Author: sandcastle

Remember last fall when I was at Rainbow’s End in Livingston, Texas, and I needed to unhook to go to the grocery store. Instead of going back to the park I headed west–all the way to Arizona?

Friday I was at Rainbow’s End, in Livingston, Texas, and I needed to unhook to go to the grocery store. Perfect weather was headed to Livingston so I should have gone back to the park.

But the urge to head home was too strong.

The grocery store I went to was a Walmart in Ennis, Texas. Nearly 4 hours northwest of Livingston.

So I began my northward Spring migration.

The next day I drove on north. As I crossed the border from Texas to Oklahoma, right there at the welcome sign, I was hit by a blast of that famous Oklahoma wind. “Seriously?” I thought, “The wind literally starts right at the border?”

Next I saw a farm tractor. It said to me that I had left ranching country and was now entering farming country. That reminded me of the bumper sticker I love that said, “Farming is everybody’s bread and butter.” Right on. But ranching is where meat comes from and I’m a carnivore. So I’m glad this country is big enough to provide plenty of food of all kinds for all of us to eat.

Then on to Norman, Oklahoma, where I met Tammy, owner of the blog Peanut on the Table, http://peanutonthetable.com. We instantly felt like old friends even though we’d never met face to face before. That’s the result of reading and commenting on each others blogs–we really do know a lot about one another–how could we possibly be strangers?

We had supper together at Cracker Barrel. I was supposed to pay since I invited her. She thought she should pay since she lived there and I was visiting. The server sided with her and I never even saw the check arrive. Thanks Tammy for being a good guest/hostess.

I had called the Cracker Barrel to see if it was OK for me to stay there overnight. It is Cracker Barrel’s company policy to allow this but I was a little concerned about this one. Their RV length spots were near the door instead of around back. And they weren’t marked, “Bus/RV” like most Cracker Barrels do. There were cars in most of them. I usually wait until I’m done eating supper to ask about staying but I needed to know before Tammy and I started talking if I was going to have to move on for the night. So I called them from their parking lot. They said, “Yes, but you HAVE to come in for breakfast.” OK, then. So, I stayed. But I felt like I’d already paid by going in for supper. (Ignore the fact that Tammy paid, she wouldn’t have been there without my invitation.) And their attitude made me feel just a bit rebellious. So I went to Waffle House for breakfast. 🙂

Now the winds are picking up and another front is about to pass through Oklahoma and Kansas bringing storms with it. So I need a place to hole up a couple of days.

Not a problem. I’m only about an hour away from FireLake Casino. I’ve stayed at this casino before and liked it. So I put its address into my GPS and headed out. Down a route that was not familiar to me. But, I wasn’t driving when we went there before. And the GPS doesn’t always take the route I would take. And I was approaching from a different direction.

Guess what? There were two FireLake Casinos. FireLake Grand Casino and FireLake Casino. Before we went to the Grand one. My GPS brought me to the other one. Seems the Grand one has dropped FireLake from its name because it caused too much confusion so my Google search found the other one. And they are only a few miles apart. So I’m at the wrong one. But it has a campground that’s bigger than the other one. And it has sewer hookups instead of a dump that’s uphill. And I’m still backed up to a creek with a picnic table. So it looks like I’ll sit right here until Wednesday when the storm front will have passed and driving is safe once again.

So, I’m headed home. Once I get done waiting for the weather again, that is. It better stop snowing up there now. Although, I guess it’s supposed to do it again tomorrow. But then it better melt by the time I get home. Dave says the drifts are blocking the parking lot right now so I couldn’t even park at home. It just better melt fast because I’m coming anyway. Good thing I only drive four hours a day so it will take me a few more days to get there.

TTYL,

Linda

 

 

That’s what one RVing couple has as their slogan, “Chasing the 70s”

Which makes the current temperature of 75 perfect right?

Except it is now 12:03 am.

Which is not the time of day you want it to be 75°.

Not good sleeping weather.

Here’s the temperature map for Wednesday’s high temps here in Texas:

I’m about halfway between Houston and Lufkin. Yes in that red zone. With highs in the mid-80s.

Which means I will have to run my air conditioner again later today since the sun beating on my RV will bring it up into the 90s in here.

So I’d like to move somewhere cooler.

Yeah, there. To Minneapolis. Except a high in the low-40s isn’t exactly inviting either. That probably wouldn’t be warm enough to thaw my tanks after they froze overnight. And frozen plumbing is NOT a good thing.

What I’m looking for is the yellow band. That’s where the high is in the 7os.

 

See it? Not a very big target is it?

But you know what they say about Spring weather–if you don’t like it just wait; it will change.

So Thursday in Texas looks like this:

 

And Friday looks like this:

 

So, if I can talk myself into coming right back here after grocery shopping, perfect weather will come to me.

Maybe.

You know how accurate these forecasts are in real life.

TTYL,

Linda

It’s Spring!

When the weather changes daily.

Sometimes multiple times a day.

I am now in Austin, Texas, and ready to head north some more.  Up Tornado Alley. But there’s a major storm system headed this way followed by dropping temperatures. And that storm system runs pretty much from Canada on down into Texas and includes, of course, potential tornadoes.

