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Wednesday March 12, 2008

Back in the USA!

We made it up to Tucson and Beaudry early Wednesday afternoon. It's amazing how smooth the roads are here after being in Mexico for the winter!

We got a premium site (formerly a Jacuzzi site, they removed the Jacuzzis darn!!).

Wednesday was spent vegging out, we had dinner at the newly re badged restaurant. It's amazing how large (and fattening) the portions are here compared to Mexico. We need to keep on our lean ways, the food south of the border is a lot more healthy that here in the US and Canada.

On Thursday, we went shopping, did laundry and picked up some RV goodies at Camping world. The daytime temps are quite warm, almost 30C, so A/C is normal since we have 30 and 50 amp service.

This is being written on Friday morning, today we are getting the RV washed (we were treated as second class citizens in San Carlos by the guy we used in December, he preferred to look after the caravans, we will never use him again) and then we will go for lunch and do a final shopping. Tomorrow, we head east for Roper Lake state park.

Sunday March 16, 2008

Rock Hound State Park - Deming New Mexico

We arrived her around 1:00 pm today, and went from standard time in Arizona to daylight saving time in New Mexico.

We were in Roper Lake State Park yesterday, we stayed in the overflow area  (it's March break down here) so we didn't have power to start up the dish.

Today, we are sitting out a dust storm with 50 MPH+ winds, it looks like a white out, only it's brown. A couple of roads have been closed in the area, so if it's like this again tomorrow, we will stay put. It's no fun watching the trailer wiggling back and forth behind you on the interstate.

Suzette took some pictures of the dust storm on the way to Rock Hound:









It was interesting sitting out the dust storm. The wind was high enough that it pushed the trailer up, and the wood blocks under the stabilizer loosened and blew under the trailer, causing the trailer to bounce around.

Monday March 17, 2008

Brantley Lake State park near Carlsbad New Mexico

Today, we broke the rule of two, we drove over 400 km. to get over to Carlsbad and the state park. Al is a little crusty, but we decided to stay here 2 days to get relaxed and to gas up etc. before heading into Texas.

Suzette took a couple of amazing pictures on the way here:





Tuesday March 18, 2008

Last day at Brantley Lake

Today turned out overcast and it actually rained a few drops this morning. It was relatively cool in the morning, so we did some shopping in town. Later on, it warmed up somewhat, we spent some time outside.
Suzette took a couple of pictures:







Tomorrow, it's off to Texas!!

Wednesday March 19, 2008

Monahans Sand Hills State Park - Monahans Texas

We moved into Central time and got into this park around 2:00 pm.

Suzette took a couple of pictures which will be posted later, on Thursday we are off to Abilene!

Pictures!

Our campsite from the sand dunes:



Folks using flying saucers to glide down the hills just like home on the snow!




Other campsites close by:




Thursday & Friday March 20 & 21, 2008

Zipping through Texas!

On Thursday we stayed at Abilene State Park, we had services but were in the trees (no internet).

Suzette took a picture of the thousands of wind generators near here:



Friday March 21, 2008

Today we are parked in an overflow lot at Lake Mineral Wells State park, no services but it is very quiet:

Al tending the BBQ:



We have the place to ourselves:





Saturday March 22, 2008

Lake Bob Sandlin State Park - East Texas

We are in this state park near Pittsburg Texas, close to the Arkansas border. We got smart after the parking lot exercise yesterday, we reserved by phone and got a serviced site. We also reserved for a park in western Arkansas tomorrow, I think that Monday night should not be a problem in east Arkansas.

We are at this park on or way down in late November, it rained all the time we were here. Today it's sunny and the spring is definitely here, all kinds of bird  are around, and the bugs are coming around too!

A couple of pictures:







Tomorrow it's off to western Arkansas for another one-nighter, then we will stop for a couple of nights in eastern Arkansas at a park we like. Cally back at home reports that the driveway is still covered with enough snow to prevent parking the RV, hope the snow disappears before we get there!

Monday March 23, 2008.

DeGray Lake
Resort State  Park near Bismarck Arkansas

We made the relatively short run here and arrived around 1:00 pm.

