Adventures of the road

Soooo, we went dark a day, didn't we?  Well, it wasn't really DARK, it was simply looooong and tiresome. We started out with a free buffet breakfast, but because of COVID, items were limited to "To Go" snacks in sacks.  Driver picked up a couple on his way back in from Bailey's morning constitutional.  We laid everything out on the desk to admire the wonderful and nutritious spread of the day.  Didn't take us long! In each bag was a muffin, a cup of canned peaches in heavy syrup, a small bottle of Sam's Club water, a wrapped spoon, and the TINIEST granola bar I've ever seen.  I really shouldn't complain though; in many countries, this is a whole week's worth of food.  For four people.

Driver thoroughly enjoyed his hot and delicious breakfast.  LOL  Please overlook the bag of dirty laundry on the floor.  A little TMI there, eh?

So, we had spent the night just east of Memphis, so when we set out, we headed to Nashville, TN.  (took me three tries to type TN, as opposed to TX)  Just before we got there, we crossed over the Tennessee River.  It's been a while since we've seen so much water in one place, that wasn't the Gulf of Mexico, from one side or another.

Nashville is actually one of my favorite cities, or at least, it was many, many years ago, when we were there and I could tolerate cities better.  Nevertheless, I was excited to see the skyline appear, especially that pointy-topped AT&T bulding.  (It's the one on the right, between the two right-most lightposts.) I knew we were planning to go right by it, and I'd be getting a much better picture in just a few minutes.

But, at the VERY LAST minute possible, Google notified me that there was a 30 minute backup and I should consider taking an alternate route, down a new bypass, I440.  Weeeelllll, hmmmm...OK.  Driver was quick-draw on the lane changes, and off we went!  Oh my gosh, the new road was spectacular!  The asphalt was NEW and SMOOTH, and traffic was super light.  Almost non-existent! Soo, we added a few miles, but we saved quite a bit of time, and decreased our opportunity for an accident by quite a bit.  Always a good thing, if you ask me, and since it's my blog, I'll consider myself asked.  Only downside, I didn't get a very glamorous shot of downtown.  Please accept the photo below, and my sincere apologies.  Not 100% sure what the routing is for the return trip, but I may (or may not) come this way again soon.  If we do, I'll see about getting you a better photo.  Don't hold your breath, though, I value your life too much.

In just a couple more hours, we found ourselves on the approach to Knoxville.  Of course, that comes with more mountainous views.

Remember that bowl-dome from a couple of days ago?  I've been enlightened by two different followers.  Thank goodness there are people with more knowledge than I!  One theory is that it is the top half of a pressure vessel.  Exactly what kind is beyond the scope of the informant, but he has seen items of this nature before.  The other theory is that it is a contamination containment system, much like is shown in the movie, Monsters, Inc.  Well, I have not seen that movie (I have not seen a movie since Pretty Woman, but that's really not relevant, because now, there's YouTube!) so I had to do some research.  Pay attention at the 1:14 mark, and you'll see how it was used.  If you can't see that video embedded down there, just give a little clicky right HERE and you'll go directly to YouTube. Thanks to Ken and Jean for the new knowledge!

Wondering what yesterday's interesting load was?  Well, how about a truckload of rocks?  Not just any rocks....big, beautiful landscaping boulders!  The were spectacular, and would look soooo good around the waterfall that dropped into the hot tub that flowed into my salt-water pool.  If I had one, that is.  Think we could have this driver follow us around until we found another house and were ready to settle down again??  Yeah, me neither.

As we approached Knoxville, on the east end of Tennessee, we ran into more and more traffic.  And yet another jam up.  It's been a couple of years since we'd seen traffic like this, and it was going the loop around the north side of Atlanta.  But, we were in the coach, so it was waaaay more stressful than yesterday.  When we came upon this, we just routed around again, and BAM! We jumped back on the interstate at the very end of the jam up.  And, an added bonus - we stopped for fuel at a Kroger, right beside the street we were traveling, and there were no other cars at the pumps!  Win-win!

Right before we jumped off, though, we got to see the inside of a really big pole.  Or tube, or something similar.  Any thoughts on this one?

So, we got to our hotel.  It was a Quality Inn, and don't let that name fool ya...Quality was NOT their priority.  And it wasn't even cheap, either!  The hallway and the room smelled like cigarette smoke, and this charming decoration was already dangling from the ceiling to enhance the mood and get us ready to celebrate Halloween. And, to top it off, poor Driver, went to get his evening shower and couldn't get very much hot water at all. He waited and waited, but it never got much more than warm.  I, on the other hand, got in there, cranked the handle, didn't get more than warm water and cranked it some more!  I got hot water!  It wasn't scalding, but it was so forceful, it pelted my back and was really uncomfortable.

