On the Road - Finally

We did it! We planned and talked and researched and planned some more. We looked at maps and travel books. And then we planned some more. We packed and sorted and packed and sorted and unpacked... You get the idea. My plan was to leave on Thursday by 9:00 a.m., but we didn't actually start rolling down the road until 10:30 a.m. - not too bad for the first day considering I didn't have all of the refrigerator items transferred to the RV. We had compiled a lengthy list of things to do before starting the truck engine, and it just kept growing. Once I checked off all of the items, we were off. One thing not on the list was a flare-up for me of gout, if you can believe it! That's something out of the history books, I thought - something old men who drank to excess got. Apparently I'm not eating right, so... new diet and lots of pain pills. Sigh.

We've been experiencing thunderstorms in Houston for the past week or so on a daily basis, and we're holding out hope that they won't plague us for the entire trip. John is keeping a close watch on the weather channels to see what's ahead for the next couple of days.

Josh requested a trip through Shreveport so he could see the city where he was born. We arrived there around 3:00 and showed him some of the sights as we drove through. We didn't spend any "sightseeing" time though, as the sky was looking darker as the day progressed. In case you can't tell, I took the photo through the truck window. I've traveled many, many miles and taken many, many photos this way. I might actually be considered a semi-pro at this! I cleaned up the photo some in Photoshop, so it doesn't look quite as dark as it actually was. Hmmm. Perhaps that's not such a good idea for the rest of the trip.

We found the campground in Texarkana around 5:45 p.m. without too much trouble. Of course, there is construction all around it on I-30 which added a level of difficulty pulling a 30' trailer around hairpin curves in narrow lanes with concrete barriers in the middle of 5:00 traffic!

Josh had his first taste of helping grandpa get the trailer situated in the site just so. We need a minimum of 4' of space for the slideout. This site is sized to exactly accommodate the TT and the truck, without an inch to spare in the length, so it was quite tricky getting parked. To make it even more interesting, it was starting to rain. Oh, happy day! By the time everything was set up (you know, satellite dish out and connected, shore power plugged in, water lines secured, A/C on, dog walked), it was time to dry off and settle down and figure out what's for dinner. We'd had a big, late lunch, so dinner was very light. By 8:00 p.m., the thunder storms had arrived, and we had the opportunity to sleep with the sound of raindrops on the roof. Nothing is quite like it for sleeping if you don't have to worry about the waters rising to flood state like we do in the house in a heavy rain.

Friday's plan is to travel to Memphis. I'm looking forward to seeing Graceland, and Josh has his sites set on the Gibson Guitar Factory tour. Hopefully the weather will improve, but it's not looking good. I'll keep you posted.