Mouse Loose in the Motorhome

As we were getting ready to leave this morning around 7:30, Marcia had us looking for a mouse which she swears she had seen.  Of course Bubba is just no help with this at all, but perhaps if Skruffy was still alive she could have smelled it out.  No luck in catching the mouse, and we leave.  But I am so rattled, I take a left out of the RV Park instead of a right.  A mile down the road I find an area to make a U-Turn, and a few minutes later we are entering US 287 headed for Amarillo, Texas.  I HATE it when I make a wrong turn like that, it just isn't me...must have needed more coffee.  Found out later that the GPS would have lead me right to the Highway had I turned left on Highway 101...but I decided to make a U-Turn...but we got to the highway.

I went to left coming out of park...should be a right.

We get down the highway about 3 miles, and come upon a wreck which had just happened.  No emergency vehicles on site as we go through, did not appear anyone was hurt, and until I saw the pickup's front passenger's side all messed up, and debris on the road, I thought it was just someone with a flat tire.  Less than a mile later we see emergency vehicles on the way headed south (we are headed north).  It then dawns on me...  "Marcia, had we not been looking for that mouse, and I had not made the wrong turn, that could have been "US" in that wreck back there!"  What a way to start the day, huh???

Seeing this little beauty driving along the frontage road to our right was a bit of a highlight of our day.  The roads veered off from each other, so we did not get a better picture than this.

About 30 miles down the road we pulled over at a picnic area (Texas has a bunch of these picnic areas) and we grabbed some breakfast...and looked for the mouse a bit more.  In fact, every time we stopped we both instinctively looked for that mouse.

This is much of what we were looking at most of the ride, along with a half dozen little towns that we had to slow down going through.  If you look closely, you can see a few electric producing windmills along this area.

One thing we did see were a number of RVs traveling along the road, most of them 5th Wheels and Trailers, but there was one or two motorhomes.  At our second stop, I found the mouse...

... Yep, the mouse loose in the Motorhome was Marcia's Computer Mouse.  And I DID not find her mouse, I had a spare mouse, brand new, which she is currently using.  The old mouse was still on the loose.

We decided that the 280+ miles we drove to get to Amarillo was enough.  Got gas at a Flying J, and headed over to AOK RV Park, another Passport America park at $14 per night.  Nothing fancy, but have a nice view out our front windows.

Well, ok, it is a golden field with UFO's flying over it.  WELL, ok, not a UFO, but an Airplane.  Good news, I finally found the lost mouse wedged between Marcia's chair and her door jam support.  Had I not used my little flashlight, I would have missed it as it blended in with the door jam area.  It never hit the floor, so when I looked earlier (at a rest stop) I did not see it.

Yep, it looks like a storm is brewing up.  Out here in the upper panhandle of Texas in June means that the Thunder Storm just might include ...

HAIL!!!!

Thought that large one was hail, but it was a rock.

My shoe gives you a better idea of how large the hail was.  It was all over in about 5 minutes.  Until 15 minutes later more hail, along with rain, came...and that hail was even larger, but melted before the rain let up for me to get pictures.  And then, another round of hail came.  The last two storms lasted twice as long as the first.  It was SO LOUD as it hit the roof of the motorhome.  Thank goodness I did not see any damage to the motorhome or the car.  The winds gusts were up to 60 mph, but were short lived.  As a result..the temps dropped from near 90 down to the mid-60's.  I think we will both have a good sleep tonight, no need for running the AC all night long.  Oh, and here comes round four...hope this doesn't have hail.

North Dallas Forty (OVER Forty Minutes of Hell)

I don't know which was worse...driving through Dallas, or driving the crappy roads of Louisiana getting there.  Well, let's see...

We got on the road at 7:30 after getting gas and coffee at Pilot, just across the street from the RV Park.  I did not say much about the RV Park...let's just say, "Stuffed into a can of Sardines".  Headed west on I-20 toward Dallas, and at first, the road is not bad at all.

Then the road changes...I think you can see the ruts, the cracks, the waves in this picture.  Driving over it in a car is probably a little irritating...driving over it in a motorhome is more than irritating. 

And toss the early morning sun shadows in, and well...it is just hard on the nerves.

And as you get closer to Shreveport, it gets worse.  It was truly a nerve-racking adventure.  Reminded us of sections of the Alaska Highway going through the Yukon.

And there is Shreveport in all its glory.  Just a few miles west of Shreveport and the road vastly improves.  It is like Louisiana wants you to have a "Good Last Memory" of the state...sorry Louisiana, it does not work...we will remember you for the bumpy bumpy crappy roads.

The roads in Dallas were better, except for small patches here and there.  Thank goodness we did not hit construction like the eastbound traffic did, I think they had three different stretches of very long lines of cars and trucks going very, very slow.

