WE ARE IN CORPUS CHRISTI

We set off in the fog again this morning.  In fact, it was foggy almost the whole way from Waco to Corpus Christi.  Very foggy.  I'm glad I wasn't driving.

Wouldn't you love to be playing dolls under these trees while sitting on a pieced quilt that your grandmother had mad?.  Or maybe just laying on your stomach, feet in the air, nose glued to a Little House on the Prairie book?  Or maybe having a little picnic of soda crackers and orange Watkins drink?  I thought this looked like the perfect place to spend a long warm summer afternoon.

 

And it did get warm today.  The truck said 73, but I think it was warmer by the time we arrived at out site.

This is the main street coming into the Navy Base here in Corpus Christi where we are staying.  Yup, those are palm trees and blue sky and green grass. 

 

Ernie was signing up for the campsite and I took a picture looking off towards North Padre Island.......the bridge takes you there. 

 

And I plan to get to know these guys better.  There are a lot of birds around here.  I know I will be able to see them from our campsite.  I may just sit and watch birds all day! 

 

All I can say is: Having a good time, wish you were here!

GREETINGS FROM TEXAS

Hello?  Hello?  Are you there Minnesota?  Anyone home?  I sure hope the last person to leave the state turned off the lights!  There are many campers, trailers, 5th wheels, motor homes, or whatever you want to call them, on I-35.  By far the largest majority of them are from Minnesota.  We also see many cars loaded down for a three month stay in the south, and many of them are also from Minnesota.  We just figured there was no one left in the whole state!

 

Is there anything missing from this picture?  Fish houses, maybe?   Some ice?  Maybe a snowmobile or two?

 

Look!  No snow!  Nothing white as far as the eye can see!

 

See the flag with one star?  What does that make you think of?  Yup, you're right......

 

It's Texas!

 

Texas has a lot of cattle.

 

Texas has green fields.

 

Ft. Worth, Texas has lots of traffic.  This was 3:30 in the afternoon.

 

Remember the song from eons ago?  Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky tacky, and they all look just the same.  There's a red one and a blue one and a green one and a yellow one and they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.  Well, these are big boxes on the hillside and they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.  And they all are the same color too, no red, blue, green or yellow.  Just tan.  Tan boxes.  All alike.  How could you find your own house?

 

 And did I mention that Ft. Worth has a lot of traffic at 3:30 in the afternoon?

And how on earth do you find which road to drive on?  We made it though, and are almost at Waco.  From there we will turn off I-35 and take a different highway down to Corpus Christi.  We should arrive early tomorrow afternoon.  In time to get a few groceries.  I assume the grocery stores will be closed on New Year, right?

AND THE MORNING AND THE EVENING ARE THE VERY SAME DAY!

We left our motel about 8:30 this morning.  It had snowed during the night and it was sloppy and foggy.

However, by 3:30 in the afternoon, this is what the truck was registering as the outside temperature!

 

Hard to believe it was all within seven hours!

IOWA, SSOURI and KANSAS

This is the day that the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

We got on the road about 7:30 this morning.  The sun was rising in the east over the snowy landscape that was NOT being attacked by the fierce northwest winds this morning.  The temperature was right at zero, and the smoke from the smokestacks formed huge plumes in the eastern sky.  It was a beautiful morning.

The sun came out for awhile, quickly changing the frosty surfaces to nice dry roadways.

These guys looked happy!

Soon we crossed the state line into Ssouri, the show me state.  What?  You've never heard of Ssouri?  Well, look there, that's what the sign says, so that's what it must be.  Well, anyhow, we have been eating out of the cooler, which contains the stuff I cleaned out of the frig so we could shut it off.  It's been ham and cheese sandwiches, a bit of smoked salmon, crackers, cookies and oranges.  We were craving something warm so

we thought this Ma and Pa's Kettle sounded like a good place for a cup of soup or something from the grill.  Well, we were now in southern Ssouri, which Ernie counts as the deep south, so he had to order his very
favorite.......are you jealous, Glenn?.............

a small serving of biscuits and gravy.  Yes, the small, 2 biscuit serving.  Not a good way to start his plan to loose 20 pounds.  I don't think he gets the connection between biscuits and gravy and the pot belly behind the plate!  I had bacon and eggs, which was nothing special, but it sure beats another day of ham and cheese.

