Brookshire, TX

We left Kerrville early this morning to try and get ahead of the windy day forecasted for that area.  Well, it followed us for 230 miles with a constant wind of 20+mph with gust higher than that.  The later in the day the worse it got, so we finally stopped early at a RV park 10 miles west of Katy, TX.  The wind was coming out of the south and we were heading almost due east so it was hitting us broadside.  It's not a big deal in a car but the 12ft tall motorhome really catches the brunt of the wind.

We went to Red Lobster for dinner this evening and had a great meal.  They were super busy, however they got us seated in less than 15 minutes and the waiter was there asking for a drink order about the time our bottoms hit the seat.  The service was great and they gave us 5 coupons for $5.00 through the end of May.  Guess we will be going back to Red Lobster again in the near future.

The crack in the windshield is over 18 inches long and there are two runners about the same length going across the passenger side of the motorhome.  Since it is safety glass, it should hold up until we can get to Concord, NC where we can get it repaired.  The Progressive Insurance adjuster said to have all the other repairs done and keep the old parts and they would cover it 100%, including the windshield.  Of course we will have to pay for the other repairs and get paid back by them, but it will be worth it.

We sure have run into some aggressive and stupid drivers out here in Texas.  A large pickup was merging onto my lane and just taking his sweet old time when he finally decided the MH was larger than he and he speeded up.  Since there was an 18 wheel truck next to me, I couldn't pull over to let him in.  The populated areas are the worst with people driving like kids at the bumper car carnival ride.  Can't wait to get out of here and get back to the sane East Coast drivers. 

Aftermath of Storm

We rode out the storm yesterday and suffered some damage to the motorhome but it is driveable.  The windshield is cracked but I think we can drive back to North Carolina and get it repaired while we are there for the graduations and parties.  Can't miss that.

I climbed on the roof of the motorhome today to see what damage was up there.  The roof is in ok shape except for vent covers and one a/c cover.  I took pictures for insurance purposes and applied duct tape to the damaged covers as well as I can.  I am not entirely optimistic that it will hold good enough, but at the present time that is all I can do.  I will have to check it as we drive along and make sure it is repaired before another rain storm.  There was one small tear in the rubber roof and I put dicor on it.  C'est la vie!

We took a little ride today to check out Kerrville, TX to see what it had to offer.  We drove up the road to Ingram, TX to the "Old Town Loop" where the older buildings were.  They have converted all of them into touristy places but it looked real nice there.  Gerry liked this place since they sold jewelry.  They also had a ton of copper statues all around the yard which made it more interesting.

We are staying at the Guadalupe River Resort which is a nice campground with good facilities, however they have a basic price and then add $3.50/day for cable tv and $2.50 for internet service.  I imagine we will not be stopping here in the future.

Wild Day out West

We normally return to the East Coast via Oklahoma to see our son and his family.  Just about every time we made the trip there was some bad weather, so we decided to avoid it and take the Southern route back home.

Bad Move on our part.  We were tooling along and making great time when the skies started to blacken up and the wind picked up.  We pulled over on a side road to check the weather and found out we couldn't get back on I-10 for about 12 miles so we pulled over to the side of a Farm to Market road to sit it out.  That is when the S#&@ hit the fan.  The skies opened up and hard rain was followed by hail the size of tennis balls.  It hailed for 15-20 minutes and broke the windshield on the motor home and dinged the Saturn up with dimples.  I am not looking forward to climbing on the roof tomorrow to see what/if any damage there is there. 

We sat it out for about an hour and then found out the bad weather was coming back right in our area with tornado warnings out.  That is when we left the area.  

In the middle of all the above a beautiful deer came out to the brush and was eating along side of the road.  He was unconcerned with all the activity and hail.  All in a days work for him. 




Other than the above, it was a nice day.
 

Van Horn, TX

We thought we'd take our time and stop in Las Cruces for the night.  When we got about 30 miles out from the campground we called ahead to make sure they had space for us.  No problem.  Not quite.  They were in the midst of heavy winds up to 26mph with gusts even higher.  The wind was coming out of the west and was to our advantage, but they were calling for it to change directions overnight and be just as strong on Wednesday.  Not good.

We called a campground in Van Horn, TX and they had room, but wind was strong there, also, once again out of the west and changing.  We drove through to Van Horn and got another campsite for the night.  

We had some excitement on the highway this evening.  We went through the checkpoint on I-10 west of  Van Horn fine, but a few miles down the road a Mustang car went by us well over 100mph with the Border Patrol right on his tail.  Then we had a procession of police cars, truck, vans and what have you flying by us in pursuit of the Mustang.  They caught him about 15 miles down the road and it looked like a Border Patrol convention on the highway.  The windows on the Mustang were broken out and three policemen had him surrounded while they were taking his car apart.  I don't know what caused him to run other than a car load of drugs, or maybe a decoy. 

We intend to get an early start on Wednesday and get as far down the road as we can before the wind becomes a major problem for us.  They also have a warning up about smoke on the highway due to the great number of brush fires out here in West Texas.  Never a dull moment.

We paid $3.57 for gas in Anthony, TX and it will be a while before we see it that cheap again.  420 miles behind us and 2,200 to go.  

Packing Out Day

It's been a busy couple days lately with my brother arriving for a short visit on Sunday.  He was on his way to San Diego with a load and stopped by for dinner with us.  He bought a new GPS just for truckers and it sure has a ton of features to learn.  Very powerful.

We started getting everything ready for a Tuesday departure if at all possible.  It takes a while to get everything organized after sitting in one place for 5 months.  Plus, we always accumulate more "stuff" and then have to find a place to store it.  This year we were especially bad and it will be tight in the motor home.  

It looks like we will take the southern route back this time to do something different.  It is always exciting to drive across tornado alley and the windy plains of Texas.  

We drove by the Pima County Fairgrounds to look at the fair going on now.  It looks like a real nice fair and if it wasn't so hot we may have attended this year.  They placed the rides and stands right where the campground is located.  It is handy that way since they have water, sewer and electric all over the place.

Our friend Ron K. went to Show Low and disappeared from the face of the earth.  We hope he is ok up there.    

That was our excitement for last couple days.