HAPPY NEW YEAR - WE'RE GETTING OUT OF THE DEEPFREEZE!

January 5, 2014

On the road again. Heading South with Xochitl's "Cici", a little stuffed jaguar, who will travel with us this year.  Packing the rig was definitely a challenge as we faced -20+ degrees temperatures with horrific wind chills and lots of snow and ice.  We had to heat the trailer with propane while packing and on the road, just to keep the food and can goods from freezing!  We pulled out Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. with 25 mph winds from the NNW which brought the wind chill to something totally ridiculous.  The good news...we had a tail wind heading south down 35W.  Better mileage?  For sure a whopping 8 mpg... Wha-hoo.
We spent our first night at the Lakeside casino in Osceola, IA ($20 a night).  We pulled off early due to the dangerous cold.  Of course there is no water when it's this cold, so you can imagine the challenges that presents.  Fortunately, Lakeside provided a valet to the casino, where we had a prime rib dinner that sounded way better than it actually was.  Back home early, we rocked and rolled to the strong winds but cuddled-in for my favorites, The Good Wife and The Mentalist.  The winds roared all night long.  We were up at 6 a.m. and headed back down 35W to watch the first sunrise from total darkness since I retired!  No big decision to go 35 W North or 35 W South as we entered the freeway.

Around Kansas City, the semi's and cars had so much snow on top of them from the recent snow,  that we encountered a white- out on the freeway.  We were going to have to get much further south to get away from the freezing temps and snow.

Around Emporia, Kansas a weird sign on an overpass on the turnpike said, "Bazaar Cattle Crossing"...whatever do they look like and what does that mean?  We kept rolling and never did figure that sign out.

As we crossed into Oklahoma, we celebrated with our beloved See's suckers.  We found a terrific KOA RV park in East Oklahoma City and finally used the KOA gift coupons our kids gave us a year ago for Christmas. Thanks again kids.

Tuesday, January 7th, 2014

This morning we went downtown to tour the Oklahoma City Memorial and Museum.

It was simply so sad, humbling and brought back many of the terrible memories of that day 15+ years ago when the hate and obsession of one man resulted in the rental of a U-haul truck filled with explosives that killed 168 people.  It's a somber tribute to the survivors, families and our country to help us never forget the measures we must take to protect our country and it's people.  The coins below are a souvenir from the memorial.

On a walk with Willie this afternoon, I ran across some nuts all over the ground....walnuts?  Also, frozen paddle cacti....poor thing.  Unseasonal cold is here too.  The high today was 48 degrees and sunny - YAY.

We are so glad to be safely out of the dangerous weather and so looking forward to arriving in Port Aransas on Friday.  The beach is calling.  Off now to bake some chocolate chip cookies. Stay warm our friends and family in the North.