Grandpa and Cole at Dinner

We have arrived in Texas

We safely arrived in Arlington yesterday with only a small traffic problem as we got within 25 miles of our RV park. Our drive on Wednesday from Santa Rosa, NM to Goodlett, TX was very smooth with lots of snow along side of the rode but dry highway. We fueled up in Amarillo and then stopped in Clarendon for propane. The guy who filled our propane tank said they had 12 inches of snow earlier in the week. There was still some on the ground and Alex got to play in the snow for a short while. As we traveled south of Clarendon the snow began to disappear and the weather improved dramatically. We followed highway 287 from Amarillo all the way to I-20 between Fort Worth and Dallas.

Tippy did some laundry in Goodlett and I vacuumed the coach to pick up some of the dirt created from us being in the mud for three days. Can you imagine the laundry was free! This is the first time we have seen this. The weather was so nice that Alex and I sat out and had a beer while Tippy finished the laundry. The park, Ole Town Cotton Gin RV Park, also provided a free breakfast of coffee, sweet rolls, cold cereal, and biscuits & gravy. The gravy wasn’t special but the thought was tremendous.

We had an enjoyable drive south in to the heart of Texas until we reached the point where highway 287 joined I-35W. There was one lane closed on the merge ramp and then one lane closed on I-35W. Traffic was just inching along and most people were considerate of others and allowed folks to merge into the correct lane. There was the occasional bozo that drove up the shoulder lane or who refused to let anyone in in front of them but by and large the cooperation was excellent.

As we were parked right by an exit ramp Tippy thought the exit would lead us to a road that would take us to the I-820 spur which would take to I-20. So we got off and with Tippy’s help and a small assist from Sadie we found our way around the traffic jam and I am sure saved ourselves an hour or more. There is something to be said for a good navigator.

We got set up at the Treetops RV Village and then went to David and Rachel’s home to say hi and then enjoy an early dinner. Cole was with his baby sitter when we arrived, David pulled in right after us, and Rachel a few moments later. Cole came right to Grandpa’s arms at the door, leaving his friend Kendra who was babysitting so Rachel could run some errands. We hung out for a while and then went to dinner at the local Outback. Cole was very good at dinner. Rachel brought his dinner and fed him as soon as we sat down and he fussed very little as the rest of us enjoyed our meal and conversation. We passed Cole around the table like a serving platter and enjoyed his smiles and laughter during dinner.

It was past Cole’s bedtime when we got back to the house so we said our goodbyes in the driveway and headed for the RV park. With a quick stop for gas we arrived home safely and enjoyed a quiet evening playing with Alex and watching some basketball. We will drive to Tyler to look at properties on Tuesday so will let you know how that goes. Until then, be safe.

Stuck in traffic on I-40

Santa Rosa, New Mexico

We awoke this morning in Santa Rosa, New Mexico to a bright, clear, cold morning. The roads were clear and dry for our drive yesterday but we saw several cars off the road from previous days. I think we were smart to wait the extra day in Holbrook rather than risk an accident in the snow and ice. There were large amounts of snow along side of the road but as I have said the roads were clear and dry.

We had an unexplained stop at the 200-mile marker, east of Albuquerque, where we were stopped on the interstate for 20 minutes. When we finally got going we could see no reason for the stop what so ever. Trucker talk on the CB indicated there was no reason for the delay but delayed we were. Anyhow we finally got on our way and then when we hit the 260-mile marker, 15 miles from our exit in Santa Rosa, we were stopped again. There was construction in the Santa Rosa area and the interstate was reduced to one lane, which had backed the traffic up for 15 miles. It took us over an hour and twenty minutes to travel this last 15 miles but we finally arrived safely at about 4:30.

We made a short run to the store for a couple of things and then Tippy made chili-mac for dinner. Mmmmm Gooood. We watched a little TV and hit the sack at 10:30. Today we head for Goodlett, TX ands will stay at the Ole Town Cotton Gin RV Park. We stayed there a couple of years ago and it is real cute and the sites are nice and large. Friday it will be on to Arlington where we will arrive a day early after missing two nights in Tyler. More later from Tyler, be safe.