It's not a bad one night stop, we are relaxing and enjoying the relatively warm weather.

A couple of shots:







Tomorrow it's off to eastern Arkansas!

Monday March 24, 2008

Village Creek State Park near Wynne Arkansas

We are at this beautiful state park near the Tennessee border, we will stay here for 2 days to rest from the travels and enjoy the surroundings. It's only about 12C outside today, hopefully it will get warmer tomorrow.

Pictures later!!

Tuesday March 25, 2008

Today we are relaxing, doing a little hiking and planning to have some thick rib-eye steaks!

We took a hike this morning, to get exercise and to find a location in the park where we could make a call on the cell phone:






The leaves are just starting to come out, there are a few bugs around as well, but not enough to be a hassle:




The campsite backs up to a small lake and has all services, convenient and relatively inexpensive at $27 per night:




Tomorrow it's off to Natchez Trace state park in Tennessee.

Wednesday March 26, 2008

Natchez Trace State Park near Jackson Tennessee

We got into this great state park around 2:00 pm today. Unfortunately we had to clean up a lot of garbage on the site, the locals don't appreciate how good this place is, we have full services and good weather.

A couple of pictures:

The view down the hill from our campsite to the lake. The campsites are tiered.



Looking up from below, the campsite was level in one direction, all we had to do was lift the front end of the trailer to get it level:



Some of the other trailers here:



It's off to Bowling Green Kentucky tomorrow.

Thursday March 27, 2008

Bowling Green KOA - Kentucky

We arrived at this KOA around 1:00 pm, we took the opportunity to do a wash and grab some fast food.

It's a good one night stop, we still have warm weather (with a little rain) but we were able to sit out and enjoy our last day (probably) of shirt sleeve weather. The birds around here are busy making thier nests.

Tomorrow at Columbus Indiana where we plan to stop, it will be cold (below freezing at night). Brrrr!

It looks like we will be home around April fools day.

Saturday March 29, 2007

Auburn KOA - Auburn Indiana

We got here just before 1:00 pm today.

Yesterday we spent the night in Columbus Indiana at Woods N Waters campground, I was to lazy to aim the dish through the trees there, the wifi was slow and it was too cold to stand outside with our thin blood!

Today, it was below freezing when we left Columbus, it's +10C now but there is still a cold breeze blowing. At least we have a clear shot to the satellite, hence this update.

Tonight we treat ourselves to dinner in Garrett, then it's off to Monroe Michigan tomorrow.

Sunday March 30, 2008

Last Day in the USA - Harbortown RV Resort, Monroe Michigan

As we headed out of Auburn, we noted more snow going north. It's a really late spring compared to last year.

We are set up here, with both the furnace and supplementary heating going, it still feels cold. The RV will have to be winterized once it gets in the driveway!

We also need to check some routes through Detroit, I-75 is closed in parts through there.

One night in Pinery, then it's back home!

Monday March 31, 2008

The RV is back in the driveway!!

It was cool and raining when we left Monroe and the border crossing back into Canada was quick and easy, so we decided to head directly home. We put the RV in the driveway about 2:30 pm.

The amount of snow here is incredible! Suzette's Jeep is snowed in, and the driveway is narrow enough that we can't get around the snow piles with the main slide out. With the reduced space, the truck is parked temporarily in our neighbour's driveway across the street.

On our return last year at the same time, all the snow was gone!

Tomorrow's jobs are to dig the Jeep out and winterize the RV. Some pictures of the snow are also in order!

These are the pictures taken after the RV was winterized and the Jeep was dug out, it rained over night last night and we lost some snow:







If it's like this at home next year, we will stay down south until mid April!

A couple of stats about the trip:

Total km. traveled:   15,500
Total Diesel cost: $2,605 (C$)
Average  cost in US going south: $0.906/liter (C$)
Average cost in Mexico:$0.555/liter (C$)
Average cost in US going north: $1.050/liter (C$)

Average Fuel Mileage: 14.26 MPG (Imperial), 11.4 MPG (USG),
20.42 L/100 Km.