Old dogs can learn new tricks!

Yesterday we drove from Anniston, AL to Minden, LA. 

Now we made it around Dallas, TX and to Sweetwater, TX. 

Many, many miles. 

cattle along the road in Texas

Today we old guys checked out something newfangled: 

an offer from LOVE’s gas stations : 

RV parking with hook-up.

We needed to fill up our water tank and get our pump going anyway, so we decided not to go to a Walmart 

but to try out this RV- thing. 

What a learning curve! We found the spot without trouble via Google Maps.

It was closed off by a solid metal gate. How to get in there? 

First we had to go online to their website and book a spot. 

Then a text message arrived providing the entry code that, after punched in, opened the gate! 

We parked on our pre-booked, nice, very level concrete spot and started to hook up water and power. All procedures like in a normal campground. 

But -no power? How come? 

A phone call to LOVES’s help centre enlightened us to please go to check the email for a "check-in link", and that after checking in access to power would be granted. OK. Got that.

The check-in link was found and the task completed. 

Still no power. 

By now a man (Peter) would give up.

Not though a woman. Another phone call enlightened us that it would take about 5 to 10 minutes before power would get connected to our spot. Another "aha-moment". Therefore! 

And right so. A few minutes later and a little wriggling 

on the plug-in, and we were all set! 

So don’t say: "Old dogs cannot learn new tricks". 

They can, even the all automatic, all online newfangled stuff! 

There was a dog walk, too 

dog walk and our spot in the background

and lots of soft grass for Dixie

Dixie enjoying the soft grass

But that was not the end, yet.

Next hurdle was to get into the shower house. My confirmation text told me to use a number combination to get into the service station.

I tried, pushing the buttons in the right order, nothing happened. The door was not opening. Hugh! 

I tried a different door - that opened to a toilet/restroom only. 

By then the other door opened by itself - because someone had been occupying it! 

So stupid! But, there was no green/red light anywhere that would have indicated that. 

Obviously modern people don’t seem to need the use of such old fashioned signage. 

They just KNOW that: when the door doesn’t open it must be occupied. Well, well. 

But, the shower room was great, spacious and very clean. 

What a refreshing learning curve this was, after all these days of boring interstate driving. 

Spaghetti bridges

Translation for my German friends

Man lernt nie aus! Heute have wir alten Leutchen mal wieder etwas dazu gelernt. Wir hatten uns entschieden einmal das Campingangebot einer Tankstellenkette auszuprobieren. Womostellplätze mit allem Komfort. Den Platz hatten wir schnell gefunden, er war aber mit einem Eisentor verschlossen. Also: online gehen und sich einen Stellplatz buchen. Dann per SMS eine Nummer zugeschickt bekommen, die uns das Tor öffnete. Simsalabim!

Auf dem Stellplatz angekommen hatten wir aber keinen Strom. 

Na so was! Ein Telefonanruf beim Servicezentrum löste das Problem: man mußte in 

einer separaten Email einen Link anklicken und sich einchecken damit man Strom bekommt. Gesagt, getan - kein Strom. Hmmm. Noch ein Anruf wurde getätigt (Frauen scheuen sich ja nicht zu fragen) und es wurde erklärt daß es nach dem Einchecken noch etwas 5 -10 Minuten

dauert bis der Strom für unseren Stellplatz freigeschaltet werde. Aha!

Und so war es dann auch. 

Also, man kann nicht sagen: wir sind zu alt um das noch zu lernen! Auch wenn es sich um vollautomatisches, alles online und über Handy getätigtes Gefummel ist. 

Die nächste Hürde war in das Waschhaus zu gelangen. Eine Nummernkombination war vorgegeben, aber die Türe öffnete sich nicht. Merkwürdig.

Eine andere Tür ging auf, aber es war nur zu einem Toilettenraum. Da - es öffnete sich plötzlich die erste Türe - jemand war da drin gewesen! 

Das kann man ja nicht ahnen, oder? Es gab keine rot/grünen Hinweise wie z.B. im Zug oder Flugzeug. So ein altmodisches System brauchen moderne Menschen  wohl nicht mehr.

