Leaving San Antonio

Friday as we drove north through San Antonio and into the hill country our climb was greater than we realized. San Antonio's elevation is 650 feet and Midland's elevation is 2782 feet.

From 2010-01-23

North San Antonio is growing fast in the hill country. From the interstate we could see many huge homes built on the hill sides. The land was rocky with lots of trees. As we drove farther north the trees were shorter and quite dense at times (4-5 feet high). There were areas of wide open prairie land with scrub grass, cactus and shrubs, very desert looking.

From 2010-01-23

As we drove farther the soil became much darker and was being farmed. We saw lots of irrigation equipment in the fields. In some of the areas the ranches were very far apart and housing could not be seen from the road. So far our travels in the state of Texas have been on roads in wonderful shape, even the farm roads and side roads.

We spent the night in San Angelo at the KOA campground.

From 2010-01-23

From 2010-01-23

We don't usually stay at KOA's but we read some reviews and decided to try it. We were pleased with our stay. The sights are rather close, but we were at the end of a road and no one was parked beside us. There was a road next to the park which many of the locals were using for jogging and walking. Allan took advantage of that. Everyone was friendly. What I saw of San Angelo, I was impressed.

It was raining today when we arose from a sleep to such a clatter of Katie scratching the mirror wanting us to get up. She didn't want to move, just wanted food. Katie is actually traveling with a good attitude. She doesn't want to get in the truck, is ok traveling, but as soon as we stop at our next overnight stay she wants out. We had strong cross winds today (35-40 mph). Allan was really having to work to keep the truck and trailer in the road. By the time we arrived in Midland the rain had stopped. We found the Teen Challenge facility with no problem and got set up.

From 2010-01-23

There are four other RV's here. We are parked close together, but we have full hookups. There is one other volunteer who is staying in a cabin. All of the volunteers are from North Dakota and Colorado. After we got set up we drove into Midland to check it out and get some lunch/supper. We made a quick stop at Walmart, too.

Tour of Rainbow's End

Today Allan and I took a tour of Rainbow's End campground and facilities. We toured the mailing service which was quite interesting. Escapees mail service is the largest mail forwarding service in the US. We were taken by trolley throughout the campground and given a history lesson of Escapees. We were driven to Joe and Kay Peterson 's house, who started Escapees. They came out to greet us. They were delightful people. We even met their dog, a dachshund named Repo.

Our friends John and Christine from New York arrive this afternoon. We were able to spend some time with them. They just started the new adventure of full timing in January. We feel blessed to get to see them if even for a short time.

Allan took advantage of the spaghetti lunch. I tried walking a little, but I have pulled a muscle in my calf which has curtailed exercise. We plan to leave tomorrow.

Rainbow's End

No rain today and much warmer. Allan and I did a few errands in town and, of course, made a stop at the local Wally World. I have never seen so many shopping cart return pens? in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart. They were situated about every 5 parking spaces. Although it took up extra parking spaces, you did not see any loose carts.

On our trip in here yesterday we got off the interstate and took some side roads. They were better than the interstate. Four-lane too. We made good time and did not speed. It sure is flat here and lots of water standing (not deep). They have had quite a bit of rain.

We attended a Care Center Tour today. For you readers who are not familiar with Escapees I will include a little information. The Escapees RV Club provides a total network support for weekend to full-time RVers. It offers a campground system throughout the US, provides a mail forwarding service, and many events. Livingston, Texas is the national headquarters and has a large RV park. The CARE Center operates as an adult day care and provides a place for RVers to reside and have services such as meals, nursing care, a site with pad, telephone line and storage shed, housekeeper service, laundry service, help with dumping and switching propane tanks and transportation to doctors appointments and shopping and much more.

Texas Bound

God held off the rain until Allan got the tanks dumped. We drove in the rain most of the day. Our plan was to spend the night near Shreveport. La. but the campground was full so we drove on the Marshall, Texas. We spent the night at Marshall RV Campground. It was nothing fancy, but met our needs for the night.

We got up this morning and drove to Livingston, Tx. to the Escapee Campground. We drove around the campground and then took a long walk before supper. Allan and I went to the ice cream social hour and met a few people.

We will pick up our mail tomorrow. Haven't had mail delivered since before Christmas.

We left Alabama today. It was a sad day to leave our family and friends, but it is exciting to get back on the road again. We arrived in Jackson, Ms. at Le Fleur State Park after dark. We backed into our space without taking out any trees. Since it is suppose to rain in the morning we decided not to unhook from the truck or put slides out. Hopefully, that means a quick get away.

We saw a lot of deer grazing on the side of the interstate who did not seem to notice the heavy traffic passing by. A few apparently did not look both ways before crossing.

We are going to bed early. The cat is ready too. Katie rode in the truck without complaining today. Good kitty.

More Delays

We had some snow several days but it did not stick around very long. Katie was fascinated with the flakes coming down.

From Snow in Alabama

From Snow in Alabama

We have had more delays due to weather and the truck repairs. As far as we know now they have had to replace the radiator and water pump. We are suppose to pick it up tomorrow around noon.

I can't believe how busy we have been. Still could stay longer, but the projected day of travel is Friday.

In looking back at when we originally were to leave and now, we can see why it was good for us to be here. The freezing weather affected the pipes in our daughters house. Allan repaired the pipes and installed insulation in the soffit area along with a number of other small jobs. This was chilling work as it did not get above freezing for about a week. Our low was 14 degrees. Also we are glad we found this problem with the truck before we were out on the road and in freezing temperatures. God sure does look after us. We thank him every day for his protection.

COLD

It is cold here in Alabama. We decided to stay another week here and leave this Saturday, but the weatherman is predicting snow for tomorrow and extreme cold temperatures for the weekend. We will not leave until Monday if Allan can get a few minor things done to the truck. He will be trying a new place for service.