Stuck in Holbrook, Arizona

We left home on Sunday at about 11:00 am and headed on a new adventure. I think we both had a tear in our eye as we have so many wonderful memories of our home in Henderson and the terrific people that became our friends. We hope to keep up these friendships but being apart will be different. The pull of our grandson was just too strong and we both are truly looking forward to the move to Tyler, TX.

The road from the dam to Kingman was beautiful! There were so many wild flowers in yellows, purples, and orange that we did a lot of ooohing and ahhing as we drove down the road. The entire mountainside was covered with green vegetation from all of the rain and it was a stark difference from the usual brown mountain scenery. We arrived at the Blake Ranch RV park around 2:00 pm Arizona time. We got the coach setup and watched the end of the golf tournament. I took Alex for a walk around the park and she really enjoyed herself. She seems to just prance when she goes for a walk and gets to smell all of the smells and see people in the park. When we got back I had to take many burrs and bits of the desert out of her fur and then we settled in for the night. Tippy made a pizza for dinner and we had a great evening just watching TV.

We decided to leave around 10:00 on Monday to get us through the mountains of Flagstaff in the warmest part of the day. As we approached Flagstaff, in the Williams area, we came upon snow on the side of the road but the road was dry and very safe. We had planned to stop at a rest area about 9 miles West of Flagstaff and when we got there it was closed and the roads were starting to get wet and it had started to snow. I finally just stopped on the side of the road to use the bathroom and we decided to head for the next rest area on the other side of Flagstaff, about 47 miles away. As we got closer to Flagstaff the roads got progressively worse and we got down to about 20-25 mph for over 20 miles. As we approached the rest area the roads started to get better, wet but no snow. Enroute we saw a fifth wheel turned around on the other side of the road and the traffic was backed up for almost twenty miles behind the accident.

We stopped at the rest area and had lunch and relaxed a while. We had just 50 miles to go to reach Holbrook and we felt that the weather would get better as we moved East and came down from the mountains. Well I was wrong! The roads didn't get any better, but fortunately not any worse either, and we arrived at the RV park in Holbrook without incident. It was snowing in Holbrook and the park was already wet and muddy. I couldn't get the satellite to acquire because of the snow on the dome so I just took a nap and decided to work on it later. When I got up I tried to set it up again and it acquired immediately. Apparently the snow that had accumulated melted and the signal could get through. We were able to watch TV and Tippy did steaks, green beans, and dipping bread with the dipping oil we bought in Temecula which contains olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and herbs. Mmmmm good.

As we watched TV the signal began to break up intermittently and when I checked the signal strength it had dropped from 82 to 31. I looked outside and could see that it had been snowing so I climbed on top of the coach and wiped off about 1 inch of snow from the dome. This fixed the problem and took the signal back to 81 and provided an excellent picture.

We awoke to a cloudless blue sky but cold temperatures. The slide outs were piled with about 3 inches of snow and I had to brush it off before we could get the slide to come in. The front slide created another problem as the awning roller seemed to be frozen and wouldn't roll up. This side of the coach was in the shade and was much colder without the sun shining on it. The hose was frozen so we didn't have running water except what was in our storage tank which wasn't much. I unhooked the hose and put it in the sun to melt the ice. We watched the weather channel and it still looked pretty bad East of us even though it was so beautiful here in Holbrook. We called the New Mexico Highway patrol and found out that I-40 was closed from just East of Albuquerque to the Texas border and that I-25 going south from Albuquerque was also closed. I called an RV park in Albuquerque and they had space for us but said that I-40 was snow covered and icy from Grants all the way to Albuquerque, about 85 miles. I had driven on all of the snow covered roads that I cared to so we didn't have many options. With no where to go we decided to just stay here for a day and see what things look like tomorrow. We have canceled our trip to Tyler for now, so we don't have to get to Arlington until Saturday, which means we could stay here even another day and still get there as scheduled.

More later, probably from Arlington. If anything unusual occurs I will post that information sooner. For now be safe and stay in touch.