Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Retirement

San Antonio

Just a quickie to let you know that we’re in San Antonio at the Alamo KOA. The trip here from Port Lavaca KOA near the Gulf Coast was pretty good except for the last few miles on I-10 Westbound where there was massive road construction underway. All that was exacerbated by some heavy traffic, making for a tedious final approach to the off-ramp.

We’re here for tonight and will be continuing westbound where we’re booked in for a couple of nights in Junction, TX for some needed R&R.

When we leave in the morning from here, we will do a drive-by at the Alamo in the morning for a photo-op (perhaps).

12 Apr 2024 by Notions Retirement Wanderlust

Texas Gulf Coast

Tonight, we’re comfortably camped at the Port Lavaca KOA, alongside an inland bay very close to the Texas Gulf Coast. We had an interesting drive today.

First, we stopped at the cemetery where one of my great grandfathers is buried. His grave is unmarked and the cemetery does not list where his exact grave is located, but we stopped in his honor, said a little prayer and moved along.

Next, we headed to a place on the Gulf Coast called Sargent Beach. We viewed the Gulf of Mexico from there. The interesting thing about this place is the bridge over the intercoastal waterway called the “Sargent Corkscrew Bridge.” We had to cross over it to get to the beach. Photo below courtesy Damsel.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and we arrived at our current site, Damsel grilled some cheeseburgers and we’re sitting contented here this evening.

Tomorrow, we’re headed to San Antonio which is about three hours northwest of us.

11 Apr 2024 by Retirement

Camping in El Campo, TX

Our travel day started out with moderate to heavy rain showers in the Waco, TX area, Then, as we progressed southward towards our destination, the weather improved to overcast with no precipitation for the “middle” of the drive. The clouds gradually broke up and as soon as we parked in our camp spot, the sky became clear.

On the way, Damsel took a shot of one of the many pastures we pass, usually no big deal, but this pasture had a little something unusual about it:

Damsel found that this herd belonged to FreBo Ranch.

Click on images to view enlarged.

10 Apr 2024 by Environment Retirement Wanderlust

Camping — Roswell, NM

Don’t let the sunshine (April) fool you about the weather here and on the drive from Albuquerque to Roswell; we had not-so-good weather most of the day until within a couple dozen miles of Roswell. We started out in the snow and drove through fog, sleet and gusty crosswinds along the route. We had a few light showers later in the trip along US 285 enroute to where we are now.

At any rate, we’re here and settled in for the night. We will be headed to Lubbock, Texas in the morning. We will be there for a couple of days as we continue to enjoy the trip to our eventual campsite where we are hoping for clear skies to enjoy the total solar eclipse.

01 Apr 2024 by Environment Retirement Travel Wanderlust

Camping — Albuquerque, NM

We arrived here at the American RV Resort which was only a short (less than 2 hours) drive over from Gallup. The road on I-40 was rough in many places and there were steady winds blowing laterally at 20 with gusts to 35 or so. Damsel took this photo of a 20 knot windsock along I-40 fully inflated.

We arrived and felt road weary from the trip. However, after a Grilled Hamburger, a cold beer and a hot shower, we had recovered from the semi-traumatic trip. We will be here all day on Easter Sunday, continuing to get right with Almighty God and the world in general.

30 Mar 2024 by Retirement Wanderlust

Camping – Flagstaff

Tonight, we’re in Flagstaff, AZ. Yes, there is light snow falling on our campsite. We got here this afternoon when it was still partly sunny, set up camp and ate lunch. When we went out to walk the dogs, it was snowing a little. That’s about when I took the (clickable) image above.

We had an uneventful trip, albeit there is still quite a bit of construction on AZ-74 and I-17. The traffic was generally light with the usual idiots mixed in with us sane folks.

We’re here in Flagstaff to relax a couple of days and will be departing Wednesday morning on our next leg of our vacation from retirement. The next stop is planned to be near Monument Valley. Stay tuned.

Update: 26 MAR 2024 — We had a little more snow overnight . . .

25 Mar 2024 by Environment Retirement Wanderlust

Motorhome Maintenance:
  Eclipse Trip Looming

Tuesdays, usually, are the days that I routinely run the RV Engine up and the first Tuesday of the Month, I run the 6 KVA generator for a couple of tenths of an hour; all the above for ensuring that things are performing properly. I also ran the AC inverter for a while to check it out in case we have to be boondocking somewhere (i.e. no shore power or sewer/city water hookups available). I’m happy to say that everything seemed to function correctly.

Our plans for the excursion to the eclipse are still coming together; the only iron-clad plan is for the day of the eclipse when we will be in our already reserved camping spot. Damsel is still researching places to see and things to do in the American Southwest in order to plan a route to the eclipse site and beyond.

The next stages of prep (beyond route planning) include purging and sanitizing the RV holding tanks, making sure that all fluids and pressures are within spec and giving the big RV the bath it really needs. We will be doing those things over the next couple of weeks before launch day (exact date still TBD).

05 Mar 2024 by Retirement Travel Wanderlust

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