December 8, 2007
Peoria, AZ
Sorry for the delayed update…
We arrived back at our house in Peoria last Tuesday, one day ahead of schedule. Since we stopped for the night just east of Phoenix and got an early start, even with morning traffic, we were home before 9:00 AM. We spent the rest of the day cleaning (me: washing the coach, Geri: doing several loads of laundry – we’re still wondering how two people can generate so much work!).
In the afternoon, we moved the coach over to its new storage spot. Imagine my surprise when there was someone in our paid-for spot! I’d asked them to move us to a larger spot when one opened up, but that wasn’t the case. We’ll move spots within the next week or so, and in the meantime we’re parked in another open spot. This storage facility just opened earlier this year, and they’ve built out about 20% of their available space so far. They’re building it as they rent it; a reasonable strategy if they actually stay ahead of the curve. It seems to be a weakly-managed business, so time will tell how long we stay there. It’s a lot cheaper than some of the other options I researched, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
The last few days have been a bit of a blur as we’ve been getting back in the swing of being home. Wednesday was a bit of a “rest day”, which we needed after driving 2,175 miles in roughly 4 days, so we didn’t get much done other than restocking the fridge and pantry. Thursday, we were up early as Geri had a scheduled routine doctor’s appointment at 8:00 AM (ouch!), but we made the most of it by having a productive day catching up on shopping and getting started on holiday activities. On Friday, Geri had another scheduled appointment, so I used that time to catch up on bills and get the outside Christmas lights set up. We don’t do a whole lot of decorating since it’s just the two of us, but it’s nice to put out a few lights. (We have several neighbors who go all out, with lots of lights and decorations that they add to each year. Us, not so much.) While I was at it, I got the inside decorations staged. This is an area that’s really Geri’s domain, so I stick to moving the boxes around and handling anything involving electricity and/or ladders. She set up the tree and I put the lights on today, and we’ll finish up inside tomorrow.
On the food front, we’ve been a bit naughty and nice in keeping with the season. I found a few interesting fish recipes in a series of cookbooks we got from Williams-Sonoma, and made one that came out pretty well. It was a fillet of sole done in a roulade (rolled) style with baby spinach leaves and sea scallops inside. The fish came out great but the sauce, tomato-based vinaigrette, was a little too acidic for my taste. I scaled the recipe from 4 servings to 2, so I may have miscalculated. We’ll definitely try it again. It matched reasonably well with something from the “wine box”: a French White Burgundy, the 1999 Saint-Aubin 1er Cru “En Charmois” from Michel Colin-Deléger et Fils in Chassagne-Montrachet. Wonderful.
We also made a nice beef tenderloin with pan-roasted potatoes and sautéed carrots that paired well with one of our “value” wines, 2005 “Root:1” Cabernet Sauvignon from the Colchagua Valley in Chile. The name comes from the fact that the vines are ungrafted. The vines in most of the world have been grafted on disease-resistant rootstock since the mid-1800s. The disease (phylloxera) impacted most of the wine-growing world, but was never transmitted to South America. Wine trivia, right? Anyway, the wine is <$10/bottle and drinks very nicely for a fruit-forward new-world Cab.
In other news, it’s been freakin’ raining! We had a little over 2” of rain here all year, and then had another 2”+ last weekend before we got home. Then it started raining again yesterday and will probably continue until Tuesday or Wednesday. We’re just not used to that kind of weather here. Of course, neither is anyone else. The local news crews have been deployed like The Weather Channel teams in a hurricane and the news choppers are taking video of idiot drivers ignoring “high water” signs and getting their cars sent down the washes. Maybe we’ll just stay home for the next couple of days…
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Monday, December 3, 2007
Almost "home"
December 3, 2007
Eloy, AZ
We've been "on the road" for the last few days, and are almost "home" (well, to our other "home" anyway). We've traveled along I-10 most of the way and haven't really deviated since we're just looking to get there, not see the sights on this trip. It's a bit of a drag on everyone: Geri and the pups get bored and I get tired. No harm done, though, since we're less than 2 hours from Peoria. We stopped for the night this close since we knew we wouldn't get home in time to unload and move the coach to storage until well after dark. We've switched storage places and this will be the first time we've brought the coach there, and I didn't want to do that in the dark first time out. What a wimp, right?
We've had reasonably good weather and little delay on this trip, so we can't complain too much. Construction zones haven't caused too many problems, although we saw workers moving dirt both Saturday and Sunday (I'd expected the weekend to have little activity). We've had chilly mornings and warm afternoons, so each day has involved switching clothes and shedding layers as we go, but we're pretty used to that at this point.
