SURPRISE! Visit with Marcia's Son John (no idea we were coming)

Thursday we got sidelined due to the weather.  The wind in Southern Illinois was real bad...30-35 mph wind guest...I was being blown all over the Interstate.  Finally gave up 120 miles shy of Amboy, where Marcia's son John works and lives in a small town sports bar...he has the entire second floor to himself.  We stayed at...yes...another Cracker Barrel, this one in Bloomington, IL.  The wind died down around 9 pm, we had a good nights sleep.  Drove north to I-80 where we went west for 1.5 miles and pulled into a Flying J to fill up and to empty.  (Got Gas, Emptied Waste Tanks)  We needed fresh water, but it was all turned off.  (Thank goodness we were able to fill up at the Bar later)

 We pulled up to the bar finding John sitting out on the bench in front of the bar.  He watches us pull in...he looks at me very hard and mouths "What the ???"  Then he sees his Mama in the passenger seat and mouths "MAMA!!!"   Oh, we surprised him alright!   Above he sits in his Walker (he needs a hip replacement), and you can see the bar in the background with one of his staff awaiting their first guests of the day (besides Marcia, Indy and me).

 

Here is Marcia sitting in her Walker, and you can see much of the rest of the bar behind her.  I was sitting in a cushioned booth along with Indy.  After talking, getting water, John and I went next door to get Lunch to bring back.  We had an enjoyable 4 hours with John, and headed out.  We are now in Davenport, Iowa staying WHERE????   Yes, a Cracker Barrel...but not eating tonight since we had a late lunch/early dinner with John.

As we travel through to Nebraska, Wyoming, and eventually Salt Lake City, we will be staying in a couple of campgrounds so that we will have electricity to help keep us warm at night.

 

 

1,050 Miles Over Two Days

 

Sometimes I like to put in a lot of miles over two days to take it easier for the remainder of the trip.  Between outrunning and/or dodging storms (which we did), the second thing is we have a big chunk of the trip behind us now...the hard part...which means TEXAS!

Today we traveled from Kerrville Texas to Las Cruces, just like we had hoped.  The trip was much easier than yesterday when we traveled through Houston and San Antonio.  Very quickly the speed limit went up to 80 mph, and our Camper Van handled it very well.  About an hour later, the winds hit...I slowed to around 70, being blown all over the road.  Good news, another 60-90 minutes later the winds had subsided and I was able to get it back up to 80 mph.  Passed three or four police cars, two of which were Texas State Police, and instincts was to slow down...not only me but others around me slowed too.  The police did not even blink since we all were going the speed limit or under.

Stopped for gas at a Flying J where they just happen to be upgrading their pumps.  Had to go in and prepay, went back out and pumped gas, putting my cane against the pump...where I left it.  Did not realize it until I went in to Cracker Barrel to get dinner to-go.  Tomorrow we have to hit up a Walgreens to get another cane.

As usual, the winds really picked up near El Paso, and especially in Las Cruces.  Hoping tomorrow the winds will be fine early in the morning as we go across New Mexico and into Arizona.  It will be an easy day with only 338 miles.  And Friday we will have a leisurely "brunch" with Laurie before we head off to California via I-40, but how far we get will be a whole different thing...