USA Trip - Part III
<<< Saturday, 23 November 1996
| During the first two trips we visited 18 states and travelled 8,200 miles in the RV. This trip we plan to spend some time in Mexico and then see more of the western states. | |
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| We had a good but long flight which arrived on time at 14.45 local time. It was a very long wait clearing customs but the taxis only took fifteen minutes to take us to the RV storage location. Both the RV and car were fine, just a little dusty. Both started first time which pleased us considering they had been in store for over three months. Compared to the UK the weather is a perfect 70F with clear blue skies, so it was straight into shorts. We are staying for two nights at Apache Palms which is about 100 yards from where the RV was stored, while we recover from jet lag and stock up the fridge etc. | ||
Sunday, 24 November 1996
One of the things to do today was to send an Email to confirm our safe arrival, however it proved impossible to get a connection even after several attempts from different phones, so it seems after three months little has changed!
Monday, 25 November 1996
As we had over 1,200 miles to cover to join the caravan to Mexico, we were on the road by 8am driving along the I10 some 390 miles, most of which was through New Mexico. The scenery was mainly flat dry scrub land with lines of barren hills on the horizon which never seemed to get any nearer. For the most part the road was very quiet only becoming mildly busy as we passed a town. We camped for the night at Las Cruses NM
Tuesday, 26 November 1996
The previous evening we decided that we would go via Livingston TX so we could register both vehicles in the state of Texas (Lone Star State). As well as reducing the insurance cost for both the RV and car, it would enable us to avoid becoming liable for property tax on the motor home; but the slight down side would be that it would add another 400 miles or so to our journey. As a result we were on the road by 7.30am and broke our record by covering 490 miles in one day in the RV. Typically we only drive about 150 miles between camp grounds. On the way to Junction City, Texas where we camped for the night, we were most surprised to see signs of snow lying along road edges on the hill tops.
Wednesday, 27 November 1996
Yet another record in that we were on the road by 6 a.m. watching the sun rise at about 7 a.m. as we continued to drive along the I10. We pulled into the Schulenburg RV Park at 10am, quickly uncoupling the car and then drove the car a further 180 miles to the tax office in Livingston. In comparison to the civil servants in similar positions in the UK, it seems that similar people in Texas go out of their way to be friendly and helpful to visitors. Rita Grimes at the tax office not only helped us obtain titles and registration but also helped with advice on state inspection (MOT) as well as directing us to the Escapees park, where we met some of the staff who run our mail forwarding service. We were amazed just how much mail was waiting for us, unfortunately like back home a high percentage was junk mail! We finally arrived back at the campground at about 9pm, agreeing that even though Texas was a huge State, what we had seen so far during the past few days left us feeling a little indifferent, as it was mainly flat and with very few interesting features.
Thursday, 28 November 1996
Today is Thanksgiving Day and a long holiday weekend for most folk and for us a break from travelling. The management of our camp ground laid on a free Thanksgiving dinner for all campers as well as their own family. It was an excellent and plentiful spread of traditional turkey, ham and sweet potatoes as well as pumpkin and pecan pie with ice cream. Later Valerie found that the carpet to the bedroom was wet which started George investigating the source. It turned out that a valve controlling the water supply to the ice-maker was leaking, as a quick fix the ice-maker was temporarily turned off.
Friday, 29 November 1996
For the last 10 months or so we have exchanged Email messages with Tony and Judith Austin, who are another English couple who have also been exploring the US in a motor home. We met them for the first time in the Wal-Mart car park in Corpus Christi and they turned out to be a delightful couple. We spent the day exchanging experiences and stories ranging from views on the US to the frustration of acoustic couplers!
Saturday, 30 November 1996
After several cold days it warmed up as we drove the 163 miles to Mission TX which is where the caravan to Mexico is gathering in readiness for departure on the 4th December. When we arrived there were about 12 rigs already there, being an even mixture of trailers, 5th wheelers and motor homes. We spend the afternoon arranging insurance for Mexico as well as getting the RV serviced and fuelled. >>>