When we last left you, we were sitting happily in Yuma, Arizona. We had new solar panels, two hot tubs and two pools to enjoy. Heck, we fit into The Palms RV Resort so well, we were invited to the neighborhood block party on our street in the resort!
Block Party… held right in front of our RV. They almost had to invite us! We had a great time.
But it was time to leave, we had a mission. Janelle is moving to College Station, Texas for graduate school at Texas A&M and she needed an apartment. Since neither Janelle nor her future roommate (Megan…goes to Tulane in New Orleans) could break away to apartment search in person, we volunteered to be their eyes and ears. It was time to hit the road.
It took two days to drive across Arizona, New Mexico and halfway across Texas. We spent one night at the El Paso Flying J Truck Stop. Dry camping is NOW a breeze since we have the solar cells to charge our coach batteries.
Very round rocks along the highway in New Mexico.
Time for a rest stop. Five Freightliners all in a row! Can you spy the Blue Flame?
While traveling across Texas, we passed through the town of Big Lake.
Welcome to Big Lake, Texas.
Have you ever seen the movie The Rookie? It’s a family favorite for us. It is a story based on a high school teacher that lived in Big Lake and late in life became a Major League Baseball pitcher. Driving through Jimmy Morris’ town was a bit surreal. I’ll leave put the trailer down below in case you are curious as to what the move is about.
At the end of day two, we took a breather in San Angelo, Texas. We found a state park there that was fabulous. It was on a reservoir with wide open views.
Our campsite in San Angelo State Park. Notice that van and tent in the background. They belonged to a couple of retirees who were living full time in that tent and van! Most full timers have a camper of some sort!
We had a terrific light show one night as a thunderstorm passed north of us. We rode our bikes one morning. I did some geocaching. It was a relaxing time.
Sunset.
This little critter (ground squirrel?) had a burrow right outside our RV window. He was VERY entertaining.
The state park had a heard of bison!
We also visited the River Walk in downtown San Angelo. Now why can’t Rochester do something like this?
The River Walk.
When the River Walk went under an overpass, they created art pieces on the bridge supports.
The San Angelo River Walk. A VW Bug covered with mosaic tiles is art!
Now it was off to College Station. There wasn’t time for sightseeing, all the pictures I have are of potential apartments. The best I can do is show you a picture of Janelle’s future kitchen. She’ll be baking up a storm (between classes of course) here. These kids in Texas have some nice housing to pick from. Most off-campus student housing have resort style pools. Janelle and Megan opted to live like adults, not partying undergrads.
Janelle’s kitchen in her College Station condo
The pool at a student apartment complex. We never had pools at college!
With our apartment search speedily completed, where to next? We pulled out the maps and decided to visit the Gulf of Mexico, specifically Gulf Shores, Alabama. This was a bit of a gratuitous choice for me. Alabama was the only state in the lower 48 that I had never been in. It was time to check this state off the bucket list.
Gulf Shores is miles and miles of pristine, white sand beaches. Along those beaches are miles and miles of hotels, condos and beach houses. And inland from that are miles of miles of tourist attractions; mini golf, all you can eat shrimp, surf shops, souvenir shops, etc etc etc. We had booked four nights at the RV Park and it turns out, that was just right. We can do without all the glitzy attractions. But we thoroughly loved the beach. I was able to spend a lovely afternoon with my feet in the sand and a book in my hand.
A beer with a beach view!
Gater bites! Tastes like chicken. So did the crawfish we tried.
The white sand beaches at Gulf Shores, Alabama.
Jim got a real kick out of the signs. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any alligators.
For those who can’t read.
My feet in the Gulf of Mexico.
We took one morning to drive up to the USS Alabama Battleship Park in Mobile, Alabama. The World War II battleship Alabama is on permanent display there. We downloaded the tour app to my phone (yes, they have apps like that) and spent three hours climbing all over the ship. Usually stuff like this bores me, but this tour was very well done. You got to see all parts of the ship and what functions went on there. Besides the usual crew’s quarters, the bridge, etc, we saw the tailor’s room, the dentist’s office, the blacksmith shop, the pharmacy, and more. You truly learn what it takes to support a ship of 2500 sailors.
The USS Alabama in Mobile Harbor.
Up on deck.
Jim had to check every nook and cranny
Berths for the enlisted.
This is how the trajectory of the big guns were set.
Up close view of the dials. Jim and I decided it was an analog computer.
We left Gulf Shores (good-bye beautiful beach) and are heading northeastward. Jim has a cousin in Atlanta that we are going to visit this weekend. After that, it will be the final push to get home. I suspect next week will feature a lot of nights in truck stops until we get home.
UPDATE: It’s taken me almost 4 days to get this blog post finished. We are currently in Carrollton, Georgia and just spent two wonderful days visiting with Jim’s cousin, Dennis and his wife Jeanne. We had them over to the RV today for Wisconsin bratwurst!
Corinne, Dennis & Jeanne
It’s time to head home…which way is North again?
Enjoyed your pictures and commentary as usual!!! The longest that I ever wanted to stay in a tent was 2 wks. Sounds like you’re going to be “slumming” on the way home. Safe travels the rest of the way. Weather getting a little nicer up here. We’ve seen some sun!!!