Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Return to Retama

Again, what a great visit we had with Weldon and Sandy and our time with them came to an end way too soon.  Before, we left,

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Sandy had to see if Dennis of RV Driving School was correct, and that our motor home could swing out only 4.5 feet.  So Mark told her to stand right in front while he pulled out.  Sure enough…Dennis was right and Mark didn’t run over Sandy.

As usual, we conferred with Streets and Trips to plan our route south.  It wanted us to backtrack on I-20 West to I-35 South and on towards 281. That seemed sort of foolish…so, we did just the opposite and took the back roads.  By choosing

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the back roads, it allowed us to miss Waco, Austin, and San Antonio.  There was nothing really great about the back roads…they just made for a leisure travel day.

The

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Texas prairie land, the

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rivers, and

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the small towns and the

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old Texas court houses were a change from the busy cities that line I-35.

We made a couple of rest stops and one fuel stop.  We arrived

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at Retama almost 10 hours and 600 miles later.  I know…I know that is not what RVer’s do, but, long travel days are no big deal to us, especially when we are traveling by ourselves and have a place we really want to be.  Today’s trip was uneventful…the only thing that suffered

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was a rear tire on the jeep.  And, that happened somewhere in the last few miles of the trip…more than likely, just down the road where we went through a little construction.  Mark will air it up in the morning and go to the local tire shop.

We are both glad to return to Retama and anxious to get settled in our winter home and routine.  We are looking forward to some fun times and some great adventures.  We invite any of you to stop in for a visit if you are in the RGV.

As I close this journal tonight, I hope all of you that were in the middle of our country survived the storms that caused so much concern today.  And, to those who are dealing with various health issues and have had surgery or facing surgery, we wish you all a speedy recovery.

8 comments:

  1. Boy you folks have more stamina than we do! 600 miles is about 300 too much. But it is always comforting to absolutely know that you have a good parking space at the end of the run!

    There aren't too many places in the US that can provide any better accommodations than Retama Village. Sure wish there were some in the Mesa area!

    But most of the parks there only rent spots, so you have no incentive to put in nice concrete and fix up the casita.

    And have a good time doing that with the casita this winter. And we need pictures as you come along with it, so we can enjoy the digs as well. LOL Rod

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  2. Excellent cities to bypass otherwise your 10 hour trip would have been stretched to at least 12 hours. Having a tail wind most of the day helped.

    Glad you're there and in good condition.

    Mac & Dianna

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  3. Glad you are safe and sound in your winter home. Took us 4 days to get out of Texas this spring..LOL, so you did good. We do think we will be going to California later, but there is just something about that place that doesn't feel right. Time will tell.
    Hugs

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  4. Glad you arrived safely. When you left Canton I told Sandy if I was a betting man they would drive all the way to Retama without a stop over. Again we enjoyed myour visit and lets do it again.

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  5. Have a great time at Retama. Look forward to seeing what you do to the casita....

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  6. Greetings - Welcome to your home in the south. We will be there on the 5th at Alladin Villas - can't wait. Haven't posted a comment here before but have been following you blog for a while - maybe we can get to together this winter.

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  7. Mark and Dortha,

    Hope you have a great winter. Can't wait to see what you do to the casita. Enjoy your new winter home.

    Blessings
    Bev & Jerry

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  8. Mark and Dortha, What roads did you take south? Just curious. May want to try them.

    Glad you made it safely. We plan to be in the RGV after a stop in Houston. Will plan to stop and see you sometime. We are in Florida, leaving Tuesday, heading across.

    Dale

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