LoriBarb

As always, planning our departure is weather dependent. This time we also had to plan around Barb’s return from Burlington on Mar 31st, and Lori’s weekend virtual mediation retreat, Mar 31-Apr. 2nd. And, the weather for Sunday looked way less windy than Monday. Lori decided to skip the Sunday morning meditation session so that we could head out early on the 2nd. We thought we had everything well organized until late the night before when we walked Winston and a neighbour told us that the IRONMAN 70.3 Texas had the bike portion of the race on Sunday morning, along the one and only route from our RV park off Galveston Island. It starts early at 6.45am and the bikes have the right of way.

Hhm. We had already booked our campgrounds for the next several nights and had plans to take the ferry off the island versus travelling the treacherous stretch of highway 10 around Houston again. We knew we needed to get to the ferry early as there were no reservations and we wanted to guarantee ourselves a spot onboard. So decision made, we were leaving early knowing it would be a slow drive from our southwestern RV park location to the island’s northeastern ferry departure. While only 12 miles (roughly 20km) it would be a slow and precarious drive.

What a drive! It was really hard just turning left out of Jamaica Beach RV Park. Streams of cars, fans and bikers along the roadside. Once we made the turn, Barb had to drive super slow as the bikers are given priority on the road and the vehicles, including large RVs, must drive on the shoulder. We have been practicing for a year now how not to drive on the shoulder and now we are doing it purposely. Well never mind that; knowing there was a constant barrage of bikers up against the left side of the RV was totally nerve wracking. One slight move right: we were rolling down to the beach. And to the left: a slight bump and a domino effect of IRONMAN bikers going down. The drive from the RV park, on the west end of Galveston, to the ferry on the complete east side was only about 12 miles, however it felt like it took forever and we both needed showers when arriving at the ferry. Where are the pictures you ask? Well none were taken. Barb’s hands were stuck on the wheel and Lori was busy checking inches of room on the shoulder and coaching Barb to stay straight.

Wind, when travelling in a 5th Wheel or Motorhome, or frankly any moving vehicle, can be dangerous. And of course as newbies we have found that out the hard way. We now track wind days prior to heading out, to try and time our departures. It doesn’t always work out, meaning we can’t always time things perfectly, but we are VERY conscious of the average wind speed and gust speed on any given day. In fact, we are now giving ourselves two options to depart Galveston this weekend as we head back north towards home.

Since being on the Island here in Galveston, we have had some serious wind. In fact one day/night while Barb was back in Burlington, Lori pulled in the back bedroom slide (our largest one) for fear that the awning that is attached to the top would shred off, which would be yet another expensive fix. So Lori slept in the front loft and was rocked all night. Not rocked to sleep, but rocked awake as she was afraid something would blow off our RV – or something would blow into our RV!!

When driving, the rule of thumb in a motorhome is to avoid driving in winds that exceed 50 mph. Wind speeds approaching 60 mph are enough to overturn your RV. The larger the RV the more surface area. The more surface area the more likely it is that the wind can tip you over. Thank God our RV is on the smaller side.

Barb and I really started tracking and talking about wind after one day in particular. The wind gusts were so strong Lori had to use both arms and body strength to keep the RV in our lane. In fact the steering wheel was turned as far as she could and all we could hear was squealing as the motorhome tried to comply with what we were forcing it to do. Did we stop driving?? No, we really didn’t think about that in the moment as we were too focused on staying in our lane. In hindsight….well you get the picture.

So now we track, talk, strategize, and have a couple of game plans each time we are getting ready to move. This time around, given the winds off the ocean….we have a few game plans for leaving and heading out.

Currently Sunday will be average wind of 22 km with gusts of 33 km. Not bad and good to move. Monday will be 24 km with gusts of 44 km. So Sunday seems the better day. Caveat: Lori has a meditation class that ends at 1pm on Sunday. So while Sunday is a better day regarding lack of wind, we have less driving time. Monday we have all day, but heavier winds.

Other factors?? RAIN. While rain doesn’t sound like much of an issue, when you are driving a big rig and you have a massive windshield, it is a little intimidating. Lori recalls a time when Elaine and she had rented a RV and they were heading back to the rental place in Barrie Ontario when a windshield wiper broke. It was POURING, really POURING! They now had only one working wiper, and of course it was on the passenger side. Needless to say Elaine was a trooper and got them to their destination but NOT without a lot of stress and worry on both their parts.