We planned ahead for meals, and get our coffee from the truck stops in the morning, so we're traveling "on the cheap" this trip. Of course, diesel fuel has been running $3.20-3.35/gallon, so that's the major expense. We had a great time visiting, and the drive is the price we have to pay, I guess. Even so, it'll be nice to get back to the house and have a month or so to work on projects before we head out again to California for a couple of weeks.
Eloy, AZ
We've been "on the road" for the last few days, and are almost "home" (well, to our other "home" anyway). We've traveled along I-10 most of the way and haven't really deviated since we're just looking to get there, not see the sights on this trip. It's a bit of a drag on everyone: Geri and the pups get bored and I get tired. No harm done, though, since we're less than 2 hours from Peoria. We stopped for the night this close since we knew we wouldn't get home in time to unload and move the coach to storage until well after dark. We've switched storage places and this will be the first time we've brought the coach there, and I didn't want to do that in the dark first time out. What a wimp, right?
We've had reasonably good weather and little delay on this trip, so we can't complain too much. Construction zones haven't caused too many problems, although we saw workers moving dirt both Saturday and Sunday (I'd expected the weekend to have little activity). We've had chilly mornings and warm afternoons, so each day has involved switching clothes and shedding layers as we go, but we're pretty used to that at this point.
We planned ahead for meals, and get our coffee from the truck stops in the morning, so we're traveling "on the cheap" this trip. Of course, diesel fuel has been running $3.20-3.35/gallon, so that's the major expense. We had a great time visiting, and the drive is the price we have to pay, I guess. Even so, it'll be nice to get back to the house and have a month or so to work on projects before we head out again to California for a couple of weeks.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Visits too short, and back on the road
December 1, 2007
San Antonio, TX
In addition to our too short visits in Albertville and Birmingham, we made a quick trip to northern Florida, and are now on the way back to Arizona. We thought we were doing better at planning for a more leisurely pace, and we probably did OK over the summer. This trip: not so much.
We stopped in Albertville for a few days but could have stayed longer. We had a great time with Linda and Wendell, but only stayed one night before we hit the road.
On Monday, we headed for Florida to visit with Dave and Sandy Thompson at their place in New Smyrna Beach (NSB), just south of Daytona. We’d planned to see them at their place in Ontario late in the summer, but cut our Canadian trip short early to return to Alabama.
We left Birmingham on I-20 and took the I-285 loop around Atlanta, then I-75 south for Florida. We stopped Monday night just short of the Florida line on I-75, and got an early start on Tuesday. We made it to NSB early in the afternoon, just about on schedule. Maybe that’s the problem with our travels: I keep making schedules?
We had a very nice visit with Dave and Sandy. They’ve been working on renovations to their “southern place”, and it’s almost “there”. Their side yard is just right to park the coach, and Dave’s got a portable electrical setup all ready for us, north or south. I looked the lay of the land over before we parked and made the wrong call on approach (I should have turned around before backing in, as I got a little too close to a palm tree on the first attempt). The sand was a little soft, and we sank in about 1-2 inches while we were there, but we were fine.
Geri and I always feel like we eat well, and healthier, with Dave and Sandy, and this trip was no exception. We had grouper, lobster risotto, and sushi, along with some great wines. Dave shared some of the Sherry he purchased last year, and we had several ice wines to compare and contrast.
In addition, it was an action-packed visit. We toured the “World’s Largest Harley-Davidson Dealer” (no, we didn’t convert from RVers to bikers), took a boat ride on the Intra-Coastal Waterway, played on a sand bar, drove on the beach, and had a long walk in the sand. We had a couple of great lunches “out” as well (“Inlet Harbor” is a fun place on the water and “The Breakers” has great burgers).
The pups got in on it as well. Dave and Sandy have a Retriever named Abby and all the dogs got along quite well. Abby is about a month younger than Maya Lynn, and they had a great time running and playing together, especially when we stopped the boat at a large sand bar and let them run loose. Merlin continues to convince us that he was a nun in a prior life (“No running”, “No playing”, “No fun”), but even he had a good time. We could tell by the way they all “crashed” together when we got home.
