Friday, Nov. 30, 2007

9:15 a.m. - Left Jimi and Debbie with 57 degrees and overcast skies. Rain is coming their way and looks like we might just be driving into it. Had a good morning with them enjoyed and thankful they gave of their time so freely. Their dog Elliott is such a cutie with a great personality. Abby ignored him as usual. The humidity this morning is already 84%.

12:00 p.m. - We stopped in Llano, TX for lunch at "Coopers Old Time BBQ". It was fantastic!! Jeff and Gail told us about this place and said to make sure we stop and have lunch here. They sometime ride their "bikes" here, Jeff said it is a good drive and the food is worth it and he was right. Jimi and Debbie you have to take the time and come down here for lunch or dinner! It is about 1 1/2 hours from Georgetown. We talked to people that drove 4 1/2 hours to just go their to eat. You first go outside to the huge BBQ's they have cooking and pick out what kind of meat you want, and they have everything, then they stab it with a fork and put it on a tray. You then take it in and pick out whatever else you want, cole slaw, dessert, corn on the cob, etc. Pick out your drink, and what ever piece of meat you have is charged by what it weighs! Frank picked out a Texas T-Bone and it cost him $21.00!!!!!! He said it was absolutely delicious!!! Beans, bread, butter, peppers, all come with it. You then sit a long picnic tables and your plate is white butcher paper and your napkins are rolled paper towels! It is a riot and we just loved it! Jeff and Gail told us not to miss going their. It is suppose to be in the middle of one of Texas best hunting areas for deer and exotic animals. Frank was right in with the crowd with his camo shirt and hat! They had deer mounts and bob cats on the wall. A place to stop if you like something different. We had these 2 bikers take our picture outside of the building. We told them we were going to say those bikes were ours. We bought some of their BBQ sauce and seasoning. There are a lot of deer farms in this area, which was very surprising to me.

1:30 p.m. - We stopped for gas in Junction, TX just off of I-10. We are still full from our huge lunch! The weather is still overcast and the temperature is 64 degrees. Gas here is $3.09 a gallon. It is probably the last time we will see it that low. Diesel is running $3.39 gal.

4:00 p.m. - Stopped at one of the few rest stops along this desolate route of I-10 west from Junction, TX to Fort Stockton. It's like the dessert in AZ, nothing, but flat roads ahead. We both needed to get out and stretch our legs and Abby needed to run, which she did, she chased her ball for about 10 minutes, and got very tired.

5:00 p.m. - We finally pulled into the Fort Stockton KOA, in the book it says, there is no Internet here, but when I check to see, it came up, so they must have gotten it since the KOA book came out. Cool! We have been here many times before on our way back to CA from MI. Weather is still 65 degrees and not too much wind. Suppose to rain tonight, we like it here. They have a good breakfast in there morning and have a BBQ at night. We were going to go and eat at the BBQ, but we are still full from lunch!

We drove 371 miles today.

Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007

9:00 a.m. - Clear skies, sunny and 45 degrees and no wind!!! It sure got windy last night, but now it seems to be not so bad. Barbara called on her way to work and we chatted for awhile. We then packed up and unhooked the RV to start on the road again. We are going down to see Jimi and Debbie and some friends that live in Wisconsin and spend the winter in Georgetown, which is about 1/2 hour south of Debbie. No one will be home at the Lyons until after 3:00 p.m. and we should get down there around 1:30 or so. We will go to Jimi and Debbie's after Debbie gets off work.
10:30 a.m. - We are going through Fort Worth, TX and the temperature is a nice 53 degrees and beautiful sun. Nice to be driving in this sunny weather. Gas here is $2.85 a gallon which is about the cheapest we have seen so far. The lowest we have seen was $2.83 a gallon just down the road. Just checking out gas prices as we travel the different cities and states. Seems all along the country, gas is high.
Road is good and not much traffic in the Fort Worth area. This GPS sure guides you through the nasty intersections that can come up in the big cities.
12:30 p.m. - We stopped for gas at a Pilot Station in Robinson, TX on our way to Temple, TX. A nice 63 degrees.
2:00 p.m. - Arrived at Jeff and Gail's place in Georgetown, TX. They live in Sun City, which is a very nice retirement community. They have a beautiful home and have just bought down here last year. They just got here from Wisconsin Thanksgiving Night. They do a lot of golfing and are involved in many things this community has to offer. They drove us around and we went and saw the wood shop, quilting rooms, pool, weight room, etc. We also went through some of the models, since the community is constantly building more homes. The models ranged from 2800 square feet to 1500 sq. feet. Some nice homes all with the "Texas Stone". which is a very beautiful stone. Jeff and Gail will stay here until May 1 and then head back to Wisconsin and get ready for a 3 month trip to Alaska in their 5th wheel! Had a great visit and will have another place to stop on our way through.
We headed back to Jimi and Debbie's but before we left both Jeff and Frank exchanged pieces of wood to turn! We will see what each one does with their wood!! hahahahaha
5:30 p.m. - Got to Jimi and Debbie's with the temperature a balmy 63 degrees and enough humidity to make it feel kinda warm. We chatted and got caught up on what's been going on and then went to a Japanese Restaurant where they cook the food in front of you. Seems that was the only place available because the Dallas Cowboys were playing the Green Bay Packers on TV that the normal homeowner can't get so all the restaurants that had a TV were packed with people wanting to watch the game because they could not get it on their sets at home!!! We figured the Japanese restaurant would not have a TV so it would not be busy and we were right. hahaha. The food was very good and the chef did a good job of entertaining. After the dinner, we went back to their house for awhile and then to the RV for the night. We will catch up with Debbie before she goes to work tomorrow. Jimi is off for the rest of the week. It will be his last day of "vacation".
Drove 307 miles today

Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2007

10:00 a.m. - We got a later start today. It looks like we might be headed to Ardmore, OK, if the weather looks good. The temperature leaving this morning was a pleasant 50 degrees and sunny. We stopped for gas at a Cenex Station by the RV Park where the gas was $2.99 a gallon. Frank is feeling much better today. We got gas for $2.89 because we got the gas with ethanol in it.

11:30 a.m. - On the Will Rogers Turnpike for awhile. The temp is now 59 degrees with very heavy winds. Frank has been fighting the steering wheel all morning. We stopped for a break at a rest stop, just to get our bearings again.

2:15 p.m. - We had to pay the toll for the 5th time so far today! This route has cost us so far in tolls a total of $14.05! That is ridiculous! Seems every few miles we have had to stop and throw change in a bin until the light turns green to let us go on. There are camera's everywhere, so you don't take the chance of cheating them! The temperature is a very nice 63 degrees and sunny, but we are having to still fight the 20 m.p.h. winds!!!

3:30 p.m. - We finally got to Oklahoma City with 56 degrees and cloudy. We will now be going south, and hopefully it will not be so windy.

5:30 p.m. - We finally pulled into the KOA Campground here in Ardmore, OK. It is still windy with winds 20-30 m.p.h.!!! Sure glad to finally stop. We tried to have some steaks on the BBQ, but we could not keep the flame from getting blown out by the wind. So we just cooked them on the stove. Not quite the same, but better than nothing. Hopefully tomorrow won't be so windy. This is the sunset tonight.

