Monday, April 3, 2023

The Gates of Hell...

 

"Making plans are ya, Jim?"  Thanks for asking, but, yes, we have plans.  Nothing eternal, just trying to get across Texas in the least painful way.  We thought we had it figured: if we got south of San Antonio before Tuesday, we'd beat the really hot weather.  And then thunderstorms in that area coming in behind the heat.

In a big surprise to me, the weather weasels got it wrong.  (Insert giant sarcasm emoji here!)  We had to run heat last night, hit the road before 8:30 this morning, and needed air conditioning by 10:30.  We went from high desert on Sunday night to around 2,600' elevation last night, and close to sea level tonight.  In the low 40s for temperature last night to 97º, 12,000% humidity, and wind out of the south at about a million miles per hour for tonight's stop.

We're only 100 miles or so from our storage unit, so after the sun goes down and the wind drops to 100 mph or so, we'll dump tanks one last time and be ready to start moving back in tomorrow.  It will be a several day process.

As far as anything of interest today, it went from this...


 ... going across Hill Country, to this...

... south of Corpus Christi.  Lots of greenery!

I didn't get any photos of the wild flowers that come up in the spring along the roads in Texas, but here's a file photo...

 

I was too busy holding onto the steering wheel in the wind (high profile vehicle).

A treat for lunch today: Joan said she was tired of cold sandwiches.  Fine by me, because I am always tired of cold sandwiches.  She proposed at stop at a Love's that has a Mickey D's... you know she is trying to work with me if the Golden Arches come up in conversation.  While she took the car through the drive-up, I pulled the coach and cargo trailer around back to the "big rig" section, and parked us amongst the 18-wheelers.  No, we were not keeping any hard-working trucker from getting a parking space; there were plenty available.  And lunch was good.  To my sophisticated palate.  Rufus got lunch, too.  Everybody's happy!  Joan did give me a "dessert" at our fuel stop today (paid $3.04 at a Pilot, btw)... she said it was a chocolate brownie... it was a "dirt bar."  I can't say that is the brand name, but it is an accurate description.

The wind didn't kick up until we got close to San Antonio.  Our timing was decent, going through the city around noon.  One slow down, due to a work detail with no advance warning.  The coach has good brakes... "Warning - items in overhead compartments may have shifted during abrupt stops."  Yes, I checked the cargo trailer at the first parking area I came to south of SA... everything is still upright.  Joan and I are talking by phone (hands free) during the city passages - I did have to say, "Fast stop coming up!" without panic in my voice.  I got practice at that during my pilot days.

And now, down for the night at this RV park that has become a close-to-home favorite, thanks to long paved sites and no dirt and gravel.

Rufus says to tell y'all, "Hey!"  He was a good boy again today.  We may do a walk if/when it cools down out there.  


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