So again, when looking at the two days in question for leaving Galveston, we see that on Sunday the wind is better but there is also a 80% chance of rain. Monday is only 55% chance but potentially heavier winds……

SO, we wait. We check daily and will make our decision on Saturday night as to whether we will move on Sunday afternoon and only drive a few hours (we don’t drive at dusk/night) or on Monday, where we will have a full day to drive if we want. Or, if things really change for the worse, we will stay an extra day (or more) until it is safe to move on.

Not sure where the time goes each day, but it does. I get up relatively early, well – OK, not that early, but it is always before 8am. I take the kids for a walk, Winston trotting along and Safiya in her knapsack, around the RV park. Then back to the RV and feed them, while I either have a cup of coffee or tea. I then do Wordle which doesn’t take much time, and check my email which also doesn’t take too long. I then read a few chapters in whatever book I am reading and contemplate some sort of breakfast. Walk again between 1:00 and 2:00, and again after 6pm. In between the first, second, and third walks I either go biking, swimming or play pickle ball.

During the week here in Galveston there are events happening most days and I partake in the following: Monday & Wednesdays are flexibility classes and I ride my bike on the beach. Tuesdays & Thursdays we have water aerobics, pickleball, and a bike ride on the beach if I can fit it in before the water aerobics, otherwise it gets too hot. Fridays – Sundays are free days for me to choose what I want to do. Most times it’s a bike ride on the beach (did 16k the other day) if the wind isn’t too bad, followed with some exercises in the pool to cool down.

Every day is a reading day and I am reading on average two books a week since this journey started. This equates to over 70 books in total. Not bad!

I also watch/stream a lot. Love cooking shows and really liked the new Luther movie on Netflix. The people at Jamaica Beach are really nice and there is always someone to stop and talk to when we are out and about, so I don’t really get bored and am never lonely.

Amazon also ships anywhere you are so I get Winston’s Canadian dog food delivered and Safiya’s food delivered, along with books/water toys/things for the RV etc. Today I received a bath mat and a book, “Become a Wellness Champion”. I am looking forward to giving this a read as it came highly recommended by a couple of friends, Sharon & Nicole.

So being stationary doesn’t mean you have to be stationary :). Living life in the moment each day is my mantra and it continues to plant a smile on my face. While I’ll be back in Canada in a month, I will miss being down in the U.S., travelling to new places and meeting new people. Upside? I get to see my family and figure out what 6 months in Canada is going to look like this time around.

It’s been a while since Lori posted about the fur babies, so here is an update. They are enjoying this phase of the trip. They love it outside, they love it inside, and are exhausted at the end of each day.

Barb flew home March 1st to ensure she was back in Burlington in enough time to be there for her first grandaughter’s birth. On March 8th Lilah was born and life was positively changed forever.

It was amazing to be part of the birth process and to witness this wonderful new life come into the world. It was also wonderful to have planned to be home for the full month to help out and hold this beautiful baby as much as I could.

It’s hard to capture all the emotions here, however suffice to say the entire family was in awe and very involved in the first month helping out. The pictures capture many of the memories.

While we thought Creekfire RV Resort in Savannah Georgia was the best park we had stayed at, we would now say Jamaica Beach is even better. Mainly because we are further south so we have better weather, but also because it has so many organized activities. The pickleball lessons, free play and daily competitions, along with the water aerobic classes, make the park very attractive given our desire to exercise daily. Being close to the water is also an amazing plus.

On our first beach walk we discovered a grocery store along with a restaurant. We checked out both and we were very delighted. The grocery store, while a small independent, was fairly high end. Some great meats, cheeses, and seafood. We decided to go for lunch at the restaurant a few days later and thoroughly enjoyed their menu and meals. So we returned a few more times in our first week there from Feb 27th to Mar 6th, before Barb flew home for the birth of her first granddaughter.

Here for a month, and what a great place to be parked! We are staying at Jamaica Beach RV Resort which has 3 pools, 1 lazy river, mini putt, water exercise classes, pickleball classes, Hunt Brothers Pizza on site, and it’s right across from the beach on the Gulf of Mexico. Need we say more?

