What shittie weather 😢

Snow in Arkansas

I remarked to Bev that this year's trip has been the worst weather overall of any year we have gone south.
First day...cloudy and cold. Heading south from Indianapolis...cloud, mist, mizzle, a little rain. From Effingham Illinois to Little Rock...rain, heavy rain bursts but warm. Then we saw snow in the fields of Arkansas.

The next leg to Dallas started cloudy but warmer. We actually saw the sun for brief glimpses.

Psst. ..I lied about the snow. It's cotton ready for pickin'.😈

Rain rain go far away

The day spent in Dallas was cloudy and turning colder. We packed up in the rain on Wednesday morning with temperature about 10C and dropped to 8C by Austin. Rain all the way except for last 20 minutes of trip.
We are now in Lockhart Texas, NE of San Antonio, the home of the best BBQ in all the world. You can see a previous post about Black's and that is our gastronomic choice for tonight.

As bad as the weather has been,  we are thankful we are not home. Thursday forecast is snow and -9C overnight.

We look forward to Mission tomorrow and hopefully leave behind the cool and wet.

Getting ready to head south

Getting ready to head south. The clutter in the living room is growing,  ready for transfer to the motorhome.

We will retrieve the MH from the storage lot on Sunday and begin the load up tasks.
We head out after the last kids come for their Halloween treats and spend the night at the  Flying J in London. We cross into the USA the next morning.

Note...I hope this post works OK as it is the first time blogging from my phone.
Vic

a visit to Washington, then home

Monday April 3 we left  Martinsville to drive to  the Washington, DC area.  We booked into the Greenville Family Farm Campground near Haymarket VA (about  20 miles from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's annex at Washington Dulles International Airport.

The campgrounds had all the connections for water, sewer, electricity we needed.  No WIFI but great cell phone reception. Smart of us to have unlimited voice and data from Freedom Mobile, even in the USA.

We spent most of Tuesday at the Air and Space Museum at Dulles. One word describes it...AWESOME!
We joined in on a guided tour by one of the docents who really knew his stuff.  He had some great insights that we would never have gotten walking around on our own.

There are 5 main attractions here. The Space Shuttle Discovery, SR-71 Spyplane, B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, Boeing 707 prototype, and a Concord SST.
The Space Shuttle is very impressive and even shows the singes of the heat of re-entering the atmosphere. It was always my impression that the heat was caused by the friction with air molecules. Not so. It was due to the massive pressure build-up on the surface. Remember your physics? Compressing a gas will result in increasing its temperature.
The docent related a neat story of the Apollo 11 command module. This mission was in big trouble because there was an problem in the command module and the crew had to return from the moon in the mission module. Before re-entry, they transferred back to the command module that did not have environmental controls. It was very cold inside. After successfully landing in the ocean, the rescue crew opened the hatch and it was still very cold inside, even after the blazing heat of re-entry.

The plane with Boeing is the prototype of the 707.

The Enola Gay is the airplane that dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima

Two historic planes...the 707 prototype and the Concord.

B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay

Aerobatics and ultralights

The first flying car. None have ever been successful.

On Wednesday we decided to head into Washington to see the Smithsonian museums. The best way is to drive to the nearest Metro station in Vienna Virginia. For $20 we rode in and returned, parking included. On the drive back to the campground, it was a 45+ minute drive in the heavy traffic. We are so glad not to have driven into the city!

We visited the Aviation and Space museum downtown. This is the original, before the collection became just to big to house everything. Although it is nice by many standards, it was bit of a letdown after the Dulles museum. There are still many interesting displays, even the Kitty Hawk, and war birds. We were done in a couple of hours and headed to the Museum of Natural History.

Boring. We trailed around for a couple of hours, not impressed by anything. We never left the main floor and maybe there was something there to see but we were pooped by now and decided to head for the hills.

The next day was wasted (rainy) doing laundry in Manassas and shopping. We found a pressure washer at Home Depot of $80. The exact same thing in Ontario is Cdn$188. I kid you not!

