Monday, 28SEP, last of RV loading takes us past lunch & finally on the road at 2:15PM. First stop is Dan’s cousin Steve Kiesel & wife Bonnie’s in Kittitas, WA. Relax & reminisce for few hours & then off to The Tav for dinner. Not sure when our last visit to their small ranch, but its been too long🙁!
Tuesday slightly late AM start because Steve points out that Toad license plate tag is two months overdue. Off to DMV to solve problem; fuel RV up & head down Canyon Road – beautiful two lane following Yakima River to Yakima. Speed limit 45 but no climbs & descents like on I-82. Stop at Wildhorse Resort & Casino RV in Pendleton, OR, for the night; 195 miles driven. Of course we headed to the Casino & got Corrie here membership card & tried to beat the odds. Their match play for blackjack was supposed to be 2$ match – it wasn’t, very disappointing. The observing of the social distancing rules was pretty good.
Wednesday drive 339 miles & stay at KOA Twin Falls/Jerome, ID.
Thursday hard drive to Green River, UT; did some Walmart
s
Friday, 02OCT, another hard drive to outskirts of Albuquerque, NM; worst part was on our approach to get on I-25 when US550 was gridlocked. So we parked at Walmart to buy some more needed stuff & found out that the state required RV parks to only accept customers who could prove they had been in state 14 days!!! So we went to Santa Ana Star Casino (one of our many casino memberships) – they were closed from the virus until tomorrow & no parking in their empty lots!!! And because the annual balloon festival starts tomorrow, no parking at Walmart. Corrie calls one more RV park, they had one cancellation just occur & don’t ask how long we have been in state. Last headache of the day was walking to Mickey D’s & finding out drive thru only, 294 miles driven. (below BLOG link is our last visit to Albuquerque during balloon festival)
https://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2012/10/06-10oct12-kerrville-tx-via-albuquerque.html
Saturday another hard drive in gusting winds. Then DEF alarm won’t reset, even after tank is filled? So we call it a day & stop in Amarillo (last there in MAY08). Not sure why but there was a big fireworks display in Amarillo visible from the RV park? 426 miles driven.
https://theryanrvexpress.blogspot.com/2008/06/31may-01jun08-amarillo-tx.html
Sunday hard drive but no wind. We are not sure when but it seems like ten years ago Texas started building Safety/Rest Areas on their state freeways; & now are building them on the interstates? In general these sites have ample parking for semis, RVs & cars; beautiful landscaping minimizing water usage; built of local materials in the style of local architecture; & have a large an open area in the building with historical displays focused on important historical events of the local area. 426 miles driven stopping outside of Waco, TX.
Monday AM into Waco to visit Chip & Joanna Gaines of HGTV’s
“Fixer Upper”. Short Gaines’ Waco
history – they started out with an interior design boutique called Little Shop
on Bosque while Chip worked construction.
Eventually they closed the shop & Chip became independent contractor
(he would renovate a property & Joanna did the interior decoration). “Discovered” by HGTV & the rest is
history.
They then purchased an abandoned property in Waco called “the silos” by locals. Repurposed the silos & reopened as the Magnolia Silos (Magnolia being their company name). It now draws tourists from near & far. In fact the silos was already several acres in size but they bought three acres next door for major expansion to be completed soon (& they stopped their HGTV show a year ago to launch their own network). Now they have several locations in Waco (each a different way to separate you from your money) - Silos Bakery ($3 cupcakes cheapest item); Magnolia Market (upscale clothing, home décor & garden); Magnolia Press (coffee shop w/more home décor); the reopened original Little Shop on Bosque(discount store); Magnolia Table (large restaurant where Dan had Joanna’s avocado toast – pretty good).
https://magnolia.com/about/
Then after OD’ing on Magnolia paraphernalia it was off to explore Roadside America (Dan’s favorite RV’ing activity). First stop was to see 80 foot tall tin soldier. A towering, abandoned incinerator in a parking lot painted to resemble a Tin Soldier in late 2014. The Tincinerator! Followed by Darwin the Gorilla - Cement gorilla on someone’s front lawn is frequently repainted and accessorized to suit the whims of its owner. (note – this is very upscale neighborhood – not sure the neighbors appreciate this?)
https://www.roadsideamerica.com/map/tx/waco
Final stop of the day was back into Waco & the Dr Pepper Museum ($10 admission per person). Museum had lots of interesting exhibits & history of not only Dr Pepper (fist national brand in the USA) but all their competitors. While interesting, museum definitely needs to upgrade to modern computer/video displays & interactivity. Ex – they have videos running old TV commercials or historical film footage. When the video stops the display shifts to audio only presentation? And the videos are on a set schedule, rather than stopping when no one in room, or starting at beginning when someone enters empty roomL
Tuesday AM, 06OCT, we start another long day of driving enroute to son Joe’s house in our old hometown in Houma, LA. Meanwhile hurricane Delta is heading toward southern Louisiana as a category 3 or 4 storm. We decide to stop for the night in Marksville, LA, & tomorrow decide if we will continue to Houma or move away from hurricane Delta? 373 miles driven.
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