On The Road To The Rio Grande Valley

Sunday morning found us on the road from Victoria to Donna TX in the Rio Grande Valley.  Looking in the rear view mirror, Carolyn is right behind me and Martha & Pat are bringing up the back.

We left a little after 9:00 AM.  After a stop for gas just before lunch, we found a rest area to stretch our legs, potty the longdogs, and have a nice lunch.  Three RVs lined up in a row, well four but the last one wasn't part of our group.

There was another itty bitty RV parked near us.  Can you believe two adults and two big dogs sleep in this.

Carolyn and I whipped up some egg salad sandwiches.  Martha and Pat fixed some ham sandwiches.  A few chips and we were in business.

We looked up and who should we see cruising by but Vicki.  She stopped to say hi but had already eaten so headed on down the road.

There is just something really wrong about these signs in the pet area.  My furbabies definitely weren't gonna go potty there.

Back in the truck and heading on down the road.  Fun times ahead.

Lunch at the Salt Lick in Driftwood TX

Hiking the Gorge at Canyon Lake was originally on our agenda for Thursday morning but plans are made in jello and the ladies who most wanted to do the hike were not available.  Lunch plans were a choice of lunch at the Leaning Pear in Wimberly, the Gristmill in Gruene, or the Salt Lick in Driftwood.  Birdie, Sue, Karen, and Darlene were busy discussing which would be the best choice.

We decided on the Salt Lick and set out with our little caravan.  At our flockings, it's always up to the ladies whether they want to participate or not but we make sure that everyone that wants to go has a ride since a few of the ladies don't tow or have a toad.  Carpooling is more fun anyway.  We made a stop at the Rest Area overlooking the Devil's Backbone.  The view across the valley is great and the whole drive up to Driftwood in scenic.  Sharon and Margareta are watching Carolyn with her ever present camera.

The Salt Lick has several locations but the one in Driftwood is the original.  They also have a winery and extensive grounds for gatherings.

The food is fantastic and prices fairly reasonable too.  Don't be afraid to order the Senior's plates if you are eligible (60+) because you will get plenty to eat.   Just remember that cash only is the rule but they do have an ATM machine available.  You can even bring your own bottle if you want.

This is the pit where all the good stuff is cooked.  It is right out where you can see it.

Our waitress was great.  Here she is explaining the menu.  We had a total of three tables, two long ones and a smaller one to fit all the ladies who wanted to come along.

Lots of happy faces here.  Everyone thought the food was great.  Sauce is served separately so you can apply as much or little as you want.  There are two buildings where they serve food.  This one has huge windows that make you feel like you are outside.

Ribs, brisket, beans, potato salad, and cold slaw was the popular favorite.

Here is part of the group checking out the area.

A couple that was there celebrating their anniversary with their five kids insisted on a group picture of all the RVing ladies.  There are still people out there who are amazed that women go out and RV on their own and meet together for fun.  Go figure!

You can see that some of the ladies had "take home" baggies but I don't think any of the food made it to the dogs.

Trip to Carmine, TX

Picked the RV up from the storage lot yesterday afternoon.  Got a few things loaded up before bedtime but had more stuff to do around the stix and brix.  This morning I jumped out of bed when I heard the first claps of thunder.  Right after letting the dogs out, I quickly unhooked the RV power cord and got it stowed before the rain started.  Also put up the front jacks and managed to get the cold and frozen food carried out and put away. Then the rain hit.  I don't know how much we got but it was black out and pouring hard for a while and we definitely needed it.  Once it slowed down to just a few splatters, I headed out to meet my friend Nancy at the rest area near Seguin.  The storm was ahead of us so we decided to wait it out there for a while and had lunch in her RV.  She arrived before I did and surprised me by having it all ready.

Of course, not everything goes perfectly.  Here she is, already in trouble before we even get to the Brenham Flamingo Flocking GTG.  Fortunately, they didn't hold her long and we headed out.

It was a nice trip and we managed to stay behind the rain.  We saw lots of water when we pulled into the Dixieland RV Park in Carmine but it should dry out quickly tomorrow.  Lots of fun ahead.