Sunday. We headed for home as the weather was going to be nice and warm for the next few days and we hate unloading the motorhome in the cold and rain. We stayed overnight at a WalMart in Edinboro PA, having dinner in town at a nice restaurant. The weather was a very pleasant 25C.

We were home by 2 PM the next day after crossing at Fort Erie with very minimal delay.

 

Corpus Christi, Houston, Martinsville

On Thursday March 23^rd we drove to Corpus Christi.  We booked into the Colonia Del Rey RV Park which was just a 20 minute drive from the USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier and close to the bridge to cross over to Padre and Mustang Islands.  The next day we spent 4 hours touring the USS Lexington aircraft carrier and then drove up to Port Aransas to explore the area. We happened to stop at a sporting goods store just to kill time and ended up getting great bargains on swim suits. Bev really lucked out getting two suits at $20 each and a gorgeous sun dress for $5. Vic's suit were $10 each.

A view of the USS Lexington from the bridge to Padre Island

heading for a tour of the USS Lexington

Giving it a try

We left the Corpus Christi area on Saturday March 25^th to head towards Houston. We stopped at a Walmart in Dickinson (about halfway between Houston and Galveston) and unhitched our tow car to research some of the area RV Parks.  We settled on Green Caye RV Park for $30 per night which was just 6 miles from the Houston Space Center.  

Sunday we drove south to Galveston. We drove around Pelican island touring along the Seawall area, the East End Point, the port area and stopped at the Seawolf Park  to tour a WWII submarine and a destroyer escort ship. 

Amusement park on the pier in Galveston

another glimpse of the rides on the pier

one of the container ships passing by the East End point, site of the remains of Fort San Jacinto

on a dock in the port area of Galveston

Lots of oil rigs

Oil rig that can be toured

The WWII USS Cavalla submarine at Seawolf Park near Galveston

On the deck of the destroyer escort ship USS Stewart at Seawolf Park

Huge container ship passing going into port by Seawolf Park

Monday March 27^th we spent most of the day touring the Houston Space Center which was about a 15 minute drive from where we were staying. We hoped to take the VIP Tour but it was booked weeks in advance. We will have to return in the fall and book ahead.
 

Modified 747 with Shuttle Endeavor replica

Lunar Rover replica. Original is still on the moon.

A real piece of the moon.

Space Shuttle cockpit

Space Shuttle cargo bay with Canadarm

The next item on our itinerary was to drive to Martinsville VA for a weekend of NASCAR racing. It would be a 3 day drive, making it the day before the rain came.

Tuesday March 28^th we left Dickinson TX and stopped for the night at a Walmart in Mobile Alabama. We had driven in 4 states that day:  Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

one of the many crawfish ponds along our route through Louisiana

The following day we drove through Atlanta Georgia and found a nice RV park called Carolina Landing near the town of Fair Play. (south of Greenville SC). This gave us the opportunity to dump the tanks and load up with water to last our stay in Martinsville. Nice park, nestled in the hills and trees and very quiet.
 

Thurs Mar 30^th we started out about 9:15 am.  By noon we stopped at a Rest Area at the North Carolina border to change into long pants as the weather cool (14C and drizzling). Sad to put on long pants for the first time after 4 months wearing shorts. By 2:44 pm we were in our camping spot at the Martinsville Speedway.  We had tickets to watch the Pole Qualifying on Fri, truck race Saturday and STP 500 on Sunday.  Let the fun begin!

Alas, Friday it rained and the practices and qualifying were cancelled.   

Mudsville. And the fun begins.

When it rains, as it often does at this time of year, the campground becomes very slick and soft mud in many places. The guy pulling this 5th wheel trailer is in big trouble. Too much mud and not enough traction. He needed a pull forward to get into position beside his friends .

Saturday was cool and windy but dry.  We were able to watch the practices, truck qualifying and finally the truck race at 3 pm.  Our favourite driver, Chase Elliott won that race!

#23 is Chase Elliott, during the warmup laps.

 Sunday Elliott finished 3rd in the race, part of the Monster Energy Series. 

Turn 3. Elliott on the outside of Larson. Two of the young guns.

