Kingsville TX

We're freezing in the Rio Grande Valley! Arrived at Kingsville Naval Air Station, Texas yesterday and decided to stay a day to provision for our trek SOB tomorrow. It's been rainy and cold!! Will be glad to get in the sun. The base is small and deserted. It is primarily used for transitioning potential Naval aviators from prop to jets. Lots of T-45's. It is also a staging area for the Border Patrol. There must be 100 Border Patrol SUV's in the barrack's parking lot across from the RV park. The town has a Lowes and a Walmart. That's about it.

We'll cross the border at about 1000 and then head south. Doubt that we'll have WiFi until Monday.

Off to Texas

Woke up in Vinton to a cold morning! A front came through and chilled things down. We drove 356 miles today. I-10 to Houston and then US 98/77 south to Kingsville, Texas. Lot of construction on I-10 but no slow ups. Houston is a maze but it wasn't rush hour so it went fine. Pasha was a little bit more like normal but not totally.

We are staying for 2 nights at Kingsville Naval Air Station in their RV park. It's being remodeled and a bit of a mess but at $9/day, it is great!.

Cajun Time

As predicted, we stayed over an extra day at Blue Angel and did not leave until Wed, 11 Mar. The picture is our site at Blue angels.

We drove 400 miles on I-10 to Vinton, Louisiana. Pasha is still acting strange. Vinton is close to the LA-TX border. We found a nice CG (Vinton RV Park) and a great Cajun restaurant nearby. They were selling crayfish like crazy.

RIP Mimi

Well, not a great 2 days. The ending first: We had to put Mimi, the gray Bouvier down this morning at 0800 after 16 great years. She was a great dog and adored Daniele. Whatever room DJ was in, Mimi would be there no matter how much she was hurting.

This all started in Thomasville GA. Sat night, DJ had a tough time getting Mimi out of the coach and ended up creating a lot of extra joint pain. Sun AM I too had trouble getting her out and realized she could not use her left rear leg very much. Plus, I sprained my knee awhile back and aggravated it Sunday so I can’t walk very easily! We really looked like a bunch of geezers. To top it all off Pasha, the Newfie, is acting bizarre when we’re on the road and insists on being right next to one of us no matter how we push her away or beat her with a paper. She usually sleeps the whole time. We wonder if she knew Mimi was failing?

So, Sun we left Thomasville and came to Pensacola, FL and are staying in the Blue Angel RV park run by the Navy Link - Right on a sound with a beautiful view and under huge oak trees. So, I hobble around getting parked and Daniele works through her pain setting up inside. Sunday night Mimi goes downhill fast. She kept DJ up all night and me parts of it. We had no idea where an emergency vet was located but did see a Vet near the RV park when we came in. So, I was waiting at their door when they arrived at 0800 and put Mimi to rest.

We were leaving Tue but between both of our aches, pains, and tiredness, we may delay and leave Wed. RIP Mimi.

Thomasville GA

From Charleston we took US 17 to I-95 and then I95 to near Brunswick GA. There we picked up US84 and headed west. 84 is a 4 lane divided highway with no traffic! Enjoyed going through the old towns that I used to visit when my dad was conducting Seaboard Railroad business in my youth. Stayed at a nice CG in Thomasville, GA. Here's their website. Nothing special but nice and clean with a fair price of $26.

Charleston

Friday, 6 March. Went as far as Mt Pleasant SC (Charleston) today. Stayed at the KOA. Too expensive at $40 but a nice CG. We stayed here last August while working on a proposal. The highlight is a hole in the wall restaurant on US17 that serves excellent home style southern food. You'd never think to stop here but it was packed with many of the cars being Beemers and Mercedes! Here's their web page. Try it if you are in the area.

Getting Ready!

Well, it's been 2 long years since we were last SOB and we are getting ready to head that way. The map gives an overview of this 5,000 mile, one way, trip (click on it to see a large version). We plan to leave Thur (5 March). We will mosey our way to Brownsville and plan to go back roads as much as possible. We will do the East or Gulf Coast of Mexico this time. First area that we will spend time at is on the Emerald Coast, just south of Poza Rico and north of Veracruz. This will be quite different than the West Coast trip since on the second day in Mexico we will already be below the Tropic of Cancer and in warmth! Who knows what we will do from there? We have the medicine issue resolved for 90 days so we will not be pressed.

Daniele will be doing most of the blogging on this trip. We've got our SkyPE system working. The Email works. We've got our paper work in order....we hope.

Check back and see how we are progressing! And, yes, we have read all the dire warnings. We frequent RV in Mexico web sites and forums and no one has had a problem. We will get clear of the border in a hurry and practice situational awareness.