Almost Blown Away

Day 5
Rolling on down the road headed to Deming New Mexico. We go through El Paso and the traffic is completely bumper to bumper all the way across town. We finally get to the other side and 15 minutes outside of town the road goes down to one lane and then detoured off the west bound side to a single lane on the east bound side. Not so bad, everyone cooperated and the transition went smoothly.
We get to the New Mexico state line and pull into the welcome center for a pit stop for Cricket.

Back on the road again and a little ways down the road we have yet another detour… This time we see a sign with flashing lights which says “All vehicles must exit the freeway when flashing” Well you guessed it, it was flashing. We pulled in and it’s a Border Patrol check point.

I told Ed I feel like we're in that movie “We are the Miller's”  We must keep calm and don’t look nervous. LOL The officer only asked "how many are aboard and if both were from the US" and then he waved us on… WoW, Top security at it’s finest.. Glad I didn’t panic! Then we were rolling again headed to Deming NM. About 2:45 we pulled into Low-Hi RV Ranch in Deming for a 2 night stay. This Passport America park is completely gravel with pretty level and roomy sites. We got a pull through site, #52 second from the beginning of the row. Great spot… yeah, I thought so until the wicked wind blew in. OMG, it just kept getting stronger and stronger. It started out being 20 mph and then 37 and the with gusts of 49. All this started around 9 am by 10 or so we decided to pull in the slide (the one the wind was hitting) and even put down the sat dish, Yeah, it was that bad! We had scheduled some sight seeing but that didn’t happen. Oh well, it’s back on the road in the morning headed to Tucson AZ and the Adventure Continues. Until next time Happy Trails and Safe Travels everyone.

The First Adventure Continues

So excited to be on the road, now the Continuing of our adventures…
Day 3
Left Caverns of Sonora headed to Ft Stockton with just a half a tank of fuel and thinking no problem we can get fuel anywhere along the way. WRONG… about 75 miles before we get to Ft Stockton, Ed says we better find a station real soon SO it’s ask Siri time on my phone. Sisi says closest gas station is in Iraan a little town 13 miles off I 10. and is 18 miles before the exit. Well we made it there and they had 2 stations. We picked the one we could get into, blocking some of the driveway, but we get our fuel and it’s back to I 10 we go. Later we found out that little town of Iraan use to be an Oil Boom town and named for a rancher Ira Yates and his wife Ann. They named it Iraan. Neat story. Got some neat pictures along the detour.

Also we saw a TON of wind turbines just like in California.

Tonight Nov 20 2014 we are staying at an RV Park in Ft Stockton.
Parkview RV Park
735 S Hwy 285
Ft Stockton TX 79735
432-336-0103
It’s a Passport America park for $13.00 The sites are level, full HU, 30/50 amp, on gravel and pull through. It’s a good park for a one night stay. If you don't have Passport America you are missing out on a GREAT value. There are so many parks across the US that offer it and you save 1/2 off the regular price. It's WELL worth the $39 a year, sometimes they even run a special of $29 a year.

Still headed to the Hills and climbing… Wonderful and interesting shapes of hills and mountains. lol

Day 4
It’s on the road again headed to Van Horn TX just a short ride today 120 miles. BUT first a quick stop at the Super Wal-Mart in Ft Stockton to pick up a few supplies and Cricket a new little bed to keep up front between us while we are rolling.
Stopping for the night Nov 21 2014 at
Desert WIllow RV Park a Passport America park $13.50
404 East Broadway Blvd
Van Horn TX 79855
432-283-2225

Our First Cross Country Adventure

Finally…
Leaving Thousand Trails Lake Conroe today, Tuesday Nov 18 2014, rolling out on our very first cross country journey. We have been looking forward to this trip for way too long. On a sad and at the same time exciting feeling we leave behind our friends. The time we spent with the H.E.B. crew (the Hurlburt’s, the Evans’ and the Binns) was GREAT but now everyone is going in different directions on their own adventure. We have made plans to meet up in Palm Springs in mid February where the HEB crew will once again circle the wagons and spend some time playing more cards and Mexican Train. SAFE TRAVELS to you ALL…
Day 1…
River Bend RV Park and Campground
1881 So State Hwy 80
Luling TX 78648
830-875-9548 www.riverbendrvpark.com
Kate in the office is very helpful and pleasant.
Drove140 miles the first day…  We will only be staying 1 night so we won’t even un hook our toad. The spot we are in is a great pull through with full hook ups for only $15.00 it is a Passport American Park. I highly recommend it if you’re your just passing through, it’s easy to get to and only an 1/8 of a mile off I 10 west. If you don't have Passport America you are missing out on a GREAT value. There are so many parks across the US that offer it and you save 1/2 off the regular price. It's WELL worth the $39 a year, sometimes they even run a special of $29 a year.
                        