Go #24! Chase Elliott is our guy.

 

Vic sporting his Chase Elliott shirt

When it came time to leave many RVs were stuck in the mud from the Friday rain and tow services were required.  In the photos below, even one of the tow trucks got stuck and had to be towed out!

Red tow truck stuck in the mud.

Big Brute tows Little Red.

now in Mission Texas

We had a relaxing winter in the Riviera Nayarit section of Mexico.  Sun, sand, surf, friends.... what more could you ask for!

The area has become quite popular.  The government is building toll highways to reach the area faster from cities such as Guadalajara and Tepic.  The new road will be only a 2 hour drive from Guadalajara to the coast where it currently takes about 4 1/2 hours. New condos and hotels are under construction. Most campgrounds and bungalows were full this winter. But the electrical and internet services have not been increased to handle the new load.  Reaching internet sites such as Facebook was painful -- best done about 5 am -- after 7:30 am to midnight no good.  It does not help that the cell phone provides include 2GB access specifically to Facebook on even their cheapest monthly plans!

It is wise to have water in your tank and fuel for your generator in case the electrical service goes down for an extended period of time.

The 2 best investments we made last fall were the awnings for our slideout windows on our motorhome and a countertop washing machine which we used for our smaller laundry items.  Many campgrounds have no laundry facility. Those that do, usually have only 1 or 2 washing machines and no driers. With 10 families using 1 or 2 washers and limited lines to hang your clothes on, it can be a challenge.  So we just used the communal washer (cost $25 pesos per load) to do our bedding and towels.  All the rest we did in our countertop machine. Luckily we were in a campground that allows you to put up laundry lines behind your RV.

Other than that, it was much the same kind of winter that we had the previous 7 years.  Hot and humid in December with cooler nights not coming until mid January.  The ocean temperature was 81F most of the winter except for a few days at the end of February where it went down to 76F.  Still comfortable to swim in.

We did not take any side trips this winter.  We were involved in the local charitable organization plus Vic volunteered as a swimming instructor for 2 hours a week. There was baseball, exercise classes, town square dance nights, taco nights, etc.  We especially enjoyed the 2 weeks our son and family visited us.

Now we are back at Lemon Tree RV Inn in Mission socializing with our friends here. We have been busy in activities every day since we arrived here on Mar 16th. The weather is sunny and hot with 31C (90F) day time high but strong breezes make it comfortable.

Tomorrow, March 23rd, we pack put the tent and move to Corpus Christi for a couple of days. We look forward to touring the USS Lexington aircraft carrier. Beyond that, we have nothing specific planned. Ah...the life of vagabonds.
 

back in Lo de Marcos

We were at Lemon Tree RV Inn in Mission TX from Nov 10th to Dec 7th.  We enjoy our stays there with all the great people and numerous activities.  The cost was $310 plus 80+ for utilities for our stay.  If we stayed the entire winter it would be $255 USD + utilities. Very affordable.

Lemon Tree RV Inn is only 10 minutes from the Anzalduas International Bridge where we cross with our motorhome into Mexico, making it very convenient when coming and going.

We used the heated swimming pool most days, played shuffleboard twice a week, euchre nights, movie nights, etc.  All these activities for the grey hair crowd. Too bad this park doesn't have an RC car track or shooting range like some others in the area but their costs are higher or the location too close to the major highway.

Mission is a convenient area to shop, with all the major stores nearby. We also order online and get delivery to the door. We replaced the bike carrier with a much sturdier one from Walmart Online. They really ARE competing against Amazon! Vic's tablet died (touch screen wouldn't touch) so a new one was ordered from Adorama Camera in New York. New batteries for our phones were also bought online. Vic got some awesomely bright LED daytime running lights and control module. Everything was cheaper as shipping cost was very low or included in the price. If shipped to Canada, the shipping cost sky-rockets.

The Veteran's Day dinner raised money for the organization that trains service dogs for disable veterans. This is the same charity as last year and comes complete with a tear-jerker movie about the great doggie program.

