Amarillo, Texas

What a relief it was to arrive at the Amarillo Ranch RV Park in Amarillo, Texas.  We kept watch on the series of weather fronts moving across the southwestern part of the country as we crossed Arkansas and Oklahoma.  Once we got to the Oklahoma Welcome Center, we turned on the TV to see tornado warnings just south of us.  Not feeling too comfortable with that situation, we made the decision to continue on a little bit further west.  Ronnie drove on to the WalMart in Shawnee, Oklahoma where we parked for the night.  There we were out of the severe weather watches and felt a lot safer.  The next morning we traveled on to Amarillo, Texas. 

Of course we had to visit again the The Big Texan Steak Ranch.  We enjoyed a nice meal and reminisced about all of our other meals here.  Our first one was 31 years ago.  They have their own brewery now which is a nice addition.

On Wednesday we took a drive to Palo Duro Canyon State Park.  It's another place we wanted to come back see again.  Some of the canyon roads there were closed because they were washed out and after last heavy night's rain, there may be more closed.

Fantastic view from the Interpretive Center's window.

The temperature was getting hot that afternoon..90 degrees

We found this Western Box Turtle crossing the road.

This approaching storm brought more heavy rain to this area.

Due to the severe weather threat again today near Amarillo, we made the decision to leave Thursday morning.  We are now located about 13 miles north of Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Our plans are to be in this area a month and explore all the many interesting places this area has to offer.

More later.

Just South of Memphis, TN

What a great visit Ronnie and I had with my Mom.  We enjoyed some shopping, a couple of cookouts, some meals out and finished several errands.  We also got in some nice visits with other family members as well.  Unfortunately an unexpected appointment meant we would need to be flexible with our departure date.  We had planned to pull out on Monday but it wasn't until Friday, May 22 before we could leave Coats, NC. 

Oh no, that's Memorial Day weekend!  Ronnie chose the I 95 South to I 20 West route through Columbia, Atlanta and Birmingham.  Great decision, the traffic on those Interstates was not bad at all.  We found camping in Lexington, SC and a WalMart Parking Lot in Jasper, AL.

Today, May 24th, finds us at EZ Daze RV Park in Southaven, MS.  It is located about 5 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee near Interstate 55.  This campground is as nice as the reviews listed on the RV Park Reviews website.  Our plans are to stay here for a night or possibly two depending on the weather through Oklahoma City.

Our destination:  Santa Fe, New Mexico.

More later.

Leaving The Sunshine State

Oh yes, we are ready to pack it up and move north..to North Carolina for a couple of weeks.  It seems the weather here in parts of Florida has been experiencing a sort of "heat wave".   The daily temperatures in the Orlando area have been in the upper 80's for the last 4 weeks or so.  We have stayed cool by going to the pool, staying in the coach's awning shade and bike riding early in the morning.

We have been busy working on our coach's remodel/maintenance list this winter.  Over the last 2 months Ronnie completed the Aqua-Hot's annual service, we added a water softener and installed a supplemental brake and brake-away system on the Jeep.  We also had our dining room chairs reupholstered.  Ron didn't get all he wanted complete on his "wish list" but that's alright.  We will need something to work on when we come back to Florida next winter!

Front wheel bearings were repacked at Josam's of Orlando. 

 We enjoyed lunch at the Cherry Pocket in Lake Wales with Gerald and Mary of Wilson, NC.

We had a wonderful time at The Freezer in Homosassa with Ron and Barbara of Cedar Point, NC.

There were lots of laughs of course while sharing full time RVing experiences with John and Suzanne of the Itchy Nomads.  We had another good meal at our favorite pizza place, Floridino's in Lake Hamilton.

Our future travel plans are to "mooch-dock" in Mom's yard in North Carolina the first 2 weeks in May.  We have scheduled dentist appointments, we'll visit family and finalize our summer plans.  When we leave North Carolina, we plan to travel west to Texas, New Mexico and Colorado. 

More later.