20-31OCT16 - Various & Houma, LA

Early, early, Thursday morning, 20OCT, we hit the roads south & east to Louisiana.  We awoke to heavy, heavy rains, & decided to delay departure until it was daylight.   While waiting Dan learned the interstates south thru Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, etc, were a mess due to the rain.  So Dan charted a course using state highways; end result was more miles driven, but major time saved.  Our driving was on & off heavy rain squalls thru Washington & half way into Oregon.  We overnighted at Hi-way Haven RV in Sutherlin, OR, where we have stayed twice three times in the past?  We still haven’t seen a movie on their drive-in screen.

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2015/12/29nov-04dec15-kerrville-tx-via.html

Friday we hit I-5 south a little later than planned.  As Dan was disconnecting our RV, the neighbor RV’er gave him a container of pea soup.  Turns out they had made a big pot the night before & didn’t want to waste it.  Our drive was thru light rain off & on, thru southern Oregon & northern California; until we got south of Mount Shasta.

Our intention was to drive south of Sacramento to find a RV park, but at Woodland, CA, we hit major traffic jam & decide to go to Yolo County Fairgrounds RV (see below BLOG).  Due to the lateness of the hour & being tired, we didn’t call Dan’s friends, the Alberts, to let them know how close we were.  Dinner was grilled cheese & excellent pea soup.

http://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2016/04/27feb-14mar16-houma-la-various-leaving.html

Saturday it was back on I-5 south.  After surviving the infamous Grapevine, we got on CA-138 to bypass the Los Angeles area freeways; spending the night at a very nice fairground RV facility outside of Lancaster, CA.

Sunday morning we took state road CA 138 & I-15/215 bypassing Los Angeles.  A few miles past Palm Springs, CA, we saw the aftermath of a horrendous crash between a tour bus & semi. Apparently four hours earlier the bus (traveling at high speed) rear-ended the semi.  Later that evening we learned from the national news, that thirteen people on the bus lost their livesL  Approaching Phoenix, AZ, we once again took US 85/I-8E; bypassing the Phoenix metro area.

In Casa Grande, AZ, we overnighted at the Escapees (a RV club we belong to) SKP park; where we stayed back in 02DEC2015.  We were not impressed w/their restaurant list (mostly chains & generic restaurants), so Dan found the highly rated Sho-Ga Japanese restaurant on the internet (very good).

Monday, 24OCT, we continued on I-10 to Deming, NM, & another Escapees SKP park (last there 18NOV2010).  Tuesday (Corrie’s B-day) another boring drive on I-10E (taking the Trans Mountain Loop around El Paso, TX).  We spent the night at Ft Stockton RV (last there 11MAR2014).  Where they still have very simple & cheap dinners at their Road Runner Café.

Wednesday continued on to Easy Does It RV in Kerrville, TX, to visit Dan’s sister Sharon & husband Tim (last visited 01MAR2016).  They joined us at the RV, & then dinner at Billy Jeans.  Thursday was just a day of relaxation; then an excellent dinner & evening of reminiscing at Tim & Sharon’s.

Friday, 28OCT, back on I-10E, with another nerve wracking transit of Houston. We could have done the entire drive to Houma in ten plus hours.  But decided to take two days.  We overnighted at Gulf Coast RV; where we stayed during hurricane Katrina & 11OCT2010 (the RV park is not as nice now).

Saturday we finally finished our drive into Houma, LA, around lunch time.  Our son in-law, Raymond, made pizza & our son, Joe, came over for dinner.  Sunday Dan & Rebecca took grandsons, Jaxson & Mason, to the skateboard park.  Jaxson did pretty good on his scooter; Mason was not interested.  For dinner daughter, Rebecca, made pulled pork & Joe again joined us for supper (before he heads offshore for two weeks).  Note - for the month of October, Louisiana has had 27 days of mid 80s to low 90s an; unprecedented streak.

Monday, 31OCT (Halloween), was the annual “hayride” w/Rebecca & Raymond’s friends thru the neighborhood so the kids could collect candy.  Dan stayed behind to pass out candy & guard the RV.

01-19OCT16 - Sultan, WA (prep'ing for departure)

Planning to leave for Louisiana soon; most of our time during October was spent preparing the house, yard & RV for departure around 20OCT.  Of course this is conjunction with numerous other tasks that always need attention – medical, dental, mowing, recycling/garbage, Habitat for Humanity, etc, etc.  And it seems like the longer the RV sits unused here in the Pacific NW, the longer it takes to reload it & check all the systems?

Saturday AM, 08OCT, we headed to Leavenworth, WA, for an overdue visit with cousin Sheila & beau Alan.  The drive was thru off & on rain thru the mountains on US 2; but there were great fall colors in the trees.  Even though we arrived in Leavenworth early the “Bavarian” themed town (we have discussed in older BLOG entries) was already full w/traffic & tourists.  Why?  Because as part of the town’s Bavarian theme, it celebrates octoberfest every weekend of October.  It was a great visit, even w/heavier rain on the drive home.

The following week was almost continuous news/warnings about forecasted heavy winds for the weekend.  Although the winds might gust over 50mph; you would have thought a hurricane was going to hit Seattle.  On Saturday, 15OCT, the storm arrived barely topping 40mph.  But all the TV news stations had two to three hours of prime time news casts about stormy “bad” weather (even in place of the national news!).

Tuesday, 18OCT, Dan finally got his ski equipment on his third visit to the sports store.  As part of his purchase he was entitled to his bindings being adjusted & custom fitting of the boots.  Because the store was in the process of moving things did not go smoothly.  Thursday 20OCT, on the road back to the kids & grandkidsJ!