Quitman, TX - Day 7

Miles 136

We made it to our first appointed destination! I am happy to say we are safely in Quitman, TX at Gov. Jim Hogg City Park. It was a shorter day for us but we are a bit road weary anyway. We are looking forward to not being on the road tomorrow and also looking forward to the 5 days booked in New Orleans (Jan 11-16). After we left somewhat busy Hwy 20 we were on Interstate 17, then 80, then 37, which are more like enjoyable country roads. Hwy 37 brought us right into Quitman. This looks like a friendly and nice place to live, just another "small town" America. Our views today were mostly rolling hills with bare deciduous trees, which I think were mainly Oak trees. with an evergreen here and there. I think it would have been beautiful before the leaves fell, a little dreary right now. We did pass a couple large impressive homes, a few small farms, and a lot of modular homes on what looked like 1 acre plots. The sun is shinning and it is a cool 47 degrees "feels like" 40. Sadly there are NO SHOWERS so it is the Casita shower for me. The plus is free Wi-Fi so that is nice. 

Ft Worth, TX - Day 6

Miles 322

There was ice on our Jeep this morning. It was 15 degrees this morning "felt like" 9 - Really? My granddaughter is 9 - not the temperature!!! Yes, TX is a big state and takes a lot of driving. We are making excellent time and expect to arrive to our appointed destination of Quitman, TX tomorrow as planned. Our drive was uneventful. We planned to eat lunch out but it was simpler to make sandwiches. We are right by a Chick-Fil-A tonight so guess what we are having for dinner? No pictures - Cotton fields, rolling and flat brown land is what we saw up until the last 20 or so miles. Now there are more trees. It is different terrain to get used to. The sun shone brightly all day and it is now a whopping 40 degrees! 

Odessa, TX - Day 5

Miles 279

We didn't even use the heater last night in El Paso, it was even fairly pleasant when we got up with the sun shinning. We could look across the river into Mexico for a long ways along  Hwy 10. It is very close, there is a small fence but I am not sure if border control in the purpose of the fence or not. We saw one Border Patrol SUV along the many miles we drove. When we got to a Border Patrol Crossing we did have to stop. The nice young woman asked if we were citizens of the US answered affirmatively and we were waved along.  We could also drive 80 mph in TX, of course we did not. Not only was it too windy, but our trailer axel is rated for a maximum of 65 mph. It got colder along the way. When we stopped in Van Horn, TX to get gas it was terribly windy and 29 degrees. It was a crowded, small area so we opted to just heat our Christmas (previously frozen) leftovers for lunch, it was delicious. The cold continued, but the wind has ceased somewhat here in Odessa, TX it is 23 degrees and "feels like" 11 degrees at 5:30p. We are just off Hwy 20 now. We turned our clocks ahead another hour today so we are on Central Time now. Flat land, no trees, lots of oil pumps and what looks to be refineries, TX is not what I would call "pretty" but I have heard there are woodsy, nice places - we have never seen them!  Despite the cold it is nice and warm in our trailer. I am definitely glad we have a heater. I won't be going outside at all the rest of the day. However, John will be bundled up and take Tony, also in a coat, for his walk!

TX Hwy 10

 Border Patrol

El Paso, TX - Day 4

Miles 366

We didn't leave as early as we thought we would but we made good time and got up to speed with our itinerary, even a bit past our goal for the day. We are staying at a Wal-Mart Super Center tonight in El Paso, TX. Most of you know WM allows over-nighter's in the parking lot for free. Most  people do their shopping while stopping! We are getting a few supplies as well. The weather was lovely all day, in the 60's, high I believe was 65. No road problems and uneventful.  We stopped for gas in Wilcox, AZ where we bought a hot dog for lunch and went on our way, we actually had two gas stops but I forget where the other one was. We stopped at a beautiful rest stop in John's birth town (Las Cruces, NM) that had a great view of the city and mountains. There was an impressive Road Runner sculpture (state bird) but we moved along since there was a sign "watch for snakes." We saw lots of lovely mountains but no trees to speak of just barren desert and what we always called scrub brush. There were no pretty cactus after we left AZ. 

Picahaco Peak State Park, AZ - Day 3

Miles 207

It was so nice last night we didn't even need to use our heater. Despite that for some unknown reason our Carbon Monoxide alarm went off. From what others have said, this seems to happen a lot. I know it goes off if I dry my hair inside or spray perfume. It is sensitive. It was hard going back to sleep after that so we slept in pretty late and got a late start, thus we drove fewer miles today. We will try to make up for it tomorrow. We bought gas for $2.00 today! That's with a 5 cent discount using the Pilot (Flying J) card. We have been getting 18 mpg but since we used AC today that might have dropped. We indulged in a long stop at the Cracker Barrel, then we found it hard to pass up Picahaco Peak State Park when we saw it coming up. There are lots of Saguaro Cactus and it just looked so inviting. Large showers and a free dump station sealed the deal! Yes, our Casita does have a shower but it is a "chore" to use it on a regular basis. The campsite ended up to be very nice with a covered metal table and benches, also nicely raked grounds (a nice touch I appreciate). We had a nice walk around the area after we got parked. The sun was just  going down and the sky was amazing. I need a little chart with different cacti on it to know what I am looking at. There were several types here but we only know the Saguaro. Hoping for an early start tomorrow!

Quartzsite, AZ - Day 2

Miles 276

We traveled on Hwy 40 to Needles where we took 95 to 10. We passed into AZ just before Quartzsite, which is on Hwy 10. We gained an hour as well. It was an uneventful day, other than missing the turn off for our spot for tonight at Scaddan Wash. It was just a short distance to go back though. There are no services at Scaddan Wash but we are self-contained, so no problem, plus it is free. There are several sites similar to this operated by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management). We almost enjoyed a nice sunset but the sun slipped behind some clouds and it got cool quick. We have greatly enjoyed our heater these days! In fact last night we had to turn it down as it got TOO warm! We had a big lunch (burgers) in Needles at the Wagon Wheel Cafe, so it will be soup or something small for dinner then off to bed. 

Hitting The Road - Day 1

247 Miles
Off we go! Our rig is packed up and we are ready to hit the road. We have audio books, plenty of fresh food, plenty of non-perishable food, all weather clothing, book-loaded Kindles, and even our laptops! What more could we need? (I hope we don't find out) Tony is ready too! He had his annual checkup just recently, all his shots are current, his food and snacks are packed, and I think we have everything he could possibly need! We left home at exactly 10a but after running a couple errands we were on Hwy 99 heading south by 11a!

So far we realized we forgot any DVDs to play when we are stuck inside because of rain. At least we have Netflix or Prime just in case. Our other event of the day was the Thule carrier popped open and we lost our extra paper towels, luckily, nothing else was lost! Strange seeing the rolls fade from sight in my rear view mirror. 

There was so much traffic going the opposite direction, I guess coming from Las Vegas, I'm glad S&S didn't go there for New Year's. There is some snow on the Tehachapi Mountains but nothing low enough to concern us. 

John Hosed Off The Casita, We Are Ready!

Traffic From Las Vegas

Snow On The Mountains