Sunday
; Saragosa to Junction, Texas
Sunny
and warm. WHEW
… long day, lots of miles !
This morning we went for a
long exercise walk around a farm field adjacent to the picnic area
where we boondocked overnight. We drove across the freeway to the
Valero fuel station there, and dumped our waste holding tanks and
refilled our freshwater tank at the RV park behind the Valero
station. We were eastbound again on Interstate 10 around 11 AM.
At
Fort Stockton we left the freeway and drove through town running
errands. First I got tied up in a bit of a traffic jam at the
Wal-Mart
fuel bar, at the only
fuel island with diesel fuel when the methamphetamine
stoned
skinny
black woman
in the car ahead of me left her car sitting at the island while she
wandered around the fuel bar panhandling for gas money. I was NOT
pleased ! I finally managed to get the truck and camper extricated
and into the Wal-Mart parking lot. We
went into the store to replenish some groceries and supplies,
planning to buy diesel fuel afterwards.
After
the Wal-Mart shopping I decided to take my fuel purchasing money
elsewhere ! We drove through town looking for a better fuel price
than at the Wal-Mart. I pulled into the
very crowded Love’s
station,
more to refill a propane tank than purchase diesel fuel. <sigh>
Their propane refill station recently had caught fire and was out of
commission.
We drove to a nearby Flying J
which was even more crowded than the Love’s station. <sigh>
Flying J did not have any “propane refill” qualified staff on
duty today ! I refilled with diesel at an Alon fuel station before
leaving Stockton, already stressed and the day had barely begun !
It
was another long day of humping across West Texas on Interstate 10.
We were both a little tired/”jet lagged” from losing two hours
overnight. We crossed a time zone late yesterday and daylight
savings time started overnight. And with the delays and drama of
Stockton I didn’t have time for a nap after lunch, or we wouldn’t
have reached our barbecue
restaurant
destination before closing time. <sigh> Fat lot of good
missing my nap had ! The barbecue restaurant was “sold out” !
This was the second time this winter season we have encountered a
barbecue restaurant that had “sold out” of product !
We
had lunch in a rest area east of Stockton. I refilled the truck with
diesel again at Ozona. When we started travelling in 2004 I used to
be amazed that we could burn though about a hundred Canadian bucks
worth of diesel fuel per day of travel. Now we burn through a
hundred and seventy-five U.S. bucks worth per day ! We had an
afternoon exercise walk around 4:30 PM at another rest area. We
arrived in Junction shortly before the restaurant closing time of 7
PM. HMPH !
We spent the night in
Schreiner Park, the town’s municipal park on the banks of the South
Llano River. We had time for a leisurely walk around the large park
upon our arrival before it got dark.
Hope
we can get some Texas barbecue tomorrow before we leave ! And
propane ! And diesel again ! And
freshwater ! <rolling eyes> Freshwater
and diesel are daily refill requirements when we’re travelling.
Monday
; Junction to Live Oak County Rest Area near Three Rivers, Texas
Sunny
and hot, temperature
in the upper 80’s. Starting to become humid, typical for South
Texas.
It
took us a long time to get out of Junction, Texas this morning.
First we went for a long exercise walk around Schreiner Park where we
boondocked overnight. Then we drove into town and refilled the truck
with diesel, bought barbecue brisket and potato salad at Lum’s BBQ,
refilled an empty propane tank, and
finally, refilled our freshwater tank at a Pilot truck stop.
It was afternoon
by the time we got back onto Interstate 10 eastbound.
Well
! We’re finally out of the barren desert of West Texas, and into
the rolling, lush Texas Hill Country.
Greg Abbott / Ted Cruz / Donald Trump territory. Good luck, Beto.
<whispering> He doesn’t stand a chance here ! All white, no
masks, black baseball caps, black Dodge dually pickup trucks galore,
Let’s
Go Brandon signs on the dashboards of the pickup trucks, bib front
overalls, twenty-five year old couples all with three children, TRUMP
2024 campaign signs on all the large ranch gates already !
Shortly before reaching San
Antonio we turned south on secondary / back roads to travel south
then east to bypass San Antonio rush hour traffic. We had lunch at a
rest area. An hour or so later we stopped at another rest area and I
had a brief nap before we went on another exercise walk. We stopped
in the “wild west” town of Bandera to buy baked beans and cole
slaw mix at the supermarket.
We got back onto the freeway,
Interstate 37 south of San Antonio, heading south. We stopped for
the night at a rest area. Joanne baked fresh biscuits to go with our
barbecued brisket, cole slaw, baked beans, and potato salad dinner.
MMMMM ! ! !
WOO-HOO … Wi-Fi at the rest
area. I uploaded my blog.
Tuesday
; Live Oak County Rest Area to Harlingen, Texas
Sunny and hot.
After
our morning exercise walk we left the rest area around 11:30 AM
continuing south on Interstate 37. A few miles later we entered the
town of Three Rivers and refilled our freshwater tank at a Love’s
truck stop. A couple of hours later, now
on Hwy. 281 (future Interstate 69)
we left the freeway again and entered the city of Alice to refill
with diesel at an HEB (supermarket) fuel bar. As
I was filling the truck with diesel, a bee entered my open driver’s
door … and stung Joanne on the leg.
Beware
the Ides of March, my dear. HA HA HA !
Before leaving Alice we had
lunch, and I had a brief nap.
As
we left the HEB parking lot and returned to the freeway a huge,
thick, stinky tower of smoke began to rise into the air nearby. As
we continued southbound on the freeway many fire
trucks from nearby towns and cities were racing towards Alice. I
checked
online later in the evening and discovered that the fire was a
wildfire/grass fire on the outskirts of the city that destroyed at
least three homes. At the time that I checked online, about five
hours after we left Alice, the fire was still out of control.
