May 2016

We have started a new blog for our 2016 adventure - julieandkim2016.blogspot.co.nz
Catch us there!

2016 Adventure

This years adventure kicks off on May 9, 2016 - see I am already in US mode by putting the month first!

Sep 23, to Houston

We have booked into the Houston Central RV Park, not far from where we will store the coach, to do all the last minute things.  We stayed here last year too.  They have a lot of permanents here which unfortunately means it is messy and crowded, but it is fine for our purpose, ie multiple loads of washing/drying and coach cleaning etc.

Sep 24, Houston

Well, this is our last day in the coach, sad face!  We’ve been on the road for just shy of five months, traveled over 8,800 miles and visited 31 states.  It has been a  trip of a lifetime and an amazing adventure!  The time has passed by so swiftly it’s hard to credit.  On the other hand it seems absolutely ages since we saw everyone at home and we are so looking forward to rectifying that : )

Today we have less than five miles to drive to get to our storage facility at UHaul.  You would think that after 8,800 miles we could handle another 5 without trouble!  However, today is the day we do damage to our beautiful coach  : (

See, there was this really mean tree, with a large, high-up branch reaching over the driveway on our way out of the RV park.  It was a very tight turn and even though we backed up to take another bite at it, we still couldn't get around - there were cars parked where we would have taken a wide turn!!!!   Grrrhh!  Sadly the tree hurt the slide awning, scratched the roof and the moulding and totally psst us off.  That nasty tree is now minus that rather solid branch (amputation was necessary for us to get passed) and we hope it gets a lopsided complex and falls over!!  

OK, so let’s test our insurance policy.  We drove directly to DeMontrond, our friendly Houston motorhome dealer and they were so helpful.  We phoned the insurance company to start the ball rolling with the claim, they also were very helpful.  Maybe it's not the end of the world after all.

After much discussion we decide to leave the coach with DeMontrond to repair and they will then drive it to our storage facility and do all the storage things we intended to do, ie inflate the tyres, put ply under same tyres, fit the tyre covers (we paid a lot of money for those new Michellins) and put axle stands under the chassis.  Our BFF, Andrew will check that they do all that for us and he will continue to check the coach regularly in our absence.  He has been a godsend!

So now have three relaxing nights at the Towne Place Suites, near Houston IAH airport.  It’s the best hotel we have stayed in at Houston!  They have those wonderful soft, American feather pillows.  We have a king size bed, excellent kitchen facilities with a full size fridge, a computer etc at the front office for guests to use to print out boarding passes etc. We used those facilities to print out a couple of things we wanted, saved us finding an Office Depot to print for us (Kim has been angling to buy a printer for the bus - but this trip we have only needed to have anything printed twice so the jury is out on if we need one)! We can also enjoy a fitness centre which we will be too busy to use unfortunately : ) and a nice pool with loungers which I am sure we will use! Also a complimentary, full cooked breakfast, with pancakes and waffles even.  And it is still sunny with temps of 90 +  : )  Life is actually good!

Sep 20, Sunday to Lake Livingston

A relaxing start to the day, a wee read in the sun before packing up and heading 90 miles south west to Lake Livingston State Park.  

We checked into Piney Shores campground and scored a premium waterfront site.  It’s hot again today, still in the 90’s, but we are getting used to it : )  Went for a long bike ride to check out the park, found the pool (empty), the store and some hiking/biking trails.  Plan to do some of the trails tomorrow morning before it gets too hot.

Lovely sunset, at least down to the cloud layer.  A very friendly squirrel come within touching distance while I was outside reading, absolutely no human fear – surprising!

We’ve made a start to the packing and getting the coach ready for storage but still lots to do.  But we have a list so hopefully won’t miss anything.  Plus we have taken lots of photos of components, compartments, cupboards etc so have a good visual record of everything.

