Saturday, April 25, 2015

For those who are keeping track...


The tally is as follows...

4 armadillos
4 raccoons
3 possums
2 turtles
1 incredibly stupid wild turkey with a death wish

And a bunch of carrion of indeterminate species.  Which reminds me of a joke: did you hear about the vulture who was checking in at the airline ticket counter?  The agent asked, "Do you have any bags to check?"  and he replied, "Just these two carrion."  (rimshot)

We were passed 3 times on a double yellow centerline.
We were passed twice on the shoulder on a two lane road.

Around 9.5 miles per gallon; no wind, using the air conditioner (got to 93ยบ at the warmest today), keeping it around 60 mph when possible, and some hills.

Yep, we're still in Texas.

---------------

Last night about 9:00 a storm rolled in - thunder, lightning, rain, and wind.  Nothing that I would consider severe, though.  This morning, we were up early to check weather along our route.  It looked like departing around 8:30 would put us on the front end of one line of storms, which we should drive out of... then probably see the tapering down of another line of storms further north of us... and, hopefully, be in the clear after that.  If we wait, it is going to get ugly again before it gets better.

Decisions.  We decided to get a bit wet on departure, with the hope that we'd get north ahead of the heavier stuff.  Sometimes a plan works.  Nice to have decent weather radar.

Little Izzy was up early, too...


"We're gonna drive all day, aren't we?"  She is very intuitive.

The motorhome looked pretty yesterday, when we were done cleaning it.  Kinda spotty when we were ready to head out...


Joan squeegeed off the side windows...


The rain had let up just before we were ready to roll.  That didn't last long.  We stopped for fuel under an overhang...


Wet roads as we rolled northeast...


But, the sky was looking lighter ahead - and really dark behind us...


We drove in the rain for about an hour and a half, then saw some blue sky...


As planned, we stayed off the Interstates.  I like to drive 55 to 60 mph with the motorhome.  In Texas, however, even the two lane roads have 70 mph speed limits.  I had to pick up the pace now and then to not be a road hazard.  (see the: "passing on a double yellow and being passed on the shoulder" stuff above)

The wild turkey mentioned above threw himself right in front of us - there was a "Thud!" not a "Crack!"  And feathers went every which-way.  The pickup truck following too close behind us went right over the top of the carcass.  I was hoping it was the bumper and not the grill that took the impact.  We were in a area with very narrow shoulders - no place to pull over and check.

With our length, we were able to stop for lunch at a small picnic area...


We were tired of fast food - Joan made sandwiches, Izzy got to have lunch, too, while we were stopped.  Nice pace.  Oh, and the grill was unscathed.

Going through some of the small towns along the way, we had the occasional "low overhead"...


No sweat with our shorter height in the Aspect.  And, a few interesting curves along the way...


"Rumor spreadin' 'round.  In that Texas town.  'Bout that shack outside LaGrange..."


50 Bonus Points if you said:  ZZ Top.  Yeah, that "little ol' band from Texas."

I hadn't seen this road sign before...



Cross the railroad tracks on the side road while pulling a trailer at your own risk... don't blame us if you get high-centered, we put up a sign.

Kind of an "international day"... we drove through Palestine, but bypassed Paris.  Lexington, Jacksonville, and Atlanta... yeah, still in Texas.

Joan found us a Passport America park that wasn't in any of the books, yet...


She does a great job of double checking the GPS routes, and finding us good stops along the way.  Lots of standing water, but that made for lots of greenery...


We pulled into the PA park south of Texarkana about 5:30.  No one at the office, so we did a night registration, then picked a site.  Calling ahead, we found out that they have paved roads and hard packed gravel sites... so we knew we wouldn't be in the mud.  It's a decent park, obviously new enough that it hasn't made it into the guidebooks, yet.

While I was setting up, the guy in the motorhome next to us asked if I registered.  "I did the night registration - it said to come pay in the morning."

"I take care of things when the manager isn't here.  You get all set up and I'll meet you in the office in about 15 minutes."

"Works for me."

We're in site B-25.  I said to the guy, "Wow, same as my age!"

He looked at me and said, "You're 25?"

"Looks like I had a hard life, huh?"  No change in expression.  Tough crowd.  "No, I'm a bit older than that."

He asked, "How old do you think I am?"

Being the polite guy I am, I said, "Oh, 64, maybe 65?"

"89!"

I pretended to be surprised.  ;-)  I had to help him make change.  I'm guessing he's legit - he did have a key to the office.

Should be quiet here - 95 spaces, and only 20 or so are occupied.

Joan is making supper, and I'm ready for an adult beverage.


2 comments:

Hinch said...

Cool! I used to live in Palestine (pronounced "PalesTEEN") in the 60's. Let's just say it wasn't an urban paradise then. (I've followed ya'll for a couple years via C-Brats.)

Captain Jim and the Blonde said...

Thanks for following along and posting, Hinch. Texans have a sense of humor about how things get pronounced... like Refugio. ;-)