Man muß das wohl logisch angehen: wenn sie sich nicht öffnet - dann ist da jemand drin. 

Nun ja. 

Nach all der ewigen Fahrerei war diese steile Lernkurve doch recht erfrischend. 

Genau wie das anschließende Bad! 

Port Lewes, DE to Anniston AL

Two days without any major incidents, yeah! 

We started at sunrise and went to empty our tanks at the nearest state park. 

Then we headed off towards the Chesapeake Bay crossing. 

Bridge over Chesapeake Bay

That is done via a combination of a bridge and 2 tunnels over a stretch of open water on a distance of 28.3 km (17.6 mi ).

Big conainer ship

The crossing over the wide open water takes about 20min, and at the second tunnel we saw a big container ship about to move  right above our heads. 

Container ship crossing a tunnel, seen in rear mirror

After the crossing we dove into the crazy traffic of Norfolk in Delaware, managed that and drove as far as we could before sunset. 

We made it to Smithfield, NC where we had parked overnight once before.

After a quiet night on a Walmart parking lot we again started out right after sunrise and merged from the I-95, near Florence SC, onto the I-20 west. The day was sunny 

with temperatures of 26C (78.8F).

We will stay on this interstate until it ends on I-10, about 1.500 miles away and west of Pecos, TX. 

Long days of driving are ahead. I know - it is crazy!

Gas is much cheaper here than home in New Brunswick.

nice gas prices down here

Tonight we will stay in Anniston, AL . By now we have entered another time zone. 

City traffic

Started out on Atlantic time, drove through Eastern time and entered Alabama into Central Time. And two more timezones ahead.

 

One minor thing: the gear stick slipped again despite the recent repairs done. Explain that to me!! 

JP had to crawl under the van again and move the connection until we got the mechanism working. 

at a rest stop: Gulf Fritillary Butterfly

 Translation for my German friends

Zwei Tage ohne Zwischenfälle sind vergangen, abgesehen von ein paar verrückten Autofahrern die, im dicken Stadtverkehr, in letzter Minute noch vor

uns eine Ausfahrt erreichen wollten, und vor uns von links kommend nach rechts rein scherten und uns schnitten. 

Gefährlich, gefährlich und völlig rücksichtslos!

Noch mal gut gegangen.

Wir fuhren direkt nach Sonnenaufgang von Port Lewes in Delaware los zum nächsten Regionalpark und benutzten dort deren Sani-Anlage um unsere Tanks zu entleeren. 

Danach ging es direkt in Richtung Chesapeake Bay. Eine 28.3 km breite Wasserfläche die man per Brücke und zweier Tunnel überquert. Ein großes Kontainerschiff fuhr dabei

direkt über uns hinweg. Dann stürzten wir uns hinein in das Verkehrsgetümmel von Norfolk, Virginia. Wir fuhren weiter bis zum Sonnenuntergang und übernachteten in Smithfield, North Carolina. 
Her gibt es ein interessantes Ava Gardner Museum, für das wir allerdings keine Zeit eingeplant hatten.

Heute ging es dann weiter, bei sonnigen 26 Grad, bis nach South Carolina wo wir endlich auf die Interstate I-20 gelangten. Die wird uns nun, nach weiteren 2.414 Kilometern in Richtung Westen, hin zur I-10 bringen. Von dort ist es dann nicht mehr weit bis nach New Mexico. 

Es gab nicht viel zu sehen, meistens ländliche Gegenden oder dichter Großstadtverkehr. Das Benzin kostet hier vergleichsweise Euro 0.67 per Liter.

Einmal hat heute, trotz Reparatur, der Schalthebel wieder gebockt und J.P mußte wieder unter das Auto kriechen und am Kabel wackeln bis er wieder einrastete. 

Das soll einer verstehen! 

Heute Nacht bleiben wir in Anniston, Alabama.

A Start With lots of Hurdles

 It is this time of the year. We are again bound for California. 

We left home on Friday, November 3 and had no trouble reaching our first spot where we had planned to stay over night.

Ready to move 

A relatively calm place behind a liquor store close to the border of New Hampshire. After an uneventful night we started out early at sunrise. 

