Day 127 - Friday, April 4 - Nasty Travel Day

I wanted to leave early, in an attempt to get on the road during one of the brief intervals between showers. When I tried to start the car to warm up the transmission fluid the battery was dead, same as it was yesterday morning. (I have no idea why.) I jumped it to get it started. A good thing is that the chassis batteries are just inside the back of the coach, convenient for jumper cables when the car is hooked to the back of the coach. We got out around 7:30.

It rained almost the entire way home. In addition it was misty. In general just a NASTY travel day. We arrived home around 1:00. We got set up, in the rain and then I had to fix a water faucet that had froze and broke during the winter. Fortunately Kelsey had a cap so I cut the PEX and put a cap on it. 

When I was getting the car started this morning I noticed that the check engine light stayed on after I got it running. I was thinking about that, and the dead battery, when I noticed that the heater fan was blowing hot air out of the vents even though it looked like it was shut off. The heater controls were totally inoperative. One of the ways to reset the check engine light is to remove the negative battery cable. I took it off and left it off while I dumped our tanks, I had not hooked the sewer at the campground last night. I put the cable back on, started the car and everything seems to be working the way it should. It will be interesting to see if it starts okay in the morning.

By the time I got back into the coach I was soaked to the skin. I don't think the high was above 50 today. Tonight's low is supposed to be 44. Then a low of 40 on Saturday night, 36 on Sunday night & 32 on Monday night. Some year I'm going to get smart enough to stay south until the lows here are above 40. Its interesting that last year we also arrived back home on April 4th. This year we had to get back for a routine Doctor's appointment Kathy has on the 8th. I'm not returning to Missouri until mid April next year, no Doctor's appointment scheduled before April 20th..

Kelsey invited us over for supper so we got to tour their completed new home, Andy was out mushroom hunting in the rain. It was good to visit with her, Lydia and Nolan. Their new home is very nice.

The trip home from Lakewood in Harlingen was 1,076 miles. I will check the odometers on the car and coach and note how fare we drove when I do an end of trip report.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Days 125 & 126 - Wednesday & Thursday, April 2 & 3 - Travelling North

We left Victoria at 8:30 Wednesday. Kathy drove us 400 miles north during the day. We wanted to get as far north as we could before we had to drive in blowing rain. There were a few time when we needed the wipers but we were never in heavy rain. We were set up at the Choctaw Casino RV Park, in Durant, OK (population 21,000, the population of the entire county is only 49,000), by 5:30. The RV sites are #$62/night which we thought was pretty steep for a casino but we were tired and it had good reviews.

During the drive we stopped at a roadside turnout and had lunch. The other coach was there when we arrived and still there when we left. It had its leveling jacks down and a slide out. I wonder if they maybe spent the night there.

There was a lot of traffic going through Dallas in the midafternoon. PTL that I never had a daily commute in traffic like this. When I took the photo we were moving but there was also a fair amount of stop and go.

The casino facility is huge. 1,700 rooms, 77 RV sites, 7,400 slot machines, a 20 lane bowling facility, a 6 screen movie theater, 16 restaurants, 18 bars, etc. A shuttle runs between the RV Park and the casino. We took it over to the casino to get supper. We were shocked at the restaurant prices. We walked around and looked at the menus posted at the entry of each restaurant. To eat at the buffet place was $30/person. An 8 oz filet mignon at the steakhouse was $67, it was the cheapest steak. At the other end of the steak menu was a 22 oz cowboy ribeye, at $122. At the Salt & Stone the All American Cheeseburger was $20, the pan fried catfish was $22 & the 14 oz ribeye was $60. There were several other restaurants and several "fast food" places in a food court. We ended up eating Smashburgers.

Driving by the main casino building.

Set up at the campground.

A nice place to keep the kids entertained for awhile. The pool is off to the left. I didn't go over to check it out. I did check out the restroom & shower facility. It was quite upscale.

I talked Kathy into getting a macaroon from the casinos sweet shop.

During the night it rained and the wind BLEW. We pulled in 3 of our 4 slides. We heard some decent size hail hit the coach roof but thankfully there was only a little of it.

The rain let up around 8 AM and I went out and unhooked everything except the electrical. I also went to start the car to circulate the transmission fluid and the battery was totally dead. I have no idea why. I dug out my jumper cables, which are "buried" in the back of one of the basement areas, and got the car started. Kathy had been up a lot during the night and she slept in until after 10 AM. The weather forecast looked grim. We consider staying there another night and not fighting the wind and rain. We finally decided to head north and left the campground at noon. I drove the first 200 miles and Kathy took over and drove the last 70 miles. Driving in the wind was a chore but thankfully we didn't have to contend with any significant rain.

Because we got such a late start we only stopped twice, once for fuel and a second time when we changed drivers. Kathy ate a sandwich before she started driving and I had one after I stopped driving. We arrived at Coachlight RV Park in Carthage, MO (just east of Joplin) at 5 PM. It appears to be a pretty nice place for $40/night. We will keep it in mind for future travels.

