Winter Sunshine

Winter Sunshine
Winter Sunshine in the Desert

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

To Texas, no Mo, and no MoHo either.

if I am going to Texas, I guess I need the hatWhy in the world would an RV loving traveler drive to Texas without her motorhome?  Kids!  Always blame it on the kids.  My daughter decided it was time to move to Texas and we decided together that it might be nice for me to help her drive the UHaul.  Gives us lots of mother-daughter time, right? 

002Quality time in a loud bumpy truck pulling a car on a trailer, covering up to 800 miles per day.  Blog stories about our regular RV travels are leisurely rambles from place to place with all the wonderful delights of carrying along your food and kitchen, your bedroom, not the least of all, your bathroom.

I kept thinking I didn’t need to really blog about this at all, since it isn’t really part of the MoHo Travels, but it is a record of what in the heck has been happening in my life, so here it is.  Not leisurely, not filled with campground reviews and hikes and beautiful sights.  Just the road, the unfurling yellow lines, the sunrise as we keep moving east, the glare of headlights as we continue driving into the night.

sunrise traveling east on I-10 from IndioWe drove down I-5, so familiar from the many trips Mo and I have taken on that route, with many sections repaired and much better than they have been in the past.  We crossed the pass over 58, surrounded by snow but without any falling on us.  We passed Desert Hot Springs buffeted by the desert winds, spending a night in a motel in Indio.  Crossing Arizona and New Mexico, Deb got her first view of Mexico across the “mighty” Rio Grande overlooking El Paso toward Juarez, at 60 mph. I told her long stories of the history of the Rio Grande River and how it has been used and reused and dammed and diverted until the trickle that makes it to the gulf no longer feeds that sea with richness and the shrimp are dying.

East on I 10 through TexasWe drove many miles within sight of the border, going through some border checks, and after 800 miles that day we slept again at a motel in Van Horn, Texas and rose before sunrise for the last leg into San Antonio. Deb was enthralled by the Texas Big Bend Country, the mesas and long vistas, her first view of this kind of landscape. I called Mo after many hours of no cell service and her first words were, “Have you been hit by a tornado?”  I guess two tornados touched down in Dallas as we were approaching San Antonio, but that was north of here and they are now moving northeast so we are fine.

East on I 10 through TexasWe covered 2030 miles together in 3 days of driving, with gasoline running 4.15 in most of California and 3.79 here in Texas.  The UHaul got less miles per gallon than the MoHo and we spent just over $1000. bucks on gasoline, didn’t eat a lot, and paid 63 to 99 for the hotel rooms for the 5 or 6 hours of sleep we allowed ourselves. I had my cell phone, but I can’t believe how many hundreds of miles on a large interstate don’t support any bars at all, much less any kind of internet.  I read a few facebook posts from bloggers here and there, but don’t have a clue what is going in the blog world except for a few really important things.

East on I 10 through TexasNan is hanging in there while her husband fights to breathe.  Pray for her. Al and Kelly are almost home, and my heart broke along with everyone else when I read that little Cora Motormouse was gone. I know Rick and Paulette are home in Canada, Erin and Mui went camping among the bluebells, Laurie and Odel are making tracks to central California, Karen and Al got their kayaks in some really gorgeous water, and Donna and Russ are having some doggie troubles.  I’ll catch up eventually with the rest.  For now, my daughter and her Texas honey are unpacking a big truck into a small home and I am sitting in another motel with air conditioning to adjust to the high temperatures and humidity.  I plan to sleep a lot between now and the time I fly back home to Oregon and my simple life. 

the destination, Lytle, TexasTrips like this one really make me see how lucky I am to have the chance to travel in a motorhome.  Although the hard push of a fast road trip actually has it’s pleasures as well.  White line fever he called it, wasn’t that Merle Haggard? There is something extremely satisfying about covering a lot of miles in a short time with a hard push.  It was fun.  I am beat to death and tired as heck, but it was a blast. I am really going to miss having my daughter as close as Portland, but I guess this will just be all the more reason for Mo and I to go spend some winter times in Texas with the MoHo.

16 comments:

  1. Geez, the last we heard u were in Pinnacles, looking for gorgeous warm weather. Now u must have completed that trip and went back to Rocky Pt & are traveling fast, long distance to Texas. Things sure change in your world!!

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  2. Oh, yeah...geez...we did get home from Pinnacles before I had to head south with Deb just five days later. I can barely keep up with myself any more. LOL

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  3. you are messing with all of us in blogville..here I thought you and Mo were out on an adventure?..nice that you got to spend some quality time with your daughter!...time well spent!..hope she and her 'texas honey' will be happy in their new home!!

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  4. Wow - that really is a trip and a half. And you're right, we can always blame the kids for messing up our schedules. But they are so worth it.

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  5. So, now you're qualified as a long distance trucker, huh? White line fever, indeed!! You sure know how to change pace in a hurry, don't you, Sue. Thanks for sharing, we care about what you're doing. Sure happy that you missed out on those tornadoes. That was a terrible thing. We flew to San Antonio once, but never have driven there. Once might have been enough!

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  6. My daughter and her husband are planning to move to Texas, too. I am sitting in their living room watching them sort through a ton of stuff, from her grandparents and from my house. We are planning on having a garage sale tomorrow, but Denver had a spring snow last night. We are hoping it will melt by morning.

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  7. Young lady you have way more energy than I have these days. I am so happy that you could make the trip to San Antonio with your daughter and create the memories together. She has chosen a very nice area to settle in although I am sure she will acquire a new meaning for "summer"

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  8. I love the Big Bend area of Texas! Hope your daughter is prepared for hot and dry, a little different than Portland :)

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  9. I was seeing your posts on FB and sure wondering just what the heck you were doing!! And then you said Texas... I of course also knew of the tornadoes yesterday! You were a little too close for comfort! Now get out of there and get home! Do they have a basement? Leave them with instructions to find a safe shelter or devise a plan!!!

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  10. A lot of miles covered in a short time ... glad to hear you arrived safe and sound! Good mother-daughter bonding time.

    Thanks for the shout out; hopefully we'll have something fun to post about next weekend :-)))

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  11. Great story, Sue. I'll bet you and your daughter also shared a lot laughs along that route.

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  12. Wow, that's even more miles than we've had to drive on occasion. You're a great mom!

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  13. Those kind of road trips can be fun for sure and really make you appreciate you motorhome. At least you are mobile enough to visit with your daughter.

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  14. It really is wonderful to do something with just you and your daughter. I know it must feel great to see her well settled in her new spot! Now you know just what it looks like and can imagine her there when you have gone home.

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  15. "There is something extremely satisfying about covering a lot of miles in a short time with a hard push. It was fun".

    Yep, I sure can identify with you on that one for sure. There are times to stop & smell the Roses & there are times to just get at the task at hand and get the job done. You guys did great:))

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  16. Gosh, we must have just missed each other! I-10 in Texas is okay, just waaaay too long! Good to spend time with your daughter....

    What's next? Where are you now? (we're moving into the Four Corners area)

    Nickie

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