We drove 391 miles today

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

We got up about 7:30 a.m. (at least that is when I got up, Frank was already up) to a frosty morning. The temperature got to a low of about 30 degrees last night. We had some breakfast and were on the road at 9:00 a.m. We stopped and got some gas before we headed down the road. The Pilot Station here had gas for $3.14 a gallon, up from last night when we pulled in. Should have gotten gas then. Skies are clear blue and we have a nice warm sun coming in the window. Took a picture of us in front of the donkeys that were just a few lots away. They were quiet all night, but this morning they started to bray. How funny, I have never heard them do that before!
8:30 a.m. -We have crossed the state line into Illinois and now will have to put our clocks back one hour. We are now on Central Time.
11:30 a.m. - Stopped for lunch at a rest stop and had a good lunch and break. Frank took Abby out for a run and to play with her ball to tire her out. She should sleep well on the road now. The temperature is 40 degrees and still sunny blue skies.
2:30 p.m. - Stopped again at another rest stop for a break. The sun is beating in through the window and getting us both sleepy. We needed a break, the road has nothing on it here and it gets kinda boring.
4:30 p.m. - Stopped at our destination in Springfield, MO at a KOA Campground. Still nice weather, just about 53 degrees with blue sunny skies. We have had a nice day for driving today. The roads were clear and there was no traffic. Much better conditions than yesterday. The good thing about traveling to campgrounds this time of year, you don't have to be worried about getting a spot, they have lots of vacant places. We had a nice dinner and then Frank went right to bed. He had an awful headache. I stayed up awhile and then crashed also.
We drove 399 miles today.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Well we started on our trip this morning about 9:30 a.m. We said our good-by to Eleanor and Bill last night and to Tina, our office manager this morning. Weather is overcast skies and the temperature is about 40 degrees. As we leave the gas here is $3.14 a gallon.
11:30 a.m. - We are having to make a stop at a Chevy Workhouse dealer. It seems when the guys hooked up our RV to tow our new Jeep, they screwed up the wiring for us to tow the trailer. We have only headlights and taillights. We have no turn signals or brake light on either the RV or the trailer we are towing.
12:45 a.m. - Back on the road again with all the lights working like they should. The wiring was messed up on the connection to the RV.It is snowing VERY hard now and it is sticking to the grass along the sided of the road and along the pavement. It is like blizzard conditions and the temp is now at 33 degrees. I would call this a whiteout! We can hardly see the cars and truck in front of us! Not a pleasant place to be in at this time.
2:30 p.m. -We stopped for gas on the border of Indiana and Michigan in Fremont, Indiana. The gas here is $3.03 a gallon, a little cheaper than MT. Pleasant. Just as soon as we got back on I-69 south, the snow stopped and now we have no snow or rain at all. The roads here are clear and dry. Debbie just called and wanted to know if we got out of town before the snow came. She saw it on weather.com and informed us that from Indiana on the storm is going East. So we have good weather, or at least no snow from now on. GOOD!
5:00 p.m. - We have gone through Indianapolis and now on our way to Terre Haute, Indiana to stop at a KOA Campground. It is raining a little off and on and on the windy side in this part of the state. This GPS is amazing! It got us through the 5:00 p.m. traffic in Indianapolis and Frank says he is not questioning what the GPS lady says because she got us through the mess of a big city with construction with no problem. He would have questioned me, that's for sure! For those who are interested, the name of the G
PS is a IWay 600c Lowrance. We told Eleanor and Bill they are going to have a hard time getting this back. This GPS lady has made life much easier for both of us in traveling, It is dark now and much harder to navigate with spitting rain.The ground here is kinda muddy so they must have had some rain here today.
6:40 p.m. -We just pulled into the KOA Campground in Terre Haute and the temp is 46 degrees and a little drizzle. It has been a long day! I made a dinner, relaxed and went to bed. They have a free breakfast here in the morning, so we will probably go to that and continue on.

Michigan to California, November 2007

November 27, 2007
Well we are getting ready to make our next trip back to California tomorrow, Monday, Nov. 28, 2007. We are more or less going to play this trip by ear. We know that we will be going to Indiana and after that, it depends on the weather. If you want to save this e-mail address into your favorites, it will be easier to bring up as you travel with us. We had a nice get together with the friends after our church meeting this morning at the local golf course that has a great buffett on sunday's. Frank and I did most of our packing on Friday and Saturday so today we finished putting in the stuff from the cubboards and some things in the refrigerator. Eleanor and Bill came by and gave us more lessons on using Bill's GPS system he is going to let us try out on the trip back. That will be an interesting thing for us to learn and explore. I am looking forward to that. The weather is suppose to change starting tomorrow with snow for the next 4 days, so it sure is time to start our travels. Looking forward to keeping in touch along the way.