Parked at Coachlight.

More of the campground.

We are 210 miles from home. Lord willing we should get home mid afternoon tomorrow, Day 127.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Day 124 - Tuesday, April 1 - Cuero Museum Visits

We went to Mumford's BBQ for an early lunch. The ribs and brisket were good, but a little disappointing, they weren't as good as they were either of the other times we were there.

After lunch I dropped Kathy off at the coach and headed up to Cuero, about 30 miles north of Victoria. The last time we were in Victoria I drove up to the Chisholm Trail Heritage Museum and went through it. The lady there told me that there were several other museums in the town that I should check out but I didn't have the time to do it that day.

The first place I went was the Cuero Heritage Museum, there were several different exhibits in what had once been the Post Office. The first exhibit I looked at was about the Cuero Turkey Trot. In the early 1900’s some local small farmers raised turkey’s. Since there were only a few vehicles at the time farmers would “drive” herds of their turkeys to the local processing plant in Cuero. Someone got the idea to turn the Turkey Trot into an event. The first Turkey Trot was held November 25-27, 1912. 30,000 people flocked into Cuero to watch 18,000 turkeys herded down Main Street. There was a carnival, big band dances, a football game (the local team is the Gobblers), a parade, etc. The Governor crowned the first Turkey Queen. The last actual Turkey Trot was in 1972 but I think the festival, now called the Cuero Turkeyfest, still occurs. The festival took on a Turkish theme.

Another couple of rooms were dedicated to Coca Cola memorabilia. Several old Coke machines, lots of old style Coke bottles and this outfit that a local wore, CoCo the Clown, in local parades. When I was driving around town I noted a building was once a Coke building but is now the City Hall.

Upstairs there were several rooms full of juice squeezers. There was a 206 page catalog with photos of all 1,643 squeezers. Each photo had the price the collector had paid for the squeezer. The total cost was $134,983.

Another room was dedicated to the port town of Indianola which had been wiped out by hurricanes many years ago. Reading about the military activities during the Civil War's, and the North's disregard for private property rights, when they took over the town, was interesting. Thankfully it didn't seem to be one of the typical historical revisionist museums that frequent the nation, by claiming getting rid of slavery was the primary reason the righteous northern states refused to let the seceding states for their own nation. (Delaware, a Yankee slave state voted against the 13th Amendment, the abolition of slavery; the 14th Amendment, citizenship rights; & the 15th Amendment, giving blacks the right to vote. In 1901 it finally ratified the 13th Amendment. Slavery was a horrendous, but it wasn't the primary reason for the Civil War.)

Next was the Pharmacy & Medical Museum of Texas.

They have an actual iron lung machine.

Interesting ad.

The old courthouse.

A street in Cuero.

That was enough sightseeing for me for the day. 

God is good. I pray that He bless you and yours. He has blessed me.

Day 123 - Monday, March 31 - Harlingen to Victoria

 Today we drove from Encore Lakewood in Harlingen, TX to Victoria RV Park in Victoria, TX, a little over 200 miles. We have stayed here in Victoria at least 3 previous times. They recently raised the price from $12/night to $15/night but it is still an awesome deal for a full hook up site.

Leaving Lakewood I took this photo of one of the units at the back. Note the dark line alone the skirting that shows the water level during the high water.

The following photos were taken during the first 15 miles north of Harlingen.

Below is a corn field that is partially underwater. I asked one of the guys at the campground why we have seen so much corn this year. He told me that in addition to the drought in the Rio Grande Valley Mexico is shorting the amount of water they are supposed to let enter the Rio Grande River. The amount of water available for irrigation has been reduced. Normally a lot of these fields would contain sugar cane, but it requires more water than corn.

We stopped at a rest area to eat lunch. It is TIGHT when trucks or campers are on both  sides of the road through the rest area.

The view out our window as we ate lunch. Note the sign in the middle of the photo.

Parked at Victoria RV Park, the 2nd time. We were supposed to be in Site 2. We were almost completely set up when Kathy told me that she the electricity in part of the coach was not working properly. There is no attendant at the campground so I called the office. The lady apologized and told me to move to 

Site 3. No problems with Site 3.

The view through our windshield.

Every one of the 7 or 8 nights we have stayed here we have watched the deer come out of the woods and graze in the evening. Usually we have only seen 4-8 but there was a whole herd tonight.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Day 122 - Sunday, March 30 - No Church Today

 Kathy went to the campground church service this morning. When she got home we headed out to go to the Cowboy Church. When we got to the exit we normally use it was barricaded because of flood waters still on the roads. We thought we would just get off at the next exit and go "cross country" to get to the church. The next exit was also barricaded. We were finally able to exit at the next exit and decided that if there was still so many roads flooded in the area we should just go back home, which we did.

Actually we did make a stop at Walmart and picked up a few groceries and then over to the Golden Corral for lunch before getting home.

