Any stars you want to see?

I'm kinda partial to Halle Berry.  What?  Not that kind of star?

Tonight was the star gazing at Steph's school.  Joan, Dan and I had supper out.  Steph requested that we stop at Chick-fil-A to pick up something for her and her teaching teammate.  She thought I was exaggerating when I said there were 4,000 cars in the drive up for Chick-fil-A... maybe a bit... there was 4,003.  Dan went inside while Joan and I stayed in his vehicle... and tried to figure out how to lock the doors.  Yes, we were a bit later than intended in getting to the star gazing.  Did I mention: 4,003 cars in the drive up?

When we got there, we downloaded Skyview Lite on our phones.  This is cool...

There was a group of students and parents taking turns viewing through the telescopes...

That particular one was set for viewing the Moon - impressive detail, but I couldn't get my phone to "see" through the telescope to get a photo.

They were also handing out charts for where the stars would be in the sky in February...

An interesting diversion.  Odds are pretty good that we would not have done this if Steph hadn't been involved.  But, the desserts at Portillo's (where we ate) were quite tasty!  ;-)

Oh, that's better...

We have been here in the desert for four days.  We had commitments the first three days.  Today: we got out on the scoots!  Oh, it wasn't an all-day and many mile affair, but it was a good ride; around the southwest part of Phoenix.  Urban cruising, but just far enough out that it wasn't a lot of traffic.

Before heading out...

No photos while riding.  But, it was cool (around 70º), sunny, almost not breeze.  Pretty darn pleasant riding conditions.  Along the way, we rode by housing developments, open road, agriculture (including two flower farms), and on mostly secondary roads (45 to 50 mph speed limits).

Back at our site, I checked the current scooter tag: "your scoot with your pet."  Well, that isn't really what the spirit of the scooter tag game is about (to get you riding), but it was easy enough for me to get it...

This evening, we will have supper with Dan and then head to Steph's school for an evening of "star gazing."  (Yes, a school sanctioned event.  Science, since they don't have an astronomy class.)

Getting schooled...

You think we learned something?  Well, we did go back to school today, and we may have learned that kids have changed in the past decade.

Today was our first stint in Steph's classroom, working with the kids on their Gravity Cruisers (gravity powered race vehicles).  They are in the early stages of building their cars - so we were able to give them some guidance.  We are not there to tell them how to build the cars, but we ask questions and try to get them to come up with solutions that will lead them to a more successful outcome with their designs.

The kids are put into 3 person teams, where they have to work together on this project.  For many of them, this is the first time they have been part of a team.  They have to decide together what design they want to use, and the construction technique.  Most of them are struggling with looking ahead to see what each design decision will have on their final build.  So, first you have to get them working as a team, then get that team pulling together.  On a schedule.

That means you have to be diplomatic in getting them to... move along.

Once the basic design is in place, there will be a process of testing weight (thus: the gravity) vs mechanical advantage.  It may seem easy to the casual observer, but this is pretty much a blank slate, even though they get to look at some previous years designs (including a kick-ass vehicle that Joan built a couple years ago).  There are options with chassis design, wheel placement, axle construction, the tower construction (which creates the height so gravity can do the work), and the final stage: weight placement vs balance vs power delivery.  Once they get to this point, the work that separates the winners from the pack is in the tweaking and testing.  They have to keep notes and see what affect the tweaks have on the distance the car will travel.  This is not a speed race - it is all about the distance.

There is an urge to tell them, "OMG - don't do that!" but they have to learn the consequences of their design choices.  We want them all to be successful, but this ends in a competition where there are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers... no "participation awards."

There are some designs - like putting axles above the chassis - that will give them major problems down the road.  Or: towers that are decidedly off kilter, that will result in the car not running straight.  As adults, you may think this is all common sense.  You have kids who are all about the look of the design, and don't consider the function.  You have kids that are used to getting their own way and haven't had to deal with teamwork.  Some special needs kids.  Some who barely speak English.

The GM guys (it is General Motors that sponsors this endeavor) were impressed with the progress the kids in our room made today.  We had one GM guy, Joan, and me in Steph's classroom.  The other competing classes had 3 GM guys.  I think Joan and I are pretty good at motivating and keeping things moving.  We'll see as the project progresses.  Our goal is to get them to the testing stage on their cars so they still have time for any design tweaks.

