Getting Out of Texas

Saturday morning, May 28th I hitched up the pop-up and began the trip to Tempe, AZ where my cousin Dave lives.  Shirley was there at the curb in her motorized wheelchair to see me off -- tears in both of our eyes for sure.  It had been really good to see her and be with her and her friends there but, my June 11th date of meeting up with my son Tim in San Jose was approaching quicker than I had thought with two cousins to meet up with before then and the hope to see some sights as well.

The entrance to I-10N was easy to get to and close to The Waterford so, 10 minutes after waving goodbye to Shirley, me and my Jeep were racing out of San Antonio hoping to get out of the hot state of Texas before evening.  As it turns out, I very nearly got out of Texas and probably would have except that about 2 hours out of San Antonio, I heard the AC compressor seals blow and lost the AC in the middle of nowhere (the Texas desert) -- Bakersfield, TX was the nearest name on the maps and it was nothing but two gas stations with the price of gas at $4.29 per gallon (and I was running on fumes, I thought).  Without the AC and with windows open for some air-flow (occassionally needing to be closed because of blowing dust) I pushed on toward New Mexico.  However, I decided after too many hours of dust and heat to stop in El Paso in hopes of finding a motel and a place with a good cold draft beer -- Texas Roadhouse seemed to be just the thing and a rib-eye steak with baked potato and cole slaw filled the void left from driving all day -- just a short walk across the highway from the Econo-Lodge I picked (which had space for the Jeep with trailer attached -- laundromat too).  All my needs taken care of for the day except for AC in the Jeep.

Got an early start Sunday morning in hopes of beating the heat as I headed for Tempe -- got out of Texas in just about 10 minutes after getting on the road (route I-10W).  Crossed the Continental Divide in New Mexico at 9:47 am at an altitude of 4585 ft. (mile marker 50) then, crossed into Arizona at 10:33 am, narrowly missing a huge dust storm to the south (toward Mexico).  Stopped at a rest stop at 11:49 after a long climb to mile marker 321 in Taxas Canyon.  The rest stop was surrounded by huge boulders, bouldered mountains and there was a strong breeze blowing -- felt good and refreshing so, took some pictures of the huge boulders (some bigger than the tractor trailers).  Planning to stop somewhere near Tucson for gas and hoping the heat doesn't keep me back from Tempe -- maybe a cold beer at cousin Dave's will be waiting.

After Tucson the road made a large curve toward the northwest where I noticed a Saguaro cactus farm to the right and across the highway to the south there was an Ostrich farm -- poor black feathered birds seemed to be suffering more than me in the intense sunshine and heat -- most were hunkered down on the ground (thought maybe they would be dieing -- think I would have).  Maybe seeing those poor birds made me feel better about driving around without any AC -- besides our earlier relatives didn't have such comforts in their old cars.

Did finally make it to the comfort of Dave's place and a cold Sam Adam's (I think) was just the thing to wet my palate -- dinner to be determined soon thereafter.



1006 W. Riviera Circle (Dave's)

Heading for San Antonio

One storm rolled quickly through LCP during the night (luckily after my campfire had died out) and I awoke early to try one more time to catch a fish or two -- no such luck but, that's what fishing is about sometimes.  Got on the road early as many of the youngsters that arrived last evening were heading to the marina for some boating and frolicking in the lake -- saw some of them as I was packing up and rehitching the trailer.  This time the trailer dropped on right away and got on the road before 10:00 am.  Woo Hoo!

The twelve miles to the main road went by somewhat quickly and had hoped to see some sort of wildlife such as deer on the way but, again nothing appeared.  I did have to stop on the ramp to I-30W to tighten the torsion-sway bar as I had left it loose until then.  The roads seemed to be in better shape on this side of Little Rock and before I knew it I passed through Texarkana and into Texas -- thinking I would stop somewhere east of Dallas in a motel and head out early the next morning to get to San Antonio by evening.  As I neared Dallas and the reservoir on the eastern side, I noticed the clouds over the city were looking quite mottled and ominous with a strange silver streak shining at the lower end of the clouds -- decided it might be better to push on toward the southern side of Dallas in the direction of Waco.  Seems I made the right decision as I heard on the news next morning that tornadoes had been reported northeast of Dallas -- similar things happened around Little Rock too.

Think I stopped in a little town north of Waco, maybe Hillsboro, TX just off I-30W and had some mexican food that evening at a little restaurant across the street from the motel.  Headed out early and managed to get to San Antonio in the middle of the afternoon -- possibly 3:30 pm or thereabouts.

I called to let Shirley know I was close and by the time I pulled up in front of The Waterford, she was out front waiting.

I stayed right in cousin Shirley's room (on the couch or on the floor with the couch cushions beneath me) and we visited non-stop for the next few days -- enjoyed meals with her fiesty group of friends (Jim and his sister Marge, Lorraine, Margaret and a couple others at various times).  I really enjoyed all of the friends there and wished they could join me on my adventure.

