Day of cleaning and visiting with a friend

Monday was spent cleaning up from the weekend and trying to get our home setup. I have tons of laundry so several loads were done and many more to go. I also spent several hours with a friend I hadn’t seen in several months and we had a wonderful time visiting. It was great to get caught up on each other’s lives.

A Beautiful Texas Day

We had a beautiful day here in Texas. We got up and finished getting setup. Several hrs were spent trying to get our satellite setup but it wouldn’t work. So a tech guy is coming Tuesday to do the installation. We set up my antenna for our cell phone and mifi for those just in case days. Last year sometimes our cell phone worked and sometimes it didn’t.

Hubby was able to find the local station that has the super bowl on it. Yes, i have a happy camper. I went to children’s church tonight and enjoyed seeing all the kids. We’ve had lots of hugs and welcomes.

I took Lexi on a walk as i am still trying to get back in shape. I forgot how bad the sand burs are here in Texas .. Ughhh the dog get’s them in their paws and then i get them in my feet!

We are parked on a nice concrete pad and the dogs have plenty of open space to explore and potty.

On the road

Got up and got the last minute things done inside. Emptied the tanks and was on the road by 8 am. We are on I-10 heading toward New Orleans.

We just went through Baton Rouge, LA and getting ready to approach the 20 mile long swamp bridge.

Here is the very steep bridge in LA

Going past the oil refinery in LA

Getting through Lake Charles, LA

Texas is getting closer!

I was a bit late when I realized the sign was just ahead .. oh well .. I can write it … Welcome to Texas! Drive friendly – the Texas way

Were in Texas? This area of Texas is full of curves and hills.

We didn’t know were going to get our own roller coaster ride. Full of hills and curves. Luckily this isn’t a busy road as i think our camper was on the other side of the road more then it was on ours ..

After our roller coaster ride we went to the cow path ride .. oh are we having fun!!

Yep, we met another silly person on this road. Luckily they got their camper on their side of the road and hubby kept ours on our side and we passed.

We finally got back onto a real road! I-45 about 100 miles till we get to our destination!

Sam Houston statue ..

We’ve arrived to our destination safe and sound. Somewhat setup and received a wonderful welcome .. Thanks everyone .. we love you all.

What a trip 535 miles in one day … Oh My!! It was a early to bed night for me.

Down in the back

Since I was up and down with my back. My pain medication kicked in and I slept in this morning. The rain settled in most of the day and finally around 4 pm it went to just a sprinkle.

I spent most of the day nursing my back pain. We did go out for lunch as i wasn’t up to cooking. After lunch we came home and hubby got the truck hooked up.

All we have to do in the morning is put away our last minute things .. like the computers, coffee pot and etc. unhook from electric, put the front jacks up, pull the slides in, load the dogs in the truck, empty the tanks and we are ready to roll.

Texas here we come! Hopefully we will have good weather all the way. We are not sure if it will be a one day trip or a 2. Depends on my back and how riding goes.

My back is feeling better, or at least the drugs have it feeling better. I’m taking my medications on a every 4 hrs basis to keep the severe pain down.

If we get going on the road and i find riding is too ruff we will find someplace to park until my back allows traveling.

Please keep us in your prayers tomorrow. I will let you know when we stop tomorrow night.

Suffering for Doing Good

The rain started around 9 pm last night and has continued steadily throughout the night. Luckily for us the temp has stayed at 36 degrees all night long. So the rain has not turned into ice or snow like it has in the north.

Although the cold and now the rain has finally took hold of me and my back pain is horrible. It hit before i went to bed and so i took my pain medication and headed to bed with my heating pads. It’s after 4 am and i woke up with severe spasms and pain and so i took my pain med’s and am waiting for them to kick to return to bed.

Since I couldn’t sleep i was reading and doing some study in God’s word and i this scripture reached out to me.

1 Peter 3:8-12 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

No Traveling Today

We got up this morning it was raining and the weather channel and news was predicting freezing rain/sleet wintery mix all across LA where would be heading to Texas and Snow from Houston to Dallas which is the other way we are headed. So we decided to just sit out another day in our quiet but cold nest. We got permission to stay another day and so we paid and headed to town for some supplies.