It was a good thing that I had not eaten all of my goodies from the Snack Sack, the day before, because, at this (low)Quality Inn, there was no breakfast.  Not a limited version, and no reduced rates to compensate for the inability to serve food.  And no Snack Sack...well, you know how Driver likes his hot breakfasts...he made do with my cup of peaches and that itty-bitty granola bar. I promised him we could stop along the way if we found something tempting.  Haha, we didn't stop.  It wasn't long before we crossed into Virginia.  And I know you can't read those signs; I couldn't either.  But, from what I gather, they refer to slowing down for poor weather conditions.

Ahhh, the good ole' Blue Ridge.  They aren't the biggest or most rugged mountains in the world, but they are pretty.  At least, they are to us.

And what was the load of the day TODAY?  Why, it was gi-normous tires!  I would love to see the Tonka Toys these puppies fit!  And can you imagine how much they must cost?  Geeze, I'd hate to foot THAT bill.

Around New Market, VA, we turned into the Rest Area for a little walk-about.  Can you see that sign, way off in the distance, among the trees?  Well, unfortunately, we wouldn't have time to visit Endless Caverns today, but maybe on the way back?  I know, I know, I keep saying that... especially to all our friends who have SOOOO graciously offered us lodging along the way. And Samuel T Bryant Distillery.  We were originally going to stop there as a Harvest Host boondocker stop, but then, well, you know...God laughed.  So, being as the distillery was right beside the Interstate, at exit 74, we were going to stop in anyway, just to see about that peach moonshine, but then, we were early, and he was closed (till 10 am), and Driver thought maybe we would have more time to enjoy the facility on the way back.  Plus, then we wouldn't be knocking a bottle of shine all around the back of the car for all those miles up & back.  But, again, I digress...THANK YOU to all you dear, dear friends who have so generously offered us assistance, without regard to their personal health and safety. 

A few miles north, still on I81, we came upon the water tower for Mount Jackson, VA.  It's (very well) painted to represent a bushel basket of apples.  Sort of like the Peachoid (yes, that's its true name, even tho I just call it The Peach) water tower in Gaffney, SC or the watermelon tower in Luling, TX.  Barbara, from Portland, OR (that's a link to her blog, not to Portland's home page) has plans to make a barn quilt, and she's already made a doors quilt (Doors of Ireland)...OK, so here's a confession, I just spent a goodly amount of time, re-reading a lot of her posts, and searching for a picture of her completed Doors of Ireland quilt, but, sorry, couldn't find one....where was I even going with this runaway train????  Oh, yeah, the watertowers.  Maybe one day.....yeah, probably not.  I'm just not that talented a quilter, nor do I have the stash left for such a quilt.  But, this one was right up there in the pretty and pretty unusual categories.

So, every night, it's been quite the ordeal, getting from the car, into the hotel.  You'd THINK we were going to move in permanently, for all the amount of stuff  crap we bring in.  For ONE NIGHT!  We have the green bag - that's toiletries and Water Pik.  The light blue bag is Bailey's daily food.  The burgundy bag, that's chips and paper plates, napkins and utensils.  The suitcase, well, that's our suitcase for clothes.  The big blue cooler holds our milk ('cuz, ya know, lactose-free is hard to find!) and beer and dinner (seafood/pasta and garden salads, for 3 nights running now) and some baggies of ice.  And some grapes and cream cheese.  And the little cooler - that is for water during the day, but we bring it in to use as a vessel to get the ice from the hotel cooler back to the room, to pour into the baggies in the big blue cooler. Hiding between the blue bag and the burgundy bag is a little brown paper bag, containing a tub of wipes, anti-bed-bug spray, spray bleach disinfectant, and a can of spray Lysol.  And, to top it all off, hanging off the side, the white mesh bag that is our dirty laundry.  In plain sight, for all to see.   Now, you tell me. ......exactly which one (or more) of those bags do we leave outside??

