On the Road Again!

We've been in the Rio Grande Valley since last November, so it was a bit of a new experience to get ready to leave and head out on the road again. We were very happy that we have good checklists, but checklists can't do everything. We'll have to feel our way back into the traveling lifestyle.

For example, it's been a while since we towed a heavy trailer at highway speeds. To preserve the brakes, that involves carefully balancing use of the truck brakes, the trailer brakes, and the transmission. It also means that when stopping, it's a good idea to let the engine and transmission cool down a bit with the fluids circulating. These things aren't automatic anymore.

Today we drove to Pleasanton, TX, about 200 miles. That doesn't sound like much, but it's nearly five hours for us. We stop for lunch, and we stop every hour to change drivers and get the kinks out. Along the way we saw another New Horizons Majestic stopped at a rest area. Later it passed us, and later still we saw it parked along the roadside. It always makes us wonder who our fellow travelers might be. We saw some wildflowers, mainly yellow ones. Then as we moved farther north we started to see Texas bluebonnets, always a lovely sight.

We're overnighting at a Walmart parking lot. It wasn't easy to find a spot where we could get level without unhitching, and it's a rather noisy area, but it's just an overnight, and we'll be on the road towards Austin tomorrow.

For dinner tonight we enjoyed some delightful boiled shrimp that our friends Jan and Steve picked up for us in Brownsville. Yummy, and we've got a few left for lunch tomorrow.