It is hard to believe but we have been gone on our Winter 2018 adventure for a month now. It seems just last week that we were escaping the cold clutches of Maine but the time has really flown by as we traveled south to escape the cold, hung out in some relatively nice weather in San Antonio, hunkered down in the ice and frigid temperatures that followed in San Antonio, and then made our way over here to Lower Alabama where I actually got to wear short pants for a couple of days before the temps dropped again. But things are looking up weatherwise as I think the lows in the 30s may be mostly behind us as we head towards the Mardi Gras season.
For those of you waiting with great anticipation for the mid-trip travel statistics - wait no more ...
We have traveled some 2,900 miles so far on this trip - and I figure we have about another 2,000 miles yet to travel as we make our way down into Florida in a few weeks and then find a route home in late March.
Our WTT travel mileage is now a bit over 12,000 and our all time motorhome travel mileage is now over 151,000,
Winne The Two has run flawlessly on the trip. She has had to start and run in some pretty darn cold weather, bounce over some less than smooth roads here and there, and keep us warm all the while. Good Job Winne - keep it up!
Winne's fuel mileage has been pretty consistent at around 9.6 mpg. With the average price of diesel at around $2.80 per gallon. That puts our travel costs at about $0.30 per mile. Our travel costs per mile are bit higher than last year due to the higher cost of diesel (about $0.30 more per gallon).
We have traveled through 15 states so far on this trip. WTT has added two new states to her "traveled list" this trip - Louisiana and Mississippi.
We have only stayed in 8 separate locations on this trip - some locations we have visited twice since we did a bit of backtracking through Texas and Louisiana. We have stayed in all of these locations in the past. I guess we have been traveling long enough now over the past 13 or so years that we tend to have our favorite places to stay.
Being here at the Rainbow Plantation is a bit like being home-away-from-home. We have stayed here 11 different times since our first visit in 2009. We have met lots of folks here at the "Plantation" and consider many to be true friends - not simply on-the-road acquaintances. Seeing wonderful places and meeting great people are two of the best things about being an RVer - even for us Part Time RVers!
Of course Eating Great Food is also on the list of Why It's Good To Be An RVer. We sure did enjoy that Mexican food and Texas BBQ while in Texas, had some good Po Boys in Louisiana, and we are just getting started on our favorite restaurants here in Lower Alabama. Yesterday we got to sample some great fried shrimp and swamp soup for lunch and had Norm Payne's BBQ ribs and twice baked potatoes for dinner. Life is indeed good being an RVer.
Hmmm ... I think it's time for lunch now.
Bye For Now!
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Monday, January 15, 2018
Waylon, Willie, and the Boys
Well I reckon it is time to get caught up on our doings since we are half-way through January now!
Peggy and I arrived here in New Braunfels, Texas on Friday the 5th after a two day drive on I-10 from near New Orleans, LA. My sister Jamie and BIL Ernie had checked in to their cottage here at the Hill Country - Cottage and RV Resort a few hours earlier and we got to wave Hi as we drove around to our site. After getting set up here and after a few hours of catch-up visiting we decided to introduce our visitors to some good Texas BBQ and so we were off to one of our favorites - Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que. The brisket was wonderful, the sausage was tasty, the chicken was OK -- even the salads were good. Yes indeed - you can even get salad at Cooper's!
We got a bunch more visiting done on Saturday and then made the drive in to San Antonio Saturday night to take in the Riverwalk at night and see all the holiday lights that were strung all along the 2.5 mile river/canal. After parking at our normal spot in the mall Parking Garage we made our way down to the Riverwalk and over to one of the spots to catch a tour boat - the best way to see the whole route without walking and dodging all the foot traffic!
After finishing our tour we did walk a bit down the Riverwalk to the Original Mexican Restaurant for a nice (and spicy) Mexican dinner. That Salsa is really good -- and really HOT! So were those poblano peppers I had with my Chile Rellanos!
We did have one Uh-Oh moment when Peggy couldn't find her cell phone. She noticed it was missing on the boat ride but she hadn't taken it out of her purse since we left the car? I gave the phone a call from my cell phone to see if someone had picked it up - but nobody answered. While we were walking to the Original, I got a call from a person who found the phone in the parking garage right next to our car! He must have called my number since it was a recent call to the phone. I thanked the anonymous good Samaritan profusely and offered a reward if he would leave his name and address with the phone in our agreed location - but alas he left the phone but no contact info. Peggy was glad to have her phone back when we returned to the car. Thanks Good Samaritan! it's good to know you're still out there!
We took a day off from sightseeing on Sunday and then took a day trip to Fredericksburg on Monday to check out a few sights. We did a whirlwind tour of the H.W. Bush War in the Pacific Museum, had a nice lunch at Der Lindenbaum - our go-to German restaurant in Fredericksburg, checked out a few shops along the street downtown and then pointed the car back to New Braunfels - by way of Luckenbach, TX - population 3 - made famous by Waylon, Willie, and the boys and immortalized by Waylon's song by the same name.
