Next stop: Livingston, Texas!

  Only...not so fast.

Friday, Sept 2, 2011

Moya started bucking and bumping, and finally died on the side of the road.  The Friday before a holiday weekend, and Coach Net is proving singularly useless.  "Maybe" the Chevy dealer can look at us-  on Tuesday.  Finally a tow truck arrives-  big enough to tow the car, but not equipped to tow an RV.

We are blessed, however:  instead of a tow, we get a driver who knows a fella who is a mechanic, whom he calls.  This lovely young man shows up, diagnoses our trouble as a bad ignition switch, wires around it and gets us on our way.  He even offers to come help us if we get into further trouble-  our East Texas hero!

Our joy is short-lived however-  Moya exhibits a new problem.  We decide to keep going, and I nurse her 100 miles into Livingston, where we limp into the Escapees Rainbow Park.

We stay here in Livingston a month, establishing our residency, registering vehicles and spending several thousand dollars having Moya worked on.  finally ready to move southwest and look into gate guarding...

We pay various rates here, but around $15 a day, separate electric.  The electric bill seems very high.

 We also spend several days "camping " at West Rv Repair while they work on Moya.  Not a bad campsite-  no neighbors after 6pm!

Beautiful Texarkana

Pushing on south, our next campsite is at Clear Springs COE on Wright-Patman Lake , just south of Texarkana.  We were very fortunate to find a campsite, since we were  coming in just prior to the Labor Day weekend.

Gorgeous park-  huge cement sites, widely spaced for lots of privacy, tall trees to cut the heat, beautiful lake out the back.

Wonderful place-  $18 for 50 amp and water.  We could only stay one night, sadly.  Wonderful barbeque take-out from a joint down the road.

Fort Smith

Our next stop was a KOA in Alma, Arkansas, just north of Fort Smith.  The day had been long and we were tired, so we pulled in here.  Pleasant enough, but overpriced at $37 for FHU.  The owners were unhappy about pretty much everything, especially the economy.

Waynesville Missouri

Further south, we camp at Roubideaux Springs City Campground.

This is a city-owned campground, adjacent to the river.  A number of permanent residents who worked in the area, but neat and clean.  Nothing fancy.
$20 a night for full hookups.  We were very near Fort Leonard Wood.
Had a ridiculously priced dinner at a local sushi restaurant-  $50 and we left hungry, but what can you expect in Missouri?

We spent 2 days here

Beautiful Bloomfield Iowa

Our next destination was hidden off a secondary road deep in Iowa-  McGowen Rec & Wildlife, a delightful county-owned facility with a handful of cabins, a dozen RV sites and some little ponds.  Delightful!    Serenely quiet and adjacent to a charming little town of Bloomfield, IA. We ended up staying 5 days.  $14 a night for water and 50 amp, no dump, or we could have stayed longer.  We eventually dumped at the fairgrounds just outside of Bloomfield.

Leaving Platteville- getting to... Dubuque? 8/24/11

Leaving the old homestead in Platteville, Wisconsin.    Wed, August 24, 2011 We'll miss our little valley.

Our very first day on the road did not start auspiciously.  The van, which holds our "storage" goods that Bill was following in developed problems right after we hit Hwy 151.  An expensive tow back to Platteville and a long hot afternoon waiting for the mechanic.






After a disheartening start, we only made it  across the Mississippi to Dubuque, IA .

Exhausted-   we make as far as Miller Riverview Park, right on the river by the bridge.  $15 for electric only, but very pretty and blissfully quiet.  We stay here for 2 nights.  We have supper at the casino next door.

Now that the Senior Chief and I have been on the road for a year, we are finding we forget the exact details of our the places we've stayed.  Some were fine, some not, but this new blog will serve as a pictorial reminder for our aging brains.

Took us about a year to accomplish, but we finally get our 1989 Fleetwood Southwind fixed up to our satisfaction, and we get ready to leave for our new lifestyle.