Here's a portion of the vehicles at the end of one class today...

Tomorrow night, we'll be "star gazing" with some of these kids.  Yeah, after dark.  Telescope.  Star charts.  This will be a first for us.

Take two...

No, still not recording.  Mark and I got together again today.  Joan and Cindy (Mark's wife) went to an assisted living place where Cindy's Dad was before he passed - they did sewing for residents who needed something repaired, restructured, or hemmed.  And then a stop to scout out some fabric for another project they both intend to do.

That left Mark and I unsupervised for the afternoon.  Scary, but we were deep into making music.  I also got the chance to try out some of Mark's guitar stuff - fun to play electric with all kinds of pedal and amp effects.  All about electric in my younger years, I have been playing mostly acoustic (yes, with pickups) for several decades.

At the end of the day, my fingertips are a bit sore - I have done more playing in the last two days than the previous month or more.  Feels good!

Been a long time since I rock and rolled...

If you said, "Led Zeppelin, 1971," you get 100 bonus points.

I feel like a got way more than 100 bonus points this afternoon: Mark and I got together at his house, and we made some music.  Not recording; not sending Spire Studio files back and forth... we were singing and playing.  Face to face.  Well, sorta; more side by side, but we could see each other, nod, and know when to make any changes in what we were playing.  Just like the good ol' days.

For full disclosure, we spent the first hour or so getting equipment set up.  I brought a lot of gear with me, and Mark made room for us in his music room.  Today was more about getting used to playing together than working on new projects.  He has his song list, I have mine, and we are just enjoying the music.

Somewhere down the line we'll record some more and post it here.  In the meantime, this is fun... and just feels right.

Been a while...

I rode my e-bike around the park today... it has been a week since I've been able to do that.  It's that physics thing: a body in motion tends to stay in motion; a body at rest tends to stay at rest.  It felt good to get some exercise today.  This park is smaller than the resort where we live... covering every street here, it is barely 4 miles; at home, I can get in 7 without much overlap.

50º here this morning at 8:30; a couple layers, a stocking cap, and gloves were necessary.  At home, it is most often short, t-shirt, and a bike helmet.  By 10:00, it is supposed to be 55º.

Another big difference thanks to the desert: not a lot of greenery here.  At home, I see swaying palm trees, grass, and flowers; here, it is mostly gravel.  There is a 4 hole golf course in this park, but not a lot of grass on that.

Another thing I noticed this morning: this place is nearly full.  That is a big difference from the last few years.  The previous management acted like people staying here were a bother; the new management seems friendly.  There has to be more to it than that, though... in years past, the occupancy here seemed to be 40% (my guess), less than that in their transient sites (long and narrow) in back.  This morning, I would guess occupancy above 90% - a significant difference in such a short time.  There are more modular homes now, as well.  The sites in the front of this park are significantly wider than most RV parks; my guess is that whoever designed the park was expecting it to be more modular homes.  You don't own the lot here, so if you put a modular on a site, you are paying lot rent, as well.  Obviously, there are more people now who think that is a good way to go.

I have groused about the management here.  The place was sold a couple years ago, but they left most of the cranky office staff in place.  That has now changed, and the difference is noticeable.  We have stayed at other RV resorts from time to time, just because of the attitude of the management here... we were willing to pay more and have to drive further to get with Steph and Dan because of that.  This is the closest and most convenient to Steph and Dan's place.

We also see that they have an expansion plan starting, where they are going to add another 90 sites here.  That was started a decade ago, but dropped because they didn't have enough people wanting to stay here; good management and a friend attitude make a difference.

Whew!

The Eagle has landed.  If you said, " Neil Armstrong, when the first man-made craft (the "Eagle") landed on the moon, now used to indicate the completion of a 'mission objective'," you get 10 bonus points.  And, in our case: the Aspect has landed.

It was an uneventful trip from Tucson to Goodyear - just the way we like it.  Leaving Tucson...

A landmark...

Picacho Peak.  This was one of the "we made it to the warmth" signs when we first started getting away from the frozen northland in the winter.  And, a symbol of the desert...

