Moving On Across Texas, Temporary Goodbyes, Walmart Overnighter

Walmart, Vidor, Texas

It was 5:30 on Friday, Nov. 15^th when I first woke up. It was still dark out my window so I snuggled closer to my sweetie and dozed back off for 45 minutes. We rose just shy of 6:30 and dressed for the day. The sky was clear and the sun about to rise within the half hour. With clear skies, as a rule, we expect cold temperatures but the 45F didn’t feel bad at all with no real wind.

Our last morning in the park

When Bill saw Jo-Anne walk by with Higgins he saw Higgins stop and look back at our door. So, he went to say hi. Jo-Anne and Bob’s plan last night was to stay with us today to Beaumont, TX and then split off Saturday morning. This morning, she informed us, that after looking at it again, if they left from St. Bernard they would gain an hour in their travel to Frisco. That means that we were saying goodbye this morning instead.

Some sights on our drive to I-10
We laughed at the dog with his head out the window
Top right - an egret in flight beside us
The pretty view of pecan trees near Chalmette

We were both on schedule to pull out between 8 and 8:30 so we carried on with the usual packing up procedure. It was 8 when Bill and I were hooked up and although we would both be travelling I-10W for a while before the split off onto I-49, we figured we’d leave first. This would be good experience for them, finding their own way. We gave them the information about places we’ve stayed and knew to be safe.

Harrah’s Casino in Shreveport, LA and Coleman Park in Brownfield, TX, were two places I found on freecampsites.net and we were very happy with them for overnight stays. Bill and I got onto W. Judge Perez Rd. which unfortunately took us downtown through Chalmette, Violet and a busy rush hour but small towns are not as bad as big cities at that time of day. We eventually got onto I-10W and around New Orleans onto the quieter interstate.

Yikes - When we were ready to merge onto I-10W
it was morning rush hour

We drove along with the large body of water on my right and we felt knowledgeable (from our friends’ info) that it was Lake Pontchartrain.  It was just before this that we received some sad news regarding our friend’s wellness. Bill was driving so I read it to him and we shared a quiet tearful moment. One day at a time, they are saying and that is the only way to look at one’s recovery. We sent our hugs and prayers across the miles, feeling a bit helpless.

Barges and boats

The drive was good with the usual slow downs for construction every so often but generally we had no complaints. We crossed the Mississippi River again, it seems it is following us or is it the other way around? Then the very long Atchfalaya Bridge took us over water which was very interesting. It reminds me of exactly where we are, Louisiana, with tree stumps jutting up out of the water and fisherman trolling the inlets. We passed Exit 103A where Bob would be turning off onto I-49N and we texted back and forth a bit.

There's some fishing going on here
and just such pretty views across Lake Charles

They are about 15 minutes behind us. We stopped at Rayne for fuel at a Frog City station. The price was right and although at the pumps, things looked dungy, this was one of the nicest truck stop washrooms I’ve been in so far this trip. There is a Casino here so maybe that is why. We decided to pull out to the back of the lot since it was 11:30 and have our lunch sandwiches now. Then it was back on the highway again for a couple of hours.

Frog city Truck stop
I loved painted decals at the overpass
A very suitable, clean ladies' room

The interstate pavement was not too bad for the most part with overpasses and bridges being the rough sections. When we were over the bridge at Lake Charles, we hit a rough section for about a mile that almost jarred our permanent teeth loose. I cringed and said “I’m afraid of what that did to the inside of the Suite”.  Then it smoothed out again and out of the city, traffic also cleared a fair bit.

The Information Travel Centre
welcoming travelers into Texas

We were getting tired and so what originally seemed like it would be too early to stop (according to our gps arrival time) worked out well. We found a Walmart Supercentre at Vidor, TX and a good spot in front of a motor home from Quebec, Canada. It was around 2:30 when I walked in to notify the Manager and get the approval to stay. It was a great driving day, with sunshine warming Black Beauty up nicely all the way but we were happy to be done for the night.

We passed Gander RV
Huge flags usually indicate Camping World
and there is a definite connection

I’d remembered to pull out a container of chili from the freezer but with a Jack in the Box across the road, we thought we’d give it a try instead. In the meantime, I re-organized the fridge and cupboards that had jostled about during that upsetting mile of rough pavement. My goodness, it is sometimes very surprising how much things jump around, even with bars and preventative measures in place. The best was ………… well, you can see for yourself! Ha ha, it made us laugh.