We’d made plans to be back in Arizona (follow-up doctor appointments, primarily, and not easily rescheduled), so we had to head back even though we’d have preferred to stay longer. We left Friday morning and made it to Gulfport, Mississippi last night. Today, it was basically driving west on I-10 (except for the short time on I-12 through Louisiana) and we stopped just short of San Antonio, TX. Tomorrow and Monday: more of the same…
San Antonio, TX
In addition to our too short visits in Albertville and Birmingham, we made a quick trip to northern Florida, and are now on the way back to Arizona. We thought we were doing better at planning for a more leisurely pace, and we probably did OK over the summer. This trip: not so much.
We stopped in Albertville for a few days but could have stayed longer. We had a great time with Linda and Wendell, but only stayed one night before we hit the road.
On Monday, we headed for Florida to visit with Dave and Sandy Thompson at their place in New Smyrna Beach (NSB), just south of Daytona. We’d planned to see them at their place in Ontario late in the summer, but cut our Canadian trip short early to return to Alabama.
We left Birmingham on I-20 and took the I-285 loop around Atlanta, then I-75 south for Florida. We stopped Monday night just short of the Florida line on I-75, and got an early start on Tuesday. We made it to NSB early in the afternoon, just about on schedule. Maybe that’s the problem with our travels: I keep making schedules?
We had a very nice visit with Dave and Sandy. They’ve been working on renovations to their “southern place”, and it’s almost “there”. Their side yard is just right to park the coach, and Dave’s got a portable electrical setup all ready for us, north or south. I looked the lay of the land over before we parked and made the wrong call on approach (I should have turned around before backing in, as I got a little too close to a palm tree on the first attempt). The sand was a little soft, and we sank in about 1-2 inches while we were there, but we were fine.
Geri and I always feel like we eat well, and healthier, with Dave and Sandy, and this trip was no exception. We had grouper, lobster risotto, and sushi, along with some great wines. Dave shared some of the Sherry he purchased last year, and we had several ice wines to compare and contrast.
In addition, it was an action-packed visit. We toured the “World’s Largest Harley-Davidson Dealer” (no, we didn’t convert from RVers to bikers), took a boat ride on the Intra-Coastal Waterway, played on a sand bar, drove on the beach, and had a long walk in the sand. We had a couple of great lunches “out” as well (“Inlet Harbor” is a fun place on the water and “The Breakers” has great burgers).
The pups got in on it as well. Dave and Sandy have a Retriever named Abby and all the dogs got along quite well. Abby is about a month younger than Maya Lynn, and they had a great time running and playing together, especially when we stopped the boat at a large sand bar and let them run loose. Merlin continues to convince us that he was a nun in a prior life (“No running”, “No playing”, “No fun”), but even he had a good time. We could tell by the way they all “crashed” together when we got home.
We’d made plans to be back in Arizona (follow-up doctor appointments, primarily, and not easily rescheduled), so we had to head back even though we’d have preferred to stay longer. We left Friday morning and made it to Gulfport, Mississippi last night. Today, it was basically driving west on I-10 (except for the short time on I-12 through Louisiana) and we stopped just short of San Antonio, TX. Tomorrow and Monday: more of the same…
Monday, November 26, 2007
Off to Florida
November 26, 2007
Lake Park, GA
Well, we’re back on the road again…
Sunday was a cold and gray day in Albertville. We stopped by to see Mom in the morning, and Rick made turkey soup for lunch. After lunch, Alyson left for school in Mobile and we headed out as well. We had made arrangements to stop at our friends, Linda and Wendell, in Birmingham. It only took a couple of hours to get there, so we were able to enjoy the afternoon and have dinner with them. We parked the coach in their driveway (a tight fit but manageable), and were all set to leave in the morning.
We left Birmingham just before 10:00 AM, and found our way through some back roads to I-20. Outside Atlanta, we used the I-285 bypass to I-75 South, and were congratulating ourselves on not getting bogged down in traffic. The last time we passed through that way, in early June, we got caught for over 2 hours on I-20 just before I-285 due to an accident. Of course, we were premature in congratulating ourselves, as we soon ran into a severe slowdown on I-75 well south of Atlanta. Fortunately, it didn’t last too long and we were cruising at 60.5 MPH again in about 20 minutes.
We had rain most of the day, some light and some heavy. I thought it was going to clear in the late afternoon, and there ended up being an absolutely beautiful sunset as we got to South Georgia. Unfortunately, as soon as the sun went down, the rain came back. It rained pretty hard as we arrived at our overnight stop, a Flying J truck stop. We filled up and parked with the other RVs for the night. There are quite a few more RVs on the road this week. All the way East from Arizona, we commented on how few RVs and trucks there were in the rest areas and travel plazas. It must have been a pre-holiday lull, because traffic is way up this week.
