Like Stink...

 

That isn't a statement as in: "I like stink.  Do you like stink?"  No, the wind is blowing... like stink.  The plan for today was to cover 276 miles to get us to an RV park that is a couple hours from our storage unit so we can dump tanks and start packing things up.  We knew it was going to be windy... but the weather weasels didn't predict just how windy it was.

We were out around 8:30 this morning.  One last look at the site we were in last night...

 The air felt heavy.  It has been two months since we felt humidity.  Nothing like jumping in with both feet.  Junction is what I would call the far west edge of Texas Hill Country, so we knew there would be some significant hills to contend with today.  The sky was gray when we got out onto the Interstate...

And then the hills...

Look close in that photo above and you can see some of the wildflowers in the median; getting late in the season for that.

The wind was gusting into the upper 20s out of the south, while we were heading east... making it a crosswind.  We made our way through the traffic of San Antonio (busier than I expected), then turned south, almost directly into the wind.  Knowing what to expect, I stopped for fuel... 8.5 miles per gallon with a mostly crosswind, quartering towards headwind.  It is going to be significantly less than that as the headwinds continued to build.

We stopped for lunch.  I backed the coach and trailer back in the truck parking while Joan went through the drive-up...

About 100 miles to go from this point, and the wind got even gustier.  Our direction put it as a direct wind, with curves in the road changing it from either side.  Check out the windmills in this photo...

At times I was down to 50 miles per hour... oh, the coach could go faster, but it was shuddering in the wind that was gusting into the 30s.

When we got to the RV park, the office was closed.  I had left a message this morning on their voice mail, letting them know we were coming in... new policy that isn't on their website: closed on Sundays.  I was about to pick a site and settle in so we could be off the road when a guy came up to tell us they are closed on Sundays.  Yep, we got that.  He said he could open the office, but didn't want to have a sale on a Sunday which would result in more paperwork for them.  I let him know we have stayed here regularly on our way north and south and that we would come in tomorrow morning and check in before we leave.  He asked my name and went into the office... a short time later he came back with all our information, just like I told him.  I guess we passed the truth test, so he pointed us towards a site that I had already scoped out... with another RV to the south of us to block some of that wind.  Even with that, we didn't put our slides out; we'll do that later this evening when the wind dies down into the upper teens.

In the meantime, I hooked up all our utilities so we could fill and dump holding tanks.  It will be nice to roll into our storage unit with freshly rinsed tanks.  We have a plan for tomorrow, and the wind is forecast to be less.  Sure hope so, 'cause the coach is drinking a lot of fuel.  Speaking of which: when I fueled up just south of San Antonio, the price was exactly $1 per gallon less than what we last paid in Phoenix.  "Well, I bet Arizona has higher gas taxes," you say?... 18¢ per gallon in Arizona, 20¢ per gallon in Texas.  So, that's not it.  Gouging, maybe?

I look at gas prices.  Joan is more philosophical about it: "I fuel up when I need gas; you have to have it."  I mostly agree with that, but I'd rather pay less for the same gas when it is convenient.  Diesel prices have been crazy expensive, averaging $1.00 to $1.40 per gallon more than regular unleaded.  Whew!

"And, Rufus?"  Thanks for asking.  He spent much of today's ride on my lap... he noticed the wind, since he would occasionally look up at me and say, "Can you keep this thing steadier?  I'm trying to nap!"  But, he's a good boy.  ;-)