HASKELL TEXAS TO HOPE ARKANSAS

A WINDMILL HOBBY FARM IN TEXAS

"We plan another peaceful night"........Well, those were my famous last words last night just before the drunken red neck party got underway in a 5th wheel trailer 3 spots away from us. We think the 5th wheel was there long term & the owner is probably working somewhere in the area. Three pick-up trucks rolled in about supper time with guys getting out carrying beer. By 7 o'clock the trash music was blaring, voices were loud, obnoxious, & animated. Don't know what time the party broke up but it was the gunshots that woke us up & scared the dogs. Heard a pick-up truck leave & another gunshot. Could hear people laughing so knew it was some drunk firing his gun into the air as he left. Keep in mind, it is acceptable for people to carry guns down here!!!! We were up early in the dark & on the road by 6:45 a.m. Texas time. As the sky slowly lightened up we realized we had a heavy cloud cover overhead & it was to remain that way for the rest of the day. Cloudy days are actually better for driving so I didn't mind. Once again it was so nice to see the many signs of spring along the way. A lot of trees & shrubs with light purple blooms. Traffic picked up significantly when we reached St Jo & turned east onto highway 82 west of Gainesville. Stayed on 82 all the way to New Boston where we picked up I-30 east to Texarkana. This is the exact same route we used when going the other way back in November. KELLY'S ON THE JOB AS WE'RE ROLLING ALONG (no I didn't turn around to take the picture)

We have traveled many areas of Texas before & no matter where your going it's always a long haul to get there & it's not the most exciting scenery along the way. Very flat country but at least it's easier on the motorhome than steep mountain grades. But, give me mountains & canyons any day over flat prairie like topography. The best part of Texas we've liked so far is the Big Bend area because of it's great mountain scenery. Needless to say we were pretty glad to get Texas behind us as we crossed the State Line into Arkansas in Texarkana about 3:15 this afternoon.

OUR OVERNIGHT SPOT IN HOPE, ARKANSAS JUST BEFORE THE STORM HIT

Kelly checked her RV Parks book & found a city RV Park in Hope Arkansas with easy access off I-30 so that's where we headed. And if Hope Arkansas sounds familiar....it's past President Bill Clinton's birthplace. The RV Park was full so the lady in the office told us to go to a baseball diamond with a paved parking lot a block away. No charge & it was a lucky break for us because right now as I'm typing this it's raining heavily & we've got bad thunder & lighting overhead. Glad we're not parked on bare ground, muddy gravel or grass. One of the first things I noticed when I exited the motorhome was the humidity in the air. Hadn't felt that since last summer in Ontario. LOTS OF RAIN, THUNDER, & LIGHTNING

Total miles covered to-day was 413 so looks like we went 2 miles further to-day than yesterday. Roads & visibility were good. Kelly kept the egg salad sandwiches coming so we just kept on rolling. Problem is, by the time we get home I'm going to look like the east end of an egg salad sandwich going west................................ CHECKERS IS HIDING UNDER THE STEERING WHEEL FROM THE BIG THUNDER MONSTER

THE LITTLE MOTORMOUSE IS HIDING IN THE TUB

AND AL IS HIDING UNDER HIS SECURITY BLANKET

6:25 P.M............. Oh Oh, we just got a tornado watch advisory. Better get this blog sent........:((

No photos for the web album to-night.

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FROM ALAMOGORDO NEW MEXICO TO HASKELL TEXAS

LOOKING LIKE SPRING IN THIS WEST TEXAS REST AREA ALONG HIGHWAY 380

A quiet night in the Alamogordo fairgrounds gave us a chance to catch up on some sleep from the previous night's wind at the ranch.

Moved our clocks ahead an hour & hit the road at 7:15 a.m. Nice clear morning with no clouds as we headed north to Tularosa & swung east into the Sierra Blanca mountains. It was a long climb to the Apache summit but not as short & steep as the climb over the Organ mountains east of Los Cruces on Monday. This is a scenic pass with many evergreen trees at the higher elevations. Fueled up in Ruidoso for $115 & that was the first fill up since Tombstone AZ back on January 28th.

TREES ARE GREENING UP.....HEY, WHO'S THAT IN THE WINDSHIELD!!