Some random pics

Home of the famous River Walk………really? OK the walk itself was pretty and the city has done a great job of making this a very well known tourist attraction, but it is only restaurants and bars along the river. Well, there is a bit of shopping, but it is a mall at the end of one side of the river. We weren’t looking for a mall, but more local shops to visit. However we did find a GREAT Mexican restaurant and had a wonderful lunch! Then we took a river cruise, learned nothing really, but our guide was funny, so that’s something.

We can’t leave San Antonio without mentioning the Alamo. While we didn’t go on a tour inside, there are some pics from outside. What we can tell you is the Battle of the Alamo took place Feb 23 – March 6, 1836. This was a pivotal event and military engagement in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Antonio, killing most of its occupants. San Antonio’s refusal to take prisoners during the battle inspired many Texans and Tejanos to join the Texan Army. Motivated by a desire for revenge, as well as their written desire to preserve a border open to immigration and the importation and practice of slavery, the Texans defeated the Mexican Army at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, ending the rebellion in favour of the newly formed Republic of Texas.

That night, given our disappointment with the River Walk area and lack of interest in a tour of the Alamo, we decided to go to an expensive steak house called Bohanan’s. While this was our most expensive meal to date, it lived up to the hype about the food here. Several hilarious things did occur however. When we were escorted to the upscale second floor the elevator opened and we walked out. The staff looked us up and down and didn’t seem impressed. We thought we were dressed fairly nicely and found out later no open-toed shoes are allowed (and we were each wearing sandals/flipflops). Yikes!

We were so excited to be going out for a great Texas steak we forgot to ask where the meat was from and how it was prepped. After dinner and having thoroughly enjoyed the rib eye steak we asked. The answer ‘Alberta’. We nearly died laughing as we were some 2,660km from Ontario expecting to try something new only to have a steak from Canada and from Alberta where Lori had lived for the last 3 years. Hilarious!

Tomorrow we are off to Galveston! We are avoiding the Houston area, as the roads are too busy and way too hectic for our liking. So we are taking the 10 for a bit, then the 6 east until almost the coast, then onto the 45 and onto the Island.

After the crazy driving in Houston, we really enjoyed hunkering down for a week of relaxation at a very nice KOA in San Antonio. It had a large campground with lots of places to walk. The pool was large and very inviting and we spent most afternoons there. There was also an incredible walking/biking path just outside the park which went for miles in either direction. We went biking most mornings to pass the time and get some great exercise.

The park had a small trailer cafe where we ordered coffee and an occasional breakfast snack as a treat. They also sold Hunt Brothers Pizza at the front office. We weren’t sure about it so didn’t bother having any (more on this in Galveston). The park was well located off the highway and had a bus stop across the street which we took to go and get groceries as well as to get into downtown San Antonio. It was really all very convenient.

Only wandered a bit, but you can see from the pics it is a nice location.

We also went to NASA Space Center, what an incredible place. We went on a couple of rides: one virtual reality and one in a small spacecraft that simulated travel in space. Both were cool.

We met a couple from Quebec with very limited English so Barb spoke to them in French. The had had issues with their water lines in their RV and had blown some of them due to high water pressure. They were so worried about it they gave us an extra water regulator they had. Up until this point we knew nothing about controlling the water pressure entering the RV to make sure no damage was done. Huh…the things you learn! From the incredible nice and generous people you meet.

Off to San Antonio next!

This is a famous quote, and one that I’m sure we’ve all used. It also worked for us today heading to Houston, only to have our stairs stop working at a rest stop. YUP, once again stairs stuck on out so we couldn’t continue our drive. Out came the tools, and the request for help. There are ALWAYS truckers willing to help! We started to take the stairs apart and then we couldn’t get the pin out, so a young man stepped in to help. We tied up the stairs and we are now “stairless” for the duration of the trip. We have decided to give up on fixing them until we take take the unit back to the manufacturer in Buffalo in April. We jumped on the internet and ordered a small foldable step still to help Winston, and frankly us too, get in and out of the RV. Problem temporarily solved!

We are staying the next few days at Lakeview RV Park, which is beautiful. We are right on the lake. We set up, walked Winston and Safiya around the lake, and checked out the park. We had made reservations for dinner at a lovely Mexican restaurant!

On to dinner at Flora’s. It was AMAZING!! Best dinner yet!!

Here are some pics.