We had one little problem today. Somewhere along the highway, the electrical connection for the lights on the Range Rover came unplugged. I noticed that the lights on the car weren’t working in the rear-view camera, so I checked at our next rest stop. Of course, the connection was completely gone from rubbing on the ground for however long. I picked up a new plug in the Flying J store, and I’ll temporarily wire it in tomorrow morning before we leave.
Lake Park, GA
Well, we’re back on the road again…
Sunday was a cold and gray day in Albertville. We stopped by to see Mom in the morning, and Rick made turkey soup for lunch. After lunch, Alyson left for school in Mobile and we headed out as well. We had made arrangements to stop at our friends, Linda and Wendell, in Birmingham. It only took a couple of hours to get there, so we were able to enjoy the afternoon and have dinner with them. We parked the coach in their driveway (a tight fit but manageable), and were all set to leave in the morning.
We left Birmingham just before 10:00 AM, and found our way through some back roads to I-20. Outside Atlanta, we used the I-285 bypass to I-75 South, and were congratulating ourselves on not getting bogged down in traffic. The last time we passed through that way, in early June, we got caught for over 2 hours on I-20 just before I-285 due to an accident. Of course, we were premature in congratulating ourselves, as we soon ran into a severe slowdown on I-75 well south of Atlanta. Fortunately, it didn’t last too long and we were cruising at 60.5 MPH again in about 20 minutes.
We had rain most of the day, some light and some heavy. I thought it was going to clear in the late afternoon, and there ended up being an absolutely beautiful sunset as we got to South Georgia. Unfortunately, as soon as the sun went down, the rain came back. It rained pretty hard as we arrived at our overnight stop, a Flying J truck stop. We filled up and parked with the other RVs for the night. There are quite a few more RVs on the road this week. All the way East from Arizona, we commented on how few RVs and trucks there were in the rest areas and travel plazas. It must have been a pre-holiday lull, because traffic is way up this week.
We had one little problem today. Somewhere along the highway, the electrical connection for the lights on the Range Rover came unplugged. I noticed that the lights on the car weren’t working in the rear-view camera, so I checked at our next rest stop. Of course, the connection was completely gone from rubbing on the ground for however long. I picked up a new plug in the Flying J store, and I’ll temporarily wire it in tomorrow morning before we leave.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
A quiet few days, with Thanksgiving and Turkey Day
November 24, 2007
Albertville, AL
Given that Erik was marching in it, we watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV. I think it was the first time I’ve actually watched the whole thing, to be honest. It’s usually on but my short attention span causes me to lose focus at some point. We also watched the dog show, but that was probably because we weren’t ready to head over to the nursing home yet to see Mom (guilt, guilt). We stopped over there for a while in the afternoon, and she was doing better, sitting up and watching TV. She seems to have lost the remote for the TV, but somebody must have turned it on for her.
Thursday may have been Thanksgiving but not “Turkey Day” for us. Since it was just Geri, Alyson and myself, we made a pork roast. It was cold and rainy out (temperatures dropping to near 40°F in the afternoon), so I decided to pass on grilling it, but it came out fine in the oven with roasted potatoes and Geri’s sautéed carrots.
Yesterday (Friday), the weather cleared but it turned even colder, below freezing overnight. It was a sunny and brisk fall day, just like we remember from living in New England (and part of the reason we love wintering in Arizona). In the morning, I did some odd jobs (replaced a mangled fitting on Rick’s garden hose, lubricated their garage door) after a quick trip to Lowe’s and the local Food Land grocery for some last-minute items. We visited with Mom in the afternoon, but she was tired and wanted to nap so we didn't stay long.
Rick and Annette got home late in the afternoon; their flights from Albany to Baltimore and on to Birmingham were uneventful and on time, thank goodness. Since they were traveling, we’d volunteered to make dinner. We planned ahead and brought the filet mignons with us from home. I’d bought a whole beef tenderloin at Costco, and trimmed it up and vacuum packed it before we left. Annette’s parents (Gerry and Lois) joined us for dinner, so the only one missing was Erik (he had to ride the band bus back from NYC).
Rick’s making the turkey dinner today (Saturday) since everyone’s back in town from New York. And it’s already in the oven and starting to fill the house with nice aromas. Geri and Annette are brave enough to be out shopping (is it “Gray Saturday” after “Black Friday”?), and Annette’s parents will join us again for dinner.