It seems that as Shirley and I scoured our minds for things to remenisce about, we most often came upon things that were mostly sad recollections of events we each had experienced -- or experienced together in some events such as my younger sister's death.  Guess these events always leave us with the most vivid recollections and most lasting impact -- always close to the surface it seems.  Some good times in Climax, Colorado were nice to remember for both of us and made us wonder how we managed to survive some of the reckless things we did way back then.  She did get me connected too with a couple cousins in Colorado that I hadn't seen for many years (Don and Richard).  Had to make plans to see them somehow or somewhere along my trip.




Brother and Sister





Lorraine and Marge









Meanderthal Man and Margaret





















Lake Catherine State Park, AK

May 22nd -- It rained most of the night and thunder and lightning were near with a few weather alerts breaking last night and this morning.  During the night, some of the warnings were calling for hail and high winds so I pondered the thought of golf ball size hail pounding through the vinyl/canvas areas above my head and sleeping area -- more than once the alerts came.  In the morning, a fresh pot of coffee hit the spot and I enjoyed taking an early walk to the marina, visitors center and store.  A little later, heavy rain hit again so I hunkered down to get the next segment of my route planned from San Antonio to Tempe (Shirley's place to Dave's).  Still needed to get Tim's address again to plan that last section for meeting up with him (around June 11th).  May plan for now to arrive San Antonio 5/26 and depart 5/30 to arrive Tempe 6/2 or 6/3 with departure to be determined.  Some sunshine now so, will check on anglers and their success -- nothing positive yet and I had picked up a 3 day license in hopes of catching something better than the lone bluegill I had caught at Hungry Mother Park.

Next day started with another pot of coffee -- French press really makes a nice pot -- and then headed to the lake to fish from one of the small piers.  Night before had joined neighboring campers (John and his son Jerod) for dinner and a campfire.  They had a rental trailer already set up on a pad so they had a small car loaded with all their stuff.  John was a disabled truck driver in his early fifties with a pony-tail and his son was 22 and had a mohawk dyed red -- rather heavy set too.  The previous night (my first night at the lake), I thought these two were a couple of the crazy red-necks I might have remembered from "Deliverance" as they were constantly trying to get their campfire roaring to 6 and 8 foot heights by dousing the logs with charcoal lighter fluid and lantern oil.  The leaves on the tree directly above seemed to wither and dry as each dousing made the flames jump higher and higher -- sparks were flying from the logs and I also envisioned my camper catching fire so, I prayed for the rain to come and douse their fire (and it did, thank you very much).

We had a rather good meal with steaks, corn on the cob and summer squash with onions -- all cooked on the grill to a slightly salty taste -- still better (or at least a nice change) than my usual can of soup and salad.  Had a nice evening chatting with John and learning some of his story -- how his son was in the custody of his ex-wife and this was his chance for renewing his relationship with his son -- one that he hoped would continue to grow.

Throughout the evening there was a small racoon that kept trying to come join us and John or I would throw him some small table scraps.  I donated some of my firewood to the fire as I learned the wood John and his son were trying to burn was "green" and hadn't even been split or dried -- given to them by one of the local park employees who had removed it from one of the roadways after heavy winds knocked down a tree.  That certainly explained why there had been so many sparks flying that first night.

Tried fishing the next day but, again with no success -- power plant and dam across the lake kept changing the level of the lake and sediment from the rains didn't make the fishing any better.  So, I walked again to the visitors check-in/store to mail AMEX payment then, walked to the south end of Camp C and took the trail to the falls.  After getting pictures of the waterfall, I continued on the trail to the top of the mountain and down the other side -- a good hike and walk -- needed to rest sore knee a couple times (forgot to take my Aleve).  Did try fishing a couple more times with no luck.  Neighbors pulled out around 4:45 pm and now a tent city of youngsters is setting up as I look out from my pop-up.  Will check emails and see about dinner -- maybe a campfire later.  Perhaps a nap first after emails and check on expected storms for the night.

Camp was clean and had good showering facilities but, no washers and dryers.  Marina had boat rentals and fishing gear.

Getting Through Tennessee

Departed campground at HMP in early afternoon May 19th -- needed help from camp host (Gill) to get the pop-up onto the hitch ball -- took half an hour of finesing/raising and lowering before it finally dropped on.  Finally, left around 3:00 pm and made it to Kingston, TN and stopped in motel (Super 8 with no laundromat) -- another tank of gas to get into eastern Tennessee.  Countryside had lots of rocky hills and lots of streams -- highest number of roadside signs I had seen for liquor stores.

Hit the road again the next morning, earlier than the day before and made it to Jackson, TN on the other side of Nashville.  Stayed at the Old Hickory Inn -- didn't want to venture far from I-40 with the flooding not too far off.  Motel/Inn had a lounge (Boogie Nites) and happy hour started at 6:00 pm so, after doing a load of laundry, getting a shower and taking a short nap, drove to Arby's for a sandwich and looked for a barber shop (which I didn't find).

