I attract 'em. Nice people, buttheads, weirdos. I don't know where they all come from.
We hit the road today. It is a pretty quiet street in front of our house; not particularly wide, but there is room for 2 vehicles to pass. When we closed everything up, I pulled the motorhome out onto the street so we could get the car and cargo trailer hooked up, and attach the line we put across our driveway. While we finished loading the coach, there wasn't a single car that drove by. As soon as I put the motorhome out on the street, there were 8 vehicles, trying to pass on one side. No, I am not kidding. I had to direct traffic to keep these crazy ass people from creating a "log jam" of vehicles. As soon as we pulled the CR-V and cargo trailer out onto the street (we decided to hook up our "circus train" after we got out of the resort) and pulled ahead with the motorhome, there was a vehicle in sight.
Do they just wait until the most inopportune time to clog up the roads? I'm really not paranoid, but I think there is someone who watches us, then radios ahead: "They are pulling out of their driveway - get those vehicles in front of them NOW! Go! Go! Go!"
We crossed the bridge off our island, then pulled to the side of the road to hook up the car and trailer behind the motorhome...
We have been keeping an eye on the weather - this looked like a good window. As of yesterday. It was supposed to be a quartering tailwind, blowing at single digits. It turned out to be a quartering headwind, changing to a direct crosswind, blowing at 20 with higher gusts. The Aspect does a decent job, thanks to its relatively low profile, but that kind of headwind hurts the fuel mileage.
Once out of the Tropical Tip, there isn't much to look at...
I was surprised that the trees in this area had no leaves. Another hundred and fifty miles further north, towards San Antonio, and the trees were green again. The clouds got interesting for a while...
We had the usual "All Honda CR-V TV Channel" on the rear monitor...
With the lousy fuel mileage, we pulled in about 70 miles before our stop for the night to get gas. There was a pickup pulling a flatbed trailer at the only pumps that would accommodate our length (the truck lanes didn't have gas, only diesel). I positioned myself to get to that pump, since the guy in the pickup didn't have a fuel nozzle in his truck or the 4-wheeler in the trailer. About this same time, a school bus pulled up - Joan was going to run in and get us a sandwich, but seeing all those high school age kids in the bus, she hustled inside ahead of them. In the meantime, no one around the pickup blocking the fuel lane. I was about to get out and see if perhaps the driver had died at the wheel, and someone came walking up to the truck. He started it up... then sat there for another 10 minutes. I couldn't take it any longer - walked up and knocked on his window... "Any chance you could pull forward? I've been waiting to get at this pump, and I am blocking traffic behind us. I see you are done pumping." I was nice. Honest.
The dipshit said, "Oh, I didn't know anyone was waiting." EVERY pump was busy. I pointed at the other vehicles and said, "Time for you to be a good neighbor!" I thought, for sure, that by the time I got back to the motorhome, someone else would get at that pump before me... but, no. Joan had food for us before I started pumping fuel.
Another 75 miles to go for our planned stop for the night. Not that much traffic on the road... no idea why every vehicle in the area had to stop at that Flying J?
Take a breath... let it go. Whewwwwwwwwww.
We pulled into the RV park before 3:00. Joan unhooked the CR-V from the coach while I got us checked in. We have a plan here: we pretty much don't pass through San Antonio without stopping at the SAS Shoe Factory. I always find comfortable shoes that fit my wide feet; Joan has been finding cute shoes there, too. The prices are better at the factory than they are at the stores they have around the country... yes, a true factory outlet. It doesn't look like much from the outside...
It kind of looks like an old small town (in the middle of a mostly residential area) as you pull up. Inside, it has the feel of an old general store. With LOTS of very comfortable shoes and other stuff. An old car in the middle of the store...
And more old cars outside...
I updated my sneaks (athletic shoes?); Joan got a couple pair. I used to think SAS sold cheap shoes for old people. $160 bucks for a pair of sneaks isn't my idea of cheap, but they are the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn. I have a bunch of their shoes - can't hardly go back to another brand after wearing these. Oh, and how 'bout $60 less by getting them at the factory store? Yeah, this is worth the stop.
Back to the motorhome - I need to empty the fresh water tank that has been getting "sanitized" on the way here. Then, dump the gray and back tanks and put more fresh water on. By now, the temperature was down to the 50s, with a cold northeast wind. I put on a jacket and went after the water and sewer stuff... and, a guy came up to me with questions about the Aspect. And, talked and talked. I finally excused myself when Joan let me know the fresh water tank was 2/3 full.
I was just getting settled in when there was a knock at the door. Another guy asking about the Aspect - he has one that is a couple years older and said, "Can I ask you a couple questions about..." Thirty minutes later, he was still going. "Well, Billy, I need to get inside because I am freezing my ass off..."
I told Joan, "Quick - pull down the shades and turn off the lights! Before someone else shows up!"
They are doing a spaghetti dinner here at the park tonight... we decided to stay in. Where it is quiet. Joan made some beer cheese soup. We turned on the heat. It's going to get down to about 40º tonight, with an 80% chance of rain. Nope, that wasn't in the forecast as of yesterday.
That should keep people inside tomorrow when we're ready to hit the road. ;-)
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