After taking a side highway northwest, we get onto I-30.  I-30 goes between Dallas and Little Rock, and I have driven that stretch more than I wish to count.  Dallas is not an easy major city to go through, and even with my driving experience in Dallas many, many times...

I still get tricked by the GPS into missing a turn onto I-35 north and head west over this bridge.

One good thing they do in Texas is that they have many easy U-Turns under or over major freeways, and I quickly got turned around and here we are headed east over the same bridge, and take the I-35 north exit and back on track toward Fort Worth.

Our track actually takes up north of DFW (Dallas Fort Worth Airport), and through north Fort Worth.  I look out to the right of the windshield and I think, hmmmm...that looks familiar.

It is the Texas Motor Speedway, a NASCAR track which is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway. 

It is a very large facility, and I had no clue that our route was taking us right by it.

Our route takes up toward Wichita Falls along US Highway 287.  Filled up with gas at another Pilot, and then we stop at a town called Sunset, about 60 miles short of Wichita Falls.  It was about a 350 mile day.  It is a hot day (94 with 50% humidity), and we get to select our own RV Site at Sunset RV Park for $17.50 Passport America price (same price as last night).

I decide on this site and we park backwards.  In the picture you can see the black cord, which is our extension just for this purpose.  Although there is a sewer connection and water connection, we don't hook up either...getting shade in this heat is our number one concern, and it works.  We have been comfortable inside despite the high heat and humidity.  Tomorrow, either Amarillo Texas, at 281 miles, or at 394 miles.  I was hoping to get into a New Mexico State Park for a couple of days to relax a bit...but the Governor has not opened them up yet, although he might open them tomorrow.  I'm thinking that Amarillo might be as far as we get.

500 Mile Day

Started our day at 6 am, and by 6:30 we were on our way, coffee in hand, and breakfast coming later.

I-10 in Florida is a great section of Interstate.  Again, like US-19, lots of trees.  There are large sections of the road where the eastbound and westbound are separated by trees, like the picture above.  One thing I failed to mention yesterday is that we were on the western-side of where Hurricane Michael went through back in October of 2018.  Nearly two years later, and they are still cleaning up some of the mess.

A hundred miles into our ride today we go over the Blackwater River...this is a picture Marcia got out her window (facing north).

The Blackwater River is quickly followed by Escambia Bay, right before Pensacola.  Picture left is looking out over the Gulf of Mexico, the picture on the right is looking to the north.

Immediately after you cross into Alabama, there is a welcome center with a very large parking area for trucks and motorhome/RVs.  Well, today the Alabama State Police decided to use it for a Truck Weighing and Inspection station.  They allowed us into the area, but there were dozens of state police cars and officers and at least 50 18 wheel trucks (and other smaller ones) there.  At least 20 were pulled over to be inspected, while 30 or more were in line to be weighed and let back onto the Interstate, or pulled over if there was a problem.  In the picture above - right we saw an officer looking that truck over, even getting on a dolly looking under the entire truck and trailer.  While here, I cooked us up a quick breakfast (bacon, cheese, egg burritto on low-carb tortillas), and off we went.  The officer was looking over this truck to the right of us the entire time!

As we crossed over Mobile Bay, you can see the Battleship Alabama Museum, where the battleship USS ALABAMA, submarine USS DRUM and the Medal of Honor Aircraft Pavilion filled with some planes including a Red-Tail P-51 like the one used by the Tuskegee Airmen are located.  (This museum is now open following the COVID-19 lockdown.)

The City of Mobile.

The Mobile Tunnel which goes under the Mobile River.  The GPS always wants me to get off before the tunnel since we eventually will be taking US 98 to Hattiesburg Mississippi.  I prefer to go to I-65 and connect with US 98 on the other side of Mobile.

Between Mobile and Hattiesburg the highway, once into Mississippi, is great.  Almost Interstate quality except for cross traffic, which there is not much of until you get closer to Hattiesburg.  From Hattiesburg to Jackson is not so good.  Lots of construction, which has been taking place since 2011 when Marcia and I got married.  Numerous times I have driven this entire route we have been on since leaving Holiday.  Very surprised that the construction has not progressed further than it has.

Along this stretch of road I see the lowest gas prices on our trip so far...just $1.49 per gallon.  We have yet to pay over $1.95, and we have paid $1.75.

Finally we approach the Mississippi River, and drive into Louisiana.  Another 100 miles and we pass through Monroe, and fight through the road construction at exit 112 and enter the Pavilion RV Park.  We didn't make 500 miles, but it was close enough at 485.  There is a Cracker Barrel just an exit down the Interstate, and I unhooked the car and went down to pick up dinner for us...it has been a number of months since we have had Cracker Barrel.  Tomorrow we will stop at the Pilot just across the street, get gas and coffee, and drive a more reasonable 365 miles to Sunset, Texas.

