May 17 – We woke up early but it was only 6:45 so I went totally back to sleep but I think Bill got up with Xena. I slept another 45 minutes, guess I needed it. We had a quick breakfast today of cereal, not my favorite, so we could get on the road. Managed to leave the park at 8:15 and drive across the road and fuel up and on the road at 8:30. Nothing left behind, but Bill had a scare that he left his ring in the bathroom as he could not find it. I later found it in the clothes hamper. He was literally a “happy camper”.
Since today was to be a longer driving day, we tried to make our stops short. There are not many rest areas in LA. We finally got to a welcome center 2 hours south of Shreveport. They did serve some nice LA grown coffee, Community brand. I added my own flavored cream and it was pretty good. Bill had to settle for a Snapple.
Along the road today the traffic was really light and the scenery was so nice. Rolling hills and very verdant surroundings. No ugly billboards destroying the scenery. As we approached one hilltop we could see a large stream of smoke on the other side of the road. It was visible for quite a way. Finally we saw the long line of traffic on that side all backed up behind the smoke. As we got closer we saw the problem. The rear axle of a truck loaded with cut lumber had somehow crumbled and was on fire and the wood was on fire. There were fire trucks and lots of police cars. I do have to admit we were really glad to be on the northbound side of the highway.
The drive through Shreveport wasn’t bad and we stopped on the other side for fuel and lunch. Today we ate in the RV. Just a sandwich, veggies and a cookie. Today’s problem occurred when I opened the slides for lunch. I try to watch all over to make sure nothing is in the way, but I heard wood cracking and stopped. The coasters and holder (with all the horrible roads causing bouncing) had gotten out of the basket and one of the coasters was lodged in between the edge of the slide and the wall it was to slide to. Yikes! I almost panicked, but calmed down and brought the slides all back in and got the coaster out. I told Bill to get a hammer and he almost got the wood frame back like it was. Will work on it more when we get to CO.
After lunch break we headed on I-20 to Grand Prairie, which is a suburb between Dallas and Ft. Worth. As we approached Dallas I didn’t think the traffic was bad at all. NOT! We were 4 miles from our exit and it was 4 lanes solid, just creeping along. It was the most nerve racking drive so far. My neck and shoulder muscles were knots. I stayed in the right lane as it’s so hard to change lanes in that kind of traffic, but the butthead drivers kept just cutting in from the shoulder in front of me from the on ramp. Of course it would be my fault if I happened to rear end one of them.
We arrived in one piece to Trader Village in Grand Prairie. It’s a pretty large RV park that adjoins what I hear is a HUGE Flea Market. The RV park here is really very nice. The spots are a bit small but they are all concrete pads and have picnic tables. It’s really convenient to sight-see the two cities instead of being outside of either one. Unfortunately it is only open on the weekends and we leave on Saturday. We could not get into the site we were assigned so we took a one further down and they said that was fine. I had to break out the Canadian and Coke once we got set up. Then I managed to get some dinner made. Leftover chicken, fresh beets from my garden, leftover green beans for Bill and corn. Nothing fancy. Bill walked Xena twice and I blogged. We watched the season enders of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Mentalist”. Those darn cliff hangers!
Since today was to be a longer driving day, we tried to make our stops short. There are not many rest areas in LA. We finally got to a welcome center 2 hours south of Shreveport. They did serve some nice LA grown coffee, Community brand. I added my own flavored cream and it was pretty good. Bill had to settle for a Snapple.
Along the road today the traffic was really light and the scenery was so nice. Rolling hills and very verdant surroundings. No ugly billboards destroying the scenery. As we approached one hilltop we could see a large stream of smoke on the other side of the road. It was visible for quite a way. Finally we saw the long line of traffic on that side all backed up behind the smoke. As we got closer we saw the problem. The rear axle of a truck loaded with cut lumber had somehow crumbled and was on fire and the wood was on fire. There were fire trucks and lots of police cars. I do have to admit we were really glad to be on the northbound side of the highway.
The drive through Shreveport wasn’t bad and we stopped on the other side for fuel and lunch. Today we ate in the RV. Just a sandwich, veggies and a cookie. Today’s problem occurred when I opened the slides for lunch. I try to watch all over to make sure nothing is in the way, but I heard wood cracking and stopped. The coasters and holder (with all the horrible roads causing bouncing) had gotten out of the basket and one of the coasters was lodged in between the edge of the slide and the wall it was to slide to. Yikes! I almost panicked, but calmed down and brought the slides all back in and got the coaster out. I told Bill to get a hammer and he almost got the wood frame back like it was. Will work on it more when we get to CO.
After lunch break we headed on I-20 to Grand Prairie, which is a suburb between Dallas and Ft. Worth. As we approached Dallas I didn’t think the traffic was bad at all. NOT! We were 4 miles from our exit and it was 4 lanes solid, just creeping along. It was the most nerve racking drive so far. My neck and shoulder muscles were knots. I stayed in the right lane as it’s so hard to change lanes in that kind of traffic, but the butthead drivers kept just cutting in from the shoulder in front of me from the on ramp. Of course it would be my fault if I happened to rear end one of them.
We arrived in one piece to Trader Village in Grand Prairie. It’s a pretty large RV park that adjoins what I hear is a HUGE Flea Market. The RV park here is really very nice. The spots are a bit small but they are all concrete pads and have picnic tables. It’s really convenient to sight-see the two cities instead of being outside of either one. Unfortunately it is only open on the weekends and we leave on Saturday. We could not get into the site we were assigned so we took a one further down and they said that was fine. I had to break out the Canadian and Coke once we got set up. Then I managed to get some dinner made. Leftover chicken, fresh beets from my garden, leftover green beans for Bill and corn. Nothing fancy. Bill walked Xena twice and I blogged. We watched the season enders of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “The Mentalist”. Those darn cliff hangers!
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