoon!  What'll I do with all this time??

Yay!  A happy ending after all!