So, I’m gonna stay here in Austin a few days and see if I can catch up with myself. I have a lot of blog reading to do. And some internet shopping so things will be waiting for me when I finally get back to Minnesota.

I had hoped to meet a couple blog friends around here somewhere but one went on west to family and the other went on north for a meet up. That’s what happens when everyone has plans without a schedule because who knows what the weather is going to let us do. Meets get missed. A lot of close but no score. The one west of me isn’t real far away but the approaching storm  says we shouldn’t even try to go that far. Oh, well. Maybe next year. That’s the other thing about RVing; we get second and third chances to meet.

I dropped into Sportsmobile today. I didn’t have an appointment because I didn’t know today was the day I was going to reach Austin. So, I just pulled up out front of their facility and called them on my phone. Said I was in town with a short wish list and wanted to know what their schedule looked like so I’d know how many days to sign up to camp. When they realized I was out front they said we’ll be out shortly.

So they came and made a work order for my stuff and it had four things on it. Easy things. Like adding a snap to my shower curtain and Velcro to some window coverings. They said, “Oh, if that’s all we’ll do them now.” And they did. And they didn’t charge me any labor. I love these guys.

So that’s done.

And I got to eat lunch at Boston Market. Love their chicken. And they have a new veggie–garlicky lemon spinach. Good stuff.

Now I am back at the park where I stayed last October when I picked up my RV. And I get to just sit here and read, and maybe watch some TV on my computer and watch the storms roll through. Hoping I don’t have to make a run for the stone building that houses the laundry but glad to know it is there if I need it.

Life is good.

TTYL,

Linda

No that’s not the speed limit.

Well maybe it is in this small town. That’s not a big concern.

The concern is that’s the speed of the wind gusts today.

And I drive a giant billboard.

Which becomes very hard to keep in its own lane when gusts like that hit it broadside.

So I’m parked.

And the winds are hitting me broadside.

And rocking my rig.

And blowing through my open windows.

Keeping it nice and cool in here on what otherwise would be a hot day under the Texas sun.

Winds are not good or bad. You just have to decide what you will do when they decide to blow.

Up to 20 mph I drive. But 30 mph is too much for safety for me.

Tomorrow they are forecast to be back down to 20 mph or less.

I expect to drive.

TTYL,

Linda

As in “Here we go ’round…”

I didn’t buy fuel yesterday so I checked for a good stop along my path today and found a Valero right at an intersection of the the freeway. I like Valero because they have diesel at almost all their pumps so I don’t have to guess which one to pull up to. This one was a left off the freeway then a left into the station. I can do that. Except there’s a curb between me and the station so I have to go past it and find a place to turn around. Here we go ’round…

I go through a Chili’s parking lot and find myself next to Krispy Kreme. Managed not to stop there, though. So out that driveway then in the next one to the station. There are three pumps in a row. There’s a vehicle at the far one. The driver in front of me stopped at the near one instead of pulling up to the middle one. So I turned off my engine and waited for her to pump her gas. I’m retired, I have time to do that, right?

Once I got fuel I had to drive all the way around the station back to the driveway I came in so I could cross all the lanes to get into the left turn lane to get back on the freeway. Here we go ’round…

My van is in dire need of a bath. There’s a Blue Beacon Truck & RV Wash on the east side of El Paso. I like that company. So that’s what I set my GPS for this morning. It got me off the freeway one exit before I needed to and took me through some back roads to get there. Here we go round…

Only to find the sign painted out and another one saying “Hand Wash.” I don’t want hand wash; I want power wash. To get all those bugs off the RV without scratching the paint. So, no, not here and now.

I still haven’t bought groceries and there’s not a lot ahead of me as I drive through West Texas so I decide I’d better do that before leaving El Paso. The nearest Walmart is, of course, behind me. And my GPS thinks I am more like a truck than a car so it sends me the long way around instead of through residential neighborhoods. Here we go ’round…

Groceries bought I am ready to head on east. Except El Paso likes to move it’s freeway exits so I miss the one for I-10 east. No problem I’ll just get on I-10 west and come back at the first exit. Except that exit is closed. So I go one more. About five miles west then back again in order to go east. Here we go ’round…

By now, I am ready for lunch. I see a sign for Denny’s and decide that will do just fine and take that exit. It turns out to be right across the freeway from the no longer Blue Beacon. I went in a big circle to get here. Here we go ’round…

Finally, I am headed to Van Horn, Texas. Which is probably all the further I am going today given how much time I’ve spent not going places. But, that’s OK; there’s a park we like in Van Horn where I can sit a couple days if I need to do so because of wind gusts.

Except, when I get to Van Horn, there is a gate across the park’s driveway with a for sale sign on it. So I drive on down the main street. And see an RV park just as I pass it. But it’s on a side road so I turn in there then have to drive the wrong way through a campsite to get to the office. Here we go ’round…

I think I have to stay here three nights because of windy conditions the next few days but I’m not sure I’m going to like this park so I only paid for one night. Wonder what tomorrow will bring?

TTYL,

Linda