Last Leg to the Florida Panhandle

We were up and on our way by 9:00 AM.  I know that is not really early but, please, with a 5 and 7 year old, it isn't bad.  Breakfast can be a time consuming affair.  We had no trouble getting back on I-10 and heading out.  The route goes over long bridges stretching out over one side of Lake Ponchartrain.  The route through Mississippi is pretty too.  There is a short stretch of Alabama to cover before you get to Florida.  We knew this would be our longest traveling day but we planned rest stops to stretch our legs and give the kids a break.  Okay, we needed them too.  Steve said he was really enjoying the motorcycle ride but the seat does get hard after a while.  Some times he rode ahead of us and sometimes behind.  Every once in a while, he would go past and wave to the kids.

 There are some nice rest areas along the way so you might as well take advantage of them.  The sky looked great in this picture but you can see the clouds in the distance.  The rain did hit us and pour hard for about 10 minutes.  Steve waved me over so he could give me the cell phone.  Once it quit, it didn't take long before he was dry because it was a hot trip.  It is 15 degrees cooler here than in Texas but it is so humid.  Once you cross into Florida, you start seeing so many tall pine trees and there are magnolias growing on the side of the road.  All of a sudden, "Hillary" said it was time to turn off.  Steve was ahead of me and I honked several times but he went sailing on.  I knew he was going to have to stop for gas again (about 130 miles per motorcycle tankful) so I made the turn onto 331.  After debating with myself on whether I should wait to see if he turned around, I figured he knew the way home and went on ahead.  We made it to Lynn Haven (next to Panama City) about 15 minutes before he did but pulling your house behind you means you always have a place to go.  Steve has lots of room to park in his side yard so we were just relaxing when he got there.

New Orleans - Day 1

Back on the road again only much earlier for the second day of our trip, we headed out through Beaumont, TX, at 8:30 AM.  It wasn't long before we were into Louisiana and headed towards the Achafalaya Bayou.  To all the WomenRV members who live in this area, I wish I could have stopped to visit while passing through but it just wasn't possible this trip.  I was definitely thinking about you as I passed the sign to Butte LaRose.

This is really an interesting area as you drive for miles on a road suspended above water.  There is a great visitor's center which I definitely recommend as a quick stop or even a longer one to anyone passing through.  They have a parking area for RVs which is separate from the truck area.  You can also spend the night there if you choose although it is pretty hot this time of year unless you have a generator for your AC.  There is an interesting museum and they have free coffee as well.  This was not my planned stop for lunch but the seven year old had an urgent need for a pit stop so we had lunch here instead.......

The sign was rather out of date as you can tell by the pricing.  I was a little worried about whether Steve would see us pulled off the highway as he was a bit further behind us but he did see us before he got to the ramp.  He found a shaded parking place for the bike.  We were off to the side out of the way while we ate lunch and walked around for a while.  Then we were off again.

"Hilary" our faithful GPS only failed us once, or maybe it was really me failing as the driver, as there were two exits right next to each other in New Orleans, and I picked the first one.  Hilary quickly rerouted us and we were back on track to Ponchartrain Landing, our Passport America pick in New Orleans.  This RV park is advertised as the only one on the water.  You kind of wonder what you are getting into as you travel through an industrial area to get to the park.  The park may have started as a marina but some enterprising person realized that it would also make a good RV resort.  It is gated and secure, you are given the gate code when you check in.  They have planted palm trees, palmettos, and oleanders between all the sites.  It is an RV park not a campground but there is decent space between the RVs.  Some are back-ins, some along the water, and some are pull-throughs.  The roads and sites are gravel but are nice and level.  They have a pool with an adjoining covered outside bar area and a hot tub (which wasn't very hot).  The price was steeper than expected as the rates have gone up since last year ($35 Passport America) but it is only 5 miles from the French Quarter.  They do have a shuttle service although there is a charge for it. 

The sites are actually further apart than they look with full hookups.  They also came by, picked up our propane tanks, filled and returned them while we were enjoying the pool.

We cooled off in the pool, had a great dinner, and walked around to see the rest of the park.  I think you could rent jet skis and some of the RVers had boats tied up to the pier next to their RV.  They had a small play area, a good sized dog off leash area, a laundromat, and shower areas.  Although not while we were there, they have some planned events like movie night outside on a screen, etc.  The wifi was free and worked very well although my computer was in constant use (not by me) after the kids went to bed.

