NOTHING EXITING HAPPENING

Through the night the rain stopped but the wind really picked up. Enough for us to get up and put the slides in to stop the awnings above them from flapping and making an aggravating noise keeping us awake. The wind did let up later in the day and the temperature high reached 8C. Not very warm, but we went for a walk around the campground and area adjacent to it.

We knew there was a gun range just down the road from us that we could hear. It wasn’t very active during the week but it has been busy over the weekend. It takes some getting used to but after awhile it blends in with the rest of the surrounding noises.

Behind our site there are two buildings on the property which are rented out for weddings and receptions etc. They had a great outside area currently setup for a wedding which took place last night through the rain and wind.

Wedding set up from last night.

 We then walked around the buildings and saw some plants out in bloom which was nice to see.

Pansies, looking good.

Dogwood tree in bloom.

Daffodils are almost done blooming.

Roses are looking pretty good, but not a lot of blooms.

Snapdragons

The weather is looking better tomorrow and we are planning on looking around town.

All for now...

NOTHING EXITING HAPPENING TODAY

This morning it was very gloomy and the forecast said rain in the afternoon. Sure enough it started raining around 1:30 and continued all afternoon so we stayed inside. We did get some heavy rain with some thunder on and off  for the rest of the day, hoping it will start to clear over night as indicated by the forecast. It reached 14C as a high.  

So, we decided to chart out our return to Hillsburgh. This is like a well planned military operation the way we tackle it. We determine our route based on weather, selecting campgrounds we have researched, checking online reviews from other people staying at these sites and of course checking that the campground sites are large enough to accommodate us.  We have a number of resources at our disposal, some of which are a KOA Directory, a Passport America Directory, a Woodall’s Campground Directory and of course the computer and I-pad for checking the Weather Network, the NOAA National Weather Service and the Campground Review site (what would we do without the computer??) If all checks out we then call to make reservations.

The trickiest part now is trying to select a route where the weather is going to cooperate. The farther we look forward, the more flexible we have to be given the unpredictability of future weather. Looking at the map and seeing how close we are to home is making us more anxious to get home. But we really don’t want to be driving on the roads to the north until the salt has been washed off with a couple of good rains. We may have to consider winterising the coach before going too far north as well, which I really wanted to avoid but may have to do.

We are hoping for a lot to go our way, so we will have to wait and see.

Looking for better skies tomorrow...

STILL IN TEXAS

Yesterday (Thursday) was a little cool and overcast when we left and very windy through the day but a warm 22C when we arrived at Fernbrook RV Park in Longview, Texas.

The drive was the hardest yet for us especially going through the north end of Dallas. Every road we had to go on through the city was under construction. To navigate the coach through the narrow lanes of the diverted roads from left to the right and back again, to go around the construction sites was quite a challenge. Then throw in the winds and the drivers switching across 2 lanes of traffic in front of us with no signals doing 60 mile an hour. It was a bit of a white knuckle drive. A well deserved rye and ginger went down really well when we reached our destination.

Constructing overpasses above and below the level we were at.

As we drove up to some of these areas the roads looked like a bunch of spaghetti.

After getting through Dallas we could see a nice change happening to the scenery and plants. The landscape became hillier; the grass becoming more green (ready of a cut) and the sight of larger trees was welcomed along with some starting to leaf out and even bloom. We also escaped the higher winds we have been exposed to for several days.

Ah - green grass!

Finally some colour!

We passed through Denton and saw these two College football fields, one on each side of the highway.

This must be a newer field.

They take their sports really seriously down here.

We are planning on staying here at Fernbrook for a couple of days depending on the rain which is to move in sometime today (Friday) and stay for two days. We will be monitoring this and making plans for our next destination based on the forecasts.  We will be out of Texas with one more day of driving.

More bugs committing suicide on the coach.

 Today (Friday) is actually feeling a little muggy, the first we have felt since last summer at home. It did spit a little this a.m. but since then the sun has been trying to come out but hasn’t been seen yet. Right now it is 26C and they are calling for a chance of thunderstorms later this evening.

 I think the birds are even more cheerful here as well. So today we are just relaxing, catching up on some computer work, cleaning around the coach and Cathy is baking some cup cakes.

http://goo.gl/maps/KCfxw

Till tomorrow...

WE ARE OUT OF THE WIND

The sun was bright and warm today with a high of about 24C.

Our plans are to head south east to find some warmer weather and at the same time get closer to home. So here we are in Wichita Falls, Texas for the night, then onwards again tomorrow.

We entered a terrain that didn’t resemble a pool table and dropped down in elevation as well. We also left the desert region and entering a much better growing area. We passed a lot of beef ranches, an area that grew peanuts and a large number of acreage which had grown cotton. As we got closer to Wichita Falls there was more industry evident with more and more oil pump jacks working away.

We saw this one herd of buffalo.

We noticed the remnants of cotton on the ground - it almost looked like snow .

This crop duster flew right over us, don't know what he was spraying.

This campground has grass, even though it is still the dormant colour brown it is a pleasure to see.  It also turns out it is a 90 acre working ranch as well.

Washing the bugs off.

These chairs made from horns are in the campground office.

Entrance gate

Cathy is still freaking about these signs.

http://goo.gl/maps/kFyIh

Tomorrow, on the road again.