I spent a bit of time over the last few days working on our travel plan for the rest of the trip. Before we left Arizona, I had enough details mapped out to get us here. I thought it’d be a good idea to get us back home, especially since Geri has a doctor’s appointment on December 6th. That means we need to get home early enough on the 5th to unload and get the coach into storage. When mapping out a route like this, I like to make sure we know where we’re going to get fuel and sleep. Food, we usually bring with us. I list out all the rest areas as well, so we know where we can easily stop for meals and bio-breaks. In our case, I also had to make accommodations for a detour, since a big part of I-10 in Louisiana will be closed due to a gas well explosion. I’ve got us mapped out in a way that will allow us to add an extra day to the trip somewhere. This will be good, since I’d like to break up the drive across the country. Maybe we'll stop in San Antonio and see the Alamo.
Well, gotta pack up and put my trip planning stuff (atlas, rest area guide, exit services guide) away before Geri gets home…
Albertville, AL
Given that Erik was marching in it, we watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV. I think it was the first time I’ve actually watched the whole thing, to be honest. It’s usually on but my short attention span causes me to lose focus at some point. We also watched the dog show, but that was probably because we weren’t ready to head over to the nursing home yet to see Mom (guilt, guilt). We stopped over there for a while in the afternoon, and she was doing better, sitting up and watching TV. She seems to have lost the remote for the TV, but somebody must have turned it on for her.
Thursday may have been Thanksgiving but not “Turkey Day” for us. Since it was just Geri, Alyson and myself, we made a pork roast. It was cold and rainy out (temperatures dropping to near 40°F in the afternoon), so I decided to pass on grilling it, but it came out fine in the oven with roasted potatoes and Geri’s sautéed carrots.
Yesterday (Friday), the weather cleared but it turned even colder, below freezing overnight. It was a sunny and brisk fall day, just like we remember from living in New England (and part of the reason we love wintering in Arizona). In the morning, I did some odd jobs (replaced a mangled fitting on Rick’s garden hose, lubricated their garage door) after a quick trip to Lowe’s and the local Food Land grocery for some last-minute items. We visited with Mom in the afternoon, but she was tired and wanted to nap so we didn't stay long.
Rick and Annette got home late in the afternoon; their flights from Albany to Baltimore and on to Birmingham were uneventful and on time, thank goodness. Since they were traveling, we’d volunteered to make dinner. We planned ahead and brought the filet mignons with us from home. I’d bought a whole beef tenderloin at Costco, and trimmed it up and vacuum packed it before we left. Annette’s parents (Gerry and Lois) joined us for dinner, so the only one missing was Erik (he had to ride the band bus back from NYC).
Rick’s making the turkey dinner today (Saturday) since everyone’s back in town from New York. And it’s already in the oven and starting to fill the house with nice aromas. Geri and Annette are brave enough to be out shopping (is it “Gray Saturday” after “Black Friday”?), and Annette’s parents will join us again for dinner.
I spent a bit of time over the last few days working on our travel plan for the rest of the trip. Before we left Arizona, I had enough details mapped out to get us here. I thought it’d be a good idea to get us back home, especially since Geri has a doctor’s appointment on December 6th. That means we need to get home early enough on the 5th to unload and get the coach into storage. When mapping out a route like this, I like to make sure we know where we’re going to get fuel and sleep. Food, we usually bring with us. I list out all the rest areas as well, so we know where we can easily stop for meals and bio-breaks. In our case, I also had to make accommodations for a detour, since a big part of I-10 in Louisiana will be closed due to a gas well explosion. I’ve got us mapped out in a way that will allow us to add an extra day to the trip somewhere. This will be good, since I’d like to break up the drive across the country. Maybe we'll stop in San Antonio and see the Alamo.
Well, gotta pack up and put my trip planning stuff (atlas, rest area guide, exit services guide) away before Geri gets home…
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
We're Heee-re...
November 21, 2007
Albertville, AL
We arrived in Albertville today as scheduled (+/- 10 minutes - not bad for an 1,800 mile drive).
Yesterday was another straight drive, just with an early start. We had stopped for the night just west of Ft Worth, and I wanted to get an early start to avoid traffic. We hit the road just after 5:00 AM, and were able to successfully get to the east of the city before too much traffic was on the road.
We had pretty good driving conditions, with the exception of bad roads in populated areas (Shreveport, Vicksburg, Jackson). There wasn't as much traffic as we'd expected, and even the construction zones didn't generate too much of a delay.