Never before has this happened to our toilet paper
during travel

I made myself a cup of tea and took some Advil to ease the headache that was niggling across my forehead. After reading a chapter of my book and finishing my drink, I went upstairs and curled up under our Algodones blanket for a snooze. That did the trick. Bill had no problem dropping off downstairs in his recliner – within minutes, I might add. 😊 When I came downstairs, I went back and forth with my buddy back home on text and then caught up on the blog.

There was room for us tucked over here in front of a motor home

At 5:30, we walked across N. Main Street to Jack in the Box for supper. We’d never eaten at one of these before but looking at the menu online, they provided a lot of choices for fast food meals. I ordered the Swiss cheese, crispy bacon and tomato burger on sourdough bread with curly fries. This was delicious and for under $20 we had a good dinner. We walked from there right into Walmart and picked up the few groceries on our list.

Back at the Suite, I made up the last of the egg salad into sandwiches for tomorrow and Sunday’s driving days. Bill put the recorded episodes of The Voice on, we had a serving of custard each and I worked on publishing my post. This has been a great day, no problems with the drive and we found our overnight stop easily. I hope you’ve had an enjoyable day too.

This was a great fast food meal

Dessert couldn't have been any better
Good night from Vidor, Texas

Thanks for popping in!

Beating the Storms, Cloudy Extended Driving Day

I woke up on Wednesday, Mar. 29^th at 7:15 and Bill had already been up for 45 min. Usually on a moving day he is awake early. He had put everything away from outside last night, not that much was out. The winds picked up around 10:00 and the rain would soon follow. No point in letting things get wet.

Here Comes the sun dobedobe

After catching this pretty sunrise, I caught up on blog posts with my morning tea while Bill had his breakfast and a shower. We seldom eat the same things on moving days as we don’t want to spend the extra time for bacon and eggs and then cleanup. We just like to get going. It was 8:45 when we pulled out of the park onto US-59.

The rain was quite heavy around 8 and the sky quite dark coming from the west so we were pleased that it had stopped by the time we exited. We aren’t sure how far we’ll get today but we plan to put the push on. Tornado warnings for southern Missouri, Arkansas and Texas are enough to get us moving.

About 50 miles into Missouri, near Mt. Vernon we stopped at a Rest Stop (Truck Parking) with washrooms only for nature’s call and to make a coffee. It is 10:30, the rain has returned but nothing too heavy and so far, I-44 is a good road. 

We are in communication with my sister and her husband who are travelling with their Montana on #50 to Kansas City, north of us. Probably about a day or less behind us in our journey home. They will be at home base before us since we are stopping near London at our home park for a week. It is nice to know that we are relatively close in our travels.

The sun was up there but fighting a tough battle and losing

Interesting, we just passed a business called Executive Coach Builders. Wish I’d got a picture but instead looked it up on line. Large black units that look like a modified Class C motorhome. Never heard of them before but the black ones were really impressive.

 East of Richland, MO and the sky is brighter and the rain is non-existent here. I’m not a sailor but the route seems pretty smooth sailing from my point of view. My driver looks quite relaxed too.

Just for the record, after the 10 hour day, he looked pretty much the same.

Just east of Jerome we hit a slow down with the right lane closed. No worries, most everybody is respectful of each other and glide into the left lane. There are always those who, of course, are 'special' and need to go as far as they can past all of us. I like it best when a transport truck puts a stop to that by riding up the middle of the highway.

As it turns out, we first notice this construction truck with a Wet Paint sign. Hmm, but then we see 3 huge wreckers in the right lane that I was too close to to get a picture of. Now it is clear what the holdup was. A tractor trailer was down over the side in the ditch. Oh my, how did that happen? We certainly hope the driver is okay. This didn’t slow us down too much and we were on the move again to the next Love’s Truck Stop.

Stopping for another pit stop but mostly to top up the fuel and to top up our tummies since it is 1:00. Clemson is such a great little traveler, it is nice to give him the opportunity to do his business and stretch his little legs too.

We have the best little traveler

Sunshine has made an appearance as we pass by Sullivan, MO. Driving into St. Louis keeps Bill on his toes and me watching for our eventual exit for I-70E. At 3:00 on hump day, the 20 minutes through the city made us glad not to be traveling through this city in another hour or two. We are now in Illinois and can breathe easier and look for a stopover.

Had another fun drive around the Pilot Gas Bar/Lot trying to get in
and ended up coming out onto Route 66 to turn around

So we got our kicks on Route 66 again with this old beauts and a fenced in area full of them with
the old time gas pumps too
Some of these large travel centres are not rv accommodating even though they think they are

At 4 we were ready for another pit stop and leg stretch. Bill says he wants to keep going, after getting out for some fresh air. I’m game, especially when it is just a sleep over. He’s calling the shots here and until I notice fatigue, I don’t interfere.