Sep 22, still at  Lake Livingston

Wow, seriously cute – one of the super friendly squirrels wants to go for a ride on Kim’s bike : )

Athletic Squirrel

Sep 16, Wednesday to Carthage TX

We reluctantly left our idyllic park and headed directly south to a little place called Carthage and booked into the Carthage RV Campground, where we have WIFI, cable TV, a pool and a fishing pond.  This is just an overnighter so we can do laundry, be greedy with the WIFI to make plans for the next few days.  

after some discussion we decided to leave visiting Dallas and Fort Worth until our next trip to the States, Kim is keen to get back to Houston with lots of spare time for packing up the RV for the winter.

Sep 17, Thursday to Jasper TX

Little run today, less than a couple of hours on the road, directly south on US 96 to Mill Creek Park on the Sam Rayburn Dam and Reservoir, just north of Jasper.  It’s one of the Army Corp of Engineers parks and our site overlooks the lake.  There is a swimming beach not far from our site and we might use that rather than risk being eaten by an alligator or bitten by a snake swimming from our site.  It’s hot again 92F so AC on full.  We will stay here for three nights then move a little closer to Houston for another couple of nights.

Our site on the lake at Mill Creek

We’ve booked accommodation in Houston for three nights from 24-26 Sep and will get a rental as well so will have transport once we pack up the coach for long term storage.

Sep 18-29 Friday & Saturday Mill Creek Park

Were treated to another beautiful sunset last night.

Mill Creek TX sunset

Lovely quiet night, new moon and bright stars!

This morning we were asked to temporarily evacuate our site for half an hour or so as a tree cutting team were coming to cut some dead trees down.  Apparently there was a flood here a few months ago which killed some trees.   We watched them at their work and  were entertained!  OSH would have a field day! There was a team of about five guys, with one hard hat between them, no safety goggles, no earmuffs, no chaps and some were working directly under the cherry picker who was cutting the taller trees!  Thankfully we didn’t see any blood!  They are coming back tomorrow to clean up what is left.

Mill Creek Tree Felling

Mill Creek Cherry Picker

Sep 9 Wednesday – leaving Lake Chicot AR

We were treated to a beautiful sunset for our last night at Lake Chicot.

Beautiful sunset for our last night at Lake Chicot AR

Woke in the morning to the gentle pitter patter of raindrops on the roof and it’s a little cooler – yay!  We are moving on today, heading back south east towards Jackson, MS to pick up the axle stands Kim bought on line, then we will head south

Driving south we see Arkansas is indeed flat dotted with cotton fields, sweet potato and other crops.  It does seem a very poor area and most of the people we see are black.  We cross over the state line into Louisiana for a short while before turning east and crossing the state line across the Mississippi back into that state. There are also lots of crops and black residents here as you would expect.

Got to Clinton, just out of Jackson, collected the axle stands along some other shopping from the auto parts shop, had a quick visit to Walmart for OJ  and fruit.  Thought I might get my hair cut while we were there, have done it before at Walmart - it was great and a bargain at $9.99.  So I wandered in to the salon, couldn’t see anybody at first, it was lunch time, but eventually from behind the screens a very large, young black girl dawdles up to the front counter, yawning and stretching, not looking like she really wants to look after my tresses!  Oh dear - I suppose she has been to hairdressing school?  Anyway it’s too late now, I can’t leave gracefully, so I place my hair in her hopefully tender care - and she does a really good job I have to say!  She didn’t chat much to me but did to her two buddies who came back with their lunch and then sat around the salon eating it.  Not such professional behavior perhaps -  but what do I know, I'm only the customer!

We booked into the Springridge Mobile Estates for the night.  Unfortunately it is another 93 F day and their pool was closed but at least we have 50 amp power so our aircon is getting a work out.

While we are inside staying cool Kim decides to unmount (dismount? – take off the wall?) the microwave to see if he can stop the rather annoying squeaking/rattling it makes while we are on the road.  It was a bit of a mission, it’s a heavy bugger and it took a while, but it’s all back together again and we will see the results this morning as we get on the road.  Fingers crossed!