Not the Variable Speed Limit Corridor sign - the Saguaro Cactus.  It makes me thirsty just looking at it.  ;-) 

One new thing along our route: the Loop 202 is now complete from south of Phoenix, west then north, back to I-10.  I don't think it saves miles, but it completely eliminates the city traffic - we breezed through doing 60 to 65 mph, with no slow-downs.  From there, it was I-10 to our exit.

Steph had let us know that there is road construction blocking our usual way to the RV park.  The work-around is 1 mile further on the frontage road, then come back a half mile or so.  No problem.

Joan went to the office to get us checked in, then we started our settling-in set-up.  This is a lot more than for an over-night stop.  Joan staked down two patio mats while I got the utilities set up.  Your sewer hose isn't allowed to "touch the ground" in Arizona, so I have to do more set-up to make that happen.  We unloaded the cargo trailer, getting the scoots unstrapped and ready to ride.  Being the helpful guy I am, I did take them each up and down the street to make sure all is good with them; it is.  The coach is leveled, the utilities connected, the slides are out... we are getting settled in.

Steph and Dan came by after work.  This is a busy time for them - it is good to see them again.  Time to make plans.  I called my buddy Mark - there is music to be made!

I don't think we'll run out of things to do for the next couple months.

;-)

She still needs me...

It isn't easy being a trophy husband.  Oh, sure, I try to keep myself nice for her so she can show me off as arm candy.  I'm OK with that... it's part of the curse of being pretty; I've had to live with that my whole life.

But, today I was able to prove my worth as a man.  No, not a "Fred Garvin, male prostitute" kinda thing.  Fred got paid.  But, as usual, I digress.

A couple days ago, Joan "smelled something funny."  No, it wasn't me.  At least I don't think so.  When she uses that phrase, there isn't anything "funny" about it.  We had it happen a year or so ago when a pudgy field mouse managed to get into our house and got caught in the back of our stove.  Not in the stove, but in the back of it.  It wasn't pretty.  It didn't smell pleasant, either.

Joan was just sure we had "the same smell" here in the motorhome.  She had me "sniff test" my way around the coach.  I always thought I had a good sense of smell, but what I sensed was maybe musty, not... the smell of death.  She was convinced otherwise.

We removed drawers.  Took apart the back of a cabinet where we could access the water heater.  To paraphrase the philosopher Jerry Lee Lewis: a whole lot of sniffin' going on.  We made a trip to Home Depot to get some charcoal deodorizer bags.  When we opened and removed one drawer, it was now clear that "the funny smell" was coming from that area, and decidedly stronger.  Joan took all the drawers out so we could access behind them.  Kinda.  Winnebago puts wood supports athwartship (great word btw) to support that stack of drawers... it also means you can't get your whole body into that compartment.

She was convince that she saw "something."  That's where I get called in.  If you saw the movie Alien, you know what happened to the guy that looked closer.  Yeah, that's my job.  I could kinda see what she was talking about... two flashlights and a set of cheap tongs, and I retrieved some "nesting material."  It was fresh.  It is likely we picked up a critter during our stay at Braunig Lake RV Resort in San Antonio.

The nesting material meant I had to dig further.  With my head in as far as I could go, I could barely make out what looked like a bit of fur... right at the back of the inverter.  Moving some wires, a bit of straining, grunting, and cussing, I could see a tail.  From the look of what little I could see, this mouse met his demise by getting zapped at the back side of the inverter... you really do want to be careful where you put your little mousey feet.  It was enough to do him in, but not fry him to a crackly crunch.  With more reaching and grunting, I was able to extricate almost all the carcass.  Yep, that really stinks.  More reaching, grunting, and some needle nose pliers got the rest of the remains.

Rufus was interested in what we were doing, but we kept him away while I said a few words and interred this hitchhiker in a garbage bag... along with his smell.  A couple Clorox Wipes, more grunting, and that area is clean and fresh smelling.  Joan put some of those charcoal bags around, to aid in any residual smell.

I looked at all the wiring back in that section, and saw no evidence that Mickey had chewed any of that.  There is no more "funny smell" (hey, I showered this morning).  I think we're good, and it was a fresh catch, thanks to Joan's ability to sniff out any "funny" smells.

I did my manly duty.  ;-)

Made up for it today...