Yeah, we can't decide which one to omit, either.  We may look like the Beverly Hillbillies come to town, but, at least, we are doing our part to reduce our exposure to that darned virus.  It hasn't been TOO awfully bad until tonight.  You know we always ask for non-smoking rooms, and when we book online, we ALWAYS book non-smoking rooms.  Tonight, at the Travelodge, by Wyndham, the hallway was smokey, and that was our first clue.  Even though ALL the rooms had no-smoking signs posted on the doors.  I opened the assigned door (after dutifully wiping the handle down, yes), took a half a step in, and had to come right back out.  Oh my, the smoke was simply overpowering.  Trucked right on back to the front desk, while poor Bellboy Driver stood guard over our Towering Pile of Possessions, made suitable apologies to the clerk, and requested a different room.  A few clicks later, two new passkeys, and we were assigned a different room.  I entered it first, and it wasn't AS bad, but it was still smokey, imho.  I asked Driver to come check it out and offer HIS esteemed opinion, and he agreed, it was NOT a non-smoker's room.  By this time, I didn't really want to go back to the front desk alone, so he pulled our Mile-High Pile of Possessions back to the lobby and waited behind me while I asked for yet another room.  The clerk looked a little skeptical by now, but, we were both ready to walk, even though the reservation was both prepaid AND non-refundable.  

After we'd been in the third room a while, we sort of got used to the smell...it's not great, not even good, but at least it's tolerable and not causing an immediate migraine or asthma attack.  But, seriously, you'd think at these prices, the rooms would be clean, the toilets would flush, and there wouldn't be Halloween decorations up in August.  Rant over, for now, but know this - I AM SO READY TO BE BACK IN MY CAMPER I COULD.......fill in your own blank there, but mine includes a brick!

Tomorrow, we should arrive in West Chester, and we already have an appointment to meet the guy who's going to pick up the dark room and photography equipment.  Who uses that stuff anymore, anyway?  I dunno, but I don't really care, either, just so long as it gets gone and we don't have to pay to have it hauled away.  All the better that it's not going directly into the landfill.  It probably will, eventually, especially when the dude determines how old and useless it is, but, hey, that's his call, and I don't care WHAT he does with it, so long as it gets gone.  I have a lady coming to get the stained glass tools and supplies, hopefully, she's coming with about $350 cash money; Charlie says it's all worth well over $1000, so, she's getting a bargain, and again, I don't care, so long as it gets gone and I don't have to pay to haul it away.

We'll be in another Quality Inn for the next two nights...I hope it's better than the first one!  Then, starting Monday, we'll move into a private (non-chain) hotel that offers us a kitchen and costs LESS than the hotel room without kitchen facilities, but only for a week.  We are hoping to extend it as necessary.  We'll see.  When we get everything hauled off, and the buyers have looked, and hopefully, placed their offers, we are OUTTA THERE! And then it will be "the way back." So, look out friends, we'll be heading your way!

Till then, y'all stay well and safe!  Thanks for riding along with us!!

 

Ooooh, the weather outside is frightful...

 And the fire inside is so delightful....or, in our world, the weather outside was freezing, and promised to be stormy (yes, AGAIN!) before the weekend was done, so we thought maybe it would be a good time to skedaddle.  Driving this beast down the highway, in the rain, is not very easy, nor is it our most fun thing to do.  So, we checked, and Alamo Rose, our next "final destination" could take us in a few days early, no problem.  We checked out a couple different routes, the weather forecasts and things to do and see in the different areas through which we would be passing.  We decided to skip the sightseeing options, take the southern route, and beat feet down, without a lot of stopping and looking.  We figured on taking 4 to 5 days to travel, depending on weather, and just go directly to jail.  I mean, the Valley.  Had a nice dinner with Charlie & Nina, up in Cave Creek, at an award-winning BBQ joint (Bryan's Black Mountain BBQ, for those of you that are interested), made some final decisions about what to do about Dad's house and financial instruments (word to the wise, SIGN YOUR DOCUMENTS!), and the next day, said all our goodbyes at Happy Trails.  Early morning Saturday, we headed out.  Boy, did it feel weird, going WEST, in order to avoid the city Phoenix, to the EAST.  But, just as in geocaching, sometimes the shortest route is not necessarily the most direct route.  

We will miss these tall, silent sentinels.  One can only imagine the history they have witnessed.

First stop, Saturday afternoon, was Kartchner Caverns State Park, down south of Tucson.  Click that link and scroll down on the page a bit.  You'll see a short video, explaining the history and showing a bit of the inside of the caverns.  Since they didn't allow cameras inside the cave, these are the only pictures you'll get to see, so it's worth a click!  The photo below shows the entrance to the Park campground.  That little hill center/left has absolutely nothing to do with the caverns; I just thought it was a cool piece of rock. 

We made great time getting down to the caverns, and we had about 30 minutes after we set up to grab a PBJ and walk the dog.  No doggies allowed in the caverns, so we figured she'd better take the opportunity as presented.

As we set out the next morning (Sunday), the landscape changed once more, becoming more striated and even a bit more barren.