It was hot and humid here today. The high temperature was a mostly sunny 91, with lots of humidity. Kathy walked over to the puzzle room, took apart the last two puzzles she had put together and put them away. I sat inside in the AC and read.

In the late afternoon I went out, dumped our waste tanks, added some more water to our fresh water tank and put away our outside furniture. Dennis & Geri, neighbors behind us, were out and I went over to tell them we were leaving tomorrow. They, mostly Dennis, sit outside a lot. Lots of people stop and visit with them as they go by, walking, biking or in golf carts. They spend 6-7 months in their small manufactured home here, the only one in the campground. During the summer months they live in their cottage on a lake in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. If we are able to go back to the UP this summer we will give them a call to and go out to eat some night.

A little later Jim & Deb (Jim is the campground Pastor while down here) stopped by to say goodbye. They spend about 7 months here. They bought a park model unit last fall. They live in their 5th wheel when they aren't down here. Their "home base" is in Kansas but they also do some travelling during the summer months.

Lord willing the plan is to head north tomorrow.

God is good. I pray that He bless you and yours. He has blessed me.

PS. Before we headed off to church I was reviewing the notes I took last Sunday. Romans 8:27-31 was some of the Scripture.  Chris asked us to remember the story most of us are familiar with, two boys arguing and one says, "I'm telling my Dad and he can whip your Dad." The point he was making was why don't I/we spend more time sharing our joys and problems with our heavenly Father? Is it because I/we don't truly believe He is capably of "whipping" that which is plaguing me/us? 

Days 120 & 121 - Friday & Saturday, March 28 & 29 - Lots of Flooding

 From 10PM Thursday night to 4 PM Friday 21" of rain fell on the Harlingen area. Below are some photos of the campground. The water level had dropped by about 3" when I took these photos.

All the flooding was on the north side of the clubhouse. I don't think anyone actually had water inside their units, but it was close. We are on the south side of the clubhouse. There was minor ponded water in low spots, but no flooding.

While it was raining we had a 20 mph wind, with 30 mph gusts. We had a few drips inside where water blew under one of our slide roof seals, but nothing significant. Our biggest problem was our refrigerator quit working. A hard driving rain can trip a sensor on the back of the refrigerator. It happened to us once before. The relay that trips is totally enclosed in plastic. You can reset it with a strong magnet. The magnets we had were not strong enough to reset it so I thought I would go to the hardware store and buy a stronger one. Before I got to the first significant intersection the street was covered with water. I cut through a church parking lot to get over to the frontage road that runs along the interstate. It is one way going west. The photo is looking east. Fortunately I wanted to go west (turn left) on it. It looked like 5 of the cars in this photo had stalled out. I got back to the campground without have to drive through any significant water. I asked several of the guys at the campground and one of them had a magnet that was strong enough to reset the relay.

We had planned on heading north Thursday or Friday but when we saw the weather reports we decided to wait until Saturday. Because of all the flooding we postponed our leaving until Monday.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Day 119 - Thursday, March 27 - Who Has the Plans for the Ark?

Rain has been coming down almost nonstop since 10PM last night. Mid morning a person from the campground said we had received 4.9". I just looked at my Weatherbug app and it says we have received 15.45" of rain. I don't know if that is for the entire storm or for the today. Another app says 11.62" so far today and projects another 3.25" before the rain stops around 4AM. We have had a lot of 15-20 mph steady winds with some 35 mph gusts.

I don't think we will go look, but it would be interesting to see what the Rio Grande river looks like tomorrow morning.

We went to Cheddar's for supper with the campground Pastor and his wife. He drove. He drove up close to our steps to pick us up and dropped us off at the door at Cheddar's. We had jackets so we didn't get to wet. On the way back to the campground you drive through a nice residential neighborhood. For most of the way only the center 8' of the street was not covered with water. From maybe 300' the street was completely under water and the water was over the curb on both sides.

Kathy has gotten a couple of texts from campground residents. One lady noted that two sites at the far end of the campground are now under water. Another, who lives in a park model trailer, said the the water was up to the top of the first step to get into her unit. She said it was touching the bottom of her car.

Our refrigerator quit working a couple of hours ago. The error message is one that indicates a safety relay has tripped. The issue can be caused by driving rain. It happened to us once before and I reset the relay using a magnet (found the trick on the Internet). During a short break in the rain I went out and tried it but the relay would not reset. In the morning I will try drying the back of the refrigerator with a hair dryer and try resetting it again. I had to wade through 1-1.5" water to get from our door around to the refrigerator access panel. Most of our site is several inches above the roadway and the road seems to be draining well in front of our site.

We are under the red dot. This was a display of lightning strikes at 5:23AM. If I had done another screenshot at 5:30PM there were even more strikes in or area. 

Rainfall intensity display from this morning.The most intense rainfall is centered over south Padre Island. The blue icon points at us.

Rainfall intensity at 6:45PM.

I get an Emergency Flood Warning notification on my phone, from the National Weather Service, about every 90 minutes. People are warned to stay off the roads unless they are fleeing flood waters or in and evacuation area.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.