"Out in Luckenbach, Texas ain't nobody feelin' no pain."
We were even treated to a singing of that famous song by "one of the boys" - singing for tips in the bar -- which is really just the backroom of the Post Office and General Store.
A fun Texas day.
After another day off from touristing (but I did get in a quick wash job on WTT) on Tuesday - we were off again on Wednesday - back to San Antonio for a few hours touring the Alamo. Got that one checked off the gotta do list for Jamie and Ernie!
We finished up our visit with Jamie and Ernie with another trip to Cooper's on Friday -- this time joined by our Gate Guarding RV friends Debbie and Rod Kendall - also big fans of Cooper's. What can I say? More good visiting, more good BBQ and this time - good Blackberry cobbler! We said our goodbyes to Jamie and Ernie Friday night and they hit the road heading back west on Saturday morning. It was great sharing last week with them here in Texas. It was a fast week but we hope to see them again in a few months out in California.
The weather this last week has been pretty decent. We have had mostly sunny days with highs in the low to mid 60s and lows in the mid 30s to low 40s. Tomorrow it looks like winter is returning to Texas as the high is forecast to be around freezing and the low will be down around 23 degrees ... and then there is the wind and freezing rain to deal with! Time to break out the flannel shirt layers and quilts and hunker down for a day I think.
After tomorrow it looks like the weather will be improving the remainder of the week so I reckon we will finish up our visit here in the Hill Country and then set sails for Alabama.
We need to be all settled in Alabama by next Sunday so I can watch those New England Patriots continue their quest for yet another Super Bowl win. I'm still hoping for a Patriots - Eagles game on Super Sunday. It's time to quiet down those Philly Fans again.
Still looking for warmth -- but getting better at it.
Peggy and I arrived here in New Braunfels, Texas on Friday the 5th after a two day drive on I-10 from near New Orleans, LA. My sister Jamie and BIL Ernie had checked in to their cottage here at the Hill Country - Cottage and RV Resort a few hours earlier and we got to wave Hi as we drove around to our site. After getting set up here and after a few hours of catch-up visiting we decided to introduce our visitors to some good Texas BBQ and so we were off to one of our favorites - Cooper's Old Time Pit Bar-B-Que. The brisket was wonderful, the sausage was tasty, the chicken was OK -- even the salads were good. Yes indeed - you can even get salad at Cooper's!
We got a bunch more visiting done on Saturday and then made the drive in to San Antonio Saturday night to take in the Riverwalk at night and see all the holiday lights that were strung all along the 2.5 mile river/canal. After parking at our normal spot in the mall Parking Garage we made our way down to the Riverwalk and over to one of the spots to catch a tour boat - the best way to see the whole route without walking and dodging all the foot traffic!
After finishing our tour we did walk a bit down the Riverwalk to the Original Mexican Restaurant for a nice (and spicy) Mexican dinner. That Salsa is really good -- and really HOT! So were those poblano peppers I had with my Chile Rellanos!
We did have one Uh-Oh moment when Peggy couldn't find her cell phone. She noticed it was missing on the boat ride but she hadn't taken it out of her purse since we left the car? I gave the phone a call from my cell phone to see if someone had picked it up - but nobody answered. While we were walking to the Original, I got a call from a person who found the phone in the parking garage right next to our car! He must have called my number since it was a recent call to the phone. I thanked the anonymous good Samaritan profusely and offered a reward if he would leave his name and address with the phone in our agreed location - but alas he left the phone but no contact info. Peggy was glad to have her phone back when we returned to the car. Thanks Good Samaritan! it's good to know you're still out there!
We took a day off from sightseeing on Sunday and then took a day trip to Fredericksburg on Monday to check out a few sights. We did a whirlwind tour of the H.W. Bush War in the Pacific Museum, had a nice lunch at Der Lindenbaum - our go-to German restaurant in Fredericksburg, checked out a few shops along the street downtown and then pointed the car back to New Braunfels - by way of Luckenbach, TX - population 3 - made famous by Waylon, Willie, and the boys and immortalized by Waylon's song by the same name.
"Out in Luckenbach, Texas ain't nobody feelin' no pain."
We were even treated to a singing of that famous song by "one of the boys" - singing for tips in the bar -- which is really just the backroom of the Post Office and General Store.
A fun Texas day.
After another day off from touristing (but I did get in a quick wash job on WTT) on Tuesday - we were off again on Wednesday - back to San Antonio for a few hours touring the Alamo. Got that one checked off the gotta do list for Jamie and Ernie!