But then things started to happen. On our lunch stop Peter found the coffee machine on the floor in shards. I had forgotten to stow it away before we started out this morning. 

Some of the glass was pulled into the slideout and we were afraid it would damage the tracks. But it was just a fuse that blew when the slide was pulled out.

Trying to fix the problem

After lunch, the next thing occurred: the van would not go into gear. The shift stick was moving loosely without snapping into R, N or D. Peter called our mechanic and then crawled under the van to wriggle some connections. That did the trick. The gear stick started to work again and we went on.

Our goal for the next night was a Walmart in Freehold, New Jersey. So far, so good. Upon reaching Frehold we pulled into a gas station to fill the tank. Suddenly the dashboard light came on with a warning:

 “motor overheating” and the motor stuttered. What now? We sat at the pump for a while, Peter got coolant. After the motor had cooled a little we decided to go on. Walmart was just a mile away. 

Again: the gear stick was free moving. Ugh. Back under the van and wriggle the cables. Luckily it worked and a few minutes later we limped onto the parking lot for the night. The motor was hot again.

Bubbles coming up from the cooler system

Sunday morning, of course no repair shop open, Peter tried to fix the problem. More coolant was filled in, and this time a lot of air bubbled out of the filling neck until the liquid suddenly disappeared into the system. He drove the van for a while around the area and the temperature stayed in the normal range. 

Parked on Walmart parking lot, checking the engine

Then he tried to fixe the problem with the gear shift stick. Not a chance.

We had to wait until Monday morning. Luckily, all this happened here and not along a busy highway or interstate. The parking lot was very quiet during the night and a safe place to be.

Today, Monday, Peter drove the van to a Chevrolet dealer/repair shop. We had found out it was just over a mile away. They were extremely helpful there after he told them our problems. A part was picked up 30 miles away and repair was done quickly. They changed the whole connecting cables and a plate attached to the automatic transmission where the cable was attached to. That plate was totally worn off and the reason for the reoccurring glitches.

Finally, after a day and a half, we were back on the road again and headed towards Cape May to catch the 6 pm ferry to Port Lewes in Delaware. 

Getting the very last spot on the ferry to Lewes, DE

This time we had luck with us. The 3:30 pm ferry had not departed yet, and lo-and-behold they had one open spot left. After a quick sniffer dog check for drugs and explosives we were waved onboard and the ramp went up. We were on our way. 

Now we are parked on the ferry’s parking area in Lewes, DE until tomorrow morning. A friendly guard told us that we should not be surprised: there were “ghosts” observed around here. The parking lot is a former graveyard where sailors were laid to rest. 

Oh well, we will survive that too, I guess. 

Marker telling about the cemetery 

Tomorrow we will be heading on to somewhere in South Carolina, trying to reach the I-20 that will lead us westward. 

Dixie walking around and checking out the area.

***

Translation for my German readers:

Wir sind mal wieder auf dem Weg nach Kalifornien. Der erste Tag verlief ohne Zwischenfälle. Nicht so der zweite Reisetag. Zuerst zerbrach eine Kaffeemaschine, die ich vergessen hatte zu verstauen, dann ließ sich der Schalthebel vom Automatikgetriebe nicht mehr in Position bringen. Er bewegte sich ohne einzurasten auf und nieder. Doch nach Anleitung von unserem Mechaniker konnte J. P. die Verbindung wieder herstellen. Am Tagesziel angekommen, als wir in eine Tankstelle einbogen, fing der Motor an zu stottern und das Warnlicht “Motor überhitzt” leuchtete auf. 

Da standen wir nun eine Weile bis der Motor abgekühlt war und J. P Kühlflüssigkeit nachgefüllt hatte. Aber der Ganghebel auch schon wieder ausgerastet. Also wieder unter den Wagen kriechen und rumfummeln. 

Das Ende vom Lied: wir humpelten noch 1.5 km zum Parkplatz bei Walmart, den wir als Übernachtungsplatz ausgesucht hatten. Es war natürlich Wochenende und alle Werkstätten geschlossen.