Since we blew that 2/2/2 Rule trying to make miles across west Texas, we made up for it today: traveled 100 miles, we were off the road shortly after noon, we're staying for two days.  Not only that, but when we fueled up before getting to the RV park, we got the best fuel mileage that we've seen in quite a while.  A no-wind condition, plus about 150 miles of not double towing contributed to that better fuel mileage.  It makes a difference with the cargo trailer behind the coach, with no car between - which is like pulling a drag chute.

Since we knew we were only going to do 100 miles today, we took our time getting out: a leisurely morning, nice breakfast, and long hot showers (off our fresh water tank).  Then, hitting the road...

Yes, that is snow on the mountains in southern Arizona.  It didn't get above 59º until we got close to Tucson.  Rolling west, that is Texas Canyon coming up ahead of us...

The RV park we are in is definitely more upscale than any of the others on this trip.  Of course, I would expect that, since the price is about 4 times what we've been paying.  Nice to relax for a couple days before we move on to where we'll be down for a couple months.

Rufus enjoyed some patio time this afternoon...

Rufus was singing a tune by The Clash...

"Should I stay or should I go?"  (Everybody sing!)

Separated and feeling sporty...

So, you're thinking: Did Joan dump your ass and you went middle age crazy and bought a sports car?

Really, that's what you were thinking?  Odds are pretty good I'm not going to live to be 134 years old, so middle age is way back in the rear view mirror.  I've had sports cars - I like my Vespa.  And, no, Joan didn't dump my ass.  I'm a freakin' delight to be around.

We kinda slept in this morning; made easier by the fact that we were right on the border between Central and Mountain Time Zones.  Almost like "falling back" again.  We survived the night at the campground, cleaned up, had breakfast, and hit the road.  It got down to 33º (the temperature when we got up); around 3,700' elevation.  The morning light as we drove west...

The next RV "challenge" is driving through El Paso.  It is about 38 miles of lane-changing crazy-ass drivers.  I talk about our part of Texas having bad drivers, but this is non-stop lane swapping - it feels like a game of Frogger on acid.  As we got close, you could see the smog...

Most of that is coming from Juarez, across the river from El Paso.  El Paso has a population of around 800,000; Juarez is 1.3 million.  Mexico doesn't have the EPA standards like the US, so the light wind today didn't do any favors for El Paso.

There has been on-going road construction for the past decade, and the eastern end of El Paso has benefited from new traffic flow...

I was able to do 60mph through most of the city.  We both marveled at the lane changing happening all around us.  It seems that the new sport is driving in the fast lane (4 lane to the left), then at the last possible moment: crossing 4 lanes of traffic to make an exit.  We saw it multiple times.

Our standard stop once past El Paso is the Flying J at Exit 0.  That exit has built up a lot, and there are many fueling options, but Flying J has RV lanes that are handy for us.  Today, though, both RV lanes were occupied (one with a guy buying propane, the other looked like someone parked a stock trailer there)... but the regular fuel area (for cars and pickups) was nearly empty.  We pulled into an end pump and fueled up with no wait.  Since we knew we weren't going as far today, Joan suggested we go into the Denny's connected with Flying J and have a real sit-down lunch.  Nice break.

Back to the rig and onto I-10 going west...

Welcome to New Mexico.  It is an impressive sign spanning the Interstate.  In the past, we have stayed in Deming, NM, but it is early and we'd like to get further.  Joan checked for campgrounds at the western end of New Mexico or western Arizona, and found us a Passport America affiliated park in Bowie, AZ.  We called and got a reservation for tonight.

This is what I think of when driving across southern New Mexico.  Last year, we were caught in a white-out situation with a dust storm that was downright creepy.

But, today it was blue skies and very little wind.  Climbing out of Las Cruces, you get to high desert that is around 4,300 elevation that runs across the state...

It never got above 60º, with the humidity at 30% - we could both feel the effects of the dry desert air.  It will take a while for our sinuses to get used to this.  Yes, we are drinking plenty of water.

We stopped at a truck stop in Lordsburg - didn't need fuel, but it is time for that "separation" in the title.  Last year, we got stopped twice in Arizona due to our double towing.  Even though I had checked it with the AZ DOT, apparently the AZ Highway Patrol wasn't in on that memo.  No, I didn't get a ticket, but we decided to break up our circus train and not have the hassle of getting stopped for no reason this time around.