There were over 100 people for our American Thanksgiving dinner. Don't you love it when you get two Thanksgivings a year? Turkeys were supplied by the campground while veggies and desserts were pot luck. We had prepared turnip at home and froze it just for this occasion. Bev peeled and cooked and then Vic mashed and finished off with butter, salt and brown sugar. We got a few positive comments from people that seldom get any and miss it, and some that never had it before. Two thumbs up!

Pancake Thursdays started before we left.  Bev won a free pancake dinner for our return to Lemon Tree in the spring.

Vic was the winner for the highest score at Euchre night -- if we were home we would have gone out to buy a lottery ticket!

While staying in Mission we had custom awnings made for the windows of the slideout on the driver's side of our motorhome plus replace the slide covers for both our slides.  The covers were 10 yrs old and thanks to sitting in the sun in Arizona (previous owners) and in Mexico, the stitching was rotted and the material was starting to fray.  The vendor Top Hat was able to make the awnings and covers with the same color and quality of material that came with the motorhome.  We were very pleased with their work.

 A few days before we were to leave Mission a guy from Sherbrooke came into the campground and ask if any Canadians were travelling to Mexico. S now instead of Mike and us, we are now three rigs in convoy. Martin turned out to be a very nice and helpful guy and spoke English and Spanish as well as his native French.

The morning of Wednesday Dec 7th we were set to leave at 7:30 am to travel in  a small caravan of 3 motorhomes into Mexico.  Unfortunately we were delayed 1 1/2 hrs as our friend Mike's levellers on his motorhome would not retract.  Much discussion and perusing of manuals went on until we learned how to manually retract the one leveller. Later on in Lo de Marcos, we would eventually find that a wire had pulled out of a connector from the tresses of travel and it was an easy fix.

The crossing at the bridge was faster this year as we were not required to drive our vehicles through the x-ray machine and wait for the results from Mexico City.  Instead an officer walked through our rig for a quick check and then passed us to proceed.

Unluckily about an hour later we blew a tire on our tow car and had to stop to put on the spare.  We never found a convenient place to get a replacement until getting to Lo de Marcos. Vic found a temporary replace in very good condition for $400...pesos that is...about Cdn$35. That will do until we get back to Costco in Texas in the spring.

We traveled Hwy 40D south through Monterrey to Saltillo and then turned southwest on Hwy 54 towards Zacatecas. We stopped for the night 30 minutes south of Concepcion del Oro at PEMEX 6712 where we paid 100 pesos (about $7) to stay in the gated courtyard of the motel.  The next morning we continued our drive on 54D to Zacatecas where we turned southeast on Hwy 45D to drive to Aguacalientes.  We skirted most of the city using the truck route but had to go slow as the "Perifico" was rough -- the roughest stretch of road we encountered on our trip!  South of Aguacalientes we turned onto 80D which goes south to Guadalajara where we connect to Hwy 15D.  We used the North Perifico to travel through the outskirts of Guadalajara. (a much easier route than the South Perifico.  Martin had decided to stay in the  Guadalajara area so we split up at his point with him heading south. We stopped for the night at the PEMEX gas station at the Magdelena exit for the night.  This station has a large lot for trucks and RVs to stay at no cost.  It is not gated but the station is open 24 hours so a safe place to stay.

Friday December 9th we started the last leg of our journey to Lo de Marcos.  We traveled on 15D to Jala then exited to travel on the 15 Libra through the valley to Hwy 68D. and then joined Hwy 200 at Compestela.

Unfortunately we had been having trouble with our electric steps coming in and out unexpectedly as we traveled and they got damaged when they hit a thick weeds growing close to the edge of the road in a town just a few miles before our destination. A few days later Vic was able to get them straightened out enough to operate well enough for our return.

We reached Lo de Marcos before noon and started settling in. There are 6 rigs at Savage RV park with 3 others arriving before Christmas.  What a change from past years when there was only three of use all year. It's good to be back to the warm ocean (81F), warm weather and all our winter friends.

We had traveled 827 miles from Lemon Tree in Mission to Lo de Marcos and spent 3549 pesos (about $237 CAD) on the toll roads (all hwys with D after the number).