Den Sonntag verbrachte J.P damit die Fehler selbst zu beheben. Es stellte sich heraus daß Luft in der Leitung gewesen war. Danach lief der Motor wieder einwandfrei. Das Problem mit dem Ganghebel ließ sich aber nicht beheben. Heute morgen, Montag, fuhr J.P mit dem Van zur Chevroletwerkstatt, die glücklicherweise auch nur ca 2 km entfernt war. Dort reparierte man die ausgeschlagenen Teile und wir konnten endlich weiterfahren. Glück hatten wir auch mit der Fähre nach Delaware. Auf einem früheren Abgang war gerade noch ein Platz frei und wir brauchten nicht drei Stunden länger auf die Nächste warten. Nun sind wir wohlbehalten in Port Lewes angekommen und stehen dort auf dem Parkplatz am Fährenkai. Morgen früh geht es weiter nach South Carolina bis wir die Interstate 20 erreichen, die uns westwärts führen wird.

Auf dem Platz hier, auf dem wir übernachten, soll es übrigens spuken. ^O^

Parched land, tornado watch, and flooded rivers

Update 

On our first three days of travelling home 

the landscape changed dramatically.

Saguaro Cactus along the road in Arizona

From the dry cactus desert of Arizona.....

The Scrap Metal Roadrunner of Las Cruses, NM

 .... to parched ranch land in New Mexico, 

Cattle on ranch land

Flowering Agave

... and western Texas.

Oil pump 

As soon as we crossed Dallas, TX, and rolled into the eastern part of Texas.....

spring green in eastern Texas

.... everything began to look much greener.

Then bad weather caught up with us.

That night we stayed in a rest area near Shreveport, AL and got through

Radar screen shot with tornado fields marked on the way

 hours of tornado watch, torrential rainfall, 

severe thunderstorms, some hail. 

The whole time we sat in the dark because we cut out the power,

 just in case.

thunder, lightning, torrential rain and high wind

In the end all went well, but it was nerve-racking while it went on!

Lots of flooding in Alabama after the storms

This morning we saw a lot of flooding during our drive through Louisiana, ....

flooded rivers and fields everywhere

 

 ... into Mississippi ....

Bridge over the Mississippi River

Flooded Mississippi 

... and in to Alabama.

The days of endless open roads were definitely over. 

Dense traffic everywhere now.

The bad weather has moved on, for now,

 and we will have a quiet night tonight near Tuscaloosa, AL.

I am looking forward to it!

Tomorrow we will be driving through Georgia and into South Caroline.

Stay tuned!

A Wild Dash Out Of The Snow

 We escaped the Texas winter storm!

We did, because, when we checked on the weather early in the morning, we discovered there was a two hours window to get out ... 

The weather radar when we started out

 and away before the storm pounced on the area with heavy snow and wind.

The weather radar when we were out of the area

Within half an hour we were packed and on the road. 

Sleet was coming down already and within 15 minutes it was snowing heavily. 

Despite temperatures of +2 C (36F) 

 wet snow accumulated on the road to a nasty slush.

 

The window wishers got caked with frozen snow. 

Should we take the next exit and return to Balmorhea TX? 

Peter decided not to, because the road cameras showed bare roads (green) 

just an hour ahead of us.

Checking back on the area around Balmorhea 

we saw the roads were “orange” (difficult driving) and the weather forecast said +1 C, (33F), 90% snow accumulating 10-30cm (8 to 10 inch).

 Fortunately we got some help. 

Two semi-trailers, driving ahead of us,

squished the the slush out of the way with their big tires.

The weather forecast and road map were right.

The bad driving took about a hour until Van Horn, TX ...

then the snow went over into rain. After that we had only sleet, in El Paso, TX it still rained 

El Paso, TX skyline

El Paso, TX, overpasses

snow was only visible on the mountain tops.

Reaching Las Cruces NM the weather was partly cloudy, dry and + 12C (53.6 F) mild. 

We had made it!

Clouds over the high plateau along I-10 west of Las Cruces, NM

When we looked around at the familiar scenery, driving I-10 west, we smiled. 