Day 2…
Caverns of Sonora RV Campground
1711 PR 4468
Sonora TX 76950
325-387-3105 or 325-387-6507
This is a neat place but you will think you made a wrong turn, even though you turn at the right sign, don’t be deceived just keep driving you will eventually see the campground. You turn at the sign and go straight up and around the mountain then straight back down and around to the campground. They have a really neat little store here and tons of critters from peacocks to deer. $20.00 a night Water and Electric only NO sewer and NO dump…

Until tomorrow when the adventure continues, Happy Trails and Safe Travels to all…

Miami Down on the Farm

Our trip to Miami Oct 28th to meet Ed’s daughter, who he had not seen since she was 2 months old, was awesome. Had a great visit with her, her family and a whole farm full of many animals. She has horses, ducks, chickens, goats and even a mini sized bull. We spent Halloween night at their house and I walked along side Kaleigh, the youngest of 4 grandkids, while she trick or treated on horseback. That was different and fun.

Then it was back home to get the rig road ready for our cross country trip. Once we returned back home we had the rig washed and waxed. The tires have been ordered and will be mounted Monday before we pull out Tuesday. Ed had our stairs and the slide seals looked at by a very good RV mobile repair company. These guys are very good, they come right to you. "Mobile RV Repair" so if your ever in need of some service and your in the Conroe/Willis TX area give them a call at 936-448-4444 and ask for Doug to come out, Ed was very impressed with his knowledge.

Upon our return we also celebrated my birthday, Nov 6th, with our close friends Janice & Dave Evans and AJ & Rick Binns down in the Woodlands at a nice little joint called Grimaldi's Coal Fired Pizza. Thanks to everyone for making my birthday special.

We also had our first ever Meet Greet and Eat at Luby’s in Conroe Nov 8th which I think was a great success… We had a large crowd of friends and met some new and wonderful RVers.

Ed and I were thinking about maybe doing this Meet Greet and Eat thing all across the country as we make our way across the lower US on our way to San Diego. We really love meeting new RVers and getting to hear all about their travels and share RV stories. I would really appreciate your opinion and feedback so we’ll know if you RVers are interested in continuing with the meetings. Thank You and Safe Travels…

First Trip out after House Closing

After closing on the house Friday Oct 10th and celebrating with friends, we finished out the weekend at Thousand Trails Lake Conroe. Monday morning Oct 13 we headed out to Thousand Trails Colorado River in Columbus. OMG did we pick a bad day to travel, we hit some terrible weather. In spots we had blinding rain and then high winds on top of that. Thank goodness it didn’t last for any long periods of time.

Grateful for our good friends Janice and Dave Evans, Janice had lunch ready for us once we got all set up. She had yummy Pork Stew and Jalapeno cornbread. To tell you what a good friend she is, she even fixed Ed Chicken Stew and regular cornbread because she knows he can’t eat much Pork and he doesn’t do Jalapenos. Now folks that there is a good friend. Thank You Janice… But with all the bad weather came the good, Monday night temps went down in the 50’s and Tuesday night temps went down into the 40’s. Each day has been so beautiful, full of Sunshine, low temps with a cool breeze. The deer are really moving around. The first morning we saw a Buck chase the Lady Deer around, that was so funny. Bless his heart they didn’t want anything to do with him. YET… LOL

Tuesday night we did Potluck and played a new game called Candy Bingo, that was a lot of fun. Wed was Janice's’ Birthday so we treated her and Dave to a Mexican Lunch in town. Cause we love her… Then Thursday Janice brought over everything to do a Fish Fry. Boy howdy did she did good, we had homemade potato chips, onion straws and Fish, I made a salad and we were all set. That evening we drove into Katy to the Best Buy and bought a new Nikon Camera with a 60x zoom for taking great pictures just like Janice. I love this camera, I think it will be great to take on the road and boy do I plan on doing a lot of traveling this coming year. Above are just a few pictures Ed took today. We are just getting the feel of this camera, I’m sure we will get better at taking pictures as we learn.  Oh and here is a young spike Buck Ed shot with the new camera this morning.

