On Tuesday we drove from Dallas to Denham Springs, Louisiana. The drive itself was uneventful, but not without its challenges:

Our drive from Dallas to Denham Springs, LA.

Uh oh … this is a tight squeeze!!

1) When returning the rental car we had for two days, I was driving the motorhome and missed the turn for car rental returns. Instead, I headed straight towards Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport…….. There were no other options. I had to drive very slowly going through the concrete barriers to get my entry ticket. I fit, but barely. I estimate that I had two inches on either side of the motorhome. Ann was behind me and took a photo. Well, I did have to sacrifice a little bit of the generator tailpipe, which apparently stuck out the side a little too far.

Hmm … something’s not quite right, but it will work.

2) I turned over the driving to Ann after we left Dallas so I could get some eWillys done. I took off my wedding ring to type (which I always do) and set it in front of me on a sweater. That sweater got upended at some point and the ring rolled somewhere in the motorhome. Sigh.
3) When we arrived at the KOA trailer park about 9pm (reserved and paid for a site), we discovered the staff had left NO check-in info, so we took the LAST available site even though earlier in the day the reservations gal said only a back-in sit was available.
4) It seems this park includes much of Baton Rouge. We’re guessing a good number of these folks are recent flood victims  🙁
5) Our trailer neighbors just got done partying, but left a friend passed out on the bench 5 feet from our door. The scene is complete with bottles scattered everywhere. Oh well. Maybe they are finally watching the toddlers that were running in front of our rig as I tried to park it.
6) On the opposite side of us was a couple from New York who asked for help getting their cable to work.  We were never able to make that work.
8) Our trailer was invaded by some local bug life as we searched for my ring.

Yet, we are still having fun. It’s all part of the adventure!! Once we get done with our visit, we have to decide how to proceed home. We are unsure of which route to take.

My niece Holly showing us around SMU’s stables and arena.

On Monday we hung around the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Today we are heading for Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (See Monday’s post here: http://www.ewillys.com/2016/09/26/goodbye-west-texas-hello-wet-texas/)

First we went south to Fort Worth. My mid afternoon we were back at the motorhome. Then, we left for Dallas for a few hours.

On Monday I had a carefully orchestrated plan, had being the operative word. Things went awry early in the morning. First, was learning that the Cowgirl museum and Bowling museums in Fort Worth were closed on Mondays. Drats! Then, someone who she remained unnamed announced she didn’t want to go to any more museums. Oh, the joys of travel companions! But, then we discovered that the Fort Worth Bureau of Engraving and Printing was open on weekdays. Everyone was fine with that, so we were off (two hours later than planned).

As we were getting in the car, we realized that our shirts were appropriate for Texas.

Before visiting the mint, we decided to head downtown Fort Worth while traffic was light to see the Fort Worth Water Gardens. They turned out to be really cool!

One of the park entrances.

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Me and Zollie outside the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature. The sculpture is based on the book “David Gets in Trouble” by David Shannon.

Today we drove from Lubbock to Dallas, leaving behind the dry west Texas for nearly continuous rain. (See Saturday’s Trip from New Mexico | See Monday’s Trip in Forth Worth & Dallas)

Our path from Lubbock, to Abilene, to Dallas (rented a car for two days), and then to Roanoke for the night.

We left our Walmart “camp site”, which proved to be quiet and restful for the four hours I slept, at the break of dawn. I wanted to push us a bit, because I felt Abilene would take a few hours to see and we also had to rent a car and locate an RV park for the next two night. I’ll just say it right now: traveling in our jeep and using motels is SOOOOO much easier than dealing with this big motorhome for multiple reasons. Sure, we can save money a few nights staying at Walmarts (or state parks, some of which allow free camping due to Ann’s disability status). However, eventually we have to shower, especially in all this humid weather. I sweat just thinking about getting out of bed!

Anyhow, I digress. As we left the Walmart parking lot we quickly ran across this oddly named place: Bone Daddys. We weren’t sure whether it was a BBQ restaurant or some kind of sex shop. It sure was colorful on the outside!

Almost immediately after Lubbock we hit rain, light in some cases, heavier in others, that trailed us into Abilene.

Fortunately, the rain stopped just long enough to let us look around the Storybook garden area of downtown Abilene where we took these photos. We had the whole place to ourselves (Abilene is dead on Sunday mornings, which is great for parking the motorhome!

Me, Ann, and Zollie (named for the drug Zoloft). Zollie is her PTSD dog, though he’s so skittish she spends more time calming him than he her. He’s quite smart, but more cat than dog.

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