Moving right along. . .

It's been a busy travel week with other events thrown in for good measure.

We left Victoria, Texas, on Sunday morning and arrived in Houston at LakeView RV Resort in early afternoon. We set up camp and watched the Nascar race. We had an invitation to my cousin Jim's for dinner that evening. It was wonderful as usual with baked salmon, broccoli, cauliflower, a dinner salad, fresh rolls, and angel food cake with strawberries and icecream for dessert. Doris, a retired colleague of Jim and Lillian's was there. We have met her on several occasions there and it was good to see her again. It was a great evening.

Everything went smoothly with Terry's oncology checkup. His PSA is staying way down which is where it should be after treatment and the doctor was very pleased with his overall condition. We don't have to go back for a year now, so all is well.

When we left Houston, we headed north to Henderson, Texas. We met friends last year at the RV park in Houston who live there. Dave was there for prostate cancer and eventually had surgery for that. But he always has a type of lymphoma and is about to start chemo for that. We went to see them and visit. They have just remodeled their home and it is just gorgeous. It looks like something out of a magazine, it is that beautiful. They did a wonderful job selecting all the flooring, paints, trims, etc. I could never do as good a job! We also enjoyed dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant which was very good.

We could not find a campsite in the Henderson area, but the two campgrounds in the area offered to let us park for the night for no charge. Wow. We thought that was pretty sweet. So we did just that. We had plenty of space and were able to put out our slides and run our generator. It wasn't hot at night, so we were able to stay quite comfortable. However, it was quite evident that our house batteries are discharging very quickly. Hmmmm. They are almost 7 years old and we live in the coach, so they get a lot of use. . . charging. . . discharging, etc. Terry wanted to get them replaced.

We left Henderson and drove to Vicksburg, Mississippi, for the night, planning on taking in some casinso. And we did just that. Didn't win big, didn't lose big, and were sufficiently entertained. But, once again, the campground there was full. The campground hostess said she has never seen it like this. She said people told her they were heading north early to beat the high fuel prices. She offered us the very large paved overflow parking lot where one other RV was parked. So we took that, boondocking for a second night in a row. She also allowed us the use of the bath house for FREE! Wow. Really great service. So again we were straining those rapidly discharging batteries.

During our drive over to Mississippi, Terry was on the phone trying to get some insurance claim going for our windshield which is broken top to bottom. It was decided we would head to Red Bay, Alabama, to the Tiffin plant and get it swapped out there. Only problem is that once again. . . the camp is full and we might have to boondock. No problem really, except for those batteries. So, we came through Jackson, Mississippi and stopped at Sam's Club and bought four new batteries for the coach. We wheeled them out to the coach and Terry changed clothes and swapped them out. He had diagrammed the setup and put the new ones in and they worked perfectly. So now if we have to boondock, we will have plenty of lights!

Leaving Jackson, we picked up the Natchez Trace, my all time favorite road. Such a treat after Jackson. I told Terry that I think every road that merges in Mississippi does so in Jackson on I-20. What a mess and everyone drives fast. I was glad to put it behind us.

As we were driving along late afternoon, we got a call from my former colleage Dave. He and friend Mark have a big motorhome and happened to be on spring break this week. I figured they had gone to Florida, where they normally go. Hah. They had driven to northern Mississippi and were camped at Tishomingo State Park, about 9 miles from Red Bay. In fact, they had been in Red Bay to see the Tiffin setup there. When he called, they were on their way to the Coon Dog Cemetary. Hah! When we arrived in Red Bay, they were behind us when we pulled into the camp. We are actually staying at the Red Bay RV park, down the road from the service center where we have full hookups.

After greetings all around, Dave invited us back up to the state park and said he would fix us dinner. Not a bad deal for us! So after we got set up, we drove the nine miles or so back up to Tishomingo and had a great dinner and evening with Dave and Mark and their doggies, Baxter (Scottish Terrier) and Dylan (Airdale). A great time was had by all. Thanks Dave and Mark. We greatly enjoyed the evening.

We are back at our camp now and will hang out here till we get the windshield replaced. Hopefully it won't take too long and we will head to Indiana for doctor appointments when we leave here.

Our daughter says Aenea, our little granddaughter born at 28 weeks is doing well. She has gained back to her birth weight and continues to do well in the NICU at UVA. Prayers are still welcome for her. We will be headed there after our Indiana doctor appointments.

Till next time. . .

Dale