Wind and Rain...

 

Not to be confused with the James Taylor song, Fire and Rain.  It was chilly and windy when we pulled out this morning.  We had planned a fuel stop an hour or so down the road, but in checking Gas Buddy, we'd save about 20¢ per gallon by fueling up before leaving town.  I managed to fit our rig in the nearby Wally World gas station.  $1.82/gallon.

Out onto I-80...

A lot of big-truck traffic on I-80.  A surprising number of RV on the road today, too...

Certainly more than we saw on the way north.  The RV park last night was mostly full; same with RV parks that we've passed along the way.  People are traveling.

It was windy when we started out.  The local weather was calling it 12 to 15 mph... not even close - I'd say more like 25 and gusting higher.  A crosswind out of the north.  I had to run dash heat, as the temp stayed in the low 50s.  I considered turning south sooner, then taking I-70 east in Kansas, but their wind wasn't any better.  Just before our turn to the south, Mother Nature gave us some rain to go with the wind...

Driving in the rain makes a mess of things (and we were pretty clean when we left Hart Ranch yesterday), but it was nice to turn south and get that gusty north wind behind us.  We stopped at a parking lot outside a semi-vacant shopping center in a town in northern Kansas for lunch.

Apparently, Joan had idle time on her hands as we drove out of the rain, and took some photos: Rufus napping...

Me not napping...

Kansas has a reputation for being flat - no so, there are hills...

There are also trees...

The tree is the thing in the middle of the photo; that other thing towards the right side is a telephone pole.  But, the traffic was light and the wind was behind us.  I made a reservation at an RV park in Hays, KS; a new place that advertised "big rig friendly."  When I asked about our length fitting, he told me, "Our pull-throughs are 108 feel long - you'll fit."

He wasn't kidding...

 

We probably would have been fine without making a reservation...

But, several more rigs did pull in after 5:00 - part of the reason I like to get off the road early when we don't have a schedule.  Another good reason: Rufus and I got to take a short nap.

This is a new RV park, and obviously still developing; the sites are long, but the gravel in the sites is loose.  The row we are in has a bit of a "sway back" - lower in the middle than either end.  A bit dusty here with the fresh gravel and today's wind.  They seem to be looking for rallies and RV events.  I have no doubt it will be a nice park as it matures.

The wind is supposed to ease off to the low teens overnight, and then kick up again tomorrow.  We have about 100 miles of east to go before we turn south again, if we decide to stay on the Interstate.  We'll stay flexible.