We left Sumter County, FL very late on Thursday afternoon because we also made a stop at the Bank of America there to open a joint bank account in our new location. We were able to make it to Marianna, FL and after calling a few places, found a spot right off the I-10 in Marianna called Stay N Go RV. It was a no-frills place where they leave envelopes in a night box. You just grab a spot, put the money ($23.50) in the envelope and drop it through the night drop. We spent a quiet night with excellent WIFI and cable TV (Daniel was VERY happy!!!) It was also a pull-through spot so we didn’t even have to disconnect the car – we drove in and drove out in the morning. We decided that we were going to drive more than usual that day and made it out of Florida through the tail of sweet Alabama and into Mississippi.
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| Photo from the internet |
So, earlier on the morning of Friday November 22nd, I spoke to Curtiss at Parc D’orleans RV Park (6 miles from the French Quarter) He told me that he had a spot for me and that I should call him when I was an hour out so that he could give me the passcode to the gate. I was so excited that I was at least going to have enough time to take Daniel into the French Quarter, have a bite to eat and take a few shots of a great place! When I called Curtis back at 5:30pm as he requested there was no answer, so I left a message for him to call me. After waiting another half hour, I called again and left another message and sent an email. Still nothing. So, it was time to go to Plan B. I was a little disappointed that we wouldn’t get to see NOLA but I also did not have to drive all the way there that night. Sometimes you just have to dropkick and punt. Daniel has said a few times that it is all part of our adventure, so we just roll with the punches.
We had stopped in the Slidell, LA Rest stop on I-10 and even though Curtiss had emailed me back – claiming that he had not received either call or the two voice messages, (which was unlikely) we told him to stick it and we stayed right there in the rest stop overnight. It turned out just fine. We hit the road early that morning, as you don’t want to stay in a rest stop for more than 8 hours at a time. It’s just common courtesy.
We headed toward the Texas boarder from where we were in Louisiana. Around 2pm on the 23rd we hit Orange, TX and then drove through Beaumont and around Houston. Earlier that day I had talked to Chris at the Colorado Landing RV Mobile Park in La Grange, TX. She had a spot for us – another Drive through and also late check-in with our site information in the night box. It was a quiet, cute little park with great hot showers and laundry to boot. I started a load of wash and took a shower. By the time that I was finished with my shower that load was done and I started another – we hadn’t done laundry since before we left CT. I didn’t finish until midnight but it was worth it to have all nice clean clothes!
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| Photo: Daniel Marques |
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| Colorado Landing RV Mobile Park in La Grange, TX Photo:Daniel Marques |
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| Photo:Daniel Marques |
My only regret was that I had wanted to stop in Austin, TX to visit with my good friends Frank and Eric. We met in Palm Springs on my very first trip there in 2000. We became fast friends. They Lived in Long Beach, CA at the time and I always stayed and visited with them for a few days on both ends of my trips to Palm Springs. We just ran out of time and also had to cancel a trip to Shreveport, LA to visit a good friend of Daniel’s. The good thing is that we both want to head back that way and spend an extended period of time there. We will make it up to them! We promise guys!!!
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| Photo:Daniel Marques |
Daniel was dying to get out of Texas, I told him that I wasn’t going to drive that far and we compromised once he realized just how BIG the state is. We left La Grange and at our next fuel stop, I checked out the RV Parks along our route and found an inexpensive, no-frills spot right off the highway in Van Horn, TX. It was about 8 hours away and it wasn’t quite as far as El Paso and the AZ boarder but it was going to be our next stop.
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| Photo:Daniel Marques |
We pulled in to the Wild West RV Park (
www.wildwestrvpark.com) on Sunday night, Nov 24th a little after 8pm. Another drive through spot (gosh it makes it SO much easier when you don’t have to unhook the car!). We slept well and left the next morning for Tucson where we had plans to be there about 7pm to meet up with my good friends Diane and Jim Svab for a little homemade soup, a nice visit and a good night’s sleep. We couldn’t wait!
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| Photo:Daniel Marques |
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| Photo:Daniel Marques |
My God that is such a beautiful shot
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