Sunday-The Road Trip to Florida Begins

Some time ago, Steve asked me if I wanted to come to Florida for a good part of the summer while he has the kids.  His idea was to travel down with the RV and then spend time camping for part of each week while there.  He will have quite a bit of time off from work so it should be fun.  He loves to RV as much as I do and wanted to share the experience with the kids.  We picked the RV up from storage on Saturday and he was busy checking the tires, etc. that evening.  I started doing a bit of reorganizing.  Toting things out to the RV goes much faster when you have some big strong help to move it.

Sunday morning, the last of the clothes and extras went out.  We had already decided to hold off on a Walmart run until this morning and just load the food directly into the RV. 

Let's hit the road! 

I forgot to mention that Steve and his Dad did some trading which resulted in Steve having a motorcycle that needed transport to Florida.  Of course, the men in the family decided that this was the perfect time to get it there as there would be plenty of travel breaks.

Everybody ready to roll?

Suited up at Walmart and headed out!

We pulled out of the Walmart parking lot at 11:30AM and headed down the back roads to I-10.  Two hours later, we pulled into a rest area and made ham sandwiches for lunch.  Potty breaks for all plus a walk  around with the dogs to stretch the kids legs and we were on the road again.  We had an easy trip through Houston since it was Sunday afternoon and traffic was light.  Just as we were coming into Beaumont, TX, about 6:15PM, we pulled into Hidden Lakes RV Park.  The office was already closed but there were two envelopes with info for #30 and #31 pull-through spots taped to the door.  One of the other campers came up to see if we needed any help (and to ask if the motorcyclist was with me, hilarious as he certainly didn't look like a Hell's Angel).  We got set up in our site.  The propane turned up empty earlier in the day and we were hoping to fill up at the park but no such luck. We decided that we would have dinner out so quickly unhitched and only had to go a mile to find several places.  Cracker Barrel got our business for the night.  Back at camp, we found that we couldn't connect to the free wifi because it asked for a logon and password which was not in our packet of info.  There was not a lot for us to do at the park because the lake was definitely not one that we would swim in and we weren't into fishing.  The park was very clean and quiet though and had great individual bathrooms and a laundry room so not a bad place to stop overnight for Passport America prices ($17.50 plus $2 each for more than 2).  We were already to pull out at 8:30AM when the office manager arrived.  I told her it was fine except for the wifi logon and password we didn't get.  She seemed puzzled and said "you just enter your own" which is definitely not the norm.

5 Aug 2010 - Illinois Overnight

After leaving Indianapolis we headed southwest towards Illinois and planned an early stop so we could head on into Arkansas the next day to visit my youngest brother.  

Here we are stopped in a rest area among the big boys--having a late lunch 

and taking advantage of a nice walk around the rest area.

We started looking for an RV park late in the afternoon and found one just south of Mt Vernon. 

This time we took full advantage of the swimming pool--well, I did anyway.  It was a great park with lots of shade trees and areas to walk in.  There was a small Jayco owners group GTG going on at the back so we got to see lots of different Jayco trailers and 5th wheels.  Apparently they met at an area park once a month so they all knew each other pretty well.  

Willy, Gretchen, and Harley had a big surprise as we walked around one side of the park over near the manager double-wide home.  There were chickens walking around that had apparently gotten loose from a nearby pen.  The fur-kids had never seen a chicken before and I don't think the chickens had ever seen dachshunds either so it was a stand-off on both sides.  These were all red hens and if there was a rooster, he was considerate enough not to wake me up the next morning.

This park had great Wifi which I used to full advantage.  Even though I was out traveling, I was still responsible for putting together a monthly newsletter for the chapter of a professional organization I have belonged to for years.  Ever had a thumb drive go belly up on you?  Happened to me here so I had to recreate the whole newsletter format from scratch.  I also worked on my distribution list so this all kept me busy pretty late.  The next morning, I got the newsletter sent out to everyone before I hit the road bound for Mammoth Spring, Arkansas.