Me? Yeah, I do try to find the humor in most situations. Mother Nature? She has a twisted sense of humor.
We did our tank flushing this morning; including taking extra long showers (to help fill the gray water holding tank)... seems kinda decadent. Shortly after 10:00 am, we hit the road. The wind was lighter than yesterday, but Mother Nature thought it would be fun to make it more easterly, making it a crosswind all the way south. Then, to really add to the joke, she gave us 30 seconds of rain. Twice. Just to make sure the coach was good and dirty before we put it away...
The palm trees are the first notification that you are approaching 26º latitude and the Tropical Tip...
Until a few years ago, there used to be scads of palm trees in the median from Raymondville south to Harlingen... when the plan to make Expressway 77 part of the Interstate system (I-69) started, they removed all those lovely palm trees in the median. There are some around entrance and exit ramps, but it isn't the same feeling.
Speaking of feeling: I did mention "twinge" in the title to this post. Nothing to do with intestinal distress, thanks for asking. Years ago, I used to tell Joan that I would get a twinge in my belly (anticipation) as we got close to home after being gone for a while. I knew our time up north was coming to an end when the last few years of living there, I didn't get that twinge. Instead, I got it as we got close to our home in the Tropical Tip. I get it when we get close to Hart Ranch the last few summers. And, I had it today as we rolled south. I guess I am excited about being home. For a while.
We stopped to fuel up both vehicles in Raymondville, about 20 miles or so from our storage unit. I like to put the coach away with a full tank... just in case there is a need to bug out. The gas station used to be with a Walmart, but they closed that store... but kept the gas station open. As a Murphy USA station, they generally have a competitive price. It is snug, but if I am fortunate enough to get an end pump, I can get the motorhome and trailer in and out of there without much hassle. Joan topped off the Equinox, too, as it will be towing the cargo trailer from our storage unit to home (about 40 miles to the coast).
We got to the storage unit, unlocked the gate, opened up the unit, and put the coach in... out of the sun (although it was partly cloudy most of the day). Plugged it in and turned on the air conditioning. Swapped the cargo trailer from the coach to the Equinox. Then, the really hard work: gathering stuff to go from the coach to home and putting it in the cargo trailer. No way all that stuff would fit in there with two bikes, so we rolled the Honda out to allow that side of the trailer to hold the homeward bound stuff...
We will be coming back to the storage unit soon, as there is more "non-critical" stuff to come out of the motorhome. Then, I will ride the Honda back home.
The drive from the storage unit to home started uneventful. Rufus was being a good boy - he is generally not a fan of riding in the car. "Started"? Yeah... about 5 miles outside of Laguna Vista, we came up on a Work Convoy...
Double yellow line, so we couldn't pass them. They were spraying for weeds along the side of the road... driving 9 miles per hour. Do the math: 9 miles per hour for over 5 miles took us about 35 minutes to cover that distance. Painful. Apparently, the weed sprayers were working in conjunction with Mother Nature. I did not see the humor in them backing up about a mile of traffic behind them.
Once out from behind them, it was less than 8 miles home. We cross the bridge onto our island, backed the cargo trailer into the driveway, unhooked it from the car, and started the unloading process. During the hottest part of the day. With 12,000% humidity. I kid, of course - it's that sense of humor thing. After being in single digit humidity in Arizona, it only feels like 12,000%... I'm sure it is more like only 9,000%.
We made about 400 trips from the car and trailer to the house. I am rounding off on that number - it was actually 418. The first trip is is Rufus, followed by his litter box and food. Then, everything else. Schlepping stuff in the humidity - maybe that was the source of "the twinge"? My ass is dragging. My muscles ache. It is a lot of damn work to go off and have fun. ;-)
One of the last things I put away was the Emerald guitar I took along on this trip. Well, I didn't "put it away," I got it out of its case and hung it on the wall. Emerald does make some beautiful guitars...
No, that isn't the one that went with us to Arizona. But, it sure is pretty. After putting guitars on the walls again, I was interested to see which guitar I would pull off first to play... interestingly (to me), it was one of my Taylors. The carbon fiber guitars were all still in tune, after being put away for a couple months... the wood ones, not so much.
Yeah, it's good to be home.
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