Since we may be here another day tomorrow as the weather isn’t looking any better until Saturday we thought we should get some needed supplies we have been out of for a couple of days, for that just in case. Normally we don’t like to get many things before our home starts rolling. The less weight the better. A trip to Wal-mart was done for bottled water, milk, bread, peanut butter, potted meat, crackers, instant oats, potatoes, coffee, tea and sugar. The weather news is predicting some freezing rain/sleet after 6 pm here and a chance throughout the night for the Gulfport area.

We stopped and topped off the diesel tank and filled the gas can with gasoline for that just in case need of Mr. Genset. Mr. Genset was filled to his brim yesterday, so with that and 5 gallons of extra fuel that should run us a couple days if need be. The camp host says that it doesn’t take much for the power to go out here. So we thought we should be safe then sorry.

Let’s just say that shopping was no fun .. it was crazy! Trying to get out of the parking lot was not fun at all either. Everyone else must be doing what we are .. stocking up for the just in case. We noticed that most carts were filled with the similar items that we had as well.

Wow .. is it ever cold here … It’s 2:35 pm and the temperature is 37 degrees!

Tonight’s dinner was bread rolls and vegetable soup made from left over roast a few days ago. Doesn’t that sound good on a cold winter’s night?

My friend Heidi said it was in the 70’s in Florida .. Oh why didn’t we decide to head to Florida instead of Texas? Oh well, it wouldn’t of mattered cuz the cold would of went to Florida with us.

My friend nick posted on his blog yesterday that he was going to start charging his friends to stay away as the cold seems to follow him where ever he goes. That is a good thought because the past few years seems to be the same with me. Hmm any offers out there to pay me to stay away?

The cold from the north has arrived

Oh My .. what a difference the temperature is from when i went to bed at 64 degrees to 37 degrees when i got up. The cold the north is dealing with has arrived here in Gulfport, MS!!!

We got dressed and got things around. We had things to get done today. We met our friend Steve for lunch and finished up the things we have been dealing with for him. We said our goodbyes with hugs, kisses and lots of love.

Then it was time to head back home and get the last few minute things finished. We had to unhook the water as it’s suppose to be around freezing tonight. Predicting a low of 32 degrees with a freezing rain/sleet.

Hubby got the generator out and started .. there is a slight problem with it. It wouldn’t start with the auto thing .. you know the knob you turn and it starts? Hubby thinks it might be the electric starter? No, I'm not mechanically inclined. So it was the other way .. Yep you guessed it .. pulling this string thingy like you do a lawn mower. Finally after several attempts he got it going. So Mr. Genset is going to need some service soon, but today isn’t the day. Hopefully we won’t need him but if we do, he does start with a good ole hand crank .. Sure am glad hubby still has a few muscles cause i couldn’t begin to pull that thingy. The birds were not happy that we took the feeder down but i did dump them some food on the ground and hopefully someone else will pull in and feed them.

I have all the dishes put away, the refrigerator shelves locks in place. (Yes .. their a pain but helps in things moving around during travel), and the cabinets all tied down. Oh yeah did i tell you about that mishap? In the bedroom on the way here a closet door came open … YES, I know .. i over stuffed it! Anyways luckily for us it didn’t do any damage but the slide out stopped and wouldn’t go out with the door being caught. So now a new ritual is to tie all the doors shut near the slide outs.

I know what your all thinking … and the answer is … NO, I don’t think me and these slide outs will ever get along when it comes to open and closing. I’m blonde .. that should explain it all … right?

We have been keeping a good watch on the weather as it will determine if tomorrow will be a traveling day or not. That is what is so great about our home being on wheels. We have the option to move when we need to. We have stayed 1 day past our 30 day limit with permission and if the weather is bad tomorrow, I will call and get permission for another day and if we don’t receive it, there is another RV park just a few miles down the road. Check out time is not until 2 pm so by then temps should be above freezing for the rain. Rain is okay, but not at freezing. Although i have to admit i do not like traveling in the rain. I prefer a clear sky.

The dogs are excited as they know that something is up and normally it means they get to ride in the truck and go bye bye and new places to sniff and potty!

I have the GPS set, printed out directions from our Rand McNally truckers guide on my computer, truck stop books, and campground guide is ready to be put into the truck.

All i have left to do in the morning is to secure the bar stools to the couch, move the freezer to it’s riding position and clean up hubby’s coffee dishes.

I guess you will have to stay tuned to see if tomorrow is a travel day or not .. have a good one.