We
reached the Rio Grande Valley, at Edinburg, around 5:30 PM. We had
planned to boondock overnight at a Wal-Mart in Edinburg, but it was
early enough in the day that
I
wanted to continue a bit further. SO … we turned east on
Expressway
83/Interstate 2,
the east/west freeway in the Rio Grande Valley and we drove, in
heavily congested rush hour traffic, about another thirty miles to La
Feria, to check out our first choice RV park.
We checked out Breezewood Cove
RV Park in La Feria, and decided to select it as our home for the
next month. We’ll check in there tomorrow. We drove another eight
miles or so east to Harlingen, and parked for the night in the
massive (and mostly empty) parking lot of Bass Pro Shops. We were
settled in their parking lot by 8 PM, just as it got dark.
Palm
Springs, California to Harlingen, Texas ; 7 days, 1572 miles, 2515
km.
Wednesday
; La Feria, Texas
Hot and humid.
For exercise we walked around
the huge parking lot of Bass Pro Shops before leaving it this
morning. Took us twenty minutes at a brisk pace to walk the
perimeter of the parking lot. That would be a distance of about a
mile !
We
drove about
eight miles west
on Expressway 83/Interstate
2 back to La Feria where we checked in to Breezewood Cove RV Park for
a one month stay. The check in did NOT go smoothly ! More than half
an hour of two inept old women ****ing around on a computer. Then …
<fume> ... I ran into an electrical problem while hooking up
our camper to the park’s utilities. I needed assistance from the
park’s maintenance man to solve the problem.
After
a late lunch we took the camper off the truck, then headed back to
Harlingen to replenish groceries and supplies at Wal-Mart. By he
time we got back home from Wal-Martin’ it was 5:15 PM. I had a
brief nap while Joanne put away our purchases, then I raised the
camper’s TV antenna and set up the TV for “over the air”
reception. WOW ! Got about forty TV channels. I was just finishing
up the TV set up at 7
PM and we were about to leave to go to a nearby Church’s Chicken to
buy supper when I decided to check what time Survivor was on CBS. OH
! Now !
We
watched Survivor from 7
PM to 8
PM then went to buy dinner at the nearby Church’s Chicken. Perhaps
the last meal I will be able to chew for the next week or so,
depending on tomorrow’s dental appointment in Mexico.
Thursday
; Nuevo Progreso, Tamaulipas, Mexico
The morning was overcast and
windy. Around noon the wind diminished, the sky cleared, and it
became sunny, hot, and humid.
About
ten days ago I scraped my left knee against old plywood as I was
loading the camper onto the truck. Instead of the many little
scratches healing quickly, as I expected, they slowly became worse
over time. This morning after showering I noticed … HEY … those
aren’t scratches … they’re slivers ! Thirty-eight
slivers ! ! !
Ouch ! After I dug them all out my knee looked like it had been
shot with a shotgun.
We
left home at 11 AM heading for Nuevo Progreso, Tamaulipas, Mexico,
about half an hour away, west and south. My dentist appointment was
for 1 PM. My plan was to find the dentist’s office, then run some
errands until my appointment time. We
had some difficulty finding the dentist’s office. When we finally
found it, and checked in with the front desk, the receptionist told
me to stay, the dentist would be able to see me earlier than my
appointment time. Well … that was a pleasant change from our
“regular” dentist in Los Algodones, Baja California, Mexico.
When
I went into the dentist’s examination room a few minutes later
Joanne went shopping for some medications we need. WOW ! This was
the best dentist I have ever experienced ! He examined then x-rayed
my problematic crowned molar. His explanation of the problem and the
possible solutions was excellent. So was his work ! He wrestled the
crown off first, then “sawed” the tooth in half before extracting
each of the two halves. YUCK
! There was a lot of decay underneath the crown, and one of the
tooth’s roots was rotten mush ! And there were two infected
abscesses in the gum and jaw under and around the tooth. <sigh>
I certainly am glad to have that problem taken care of. It has been
causing me a lot of discomfort for
quite awhile. And excruciating pain for about a week a month ago.
Joanne and I decided that the
best course of action was to buy the antibiotic and painkiller that
the dentist prescribed, then head home before the freezing wore off.
We bought the medications and headed back across the border. The
line up to cross the border was only a few minutes. No Customs &
Border Patrol bullshit/games playing as at Los Algodones.
I
spent most of the rest of the day reading and snoozing and going for
walks. Today’s extraction has resulted in a lot of pain, but …
that
should be resolved in about a week or so of healing.
Couldn’t
help noticing while in Mexico … all Mexicans are masked, all
whites, (American day trippers) are not ! Masks required
in dental office !
Friday
;
Cloudy
and
windy in the morning, sunny and warm in the afternoon.
Bleeding
stopped, pain
diminished, facial swelling diminished. Slept
a lot again today.
Saturday
;
Sunny
and very warm.
Still
struggling with “recuperation”. Got up at 8 AM, had breakfast,
took my antibiotic
and painkiller
medications … by 9 AM I was ready to go back to sleep. Slept until
1 PM. Got up again, had lunch, at 2:45 PM went to Harlingen to shop
at Saturday afternoon farmers’ market, stopped at Mexican grocery
store to buy some pan dulce, was back home by 4:30 PM … went back
to sleep ! ! !
Got up at 7 PM, went for our
exercise walk, stopped at Stars Drive-In to buy milkshakes, walked
home, made mushroom omelettes for supper … was ready to go back to
sleep by 10 PM. <sigh>
DSK
