Travel Day 1 of 3

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Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Today was the first of what will be three travel days. We took our time leaving and after coffee we got things ready and pulled out of our site around 10:00 AM.

Our last view out the front window.
Tom is pulling away and I took one last picture of
our now empty site.
Goodbye site 66. Thank you, for being such a 
lovely spot with great views out the front window.

Tom stopped at the dump station to take care of business and while he did that I went ahead to check out a gas station down the road to be sure they had diesel.  After Tom arrived I left him at the gas station and drove over to the picnic area to wait so we could hook up the Jeep. (We had unhooked here on Friday so we knew it was a nice level spot.) 

While I waited I couldn't resist getting out
and taking a couple of pictures.

We are on our way traveling on TX 22 for 59 miles.

We could see fields of wildflowers.

Felt like we were traveling through a
tunnel of trees.

Traveling off the interstate is always nice and you get to go through small town America. A  brief glance at two we went through today. 

On TX 22

On TX 31

Spent 37 miles on TX 31 a divided highway.
Went over and by a couple of swollen rivers.

When we first turned onto TX 31 the roadside
and center covered in wildflowers.

We have gone over wetlands before but this is
the first time we have seen only one side
of the highway lifted.

Went by several Historical Markers today.
Wish stopping and parking was favorable
with the Stinger B but it isn't.

We are now going north on TX 19 and will
end our travel day in 68 miles.

Checked this Veteran Memorial out on the internet and on its Facebook page it states this memorial was built by a grass roots organization to honor all the Military of Van Zandt County. It was built in Canton because it is their county seat. Besides the Phantom F-4 D fighter jet I was able to snap from the highway, according to their page, there is Huey helicopter, a 1954 105mm light field howitzer, a US Navy Ship anchor, US Coast Guard utility boat, and the center piece is a bronze statue of the "Never Forgotten" kneeling soldier.  From what I read they hold several events throughout the year honoring veterans. If we had known about the place, before we drove through, it sounds like it would have been a special place to stop and visit.

The Van Zandt Veteran Memorial in Canton, TX. 

The pretty wildflowers filling a field.

The not so pretty construction.

We ended the day, parking for the night, at the Walmart in Sulphur Springs, Texas. We traveled 164 uneventful miles and it was, except for the last bit of construction, a pleasant drive through Texas.

"The World is a book,

and those who do not travel

read only a page.

                                                     ~unknown

We had a good day and we hope you did, also.

We love hearing from you, if you have a moment, leave a comment.

A Peaceful Place

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Saturday, April 8, 2017

Today was mostly a do nothing day. Well at least it was after Tom finished giving the Stinger B a much needed bath. We did take a ride around the park to check it out and see if there would be any other sites we might like to park in. This is a very nice park and we can see ourselves coming back and parking here again in the future. We thought we would only be staying for three nights but as luck would have it the people who have this site reserved decided not to come in until Wednesday so we have decided to stay until then. We found out today we are in the most popular site in this area of the park and we can see why the view is lovely. The grassy area across the road is where I took the pictures of the wildflowers below. The bluebonnets are fading, it must have been covered in them not long ago.

As promised Tom cleaned the front window and
we now have a clear view of  Lake Whitney. 

Across a little inlet from our
site. The little white rectangle
just off the rode is the Stinger B.

Stinger B all nice and shiny clean parked in its spot.

Happy Hour.

The sun setting on another day.

The tiny white dot is the moon.

The sun slipped behind the horizon
and the light left what has been a wonderfully peaceful day.

Sitting here feeling very grateful that the woman at the gate at the first park yesterday made us feel unwelcome, that the second park was full, that the gentleman walked over and told us about this place. Sometimes, when you let it, life directs you to a wonderful place.

"Peace comes from being aligned 

with the present moment.

Wherever you are, you feel that 

you are home--because you are home.

~Eckhart Tolle

Hope your day was as peaceful as ours.

If you have a moment, please leave a comment, we would love to hear from you.