Friday I made BBQ Ribs, potato salad, beans and pickled cucumber and onions. Sat Janice and I ran into town for a few things when we got back Janice made a Baked Spaghetti and garlic hot rolls for Lunch. It was awesome!! I feel so blessed to be able to enjoy life with such good friends.

Until next time, Happy Trails and Safe Travels…

It’s Been a Long Time Coming

Hi everyone,
It has finally come true. Our dream of selling the house and hitting the road has finally happened.

The closing was set for last Friday but at the last minute the lenders wanted more information from the buyer. The lender said if they got all the paperwork they needed we could close on Monday. Monday came and went with no word. Tuesday afternoon we get a call from our agent, the lenders want another termite report, Really!!!! The first termite report said we had termites so we addressed that by having Orkin come in for a second opinion. Orkin said we did NOT have termites but we had them go ahead and do a preventative treatment anyway. Of course the treatment report Orkin gave us was not on the right form for the lenders and that’s why we had to have another termite inspection. We met the inspector at the house at 8:00 am to have the inspection done and get the report on the right form. Then we met our agent so he could scan the report over to the lender. Now we have the ok to close Thursday afternoon. Well it's Thursday at 11:00 and we get a text from our agent, the Title Company still has NOT received all the documents from the lenders and so.... we're still sitting here waiting on the call to go to closing. The Title Company was even willing to stay after hours to close if they got the paperwork. Just got the call at 12:45 pm the Title Company says they have all the documents and we are good to close tomorrow Friday at 2 pm. We'll see.... Happy Dance is on HOLD...
YEA!!!! We did it. It finally happened! We closed on the house. I am beyond excited. We called our friends Tammy and Chuck and had them meet us at Outback to celebrate with us. I had told Ed once we finally closed I was going to have  Champagne and Lobster and I had just that. Boy was it good too... Now it on to bigger and better adventures. We will be here in Conroe until Monday then it's on to Columbus Tx for a few weeks. 
Until next time, Safe Travels and Happy Trails.

The End is in Sight?

Hi Y'all
Here is the new update on our adventurers of "The House Sale" The end is in sight????

Here ya go... We got the the eMail Monday night at 11:30 pm that the buyers wanted to close Friday morning. WoW, after months of waiting and waiting BOOM everything is in fast forward. Tuesday morning we are on the phone with our agent setting up a closing time for Friday then it's off to Livingston TX to get our new address with Escapees then to DPS to change our drivers license and last stop was at the tax office to register our Rig and Car in Polk Co. Everything happening now is like a blurr... Wednesday morning we get up, get on the phone to change all our important stuff like credit cards etc. Also contacting the electric and water company. It's Thursday and of course a snag!!!! We get a call from the buyer herself... No closing Friday morning because she has to gather up her divorce papers from 15 yrs ago. Thank God she did have them but packed away at the very back of her storage place. She went to get them and sent them to lender. Ok, we're good, Right? Oh No.... Now it's 1:00 pm we get a call from our agent and the lenders want the papers we previously eSigned, RE-Signed in real hand writing before they would except them. On top of everything else while this is going on, last night we get a call from our bank. It's the FRAUD dept... Ed's debit card number was used for several purchases at a Walgreen's in Brooklyn NY. Really!!!! Needless to say we had to go to the bank this morning and sign some papers and he had to get a new debit card with a new number. On a good note our agent said there is still a slight chance we could still close in the morning. Otherwise it will be Monday before we can close and that's if they can fit us in. So here we are still sitting in the driveway with reservations in place. Thank goodness they can be changed without a problem. I am ONLY going to think good and positive thoughts until this all gets settled. We can sure use the prayer warriors right about now. We need that Guardian Angel to hop on our shoulders and smile down on us... The saga continues so stay tuned.