On to Sonora, Texas

Sunday, November 30, 2014

There was road noise through most of the night on highway 69, but I did sleep fairly well till about 6 a.m.  I decided to get up and check to see if the Flying J next door to the Walmart had showers, but they didn’t.  I am sure to get one tonight because I plan to spend the next two nights at an RV park in Sonora, Texas, if I can get that far today.

Took a little time to set up my new Garmin, and I am sure glad I did.  It was a 434 mile trip, and even though I started at 8 a.m., I did not arrive at the RV park till 6 p.m.  I hope this is the longest drive till I am on the return trip.

I must admit, there is not much of anything in this part of Oklahoma and Texas.  The route that Garmin gave me took me around the Dallas/ Fort Worth metropolitan area and I must say that is a long around.  I must have gone through half the small towns located in the northern an western sides of the cities.

Highway 69 went through a number of towns as I headed south toward Dallas, but it was four lane.

Soon I entered Texas. About half the roads were two lane and the speed limit in Texas is 75, so my 55-60 created a lot of people passing me.  Luckily, most of these roads did not have a lot of traffic.  It was time to put my western hat on. Starting to look a little like the southwest with those cactus and ranches.

The final lap was highway 190 coming into Sonora from the north past historic Fort McKavett.  It was too late to stop by today, maybe tomorrow.  This road was definitely an old narrow Texas road.

Last shot of the day as I catch a deer in my headlights as I am entering Caverns of Sonora RV park.

See you later.

Heading for Texas

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Got a late start this morning.  Luckily, Evan had a plan for fixing the wiring, so when the hardware store opened at 9 a.m. we were ready to buy some wire and connectors.  He discovered a wire that was supposed to have a constant current, but was dead.  He didn’t know where it originated, so he hooked it to a live one by making a couple of small jump wires and connected the dead wire to the live wire and voila, we had blinkers and brake lights and running lights.  Everything worked.  That Evan really knows his stuff. 

Thanks to Evan, I was on my way at 11 a.m., only a couple hours behind schedule.  I really wanted to get further south and through Dallas on Sunday.  Plus, another cold front with ice is headed for Arkansas on Monday.

It was a beautiful day for driving.  Not a cloud in the sky and in the high 60’s and low 70’s all day.  Quite a bit of headwind coming out of the west, so had to hold on tight.

I drove right through downtown Eureka Springs on highway 23, navigating the narrow and hilly streets of the town and then it was off through the Ozark Mountains on highway 62 to the town of Rogers where I picked up I-49/I-540 heading to Fort Smith, Arkansas.  Went through the hazy Boston Mountains   just before reaching Fort Smith.

I turned onto I-40 heading for Oklahoma City, crossing the Arkansas River before stopping for gas and lunch at McDonalds 60 miles down the road at my turn-off town of Checotah, Oklahoma.  If you go north on highway 69, you will hit Muskogee, but I turned south heading for Dallas/Fort Worth. 

Drove over and around Lake Eufaula, and it was the biggest lake I have seen since going to Michigan a few years ago.  It spidered everywhere as I went south on highway 69.

My goal for the day was to spend the night in McKinney, Texas.  However, the lost two hours caught up with me and as the sun set directly into my eyes, I knew I would not make it another 100 miles, so stopped in Atoka, Oklahoma.  There is a Walmart right off the highway with several RV’s already bedded down, so I pulled in behind one of them.  I am sure there will be road noise all night, but free is free.

The plan is to make it south of Fort Worth tomorrow, hopefully all the way to I-10.  Shouldn’t have to worry about ice that far south.

See you later.

 

Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Friday, November 28, 2014

After breakfast this morning, Evan started looking at the lighting problem with the RV and the Jeep lights.  It didn’t turn out to be a simple problem. After testing for awhile and doing some internet searches, we decided to take a break and go into Eureka Springs for a tour and some lunch.  It is a beautiful day with the temperatures near 60 and sunny.

