9 Aug 2010 - Heading home to Texas

My brother was back at work on Monday so I visited with my sister-in-law for a while and then headed down the driveway.  My brother overrode "Hillary's" navigational directions and routed me away from The Hill and down through Little Rock.  My nephew is going to college there but he was away on a training trip for his new job so I didn't get a chance to see him.  It was another beautiful drive down through very manageable hills and forested areas and again the roads are great.

My plan was to cross north Texas to Wichita Falls where we used to live to visit friends and co-workers in the area.  As I crossed into Texas, I knew I should look for a place to stop for the night.  When I talked to my husband on the cellphone and told him my plans, he convinced me to just push through to Wichita Falls. I knew it would be too long of a day on the road for no real reason but I let myself be overridden even though I was the one with the real travel experience.  Always follow your own instincts!

Wichita Falls has a city park with RV hookups right off the highway in town.  Many of the spots are pull-through but you must be self contained because there are no restrooms in the RV area.  The $10 fantastic deal is now a $17 good deal -- just don't expect to find an RV spot or a hotel room later in August when the "Hotter N Hell Hundred" bicycle race is in progress.  Attendance is huge and people book rooms months in advance and arrive days early to use the RV park.  The RV area is connected to the main park by a swinging bridge and you will find lots of walking paths.  You'll also want to see the "falls" which are man-made since the original falls disappeared a really long time ago.  The current falls are quite nice and, unless you take the path to the top, you wouldn't know that there is no river behind them--just a cemetery!  If you happen to come through after a storm, you may find a "chocolate" falls flowing down into the river.

Exhausted and more than ready for bed, I hit the button to raise the front of the RV to unhook it.  Nothing!  Replaced the fuse.  Nothing!  I hooked up the electric and water and headed inside.  More good news--apparently I clipped the vent cover over the bed on the way out of my brother's driveway and it was gone.  Too tired to care, I stuffed a pillow in the hole.  It NEVER rains in Wichita Falls in August but I wanted the A/C cool to stay in the RV.  A quick doggy walk and we were all ready for bed.  Willy, Gretchen, and Harley have no trouble sleeping at night even if they napped the day away.  Ah, the life of a pampered and well-loved dog or two or three.

The missing vent and the useless front legs on the RV were still waiting for me in the morning.  Since I was no longer exhausted, I found I was mostly annoyed to have this happen at the end of a really good first trip.  I started calling around and found that most of my friends were not around so I finally decided to pack it in and head on back to San Antonio.  Better luck (and calling ahead) next time.

That evening I was back in the driveway in Schertz.  The next morning the fridge, perishables, medicine, and clothes were unloaded early and we headed back up I-35 to Crestview RV in Buda for some warranty work.  A rather macho mechanic hinted that I just didn't know how to work the electric legs.  He popped a fuse in (been there, done that) and hit the switch resulting in ripping the motor right off the wall.  His tune changed quickly and a whole new motor set-up was ordered.  There was a reason that the fuses had popped a number of times and it wasn't operator error.  A couple other warranty items were also listed.  I only had to pay for the vent cover.  We left the RV in Buda and headed home until the next trip.

The Traveling Longdogs and I hope to meet you on the road soon!

6 Aug 2010 - Mammoth Spring, Arkansas

I wasn't planning to leave early this morning as I didn't have a really long drive and wanted to time my arrival in Mammoth Spring to when my brother would get off work.  He surprised me with a call mid morning to ask where I was as he was going to take the afternoon off.  I got the newsletter mailed off and headed out.  It wasn't long before we were in Missouri.  I have to give them credit, their rolling, curvy roads are in excellent shape--not a pothole in sight.  Did I mention rolling and curvy, oh yes, and hilly, very hilly and two lane.  I went up and down so many times that I was wondered if anything would be in place after I arrived.  It was a beautiful drive though and traffic was minimal.  I crossed into Arkansas at Thayer, Missouri.

And then I got to the hill.  I had completely forgotten about The Hill although I have been there several times. Once committed, I had no choice but to do the climb.  I felt like I was in that children's book "The Little Engine That Could".  We chugged on up.  It wasn't a fast ascent but the F250 SuperDuty handled it with ease.  Now I know it can do anything!  Next challenge was going up the driveway, pulling into the turn off, and backing up by the house.  Whoo!  It was really great to see my youngest brother and his wife and mother-in-law.

My parents lived in Thayer, Missouri just across the border after I left home.  Tim actually spent most of his growing up years there and I visited many times.  We did some touring around the area over the next couple of days.  This is a beautiful area that some of you may want to visit.  Just take it easy on the hills!

A view from near the Mammoth Spring park.  

This water is really cold since it comes from deep below the ground; however, the air is really hot in August and very humid as well.

It was a great visit!