It takes a few minutes to: block the trailer tires, disconnect the car from coach, pull the coach forward, unhook the trailer from the car, move the car out from between, back the coach to the trailer and hook it up (after taking the tow bar off the back of the coach), check lights... and we're off again, driving separate.

We use our phones and Airpods to stay in contact.  Decent cell coverage along this route, so this works for us.  I can no longer get the "All CR-V channel" on my dash infotainment center - it is now "there's a trailer right behind us" channel.  This is my view of the CR-V...

The terrain gets more mountainous in this stretch...

Rufus took the co-pilot seat and curled up for a nap...

"We're gonna miss Momma, aren't we?" he said; "This seat is comfortable, though.  Let me know if you need a break and want me to drive."  He's helpful like that.

Making it a 3-state day...

30 miles later, we pulled into the RV park, co-located with a Fresh Jerky store.  The lady at the counter was friendly and helpful; she had a site held for us that comfortably holds the coach, trailer, and CR-V...

It is level.  There is a train track that you can see from the site, but I am told they don't blow their whistle at night.  Joan put the awning out - a sure sign that there is no wind.  Not having a headwind helps with the fuel mileage... and without the car between the motorhome and the trailer (which acts as a drag-chute with that gap in height), it feels like I am driving a sports car.  Well, a sporty coach.

This is pretty much out in the boonies, and the only TV station we can pull in on our powered antenna is Mexican.  We may have to listen to music and have conversation tonight.  I will take this over last night's "campground" any day.  ;-)

Family Fun RVing...

I've seen the ads in the magazines: Mom, Dad, two kids, sitting by a fire, roasting marshmallows, by a lake, with RV in the background.  They're all having fun.  The weather is perfect: blue sky, no wind.  No other RVs anywhere around them.

We've only been doing this RV stuff for 30+ years, but... I have never experienced the above.  Well, we only have one kid, and we bought our first motorhome after she went to college.  And the people in those ads never seem to have a cat with them.

We stayed just south of San Antonio the last two nights.  Of course, that means: when we're ready to roll, we have to drive through San Antonio (the 8th largest city in the country) to go west.  We have gotten pretty good at planning our big city transits - knowing what time of day will be best for traffic, and what routes work for us.

I would be full of crap.  Barely into San Antonio, the traffic turned into a shit show...

Apparently everyone going this direction wanted off on this single lane exit.  Traffic as far as I could see, and absolutely no reason for it.  One dumbass who apparently thought it was smart to drive 20mph, then stop instead of merging.  It took about 30 seconds for traffic to back up over a mile, and another 15 minutes for it to get going again.  I took a deep breath, happy in the knowledge that we aren't on a tight schedule and grateful that we don't have to deal with this kind of traffic on a daily basis.

The traffic eased up for about 3 minutes and then...

Road construction that took 4 lanes into 2, and then those two into one.  And the majority of people who never learned to take turns when they were in kindergarten.  One nice driver allowed us to merge.  That one lane ran for less than a mile, with absolutely no reason why the other lane was blocked off.  You don't see that kind of high jinks in the RV ads, either.

When we cleared that one lane blockage, traffic flow went from 4mph to 65mph in a slightly modified form of a LeMans start.  And then... yep, back to 4mph again.  While people around us were getting agitated, I remained cool.  Yes, really.  This guy didn't...

He drove off the road with that 18-wheeler, thinking he could get to the frontage road.  He is seriously stuck there.  We saw the same thing a moment earlier with a 4wd pickup.  After yesterday's rain, all that loose dirt from the construction is a muddy mess.  Better to sit in the slow-moving traffic than have to get towed out of the mud.

Eventually, the bumper-to-bumper stuff thinned out - just like that...

Once you leave San Antonio, I say you are in west Texas.  While we truly enjoy RVing, I find very little to enjoy about west Texas.  It may be the fact that we have traveled this route many times... but more likely, it is the fact that there just isn't much out here.  Gas stations are over-priced.  RV parks are mostly scrufty.  The road surface is lousy, but that varies by county.  Hills, but straight...

We generally do about 300 miles or so per day when double towing.  We planned to do about 450 today, just to get across a good portion of west Texas.  After about 5 hours of driving (over an hour of that to go about 10 miles in that road construction), I asked Joan if she'd drive for a while so I could stretch out.  She generally doesn't drive when we're double towing, but the weather was good and this is wide open spaces.  She drove for an hour or so, and it was a nice break for me.