Sept 10 Thursday – to Monroe, Louisiana

We got on the road today around 10am and headed south on the Natchez Trace, two opposing lanes along  a lovely tree lined road, limited traffic and with no advertising except for the very minimal necessary road signs.  Quite refreshing!.  I would imagine this drive would be stunning in Fall and I’m a little bit sad we won’t see the trees change colour this trip, we are 2-3 weeks too early, but maybe next year! 

Natchez Trace - Mississippi

We  had to dodge a baby tortoise which was crossing the Natchez Parkway but he/she lives another day -  and so did we : )

We got to the end of the Natchez Parkway and stopped at a Macca’s to get some WIFI to suss out our next direction of travel.   We decided to head north again then cut west across to Dallas, Fort Worth before heading back south to Houston.  We still have a week and a half before we need to be in Houston, but we find we are a bit ahead of ourselves - maybe keen to get home!  Anyway I am sure we can fill in the time : )

On the way north today on US 65 Louisiana we saw convicts in striped prison garb working on the road side, didn’t get a photo, but it looked pretty real!  

PS the microwave is silent - not a squeak or a rattle to be heard : )

Sep 7, Monday – Mississippi to Arkansas

We have a bit of a dilemma about which way to go today.  Should we make an effort and dip out toes into a corner of Arkansas, seeing we are so close, or, do we go south to Jackson MS and then hook up with the Natchez Trace? We choose to zig, and enjoy a little taste of Arkansas while we are here, and zag backto join the Natchez Trace. So we drive west, it’s only about 100 miles to get across the State Line and there are some camps immediately over ‘Ole Man River’ which look quite good.

The road is tummy jiggly rough and mostly two lanes each way, with very little traffic.  Perfect conditions for me to have a drive – slow and lots of room.  So I get in the pilot’s seat, put a cushion behind me so we don’t need to change the driver’s seat position nor mirrors and start my little “tiki”.  Well, once I got over the dry mouth and got used to using the sticky tape which is strategically placed on the windscreen to figure out where I should aim for to be centred on my lane, I do an admirable job – at least I don’t hit anything, break anything or even drive on the judders on the edge of the road!  Kim buggers off down the back of the bus to suss out all the noises he can hear now that he isn't in the cockpit and I carry on driving the coach!   Pretty easy this!  The 18 wheelers tend to push you sideways when they get along side, but I‘m ready for that – feel it happen when I’m co-pilot!  Yikes, there is a city coming up with exits and such, plus roadworks so find a place to pull over and relinquish the job to the expert!  Phew, feeling pretty proud of myself : )

I can do this!

 

We cross the State line into Arkansas over the Mississippi (dammit I missed the ‘Welcome to’ photo) and on to Lake Village where we suss out our options for the night.  The first two didn’t meet expectation so we drive a few miles more and end up at the Lake Chicot State Park. Nice!

Lake Chico AR

Lake Chico AR

It’s absolutely lovely here, we choose a site right next to the lake and set up camp.  There are lots of trees around but we seem to be in a spot where the trees don’t provide shade and it is 95 F (35 C) outside so we ask if we can move over one site to get more shade, which we do and life is good.

Sep 8 Tuesday - Lake Chicot AR

Don’t believe it got below 90F last night and it was very still - too hot to sleep, but I am not complaining!  Keep comparing it to home!  We did have a fan moving the warm air around last night though. Had a cruisy day so far today, pottering and doing a few chores.  It’s only 90 F today and still blue sky sunny.  Unfortunately the park closes the swimming pool on Labor Day – yesterday and we couldn’t cajole them into letting us use it today : (

Our site at Lake Chico SP

View of our site from the jetty

This lake is shaped like a crescent and used to be the main channel of the Mississippi, it was naturally cut off from the river and became a lake.  Cypress trees stand up to their knees along the shoreline and there are wild pecan trees, squirrels must love those!  Hope to see more racoons - and maybe a bobcat!