This is One Way to Stay in the South!

Rick decided that we had to leave Retama Village really early, so I stayed in bed and he started the drive to Gaffney, South Carolina. As we drove through Houston, Texas (my birthplace) I heard a strange, breaking sound. As I lay in bed I listened, but did not seem to hear of feel anything unusual. 

While having a Denny's breakfast, I mentioned the strange sound to Rick. He too, had heard a funny noise. We examined the tires and did not see anything amiss. So, off we drove. About ten miles east of Houston, the coach decided to act up! The engine light went on, the radiator overheated, and the coach came to a stop.  

Sunday is not a good day to break down! Rick limped the coach SLOWLY off of Interstate 10 onto a service road with a Ford dealership. Rick put in a call to Freightliner and talked with a very nice man named John. He would send us a tow truck in a couple of hours. I decided to enjoy the last of my southern weather. Relaxing in my lawn chair, listening to the music from the Ford dealership, and reading my book was making for pleasant late morning activity. Not a bad spot to break down. 

Rick laughed when he saw the little tow truck pull up in front of us! Allen had to agree that his truck was not going to be able to do the job. So, off he drove......... John was back to the drawing board. We now thought that we may be spending the night in our coach. So, Rick limped us to a mall parking lot. Finally, ten hours later a HUGE tow truck pulled into the lot. A nice young man who was suppose to take his wife out for her birthday spent an hour hooking up and hauling our baby to the Houston Freightliner shop. 

We are now spending time in the Houston Hampton Inn, and plan to fly home to take care of dear Autumn on Wednesday. Our coach will stay behind, get fixed, get its 6,000 mile check and be ready for us to fly back to it.

Moving South

We started our move to south Texas. We entered the state of Louisiana where we spent a few days eating crawfish and enjoying Cajun music! We even went to Cajun Field, home of LSU to experience some of the Marti Gras atomosphere. We enjoyed the bands and the parade where we were able to watch the, "Bead Fever." Our most memorable trip has to be the home of Tabasco Sauces. We had a great tour through the factory, sampled lots of sauces, had a cajun lunch, and bought a few goodies. However, the weather was much to be desired. It seemed to be overcast and raining  most of the time! So, we moved on into Texas.

We had been lured to a place called, "The Preserves" near Houston, Texas. Our free stay included a tour of the planned RV Resort, and as many days stay as we would like. The vision is out there, but the park has a long way to go! Spending time in the old, once upon a time campground with rain falling all around us, prompted Rick to say, "We are leaving!" So, off we went.

Our next stop was a two week stay at Tropic Winds in Harlingen, Texas. We soon decided that we were much too young for this RV spot. It seemed that the majority of the time was spent with the campers planning the next potato bake, hamburgers, or spaghetti supper. I did spend each day visiting the workout center with dusty and broken machines. We ventured out and discovered some interesting places.

The original Iwo Jima statue was right next door to the park with the Marine Museum. We spent an afternoon reading and looking at the history. We drove about 40 miles to South Padre Island where we had some very good seafood. We even ran into some Coon Valley friends who had camped next to us. It is a small world. But, the wind continued to blow! The overcast skies became depressing, and Rick decided it was time to take his poor, sad wife for a ride! Little did he know that he would stumble upon her dream resort.

We toured Retama Village RV Resort on a Saturday, and we were offered a 4 day stay to which I said, Yes!" I could hardly wait fort the day to arrived. We moved to the Mission area and spent three days at the resort. It is on the Rio Grand River with border patrol on duty 24/7. But, what a lovely park! the people were all so friendly, young, and active! The first day was an open house day, and we walked and talked about pads, casitas, and homes. The next day, we rode our bikes all around the Benson Rio Grande State Park known for bird watchers. With only minimal looking, we saw some beautiful birds. Rick is not sure that bird watching is for him.  The afternoon was spent at the pool meeting residents. The workout area was top notch and the club house was perfect. But, it was time to drive on and try to get to Gaffney, South Carolina to our Freightliner School.