Rufus was a good boy through this long driving day.  I tried to get a photo of him and me together, but couldn't reach out far enough...

He laid on my lap most of the time while Joan drove.  I think he was tired, too...

Not his normal regal-looking self.  But, he wasn't fussy - I may not have mentioned this before, but... he is a good boy!

Continuing across west Texas...

There is a half hour or so where you can see the silhouettes of the nearby mountains in the afternoon...

Besides the mileage, we blew our usual "off the road early" routine.  I had called ahead to make sure we could get an RV site that could accommodate our length.  Most of the parks along this route have discontinued their affiliation with Passport America - this place still participates.  We have not stayed in it before... easy to see why when we pulled in.

It looked more like a hobo camp.  I didn't see an office anywhere, so I asked a lady who was getting her RV set up where I might find the office.  She said, "Go past the junk car and turn right just past the chickens.  It isn't marked, but you'll see the door."

No, I am not kidding.  The lady who runs the place came out and I followed her inside to pay for our site.  Nothing resembling an office, but she was very nice (the reviews on this place mostly say how nice she is).  It is big, but what it lacks in size, it makes up with... OK, I got nothing.  It is a place to park off the road, with electricity and a very modest cable TV offering.  It is going to be in the mid-30s tonight, so this will be just fine.

We put down jacks, and while Joan did the slideouts and set us up inside, I plugged in power and cable.  No need for water or sewer, since our holding tanks can handle that duty.

We are down for the night.  Rufus is a happy boy.  Me, too.  Joan made us a nice supper and an adult beverage.  I have joked before about the Annual Blowing Dirt Festival (Jan 1st through December 31st)... the wind was out of the west today (headwind), but not strong.  This RV place (can't bring myself to call it "a park") is mostly dirt and gravel - it would be ugly if the wind was howling.  It's not.  How's that for looking on the bright side?  ;-)

Some days are fun while RVing.  Some days, you are just making miles.  Today would be the latter.  We did about 450 miles today.  Had to stop twice for fuel.  I-10 is a major east/west coast-to-coast thoroughfare.  I would guess about 50% of the traffic is 18-wheelers; 30% is pickup trucks; 10% SUVs; and the last 10% is split between cars and RVs.  One couple driving a pickup and pulling a travel trailer waved as they passed us... they looked like they were having fun.


;-)

Rain Day...

Game called on account of rain.  Well, except it wasn't a game.  An extra day lay-over in San Antonio; it allowed us to lounge about this morning (after the car alarm), then do some running in the afternoon.

The rain was heavier than forecast...

We did our shopping, including a stop at the SAS General Store (where I always find shoes in my size) and then to an H.E.B. Plus.  I like our local H.E.B., but it doesn't hold a candle to this store - it is HUGE...

Their pet section and produce department are bigger than our whole store.  I may be exaggerating... and I have said I would not do that, at least a million times.

We had a nice leisurely late lunch, then back to the motorhome.  Except for the low visibility driving conditions, it was a kick-back kinda day.  I was happy to not be pushing the MHT&T (motorhome, tow, and tow) through San Antonio traffic in the rain.  It is supposed to be partly cloudy tomorrow.

Other than the time we were out, Rufus got to have plenty of Mommy & Daddy time; he is a snuggly boy and likes to be close.  We like that, too.  One of our stops today was to a large PetsMart where we picked up a couple more varieties of his food brand.  He likes that, too.

;-)

Alarm...

Rufus can be like an alarm clock in the morning... when he thinks it's time for his breakfast.  That isn't the alarm I'm talking about.

There was a steady rain overnight.  It got down to 51º, so we had some heat running.  I slept great.  First time in a long time that I was in bed before 10:30, and I didn't see any of the Tonight Show.  A good first night in the coach.

I stirred a bit just before 6:00am, and Rufus took that as his clue that he should nudge and snuggle with me.  After a few minutes of kitty time, I was ready to get up.  Trying to be quiet, I started my morning ritual: feed Rufus, take my blood pressure pills, and get my morning wake-me-up (hot chocolate and a Biscoff) going.

