Trapped!!

Like a rat.  Or a cat.

The rain came pounding in the middle of the night.  Thunder and lightning - you can see the light flash through the overhead vent/skylight in the bedroom.  It doesn't scare Izzy, but she did come snuggle with me... mostly for the warmth, I think.  It was 51º when I got up this morning... and I am pretty cuddly.

About 5:30 this morning, Izzy let out a raspy "Meow!"  Then, another.  And, another.  I thought she might just be exercising her lungs... Joan got up to see what was going on.  Seems little Izzy was "trapped" in the bathroom.

The RV site we were in wasn't particularly level.  The RV jacks are supposed to do that automatically, but it isn't a perfect science.  The RV was just unlevel enough that the bathroom door was closing on its own.  Izzy litter box is in the bathroom.  We keep a small box in the doorjam to keep the door from closing all the way, so Iz can come and go as she needs.  Apparently she freaked out when she pushed on the door and it came back closed... "This isn't right!!"

So, rather than try again to push it, she hollered.  Nobody got any sleep after that.

Right before it was time to unhook and head out, the rain had pretty much let up.  Until I stepped out the door... and then it poured.  And the wind howled.  I had my rain jacket on, but the wind kept blowing the hood back off my head.  Izzy isn't the only one who grouses when ... "This isn't right!!"

By the time I got everything put away, I was wet and my hands were about numb.  You are probably thinking, "What a candy-ass!"... and you'd be right.  That said, it was a cold north wind.  My pants were soaked from the calves down.  I dried my feet and put on dry socks and shoes; Joan offered to get me out some dry pants, but I said, "No, these are fine - they'll dry while I'm driving."  To aid that process, Joan did one big roll up on the jeans.

Yeah, it was wet and windy...

This is what passes for a 75 mph road in Texas...

Joan found us a good price on gas: $1.79 per gallon, when everything else around the area was $1.99 or more.  Thank you GasBuddy and Joan.  It was a Pilot, so with our GoodSam card, we get another 3¢ per gallon off.  With this quartering headwind cutting our mileage to less than 8 1/2 mpg, every bit helps.

When I got out of the motorhome to gas up, I forgot about my one-big-upturn, rolled up pants.  I wondered why people were looking at me so oddly... Joan reminded me when I got back inside.  I am not averse to taking fashion risks.  ;-)

We looked for flowers along the way today, but the rain, wind, and crappy roads made that an after-thought...

Our destination for today: Gainesville, Texas.  There is an outlet mall that has RV parking (with hookups) right by the hotel where some of the wedding festivities will be happening.  Seems convenient.  Before pulling into the outlet mall, we picked up a rental car - a hot deal for a "weekend special" from Enterprise.

The outlet mall is moderately spooky.  Until about 5 years ago, it was a real going enterprise (we have stopped here in years past)... there are about 5 businesses left, the rest are empty.  And, it is a BIG mall.  The story we got is the previous owner raised the rent substantially, and the tenants left... en masse.  What a waste.

The RV parking looks like mostly "live aboards."  Joan didn't find anyone in the office, so I asked a guy at one of the RV sites... "Just pick a site and see if the electric works.  They have a drop box to pay... but I hear they don't particularly recommend that."

Swell.

We picked a site, the electric works, and we are settled in...

Little bitty car (a Nissan Versa Note)... it makes the RV look bigger.  ;-)

Time to go find some family.