By 9 o'clock we were over the mountains & down the other side into the rolling foothills heading out onto the great plains. Motored through Roswell & for the first time ever we didn't stop at Wal-Mart. In fact we hardly stopped anywhere. With our new Verizon air card we have internet with us in the motorhome at all times so we don't have to look for McDonalds or hot spots anymore. Last November on our way west we stayed in Brownsfield Texas for 2 whole days just so we could use the internet & get caught up on things. Now, while I'm driving, Kelly is at the computer desk looking after Deerpark business or just surfing. We are soooooo pleased with Verizon & have never doubted our decision to dump the Hughes-Net satellite system. When we get home the Verizon program will be de-activated April 4th until we activate it again in the fall. IT'S OUR 2 TRAVELING MASCOTS.......THE BISBEE KIDS:)) (no wonder a lot of people wave at us going by)

It's a long haul across the midwest plains with a lot of very flat & endless yellow grass fields but at this time of year it seems the farther east we drive, the greener the scenery is becoming. So nice to see trees appearing again with their lime green spring foliage. Signs of spring are everywhere & that is making the long driving days more enjoyable. THE DEERPARK PHONE KEPT KELLY HOPING TO-DAY

A lot of old, tired, & dusty little western towns along highway 380 but I like this route because there is very little traffic on the road. Many times I can see for miles ahead or behind & not a vehicle in site. We have used this route before & have become familiar with it's rest stops & overnight areas. Because we had a good stable tailwind to-day I decided to push it through to the little town of Haskell Texas. We knew there was a small free & public RV Park in the town because we had been there 3 times before so it was a welcome relief to finally reach our destination after 411 miles on the road to-day. We are in the park now with spring song birds in the tree beside us & a warm westerly breeze wafting through the open door & windows of the motorhome. Only 3 rigs here & we plan another peaceful night before heading out in the morning again. We know the part of the trip we have just completed in the last 2 days was the easiest part of our journey home because of the quiet, low traffic roads, few people, small towns, & no congestion or stress. To-morrow as we head east the traffic will begin to steadily pick up & by the time we get up into the Gainsville area things will begin to heat up & remain heated up for the rest of the way home. OUR OVERNIGHT SPOT IN HASKELL TEXAS....HAD TO TIE CHECKERS UP IN CASE THERE WERE ANY CHICKENS IN TOWN

Not sure where we'll be to-morrow night but we'll try to make it to Bonham Texas where we know we can stay in a Wal-Mart parking lot for the night if we have to. We take this longer route north of Dallas to avoid the traffic congestion & chaos to the south. As long as Kelly keeps feeding me those egg salad sandwiches & coffee & the wind stays at our backs, we'll just keep the big wheels rollin & rollin & rollin.

And thanks to the friends & followers for all the emails & comments yesterday & to-day. I plan to get back to you folks but it might not be until after we're home. By the end of these long travel days I'm just about asleep at the computer. In fact when I'm g..... ....... ................. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

No photos for the photo album to-day.

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THIS BLOG IS COMING TO YOU FROM ALAMOGORDO NEW MEXICO

GLEASON & PEARCE IN A PLAYFUL MOOD

In the words of television's Gomer Pyle years ago..."surprise, surprise." This blog is coming to you from the downtown fairgrounds in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Jeannie & Ray came home about 10 this morning so we figured there wasn't much point in us sitting around the rest of the day waiting for to-morrow. GLEASON GETS A TUMMY RUB THIS MORNING

The strong wind gusts last night had us out of bed about 1 a.m. but they finally subsided about half an hour later. Nevertheless, not a good sleep!! The sun was up before we were for a change & the start of another fine day was underway. A picture perfect morning for what we knew would be our last walk before leaving the ranch. We had a full turn out with 5 happy wagging furry doggy tails to accompany us up the road & back in the early morning Ariziona sun.

The thought had occurred to us that Jeannie & Ray might be home early this morning because they are early risers like us & we knew they weren't too far from home last night. Sure enough, around 10 the truck & fifth wheel pulled in. They had spent the night in Wilcox. Lots of hugs all way round including the dogs. Had us a bit of a chat for awhile & then we set about getting the rig ready to roll. Luckily I had most everything ready to rumble for Tuesday morning so it didn't take long to get last minute things in order for a Monday morning departure. We all said our good-byes & took some pictures. Jeannie took a couple with me, Pearce & Gleason so I hope to have those shortly. Again it was with mixed feelings but I could smell the dust of the open road in my nose so I was chomping at the bit to get rolling. Waved good-bye to the ranch gang & rolled out the gate at 11:17 a.m. Felt a little guilty at leaving so quick but I knew Jeannie & Ray would understand plus they had just got home from over a months trip & I'm sure they were anxious to get their feet on the ground, unload their fifth wheel, & grab a few zzzzzzz's. MY PAL PEARCE