There were PLENTY of Santa's helpers out on the road though.  Plenty of 'em! 

As we neared New Mexico, the landscape changed again.  I thought it looked a bit lunar, what do you think?  The boulders were absolutely HUGE.

See what I mean?  H.U.G.E!

The tractor-trailer below gives you a frame of reference.  HUGE, I tell ya, huge.  Biggest rocks I've ever seen.  Well, maybe except for the ones up at Pemaquid Point, Maine.

You decide - which are the bigger rocks?  (Picture courtesy LiveBeaches.com)

Not only were the rocks just plain BIG, there were lots and lots of 'em!

And, as we passed by Willcox (of course, there's the mandatory letter on the mountain...I dunno, don't even ask, it's just an Arizona thing..)...we were treated to a view of the very reason we decided to leave the state!  Check out those whitecaps, center left!  Those are NOT the whitecaps we are used to seeing!!  These ones promise a whole new experience for us; one which we really don't care to experience!

And then, a small duststorm appeared.  It's the smokey/dusty plume rising just to the right of that road sign.  Little did we know, it was just a precursor of things to come!

Yes, Welcome to New Mexico.  Again.  Did you see the Welcome Center?  No, we didn't either.  I'd say, Budget Cuts, but, heck, if that were the case, at least there would be abandoned buildings, no?  Nada.  Not a thing.

We DID see warning signs, though...

And they weren't lying!  The winds picked up and you could see other cars being blown right out of their lanes.  Thankfully, we're pretty heavy and we have that lovely Newmar feature, Comfort Steer, which helps Driver keep better control of the steering, with less wandering and lane departure.  And then we happened upon what appeared to be mud flats.  With more (and more dire) warning signs. 

Well, maybe in the DRY season, those warnings are appropriate, but as WE drove through, this was what we saw.....acres and acres and acres of water and mud!

 Remember I told you we've seen more rain here in 3 months than through 3 hurricanes?  I wasn't lying either!  As we approached Los Cruces, NM, we came upon the Organ Mountains.  Driver had been telling me about them (for what seemed hours, but was probably only about 1 or 2), but I thought he was calling them Oregon (like the state) Mountains.  When they finally appeared, I asked him why they were named after Oregon?  Only to discover he'd been saying ORGAN, as in, the organ pipes they resembled, jutting straight up into the air.  Well, OK, if you say so, but you tell me - they look like organ pipes to YOU?  Yeah, I didn't think so either.

And then, as if on cue, this little guy appeared.  But, he wasn't little at all!  He probably stood about 3 stories tall.  Sorry I couldn't get the shot of him dead-on from the side...but we were cruising by pretty quick, and again, it's not like we can just stop that baby on a dime.

And, once again, goodbye New Mexico.  Our time was short, but enjoyable.  We might be back one day, but it won't be anytime soon.  We still want to go to Hatch (hello, Roger!) and maybe even back to Santa Fe and Albuquerque.  We enjoyed both those towns.  Plus, the dancing was good!

And, right after we said goodbye, we got to say Hello Texas!  

And right after, we said, no, oh HECK no, you won't be getting me up there.  Not even on a sunny, hot day.  Nope and NOPE.  Luckily for me, the water park appeared shut down for the winter, so we didn't even have to stop and check it out.

And just down the road, we got to decline the opportunity to plunge to our imminent death.  Good thing we were in a time crunch, eh??

There is a section of I-10 that follows the Rio Grande river, and juuuust on the other side is Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.  

Not exactly the white sands, azure water I'm accustomed to seeing in pictures of Mexico.  Heck, it's not even the cute little tourist-trap/dental haven of Nuevo Progreso that we are looking forward to visiting next week!

We are only about 10 miles from our stopping spot, Mission RV Park and RV Repair, just inside the southern border of El Paso, TX.  But first, we have to get through the gauntlet.  Reminds me of the low bridges on Hwy 59, going through Houston.  I don't like them, and I don't like these!  Well, I did enjoy the BRIDGES themselves, I just didn't like that they appeared to be so low.  They were 15 foot and a few inches, and we're only 13 foot, but still, they APPEARED to be too low.

But, we made it through all those bridges safely, only to come up to this interchange.  Driver called it the Spaghetti Bowl, and I can sure see why.  He had warned me it was coming, and I was prepared, but we breezed on through, only 1 story high.  Sure would suck to be on that tallest span, though, wouldn't it?  You'd be going nowhere fast!  Well, I guess gravity would eventually take over and you'd be taking the plunge, so to speak.