We Landed in a Spot With a Great View

Friday, April 7, 2017

We landed at Lofers East Park, a U.S. Army Corp of Engineers' Park, on Whitney Lake, in Central Texas. Whitney Lake is located on the main stem of the Brazos River. The Whitney Lake Dam and Powerhouse are located approximately 5.5 miles southwest of Whitney, Texas, 30 miles north of Waco, Texas, and 65 miles southwest of Fort Worth, Texas. Whitney Lake is part of the Three Rivers Region in the Fort Worth District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Over two million people visit Whitney Lake each year to enjoy camping, fishing, boating, water skiing, hunting, sight-seeing, and much more. (Information found at www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/whitney/)

After about 123 miles, 14 backtracking, this is our view
until Monday morning.

This was not the "plan" (we have been having a lot of those type of days recently) when we pulled out of the parking lot of the Walmart in Eastland, TX.
We backtracked west on I-20, one exit, and turned onto Texas 6 South. Our destination Lake Whitney RV Resort in Whitney, TX. (Where we believed we had reservations for a pull-thru site for four nights. This is the park where we planned on using 4 of our free camping nights. Tom had made the reservations and then double checked, with the someone at the park itself, which is why we believed what we did.)

We started on Texas 6 South and then we were on Texas 6 East
yet always on Texas 6.

The three pictures below are of our views as we traveled along today on a nice two lane highway in Central Texas. It really was a nice ride, rolling hills, green trees, green grass, some wildflowers along the side of the road, and not much traffic.
(One thing Tom and I both wondered about is the meaning of the double yellow lines in the middle of the highway in Texas.  In Michigan it means no passing but since we had several vehicles pass us even though we could see the double yellow lines going up hill evidently in Texas they mean something else...:)...)

Dublin, Texas
I missed the welcome sign but did manage to catch the goodbye one.

Just caught this windmill.

In Meridian, TX we turned onto Texas 22  East.

Driving across the Whitney Lake Dam.

We are in Whitney, Texas.
Do you think this is a speed trap?

We are almost to our destination.

We arrived at the Lake Whitney RV Resort, An Encore Resort, looking forward to parking the Stinger B and doing some exploring of the area. Tom walks up to the "little house" where the person on duty explains to him they do not reserve pull-thrus, does not matter what he was told it is first come first serve, and there are none available. She then explained that we have reservations but we will have to go into the park and find an empty spot that we will fit into then come back and let her know where we are parked. Tom asked if she could suggest a site we would fit into and she said she did not have that information. To make it more fun there really was no place, at the entrance of  this park, to pull over and unhook the Jeep and leave the motor home while we road through looking for a site. (We have pulled in and parked at parks in the past that we have not felt good about and regretted the decision. Today was not going to be one of them. Tom pulled the Stinger B forward through the propane filling area and we headed back out towards the road.)

Checking the Passport America Site we found an American Legion Post RV park just about 3 miles further down the road so we decided to try there. It is a very small park, basically a field, and they did not have a site available we would fit into. While we sat trying to figure out what to do next a gentleman walked over and asked if we were having a problem finding a place to park. He questioned why we had decided not to park in one of the vacant sites there. After Tom explained that they were all reserved, he told Tom about the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Park that we are now very happily parked at.
It is a nice large site with water, electricity, covered picnic table, grill, and fire ring. The cost $19.00 per night but since we have a senior pass it is only $8.00.

It may not be free but we are comfortable and happy where we are and that is worth the cost. Plus, we have a better view out the front window then we would have had at the first park or second park we stopped at today. Number three was the "charm". Not sure what we will do the next couple of days. We may explore or we may just sit and enjoy this spot. It really does not matter there are no "rules"about how we spend our time. (Except for one thing, Tom has promised to clean the windshield in the morning so or view does not include looking at dead bugs.)

Bluebonnets along the side of the road here in the park.

Another picture of our fantastic view out the front
window of the Stinger B.

The last of the day's light.
Ending a day that turned out pretty wonderful.

"You can't control everything.

Sometimes you just need to relax and have faith

that things will work out.

Let go a little and just let life happen."

~unknown

Hope your day was wonderful!

If you have a moment, please leave a comment, we would love hearing from you.