Didn't take me long to begin my reminiscing as we rolled through Elfrida. Last night's supper with Ingrid & Tom at the Longhorn, Sergeant John's house with his Hudson Hornets in the garage, & the Elfrida Library where we had made 6 or 7 trips for DVD's over the past 7 weeks. There was the road to Gleeson which reminded me our ghost town hunt. Further along another road leading east into the Chiricahua mountains reminded me of our 2 trips into Rucker Canyon. Past the Apache Lair where the Sarge took us for fish n chips a few weeks back. We next passed through Sunizona & that brought back memories of our visit with Rosanna & her Mom Carol at their Paws & Hooves ranch. We continued north on 191 flanked by the mighty Chiricahua Mountains on our right & the Dragoon Mountains on our left with the heavily defended Cochise Stronghold so predominantly wedged into the mountain range. We were reminded of our day at the Chiricahua National Monument & our long hike into Fort Bowie. The Cochise Stronghold's memories came back when we had hiked the Cochise trail to the summit. Passed the turnoff for the ghost town of Pearce & that brought back memories of being there & then traveling on to the Amerind. Memories, memories, memories. We are so fortunate to have our memories & the ways & means to go out there & create those memories in the first place.

191 finally turned us east onto Interstate 10. Picked up an excellent tail wind, flipped on the cruise control & we were well on our way. I watched out the right window & rear view mirrors for many miles as the Chiricahua mountains finally faded into the distant haze. I was wondering if Gleason & Pearce were helping to unload the 5th wheel back at the ranch. Gonna miss those guys.

AL, KELLY, JEANNIE, & RAY

It was such a great feeling to be on the move again watching the great southwest scenery passing by. Mountains lumbered out of the mists on both sides then slowly took their places as they trundled by us heading west. Traffic was lite, ambient music on the radio was relaxing, Kelly made egg salad sandwiches & coffee, & we just kept on rolling & rolling. Wilcox, Lordsburg, Deming, & Las Cruces. Rig was running great & the doggy guys snoozed the miles away. We did get a little turned around in Las Cruses but figured it out enough in time not to get lost too bad. It's a steep climb out of Las Cruces on highway 70 up through the St Agustin Pass into the Organ mountain range. This is a hard grade on an RV & I remember the transmission light flickering on last year when we climbed this mountain. The Chevy workhorse engine & Allison transmission were working overtime. At last the summit was laboriously reached & we tumbled down the other side of the mountain into the Tularosa Valley & headed northeast. This set us up for a nasty crosswind all the way to Alamogordo. We could see towering columns of white sand in the air to our left as we passed the White Sands National Monument. At first I thought it was great clouds of smoke caused by some military tests or something but no, it was white sand being blown hundreds of feet into the air by turbulent winds for miles & miles.

We reached Alamogordo about 5:15 & that marked exactly 6 hours on the road & 317 miles with only one short pit stop for the pooches in Las Cruces. It was just one of those great days when I felt like driving forever & ever. When you have a good tailwind in an RV you want to take full advantage of it because it adds up to substantial gas savings. And, with a motorhome you can do that because it's many, many, miles between gas fill-ups. And you don't have to pull in anywhere for food or washroom breaks because everything is on board just a few steps away. Having lunch & coffee handed to you while on the move is pretty nice. Yessir, no more of that trailer pulling stuff for us guys!!!!

MY PAL GLEASON

Back in December of 08 while on our way out here from Ontario we had stopped in Brownsfield Texas for the night. A fellow there told us of a good spot to park in Alamogordo when we got there so we followed his directions to the large Alamogordo fairgrounds. Lots of room & nobody was around except there was a problem. The whole parking lot had been oiled just hours before we got there & was totally unusable. We then headed south for Oliver Lee State Park where we stayed for a night. Well, we remembered where that fairground was & that is where we are right now, minus the fresh oil of course. A couple of other Class A's pulled in shortly after we did. It's a good free spot for RV's & it's all paved. Oh, & there's a mall right across the road.

TRYING TO GET THE FURRY GUYS TO-GETHER FOR A PICTURE

To-morrow morning we'll head off through the Apache Pass & over the gentle Sierra Blanca mountains. Roswell NM lies on the other side & marks the end of the wild wooly west's many mountain ranges. We'll roll along for miles across flat grassy plains heading ever eastwards. On & on we'll go but where we stop, we don't know.................................:)) ALAMOGORDO FAIRGROUNDS

No photos for the web album to-day.

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