Had a decently fun evening at the lounge and danced some with Margaret (the young bartender) and Christy (the DJ).  Retired rather early and shied away from a group of regulars at the bar.  Smoking is still allowed in TN so, another shower was needed in the morning to get some of the mucous out of my head -- needed coffee too from MCD's and a breakfast for the road.  The drive through western Tennessee was much like driving onto the plains from Colorado -- certainly not as dry and quite that flat but, reaching Memphis and driving over the Mississippi gave some relief to the worries about avoiding the floods hitting the south.  I couldn't look intently at the river as I crossed the bridge but, as the miles went by on the western side of the river, I could still see many flooded fields and they only dissappeared as the road began to climb some toward Little Rock.  The roads hardly gave me time to rest my thoughts of floods and tornadoes because they were some of the worst "washboard" roads I had to drive and that caused me to slow my pace as the winds also increased -- many truckers were moving slower too and I sensed they had the same feeling about the road conditions -- made me feel confident that I was making a wise decision to slow down.

Drove through to Lake Catherine State Park, a short distance southwest of Little Rock, Arkansas though I had hoped to make one stop on the way but, the rest stop was closed 40 miles east of Little Rock.  Old man's bladder had to hold out longer than I had wished but, focusing on the bad roads took some of my thoughts off the desire to stop and find some woods to pee in.  Lake Catherine State Park was some 12 miles off of the I-30W road to Texas and luckily a gas station popped up about a mile from the park.

Afterthought:  Really, as I was travelling through the eastern part of Tennessee, I had thoughts or desires to venture out into the valleys and hills to discover more about Tennesse -- the rocky hills were intriguing and the lush vegetation made me wonder what could be found here -- maybe an apple-brandy still would be nice to set up here or find another locals brew being concocted.  Later, in Jackson, TN found people to be quite friendly and outgoing -- maybe like Coloradoans.

Hungry Mother Park

Headed out from Mike's after breakfast and he and Pattie helped guide/encourage me out of their long driveway (first long backing up effort).  Arrived at Hungry Mother Park near Marion, VA and set the pop-up by 4:30 pm -- just in time for the rain to arrive again.  Stayed 3 nights and it rained almost all the time.  First, night didn't get the furnace fired up so, put the sleeping bag to good use (only in the low 40s at night).  Next morning went in search of a Burger King to order a "Whopper with Cheese" to celebrate little sister Kathy's birthday (May 17th would have been her 53rd).

I drove through Marion to the south end of town and a voice in my head took me right onto 81s and all the way to Abinddon before I found a sign for BK.  Passed through area on 81 that had been hit by a recent tornado.  Quite shocking to see all the damage and rhe Red Cross was there looking for donors of blood -- needed to save mine I thought for the nights and trip ahead.  Originally planned to stay 2 nights but, opted for a 3rd night in hopes of fishing some -- only had sunshine and couple patches of blue Wednesday afternoon and managed to catch one bluegill while fishing from the wall at the spillway of the dam.  First thing to chase my line was not much bigger than the lure and the next thing looked much bigger but, didn't hit the lure.

Park would probably have been much prettier without all the rain so, didn't get any pictures worth sharing.  Campsite was level and paved with clean modern restrooms, showers and washers/dryers for doing laundry.  Didn't have a view of the lake but, was just a short walk to the entry of the creek to the lake -- gazebo and fishing pier just a little farther.  Lake looked rather shallow and lots of submerged tree brances so opted to drive the mile or two to the dam and spillway.

Getting Through Virginia

Smith Mountain Lake, VA was the first stop/visit with Pattie and Mike Hagan (old Fairfax HS classmate).  Previous night was spent at a motel in Lynchburg after driving down route 29/211 -- completely new road from what I had last remembered from one of my daughter's lacrosse or field hockey competitions in the area south of Lynchburg some years ago.

After driving to Bedford, VA (the exit toward Mike's house), I hung around the Walmart there and had an oil change performed on the Jeep while I picked up more supplies for that first campsite.  Mike's tennis team was competing in a District tournament that day so I had to delay arrival until the evening when matches were done (under his coaching his team - Franklin Co. HS won the district for the 4th year in a row).  Stayed in the comfort of Mike's and Pattie's house for 3 nights and enjoyed drinking wine late into the evenings, catching up on old high school memories and finding out what was going on with them and others in our class.  Their golden retriever (Kara) was constantly near and always read to play.  Cloudy and raining most of the time so, we drove around the lake to see all the privately owned places and communities.  No fishing during this visit but, Mike promised to get his electric trolling motor fixed for the next visit (he thought the FEDEX guy may have damaged it during one of his deliveries).

Mike and Pattie near their home