As we drove into Laredo, Texas, I found myself singing The Streets of Laredo, so I was amused to discover the lyrics on their web site. I now know one verse and the first line of two other verses. We only stopped there for diesel, lunch, and a truck wash but we never figured out how to weave our way through the semis to get to the truck wash so our RV is still filthy.
The truck stop had both a Burger King and a Taco Bell so I was able to have a taco salad without Dave having to eat anything “Mexican”. That made us both happy. Dave went in to get our food and came back with a chicken taco salad instead of the beef I usually get. It was different. Not bad, just different.
We drove I-35 to it’s south end because it felt like the right thing to do. We’ve driven to the north end in Minnesota many times so it was fun to see the other end. Fortunately, when we came to the south end we were in the correct lane. If we hadn’t been able to turn left there, we’d have been on the bridge to Mexico. That’s not something we want to do right now.
In Laredo I saw a place named Wishy Washy Laundromat.
We camped at Falcon State Park and got the last site with hookups. It was available only because the person who had reserved it didn’t like it so didn’t stay. It was a pull-though on a curve that was a challenge even for our short rig. It took two levels of blocks under the front wheels with the nose right up to some bushes to get us level enough for our frig to run without damaging it. There was good internet there, though.
We actually left that park an hour before checkout time! Of course, check out in the state parks here is 2 p.m. I got a lot of computer work done here.
We stopped at BK again for lunch. I got the burgers I didn’t get yesterday and Dave had more of their onion rings–one of his favorite foods.
In Mission, Texas, we checked into the Mission West RV Park for two nights so we could have a day to do laundry. This is a huge park but their short term spots are right next to a major road that was very noisy. So we spent part of those two days looking for some place better around here.
We would have loved to move into Retama Village or Bentsen Palms RV Park but could find no empty places at either of them. Retama Village is a co-op park and each site has a 12′ x 20′ coach house. Some of the houses are not included with the lot rent but some of them are. Some have bathrooms and laundry facilities inside. We first tried to rent one that also had a Murphy bed and kitchenette thinking we could literally move in and use our RV as a car to run errands and get work done on it. None available. Then we tried one that had a bath and laundry but nothing else except shelves on the theory that Dave could set up his piano inside and I could park my Segway in there and keep it charged up. None available. The one with the sofa bed wasn’t available, either. So we gave up.
The day we checked out of Mission West we visited the nearby World Birding Center. They have lots of exhibits about birding and a tram you can ride into the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park to hike the trails and watch the birds. It turns out you can put bikes, canoes, and kayaks on the tram as well. If we’d known that we might have taken my Segway and followed a trail out to a river overlook. You cannot drive into the park which makes it a great getaway from the hustle and bustle of Mission, Texas.
That night we checked into Sleepy Valley Resort still in Mission for one night. We stayed three. It was fairly quiet in spite of being near the same road that bothered us at Mission West. We weren’t quite as close to the road and we were along a quieter stretch of it. So we did a bunch more computer stuff including Dave putting a map showing where we are on this blog. While he was doing that I added a bunch of state and national parks to my databases of places we are headed. I also started adding restaurants from the diners, drive-ins, and dives website. It was fun to realize we’d already visited some of those restaurants.
On Monday morning we checked out of Sleepy Valley while noticing how many people still do laundry on Monday morning as evidenced by the clothes hanging on lines in the park. It’s nice to see clotheslines being used instead of dryers. So may places nowadays won’t let you put up a clothesline because they think it looks tacky. I think it looks energy efficient.
Before leaving Mission we bought propane for $2.20 a gallon, got haircuts, bought groceries, and had lunch.
Then I enjoyed a bunch more roadside signs. “Boggus Ford”–how do you suppose they pronounce that and how do they keep the rest of us from pronouncing it our way? “Hurricane Evacuation Route”–via US 281 north. If I was evacuating from here I’d do it via Hwy 83 west heading inland rather than follow one that goes north the same as the coastline. “Another Closet”–storage facility. “Location for sale”–not just land but the location between the off and on ramps of the Expressway. “Pirate Cruise”–do they take your watch and jewelry as the price of the cruise?
Now we are at Tropic Winds Resort in Harlingen, Texas. A member park that let’s rif-raf like us in at a discount as part of the Passport America program. This is another huge RV park but this one has real grass and sites wide enough that you can’t look into your neighbors windows even if you wanted to do so. We are here for two nights as part of our new program of staying at least two nights every place we camp so as to not get so burnt out on traveling. We may even go over to the the clubhouse tomorrow for their hamburger dinner. We’d probably go for the spaghetti dinner tonight if I was sure they won’t put peppers in it. But we are in Texas so that’s too big a chance for me to take. Even my heartburn medicine can’t handle peppers.
When we leave here we will head north on US 77 along the Texas Gulf Coast. If you see us going by, wave.
TTYL,
Linda