That's what we had been looking forward to!

Blue sky, fluffy clouds and wide open spaces.

We drove on until an hour before sunset.

Rest area along I-10 wb, near Portal, AZ

There is a nice rest area near Portal, AZ where 

we ended up for the night. 

Sculpture , Roadrunner with its prey -a lizard. 

Arrival at destination - Day 9

Finally and end in sight, Day 9 and first morning on site.

Day 9 arrived and we had only 5 more hours to go. 

A short lunch break at Sentinel Rest area. 

After that it was just going in for the finish line. 

The desert Southwest

Cruising through Yuma, AZ with its Watertowers 

and lots of RV parks along the interstate. 

Familiar vegetable fields 

and Yuma Sanddunes 

with the "All American Canal" cutting through the area

bringing irrigation water to the fields.

 Finally our camping area in the desert near Holtville, CA. 

 Around 2pm PST we finally reached our destination:

BLM Long term area for dispersed camping on Evan Hewes Hgw, near Holtville, CA.

Peter paid the fees at the camp host station 

and a few yards later we already met our first old friends from long time ago. 

A couple from BC. The have winter camped here for over 20 years 

and we met them many times while we were here between 2005 and 2014.

Once we were settled at “our” old spot another couple showed up to welcome us back. 

It was very nice to come back after 7 years and still be recognized. A little bit as coming “home”. 

Later in the evening when Peter came back from his first shopping trip to

Holtville he met another couple that also arrived today. 

The “Portuguese” people. They were happy to see us too after so manyyears.

At bedtime I felt really drenched of energy. The long days of driving had taken its toll. 

I need a long rest now, that’s for sure.

****

I was up before sunrise, a unknown thing for me to do, 

but with the time change of 4 hours behind Atlantic time to Pacific time 

it worked. And good too. 

While walking Dixie in the cool morning air, 

I heard a coyote howling and, a little later, we saw a bobcat crossing the 

road. Small desert quails were busy among the salt cedar stubs too. 

No photos, it was too bad, but I left the camera back in the trailer. 

Had only my cellphone on me. 

Dixie seemed to be in heaven. After 10 days cooped up she now had a ball.

 Some many smells to explore, and so much to sniff out. 

My first morning was spent with doing an inventory of each 

of the camper’s compartments to figure out what is where. 

It is a sad realization, but my short term memory Is not the best anymore. 

I find it harder to remember where things are. 

Consequently I made a long list and hope it will be easier now. 

One particular thing, though, that I was looking for, was not to be found. 

Not in the closets, nor bags, or totes. That worried me.

In the heat of the afternoon we retired into the shade, just hanging out. 

Feels good after that long ride.

Translation

_________________________________________

Endlich, nach 9 Tagen auf den Autobahnen, sind wir endlich am Ziel angekommen.

Die Wüste im Südwesten Kaliforniens, in der Nähe von Yuma, AZ.

Gleich nach der Ankunft haben wir sogar Freunde getroffen, die wir schon vor

 mehr als sieben Jahren kennengelernt hatten. Doch viele werden wir nie

wiedersehen, sind entweder zu alt für das Reisen geworden 

oder sogar schon verstorben.

Die Zeit steht nicht still.

Dixie ist froh endlich wieder herumlaufen zu können 

und es gibt tausend neue Gerüche die sie ausschnüffeln mußte.

Nach einer guten Nacht war ich schon vor Sonnenaufgang auf, 

die Zeitverschiebung machte sich bemerkbar. 

Wir sind jetzt von Atlantik- auf Pazifikzeit umgestellt.

Das sind vier Stunden später als an der Ostküste.

Meinen Morgen verbrachte ich dann damit sämtliche Schränke zu sortieren.

Leider ist mein Kurzzeitgedächtnis nicht mehr das was es mal war.

Eine Inventarliste wird es mir nun erleichtern Sachen zu finden.

Doch das nachdem ich gesucht hatte war nirgendwo aufzufinden.

Das ist nicht gut.

In der Nachmittagswärme von 25 Grad verzogen wir uns in den Schatten 

und genossen es mal absolut nichts zu tun.