Day 3 - Destination Raton, New Mexico

We left the campground around 9:30 and got to Littlefield, TX around 10:30. We needed gas but no stations were visible on the route the GPS picked for us, so we backtracked through town to the intersection of Hwy 385 and Hwy 84. We filled up at the Valero station, turned the RV around to park it out of the way, and walked across the parking lot for some breakfast at the Golden Arches. 

When we came out, John noticed we had a flat tire. Well, crap! First the battery in the Kia goes out, and now we have to get a brand new tire fixed. In. a. small. town. on. a. Sunday! 

While I'm on the phone making arrangements for a new tire to be delivered and mounted, John and a friendly small-town resident used his (the resident's) air compressor to fill the tire to see if it would hold air. When I heard the loud pop and felt the RV list further to the side, I knew they had over inflated the tire and it blew out. In closer discussion with them, I learned that they had over inflated the good tire and now we needed two new tires.  So, now I'm back on the phone to add another tire to the order.  Sigh.

Three hours and two tires later, we're back on the road. The nice young man who was sent to install the tires made short work of it and it was obvious he had a lot of experience. Notice the really large tires in the back of his truck - he changes tires on the big 18-wheeler rigs, too.

I checked the GPS and it told me that we'd be in Raton by 6:30, so I thought that wasn't too bad what with our late start.  What I forgot was that New Mexico is on Mountain Standard Time (MST), so we would actually arrive at 7:30 Houston time.  Still not too bad as it would still be daylight and much easier to see to get everything hooked up.

We didn't count on the return of the late afternoon storms.  We watched the clouds build up across the horizon as we traveled north, hoping that we'd beat the storm.  Luckily, we didn't get hit with the rain until after we crossed the border into New Mexico.  It rained all the way to the campground, not enough to make driving overly hazardous, but certainly enough to make it uncomfortable to have to drive in it.

The Raton KOA was all set for us and for the other ten rigs lined up to check in!  Not only that, but this is the first one where I've been able to post to my blog and download from my e-mail.  Plus, they have normal water hook-ups, so now we can fill the tanks.

We got set up and connected - in the mud, I might add.  Then it was time for dinner.  I was too tired to cook, so we went to K-Bob's Steakhouse for something to eat.  Imagine my surprise to learn that they were all out of the two steaks I wanted, so I had to settle for chicken fried chicken. Not too shabby a third choice as it included the salad bar. You know how some chicken fried (fill in the blank here) where the meat inside the breading is all shrunk and you get a lot of breading with little else? The cooks at K-Bob's know how to do these right - light and crispy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside with very little shrinkage. 

Now it's back to the RV to update the blog and get some sleep. Tomorrow is another driving day to Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Day 2 - Destination Lubbock, Texas

The stay at the San Antonio KOA was nice. It was obvious why they won Best KOA Campground for 2015 - beautiful facilities, friendly and helpful staff, and lots of amenities.

My TSAP board meeting went well, and I was back at the RV by 1:15. We were hooked up and on the road to Lubbock by 1:30. I really didn't plan this leg of the trip well. Lubbock is 382 miles from San Antonio. What was I thinking! And, I didn't print out the directions for this leg or Lubbock to Raton, New Mexico. Arghhh! If I had, I'd have realized what I had done and made adjustments to reservations accordingly.  

The trip started out fine. The weather was hot and clear. We got to see a lot of West Texas we had never seen before, including major wind farms between San Angelo and Lubbock. 

About 7:30, the weather changed and by 9:00, we were going through heavy thunder and lightening storms. In two places, the highway was flooded. At the first section, there was an accident and several vehicles were off the road in the ditch. Picture, if you can, hilly terrain where the only illumination is the flash of lightening and the red lights on top of the wind turbines off in the distance - not even a farm house in sight. The road was very lightly traveled for miles on end, so we didn't see many headlights for miles at a time.  It made for a white knuckle drive!

Finally, around 10:30, we found the campground. We were too tired to do anything other than plug the RV into the power station, turn the generator off, and fall into bed. I think we went to the second tier of RV parks for KOA as this one hadn't left us space and parking instructions with our name on them - not good service at all. Just wait until I get hold of someone in the office tomorrow.

Day 1 - Destination San Antonio

We got off to a good start today. Got everything packed that wasn’t already in the motorhome and left Houston at 12:30 – right between the times I said we’d be gone.  The drive to San Antonio was fairly uneventful. The rains came just west of Luling – wetting the service road enough for the cars to splash through puddles but nothing on the freeway.  We did get a shower just before the SA city limits, but it lasted all of a half mile. 

In case I haven't mentioned him, Skooter is ready, willing, and an able traveler. He puts on his happy face and likes to check out every tree and blade of grass he is allowed to on the way. That would make for a lot of stops along the way if we'd let him.

John and I were supposed to go to a barbecue for the TSAP board of directors at Arbor House, Ron Stinson’s Bed and Breakfast in downtown San Antonio this evening. I say supposed to because when we got in the Kia to start that way, the battery was dead. So, our evening of the first day was spent in search of a new battery. We lucked out and found a NAPA warehouse that had a storefront attached and got everything he needed plus a few goodies I found. Auto parts stores are almost as much fun as quilt shops – almost.

Luckily our grandson Steve is working in San Antonio and volunteered to come to the campground and help John install the battery.  Yeah, Steve.  By the time that was done, we were all hungry so went out to a Mexican restaurant Steve had been wanting to try – Picante Grill in San Antonio. Yummy.  I got to enjoy sitting and visiting with two of my favorite men.  Aren’t they good looking! 

Getting Ready!

I think we're about ready. The motorhome has been serviced including new tires, new batteries, and generator repaired.  The propane tank has been filled, and we have a full tank of gas.  Now all we need is to do the grocery shopping and move clothes and other necessities into the RV and we're off.  Lists, lists, and more lists. What would I do without them - one for the quilting projects to take, one for clothes and personal items, one or groceries, another one for what to do before we drive out the driveway from home, and one for what to look for around the RV before departing from any place it's been parked and hooked up to utilities. Nothing like driving off with the power cord still plugged in or the water hose still hooked up and turned on or the TV antenna cranked all the way up!   

I spent a lot of time over the weekend making reservations for our overnight stays. If you've ever planned an RV road trip, you know how long that takes. First you have to decide the route you are going to take, then how far to travel each day, then where to stop for the night. With a copy of the KOA Campground Directory in hand (or in this case in PDF form) and the Good Sam Club Website open to their trip planning site, I was able to work out everything we needed - I hope!  Primary purpose of this trip is two-fold: me to attend a Judy Niemeyer retreat and us to take my mother's ashes home to Utah. 

Our first major stop is in San Antonio as I have to attend a Texas State Association of Parliamentarian board meeting on Saturday, August 1. John pointed out that it was not logical to drive to San Antonio on Friday, drive back to Houston on Saturday, then start our trip on Sunday. So, now our trip actually starts from San Antonio. 

Well, back to cutting fabric for projects both on the road and at retreat.