In the middle of all that, the car alarm went off.  I turned on our outside light and got the car keys out of my jeans.  Pretty sure we had the nearby neighborhood awake by that point.  I clicked the alarm off, got out a raincoat (everyone in our coach was awake by now), grabbed a flashlight and a weapon, and went out into the rain.

Everything looks fine at first glance... no broken glass or sign that anything in the car has been disturbed.  I will look closer at daylight.

Joan said, "This may not be a good time to check your blood pressure."  Good point.  ;-)

Like a 4th of July picnic...

Today is rolling day.  We put the motorhome back in front of the house and loaded the last of our stuff.  Closed down the house.  Double checked everything - time to roll!

We drove separate to the Wally World parking lot, where we connected the circus train...

Checked lights and connections, and headed out.  The early plan: take the roads we frequent on our scoots and bypass Hwy 100, Los Fresnos, and Harlingen.  Hardly any traffic...

Rufus settled in, after checking out his tower, our laps, and his carrier...

I am probably giving him some human emotions, but he has been a bit agitated the last couple days.  He could tell something was up, and I think he is smart enough to know a move was underway.  It makes me wonder if whoever had him before us packed up and left him behind.  He was a happy boy to see all his stuff with us in the coach.

These back roads drop us just north of Harlingen; palm trees line the entrance ramp to Hwy 77/I-69...

From here it is 4 lane (Interstate or Expressway) the rest of the way.  We listened to the Today Show on the satellite radio.  The All Honda & Trailer Channel, all the time, was playing...

Approximately 100 miles north of the border, we stop at the Border Patrol Inspection Station...

They must be doing something with the road that leads into the overhang - they kept us on the main highway, but you still have to stop.  A cursory, "Are you US citizens?  Anyone else in back with you?"  And we are on our way.

We stopped at the Rest Area just north of there.  First time in 20 years along this route that the Rest Area wasn't full of cars and people.  We pulled in, fired up the generator, and Joan made us lunch while I walked all around the rig, checking tires and connections...

The rear camera comes in handy, just to keep an eye on things behind us.  Something was definitely going on on this stretch of road: we saw at least 20 Highway Patrol vehicles and another half dozen County Constables, covering every entrance and exit on the highway.

The "picnic" comment from the title: Joan asked what I wanted for lunch... "A hot dog would be good."

"How about a hot dog and half of a hamburger?"  Add some fried chicken and watermelon, and you've got a holiday picnic.  What?  No, we didn't add chicken and watermelon.  Rufus also got his lunch while we weren't rolling.  I made one last walk around the rig...

About 2 hours and 45 minutes to go for tonight's destination.  On the first leg of an outing, we like to spend an extra night if time allows, to sanitize and dump tanks, and have a "leisure day."

With his belly full, Rufus was ready for more lap time...

An uneventful drive today - just the way I like it when we're double towing.

Just before pulling in for the day, we stopped to top off the fuel tank in the coach.  We had a crosswind most of the way, changing to a quartering tailwind the last hour or so.  Even with that, our mileage was about average.

The ladies at the office where we are staying were chatty today.  A new girl, looking out the window at our rig, asked, "Is that even legal?"

"No.  Mostly we travel at night and drive like crazy to stay ahead of the law."  (Shocked look)  "Nah, I'm just kidding.  It is legal in Texas and most of the other midwest states.  If we are traveling where they don't allow it, we just unhook, put the trailer behind the motorhome, and my wife drives separate in the car."

Speaking of Joan, the new girl was surprised when she saw Joan getting the car unhooked from the motorhome: "You don't see many women doing that while the guy checks in," she said.

"We're a good team.  We can both handle any of the RV duties.  If she gets the car unhooked, it is faster for us to pull into our site."

We got hooked up to utilities and settled in.  Our timing is good: the weather is suppose to turn this evening: colder with rain tonight and tomorrow.  It will be a good day to not be on the road with this rig.  Oh, it can handle the cold, wind, and rain - it just makes an awful mess of everything with the road grime.  Oh, sure, we'll get out and about with the CR-V tomorrow (lunch out and some shopping), but it is easy to run that through a car wash... I haven't found one of those, yet, for the motorhome and trailer.  ;-)

The weather should be better for Thursday, but for now, we are snug in the motorhome.  Rufus is sitting beside me; he seems pretty content.  Joan is ready to start some supper.  It's all good.