We Made It!

And it's beautiful here. Palm trees and all! We left Omaha about 9:30 Monday morning after loading the truck and driving across town to the storage unit and unloading the truck into the camper. Luckily our refrigerator cools down really fast in this camper, so we could just put the frozen food right into the empty refrigerator.  Then we hitched up and drove down the interstate.

This was our first campground of the trip. No leaves on the trees but still warm and humid.

 

We drove about 6 hours and arrived in Joplin, MO where we spent the night. That was NOT a great campground and we seemed to be the only overnighters. Everyone else was set up to be permanent residents. The campground wasn't well kept up at all, especially for the amount charged. It was a bit creepy and we were happy to leave the next morning. The above photo was our set up that night where we didn't even unhitch the trailer. We just put down the stairs and ate dinner and then we read for awhile and went to bed. We didn't leave the trailer except to take the dog outside to go potty. We got an email asking for a review of the place which Dennis filled out without my knowing until afterward. I think it was the first review he's ever done that wasn't a great one. 

But then we saw leaves on the trees and that made us happy! Driving the second day through Arkansas, we saw our first leaves budding out on the trees. That was so exciting after a winter in Nebraska with naked trees! Here the leaves are just buds that I call the "spring lace". Within a day or two they will open up fully into leaves.

The second night was in Texarkana, Texas and it was great. Very nice people at the campground and it was well kept up although pretty empty. A few other people came in after us, so we weren't the only overnighters there. We still didn't unhitch since we were leaving early in the morning the next day.

I tried without success to load a video for you of our drive through Houston. Oh my gosh. It had rained on us all day as we drove from Texarkana to Galveston, but the video wouldn't upload to the blog. Of course when we arrived in Houston it was raining so hard everyone around us had their hazard lights flashing and we were all driving about 20 mph. We couldn't even see the car in front of us at some points. If it would have been safe for us to pull over we would have, but there was no place to stop. Finally when we were almost to Galveston it slowed to a sprinkle. Pulling a 35 foot trailer was NOT fun through the storm in the city at all.

Then we arrived on Galveston island and this was our first glimpse of the gulf and it was beautiful to us.

And the below photo is where we are set up for the next three weeks. It's beautiful. Absolutely wonderful. The people are so nice here, both staff and other guests. Today there was a craft fair and also a local man here selling tamales at lunchtime. There is a heated pool and a hot tub. Also a heated lazy river. Activities all day for kids and adults. We went for a walk with Zoey and everyone we saw talked to us. Some have been here since January to avoid winter at home after spending the holidays with family. Most winter people will leave around the time we do, April 1. We're already wishing we had decided to stay longer and are discussing coming back for a few months next winter if it continues to be this enjoyable. Could we actually avoid snow altogether? Time will tell if we can actually do this.

I bought Dennis some salsa at the craft fair. Locally made and he said it was delicious. I may actually buy some of the handmade jewelry or a small drawing next week. Who knows? That's about all we did today. It was windy and cool so we didn't go to the beach today. We settled in instead. Tomorrow we'll go on a long walk on the sand and forget it's only March and that it snowed back home yesterday. :-)

I started this blanket as we drove. Cindy at the "Delighted Hands" blog on my sidebar sent me the link to the pattern after my last post. It's an easy four row repeat after the first few rows but I still made lots of mistakes and had to frog several times because I was busy being the navigator and not paying attention. I have only done one round since we arrived but tomorrow I will do more. A woman walking by tonight as I was crocheting that one row stopped to see what I was making and volunteered that the nearest place to buy yarn was Hobby Lobby and how to get there. I appreciated that and the fact that it's how everyone here that we've met seems to react to our arrival. Like they're glad to meet us and happy we're here. It's a nice change to how the world has seemed lately most of the places I go. People have seemed to be angry and ready to snap at the littlest things. Here they are relaxed and happy. Lots of families on spring break. Kids riding bikes and playing basketball on the court. Two little boys stopped on their bikes and asked if they could pet our dog. Zoey loved it. Any attention is wonderful to her.

I hope you enjoyed our trip south with us. I don't expect much excitement happening around here. We plan to walk, read and sleep. I'll crochet or knit too and we'll probably meet some new people and maybe join in on some bingo or other activity. We'll see. We have no schedule to keep or place to be and it's a nice change.

Take care my friends. One thing we haven't forgotten is the war in Iran and the Ukraine. We're still praying for all of the military and innocent people in harms way. I keep telling myself that God is in control and will work it all out for the good of those who love Him. I'm so glad I have that promise and so can you. I can't imagine trying to go through life without Him in it.

I'll be back soon.

Blessings and love,

Betsy