Eureka Springs is an old historic town built in the Ozark Mountains of northern Arkansas.  It is primarily a resort town with a fairly large retirement community.  There is a nice website by the Chamber of Commerce giving the history of Eureka Springs.  Here are some of the photos I took as we walked off our lunch.
     

 

Hopefully, Evan can solve the light problem in the morning and I can be on my way.  We shall see.

See you later.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Got a very good night’s sleep in the MH last night and now refreshed and ready for a busy day eating.  I am at Bill and Dixie’s house in Holiday Island, a small retirement community just north of Eureka Springs.  Dixie is Evan and Andy’s mother and he and Evan and Andy come down with their families every Thanksgiving to visit.  Dixie’s husband is a great cook and he put together a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner for the whole family.
Dixie and Bill have a beautiful home overlooking a valley in the Arkansas hills.  The view from their back porch is breath taking.

Squirrels in the front yard and me parked out front.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and see you later.

On to Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

We woke up to snow this morning in the Walmart parking lot.  It was around the freezing mark and the snow was thick and wet.  Took awhile, but we were on the road in the snow.
It continued for about 40 miles south.
We saw several vehicles in the ditch.  They just don’t slow down and the bridges in these hills are slick.

 

 

 

It cleared up and the sun came out.  Before we knew it, the temperature was 50, but windy.  

We zig zagged around Table Rock Lake as we made our way to Bill and Dixie’s house.

We arrived around 1:30 and spent the rest of the day resting, talking and playing with the kids.  By the time dinner was over I was definitely ready to sleep in my bed, parked out in front of the house.  Hooked an extension cord to the house and I was asleep before I knew it. 

See you later.

On the Road

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

I lost a day of packing because of the cold and blustery day we had Monday, so I spent all day getting things packed into the MH, but still wasn’t done when the kids arrived at 5:30 ready to go.  Took me another hour to hook up the jeep and get the remaining things loaded.  I was finally done at 6:30 and we were ready to head out.  Did a final check of the lights on the MH and the Jeep and to my astonishment the lights on the jeep did not work properly.

In a previous blog, I explained how Evan figured out my blinking problem and fixed it.  But now, not only did the right blinker not work, but neither did the left one and the stoplights did not work either.  Only the night running lights worked.  It was too late to do anything about it and since most of our travels would be straight down the interstate, we decided to worry later and go now.  Besides, the MH lights worked properly, and they could be seen on the outside of the Jeep.

So off we went.  Evan drove the MH with the two kids and Kristi followed with their car and I rode shotgun. Stopped once for dinner at a Steak and Shake and once again for gas.  We arrived at the Walmart in Rolla, Missouri after an uneventful 250 mile trip.  It was 1 am and we were all tired.  I checked in with the management and we quickly settled in for the night.  It was all bodies as we got nestled into our sleeping spots.  Kristi and Evan took the bed, I took the couch, Lane took the floor beside the couch and Erin was sleeping on the table.  Both the kids had cushions so they were comfortable.
It was a very late time for me, so I did not sleep well at all.  I will finish my cold and snowy tale of the trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas tomorrow morning.  It is now late Wednesday evening and I need some sleep.  Missed my favorite TV program, “Survivor”.

See you later.

Traveled from home to Walmart in Rolla Missouri

Cold and Windy

Monday, November 24, 2014
  Thank goodness I did most of the outside work yesterday.  This morning I woke up to snow flurries and blasting 30 mph winds.  All my moving plans are now on hold till tomorrow morning.  Refuse to go out in this cold.  I am very glad to be heading south tomorrow.  Can’t be soon enough.

I did finish placing the inverter into the MH under the bench seat for the table, screwed it in permanently and hooked up the battery wires to it.  It is now ready for use.  Still no sun to test the 100 watt solar panel. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Played my last game of cards for this year and I finally won a game and now we will finish up the evening with a football game.   Tomorrow is “D”eparture day.

See you later.