Last night, we made it to the Alabama line on I-20. We stopped at the state Welcome Center. We had stopped there before (as we had at several of our stops on this trip), so we knew there would be plenty of parking. There was and it was relatively quiet. Or maybe we were just tired after 3 days on the road. We parked next to another RV and they were gone in the morning when we got up, and we didn't hear a thing.
As we continued east through Mississippi and into Alabama, we saw more foliage; leaves were falling all along our route. We stopped for provisions in Attalla just off the Interstate, and rolled into Albertville around 2:00 PM, just as it started to rain.
Once we were set up, we headed for the nursing home to visit Mom. She was getting ready to take a nap, so we interrupted that, but she stayed awake to talk a little bit. She's still pretty weak and it's sooo hard to hear her when she tries to talk, but she was more alert than I'd expected her to be. We're not sure she knew who we were, but she was polite about it anyway. We'll stop back tomorrow after we watch the parade.
Albertville, AL
We arrived in Albertville today as scheduled (+/- 10 minutes - not bad for an 1,800 mile drive).
Yesterday was another straight drive, just with an early start. We had stopped for the night just west of Ft Worth, and I wanted to get an early start to avoid traffic. We hit the road just after 5:00 AM, and were able to successfully get to the east of the city before too much traffic was on the road.
We had pretty good driving conditions, with the exception of bad roads in populated areas (Shreveport, Vicksburg, Jackson). There wasn't as much traffic as we'd expected, and even the construction zones didn't generate too much of a delay.
Last night, we made it to the Alabama line on I-20. We stopped at the state Welcome Center. We had stopped there before (as we had at several of our stops on this trip), so we knew there would be plenty of parking. There was and it was relatively quiet. Or maybe we were just tired after 3 days on the road. We parked next to another RV and they were gone in the morning when we got up, and we didn't hear a thing.
As we continued east through Mississippi and into Alabama, we saw more foliage; leaves were falling all along our route. We stopped for provisions in Attalla just off the Interstate, and rolled into Albertville around 2:00 PM, just as it started to rain.
Once we were set up, we headed for the nursing home to visit Mom. She was getting ready to take a nap, so we interrupted that, but she stayed awake to talk a little bit. She's still pretty weak and it's sooo hard to hear her when she tries to talk, but she was more alert than I'd expected her to be. We're not sure she knew who we were, but she was polite about it anyway. We'll stop back tomorrow after we watch the parade.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Still in Texas
November 19, 2007
New Salem, TX
Today was an uneventful driving day, unless you're Maya Lynn. We got an early start and drove exactly as planned. At our first rest stop, we walked the pups and Maya got a load of burrs stuck in her fur and paws. I have no idea how she got so many (probably 30+) and Merlin got essentially none, since they walked in the same grass. She was having a lot of discomfort, and it took 10 minutes to find and remove all the burrs from her, and from my pants legs.
We drove right through the heart of Texas oil country (Odessa and Midland). It doesn't help with prices, of course. The truck stops right around the Midland refinery don't even display their prices (around $3.29 for diesel) on their big neon signs. Chickens.
As we continued east, the oil fields gave way to cotton fields (just like around Phoenix). We saw a couple of large wind farms for electricity generation, one operating and one under construction. It was ironic to see alternative energy installations i nthe shadow on an iconic image of big oil. On the other hand, we've seen absolutely no sign of biodiesel or ethanol. Too bad...
We're stopping for the night just west of Ft Worth, and we'll leave pre-dawn to get past Dallas before traffic gets too bad.
New Salem, TX
Today was an uneventful driving day, unless you're Maya Lynn. We got an early start and drove exactly as planned. At our first rest stop, we walked the pups and Maya got a load of burrs stuck in her fur and paws. I have no idea how she got so many (probably 30+) and Merlin got essentially none, since they walked in the same grass. She was having a lot of discomfort, and it took 10 minutes to find and remove all the burrs from her, and from my pants legs.
We drove right through the heart of Texas oil country (Odessa and Midland). It doesn't help with prices, of course. The truck stops right around the Midland refinery don't even display their prices (around $3.29 for diesel) on their big neon signs. Chickens.
As we continued east, the oil fields gave way to cotton fields (just like around Phoenix). We saw a couple of large wind farms for electricity generation, one operating and one under construction. It was ironic to see alternative energy installations i nthe shadow on an iconic image of big oil. On the other hand, we've seen absolutely no sign of biodiesel or ethanol. Too bad...
We're stopping for the night just west of Ft Worth, and we'll leave pre-dawn to get past Dallas before traffic gets too bad.
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