We're on the right road......35 South to Wichita.......

And here's Kansas! 

We saw quite a few oil pumps chugging away, pulling up the black gold.

And this is for my friend, Judy.  Enjoy!

I love windmills.  Love the wide open range country around the Flint Hills.  Love the fact that the snow is disappearing

and the color green is making an entrance!  Yes, Toto, I think we are back in Kansas!

PS:  We had ham and cheese and crackers for supper again.

INTERSTATE 35 THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF IOWA

 You might want to read the previous post before this one. 


Sorry for the blurry pictures.  Dirty windshield, snow blowing and moving truck all contributed to the fact.

Here we are entering Iowa.  Iowa.  Always reminds me of my 4-H songs from eons ago, back in  my youth!  Iowa, beautiful land.  OR  Iowa, Iowa, that's where the tall corn grows.  Iowa, Iowa, that's where the pretty girls grow.  Or in my case, the tall girls grow because I'm tall.  Anyhow, that's all ancient history.  Back to the here and now.

Doesn't look like Iowa is going to be any safer than Minnesota was.

 

Again, my childhood.  We loved to play in the big drifts along the country roads where we were raised in Northeastern Iowa.

 

This one is bad folks.  Jaws of life.  About 6 emergency vehicles.  Two cars on the left, and two down a large embankment on the right.

 

Let's just hurry and get past this scene.  My neck is tensing up.  My shoulders ache.  My chest hurts.

 

We stopped at a rest stop only to be told it was worse ahead.  We were told there were many, many vehicles in the ditch.  

We followed this sanding truck for a few miles, and felt pretty safe.  But he turned off.  I don't blame him as the worst was yet to come!

One upside down, one up ahead a bit, and two in the ditch in the northbound lane.

Hey guys!  The sign says SOUTH 35, can't you read that!  South is supposed to be warmer.  Oh, I guess not south Iowa, uh?

 

And it continues.  I know there were ten in the ditch in a one mile stretch of road.

 

Okay.  Here's three more.  Grab the Garmin and find the nearest  motel.  Only 7.3 miles ahead.  I hope we can make it.

 

Hooray for Super 8!  Cheap room but nice and clean with a king bed, TV for the Vikings game tonight, and wireless internet for blogging.  What more can we want!

And now the sun is shining.  The wind is still blowing though, and the temps are dropping to about ten below tonight.  So better be safe and warm and spending the money for a motel than freezing in the ditch someplace waiting for an ambulance.  Or on a cold slab.......oh, don't even think that way.

 I am going to relax and try to settle my nerves and work the aches out of my neck and shoulders.  Let me tell you that the stress of the four hours we were on the road this morning does bad things to FMS nerves and muscles.

Thank you Judy my friend.  I know your prayers got us here safely!  Oh, give thanks unto the Lord!

TEXAS TRIP BEGINNING........

We left home about 8:20 this morning.  It was cold and crisp, but didn't seem too windy.  We had been promised a light wind out of the north, the weatherman said so, so we figured we were good to go!

Well, we'll be good to go as soon as the windshield gets cleared off!

Hummmmm, the roads don't look very good.  Oh well, we're almost to Interstate 35, that will be better.

Ahhh, here we are.  It should be better going now.......

NOT!!!!!!!  Oh well, we're almost out of Minnesota, it will get better soon.

NOT!!!!!!!!  This is a big 5th wheel trailer and truck, looking at the bottom.

But we're guessing things will improve now..............................

next post

SUNDAY MORNING WONDERLAND

The beautiful scene below is the street in front of our church.  There is so much moisture in the air that the trees were heavily coated with frost.  It was kind of cloudy when we went in to church, but an hour later when we came out there was bright sunshine.  Oh it was a beautiful sight! 

This is the pile of snow in the grocery store parking lot with a fairy dusted tree and the Perkins flag behind it.

The red barn is the only color in the black and white world.

We spent most of the afternoon packing up the trailer for our trip beginning tomorrow morning.

And we visited with our youngest son Lance, his lovely wife Tya, and the girls, Jaden and Madison.  They had been snowed in on Christmas so made the trip out this afternoon so we could see the girls before we leave.  We love this little family so much!