We finished up our visit with Jamie and Ernie with another trip to Cooper's on Friday -- this time joined by our Gate Guarding RV friends Debbie and Rod Kendall - also big fans of Cooper's. What can I say? More good visiting, more good BBQ and this time - good Blackberry cobbler! We said our goodbyes to Jamie and Ernie Friday night and they hit the road heading back west on Saturday morning. It was great sharing last week with them here in Texas. It was a fast week but we hope to see them again in a few months out in California.
The weather this last week has been pretty decent. We have had mostly sunny days with highs in the low to mid 60s and lows in the mid 30s to low 40s. Tomorrow it looks like winter is returning to Texas as the high is forecast to be around freezing and the low will be down around 23 degrees ... and then there is the wind and freezing rain to deal with! Time to break out the flannel shirt layers and quilts and hunker down for a day I think.
After tomorrow it looks like the weather will be improving the remainder of the week so I reckon we will finish up our visit here in the Hill Country and then set sails for Alabama.
We need to be all settled in Alabama by next Sunday so I can watch those New England Patriots continue their quest for yet another Super Bowl win. I'm still hoping for a Patriots - Eagles game on Super Sunday. It's time to quiet down those Philly Fans again.
Still looking for warmth -- but getting better at it.
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
In The Southland
Happy New Year Everybody. Both of us Maineiacs wish you all the best for 2018!
We have spent the first couple of days of 2018 driving south. After spending a fun New Years Eve day and evening with our friends Darrell and Judy Patterson - we watched the ball drop in New York but I couldn't hang in there until midnight Central Time! We left Crossville, TN on New Years Day with temps right around 10 degrees above and made the drive south - through Chattanooga, TN, through a corner of Georgia, and into northern Alabama - finally finishing our driving day in Tuscaloosa, AL - home of the Alabama Crimson Tide who were busy winning the Sugar Bowl game that evening down in New Orleans. The temps were to be in the high teens that evening - even clear down there in Alabama.
With temperatures still not to our liking at all - we hit the road yesterday traveling even further south. We finished off Alabama, drove through Mississippi, and finally made it to I-12 just north of New Orleans where we settled in at Fontainbleau State Park in Mandeville, Louisiana on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain. The temperature was in the low 40s when we arrived which was about as warm as we have seen so far on this trip - but it did drop below freezing last night - down to about 29 degrees. The folks here in LA are so bundled up you would think a major nor'easter was about to hit!
Since it was sooo warm here in LA - we decided to take a day off from driving, accomplish a few chores, and otherwise generally goof off today.
Winne has continued to run well and keep us warm. Considering all the things that need to work correctly to accomplish that feat in this weather, and considering she has done all this after being awoken from a sound hibernation in frigid temperatures -- we Maineiacs are pretty happy!
I suppose the good news about all the cold weather is that it has been too cold to snow or rain - so we have enjoyed relatively good driving conditions all the way south.
My sister Jamie and BIL Ernie have made it all the way to El Paso on their first road trip adventure from northern California! We are almost in the same time zone now and we are looking forward to seeing them in New Braunfels later this week.
So that's the way it is - on this third day of January - 2018 -- stay warm, safe, and happy Ya'all!
We have spent the first couple of days of 2018 driving south. After spending a fun New Years Eve day and evening with our friends Darrell and Judy Patterson - we watched the ball drop in New York but I couldn't hang in there until midnight Central Time! We left Crossville, TN on New Years Day with temps right around 10 degrees above and made the drive south - through Chattanooga, TN, through a corner of Georgia, and into northern Alabama - finally finishing our driving day in Tuscaloosa, AL - home of the Alabama Crimson Tide who were busy winning the Sugar Bowl game that evening down in New Orleans. The temps were to be in the high teens that evening - even clear down there in Alabama.
With temperatures still not to our liking at all - we hit the road yesterday traveling even further south. We finished off Alabama, drove through Mississippi, and finally made it to I-12 just north of New Orleans where we settled in at Fontainbleau State Park in Mandeville, Louisiana on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain. The temperature was in the low 40s when we arrived which was about as warm as we have seen so far on this trip - but it did drop below freezing last night - down to about 29 degrees. The folks here in LA are so bundled up you would think a major nor'easter was about to hit!
Since it was sooo warm here in LA - we decided to take a day off from driving, accomplish a few chores, and otherwise generally goof off today.
Winne has continued to run well and keep us warm. Considering all the things that need to work correctly to accomplish that feat in this weather, and considering she has done all this after being awoken from a sound hibernation in frigid temperatures -- we Maineiacs are pretty happy!
I suppose the good news about all the cold weather is that it has been too cold to snow or rain - so we have enjoyed relatively good driving conditions all the way south.
My sister Jamie and BIL Ernie have made it all the way to El Paso on their first road trip adventure from northern California! We are almost in the same time zone now and we are looking forward to seeing them in New Braunfels later this week.
So that's the way it is - on this third day of January - 2018 -- stay warm, safe, and happy Ya'all!
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