Coming up to Effingham, IL we saw another tractor trailer over on its side off the highway. The cause doesn’t seem like anything other than a driver falling asleep at the wheel, no other visible obstructions or vehicles involved. It isn’t nice to see and again hopefully he got out okay.

Traffic through St. Louis at 3 pm was where we needed signs painted on the highway!

Well, like those truckers, luck isn’t on our side this afternoon. We started looking for a place to overnight around Effingham but it is a hot spot for sure. No room at the Inn, so to speak, and we tried many ‘Inns’. Not to be discouraged we hopped in the truck since it is still daylight and drove on down I-70 towards Terre Haute, IN.

some great architectural buildings along the highway

Halfway across the bridge we crossed the state line into Illinois

Love this bridge across the Mississippi River

The St. Louis arch way back there in the photo

Our situation may be different than others with the need to open 2 slides to get into our bedroom, or at the very least, one slide to get to our recliner chairs. This limits us to where we can park safely without getting clipped through the night. It all ends well though, we traveled on until my gps showed us a Walmart at Marshall, IL.

It was a lovely reward for coming this far to see an empty lot over by the Garden Centre. I checked in with the Customer Service desk and was given a pleasant “Of course!”. Thank you. After being on the road for 10 hours we decided to walk over to McDonald’s for supper. The short walk felt pretty good in the brisk air although it was still about 55F.

Our spot for the night and it was still daylight! Yay!
Goodnight from a Walmart in Marshall, Illinois

That is it for today, just one more overnight before we hit our home province. I hope you had a good day.

Thank you for reading! Your comments are always welcome.

Time to Move On

Friday in Eagle’s Landing was an awesome day. We had decided to stay another night in this great park so we could really get some relaxing in before hitting the road again.

Kayaks available to borrow in the park, next time!

Someone is ready for Hallowe'en!

We enjoyed the area of Grove, Oklahoma

I have to admit we were really enjoying being hooked up to hydro, water and sewer.

The only thing on our list of things to do was to go into Grove to the post office and buy stamps for our post cards. Having already completed a couple of walks around the park and testing the water in the pool, what more to do but don my swimsuit and go for a bit of sunbathing.

Yes, the water was cold although the outside temperature was beautiful. I think it was around 80F and the water a cool 68F maybe. I stretched out on the lounge chair for about 30 minutes before getting hot enough to take a dip. It was indeed just a dip but I managed to swim a couple of short laps and go back to my place in the sun. It was ideal, I was the master of the whole area, not a soul in sight. I even tested the elliptical and electric bike in the exercise room before heading back to camp.

We had bbq’d steak and a potato for supper and retired inside for the night. I think we were semi-packed up and in bed by 9:30 pm. That is Central time an hour earlier than we are used to back home. We knew we wanted to get moving as early as possible.

Saturday morning, we were up and on our way, out of the park by 8:30 am. It proved to be another gorgeous day for driving. 

Between our gps', my notes and this atlas we were
definitely going to find our way!

Today we wanted to head towards Oklahoma City, without actually going through it and all the turnpikes, and end up at a Walmart Super Centre close to Elk City, OK.

Much wilder than the pool I was in yesterday

This was a cool drive, seeing things I’ve not seen before. That is what it is all about and I’m loving it. We travelled on a very winding 2 lane road, Alt 412, to avoid the toll roads, from US 59. 

This was a great ride and even though Bill had to be on his toes he loved it as well. We’ll do it again in a heartbeat.

We drove through Yukon, Ok which is, apparently Garth Brooks' home town, I didn't know that! 

and past Choctaw Road……………you know, where Billie Joe jumped off the Tallahachi bridge? 

Anyway, even though I know the Tallahachie bridge is/was in Mississippi, that is the song that continued going through my head after seeing that sign.

We travelled alongside the historic Route 66 and promised to drive on it soon.

With a few pit stops, some for pits (?) and some for fuel and lunch, we made it to our destination by 4 pm. We are set up nicely, fed the pooch, grabbed a bite to eat and settled in to write our posts. It is warm, quite warm at 84F so have all of the windows open in the Suite. There is a nice breeze blowing through

As usual, I’ve taken a few pictures of the day’s travels and have shared them with you.

Still many great looking water towers out there

Love this one!

                                                                           

Our quiet spot at Walmart, closest neighbour is the motor home
to the left of the picture

Beautiful sunset

I hope you had a great day as well. Thank you for reading along. Please feel free to comment.