Eventually, traffic thinned (HA - became almost non-existent!) as we neared the very outer edge of town.  But, this was all part of the plan...we wanted to travel through El Paso on Sunday afternoon, mostly to dodge the traffic we knew would be there this time of year.  Our campground for the night was actually tucked up under that bridge on the left.  Yeah, we were that close.  Thankfully, we have really good insulation in our coach, and the noise inside was minimal.  But would we stay there again?  Not likely.  So, Monday dawns, bright and beautiful, and it's not too long before we lose all the traffic and have the road to ourselves.  Speed limit 80 mph....NOOOO, we kept it to about 62 mph, much safer for us.

And then we noticed the speed limit dropping.  And dropping.  And dropping again, till we were funneled off the road altogether, and only permitted 30 mph.  Hmmm...an inspection station maybe?  Wonder what they're looking for?  People?  Produce?  Drugs or guns??

Not really sure, but I reached for Bailey, 'cuz I surely didn't want her to get in a heated discussion with a working dog!

Well, now we know WHO is conducting this traffic inspection, but we still don't know why.  As we cruised through, we couldn't even get the guard to look at us!  Seriously!  He was looking the same way we were driving and continuously waving us right by him.  He never even glanced in our direction!  Mind you, I'm not complaining.  Well, maybe I am.  I mean, how in the world was he gonna find or stop ANYthing?  Your tax dollars at work, I suppose.  Or maybe, he had been threatened by the cartel (that doesn't exist, right?) and was literally, looking the other way.

We did make one rest stop before reaching our campground for the night, Fort Stockton RV Park, and Barbara S, I thought of you when we saw this sign.  Really, WATCH for snakes?  And then what if we see one?  Run?  Reach out and touch?  Seems like the directions were a tad incomplete or ambiguous.  I mean, I know what *I* would do....just sayin, snakes don't bother me.  Much.  Most especially if they are behind glass or are headless (sorry, didn't mean to gross you out there). 

 So Fort Stockton campground was easy to find and quick to register.  Didn't take us long to set up, either.  Roads were wide and the site was easy-in, easy out.  And on top of that, there was an on-site cafe, that came highly recommended (really, what else are they gonna say?)  Being as we were self-contained for the night, we both thought it might be wise not to have to do the dishes....and besides, Driver doesn't get good chicken fried steak often...and it WAS highly recommended.  And, you were welcome to bring your own bottle of beer or wine to enjoy with dinner.  PLUS, you get free Blue Bell ice cream with every meal purchase.  How could we say no to all that?  We didn't.  We partook..  :)  It's certainly not the level of EVOO, at Cannon Beach, but, hey, it was edible and pleasant!

Setting out Tuesday morning, we were soon seeing the wave of the future, wind turbines.  I can't, for the life of me, figure out why there aren't acres and acres of solar panels and wind turbines already in place.  I reckon it's 'cuz the oil companies want to keep us dependent on petroleum products until we destroy the planet totally.

As we got closer to Hill Country, the landscape changed again.  Lots of limestone was cut and removed to put the road through.  And there were trees again.  Real trees!  As we drove by Kerrville, I found myself wondering how we could get the camper over to Creations of Kerrville, a really wonderful little quilt shop we'd been to on a previous trip.  Ahhh...maybe next time.  We will be up this way again, around April/May, so maybe we'll have some time to stop in then.  We'll see.

We were treated to a lovely sunset tonight...This is the view out our front window.

And here we are, taking up the whole darned site!  Again!  We have been leaving one slide in; we found it stays warmer inside the coach.  And makes a little less work in the morning, when we got to pack up for early morning departure.  Surprisingly, there's still plenty of room inside...maybe not enough to fit 28 square dancers dancing, but certainly enough for the 3 of us.

Tomorrow is Christmas Day, and we'll start out by traveling through San Antonio.  We are hoping traffic will be minimal (non-existent is just too much to hope for, but our fingers will be crossed) and we can breeze on through.  We have about 330 miles to travel, and I've already checked, the Love's Travel Center down south is planning to be open when we pass through.  And, the gate at Alamo Rose is supposed to be open, and we have directions to get to our assigned site, even though the office will be closed and they have no place to leave us a map.  (??really??  nope, no late registration info area...sounds like a process issue or opportunity for improvement, if you ask me, which didn't happen, btw) Area restaurants will undoubtedly be closed, and we will get there too late to join the residents in a park-wide dinner, so good thing we stocked up and have a freezer full!  I think, keeping with our Italian theme of baked ziti on Thanksgiving day, maybe spaghetti & salad will be our dinner meal.

We'll sign off by wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, and a happy, healthy & safe New Year.