Hitchinpost Corral and Campground RV Park

We had decided early on that when we left Tuesday, it would not be a 'early time period' along with the departure.  I got up at 7:30, with Marcia pretty much right behind me.  She showered while I got the coffee ready and started getting a few more items ready for travel, such as my computer stuff.  By 8:30 I was in the shower, we then had breakfast, and by 9:45 I was off with a load of more stuff to put away in the motorhome, and then hook up the car and travel the 1/2 mile back to the condo.  I arrived around 10:30, loaded up the final, small load of things, turned off breakers to the stove/oven, the dishwasher and the hot water heater, pulled the plug on the washer and dryer, turned off the water main, covered the toilets with plastic wrap (keeps it cleaner and the water does not evaporate), locked up and we hit the road shortly after 11.  Six hours later we were in Midway Florida (after a few brief stops) and filled up with gas ($1.95 gal), and a hour after that stop we were in Cottondale, home of the Hitchinpost Corral and Campground RV Park.

U.S. Highway 19 from Holiday up to I-10 just east of Tallahassee for the most part looks just like this picture...after you get through the communities of New Port Richey, Port Richey, Hudson, Weeki Wachee, Homosassa Springs, and Crystal River.  In between a few of these latter towns, there are some rural stretches of the highway too.  After Crystal River, and for the next 150 miles it is pretty much like this except for the five or six little cities you pass thorugh.  Two lanes north, two lanes south, 65 mph with slowdowns for the small cities and a few crossover highways.

Five miles north of the last city, Perry, is the one and only Rest Area along the route until you get to I-10.  We normally stop here to walk the dogs, but on this trip there is only one dog, Bubba.  I always think that when we stop here, and we rarely pass by it without stopping, that he, and Skruffy when she was alive, knew that they had been here before.

It is always nice to stop at the first RV Park or State Park and even a rest area (if it is a quiet one) when you start out your trip.  We had never been to Hitchinpost Corral and Campground RV Park before this.  Nice grass, nice trees, but out-of-sight in the picture is I-10 to the back of the car by 100 yards or so.  The guy who checked us in and showed us the sight said that the free WiFi is strong enough to stream Netflix or other services...but our unlimited Verizon Aircard is doing just fine.

Tomorrow is a planned 490 mile day...but we will see how it goes.  Most of our travel days are around 350 this trip, and we might cut tomorrow down a bit and add the miles to our Thursday travel.

Today mom, who is 90 years old, is taking a bit of a respite from the Assisted Living Facility which she lives at.  Due to COVID-19, this facility, like most throughout the nation, serves all meals in the apartments instead of the common dinning area.  No visitors are allowed to enter, and if you decide to leave, even for a doctor's appointment, you have to quarantine for 14 days upon your return.  After two plus months of this, mom just needed a break...and Sandy and Arny came to the rescue offering mom a place to stay for a few weeks.  With us camping in their backyard once we get there, that will be nice for all of us.  Mom will probably go back to the Assisted Living Facility in a few weeks, she will be tested, and then quarantined...but most likely she will come back to Sandy and Arny's before her quarantine is finished.  Last week I talked to the Placer County Health Department and told them how depressed not only mom was, but others living there.  We understand completely that they are trying to keep them all safe, but, I pointed out, they might die of loneliness before they die of COVID-19.  This solution with her visiting Sandy and Arny's now and then is the best solution under the situation at hand.  We all just need to be diligent to keep away from the virus, because if it gets into a Senior Facility like where she lives, it can take out a bunch of older folks...and no one wants to see that happen.

Wedding Delay ... Sort Of

Got a text from my youngest child Ryan yesterday...the wedding has to be delayed for another year.  However, he and Kaelyn are going to elope in July, and then have a formal wedding ceremony a year later.  This is how it is in these times of abnormal...

So Marcia and I are going to head right out to California, and save our northern route until after the wedding next year...or before the wedding next year, depending upon how we do things next year.

I thought I was going to share a map of our trip up to Cleveland, then over to Indiana, up through Michigan and across the top of the state, down through Montana into Wyoming, through Utah and across to Sacramento.  Instead, we are headed from Florida to Sacramento, part of the route being new to our RV travels as we cut through a smaller section of Texas.

Due to the hot weather, we will be staying in RV parks each night until we reach California.  Near Lone Pine we will either boondock in the Alabama Hills, or, if it is too hot, find a RV park to stay at near Lone Pine.  If all goes well...we will spend a few nights at one of our favorite National Forest Parks outside of Truckee before continuing on to the HOT Sacramento Area.

Not sure what day we will be leaving, but our plans are for next week, perhaps Tuesday or Wednesday.  Don't know who is happier...us (Marcia and Dave) or Bubba.  (Not bad for a going on 17 year old dog!)