We came north a wee bit too soon!
Our first week in Kansas City has been a harsh reminder of how wild the weather can be here. Especially in the Spring. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by sunshine and warmth. On one of our first days here the high temperature was 83 degrees...in March! Fast forward a few short days and things are different. Very different.
Mother Nature dumped about 8 inches of snow in the last 24 hours. The temperature struggled to make it above the freezing point today. The overnight low is supposed to dip into the mid-20s tonight. The wind chills are supposed to be in the teens. This Arctic forecast is the same for the next three nights.
Piles of heavy snow are not good for slide toppers. So, we pulled both of our big ol' slides in just after the white stuff started yesterday afternoon. The moose is mighty cozy! The snow has stopped, but our slides are still buttoned up. With a whole bunch of snow on the roof, it has started to blow and slide off the sides. That being the case, we're keeping the path to the ground clear. The coziness will probably continue for at least another night.
Meanwhile, we're kicking back. Paul made a pot of most masterful chili. And, we're enjoying our annual overdose of college basketball. We haven't even attempted to get out and about today. There will be plenty of time to do that tomorrow.
Spring will return to our old hometown soon. The forecast for later this week is calling for highs in the upper 50s and nights above freezing. That'll be better. Much better.
We can't wait.
We're Going Home
This is our last day - actually our last hour - in Texas Hill Country. It's been a great stay. We're gonna miss it. We look forward to coming back.
Where we go from here was a real puzzler. We were leaning west, but just couldn't muster the energy to fight the wind across West Texas...again. We didn't feel like going east. Anything south of here just isn't our taste. And, it's still too cold to head too far north.
Then, we remembered something. When you don't know where you want to go you can always go home. And, so we are.
When we leave here this morning, we're heading north. But, we're not going all that far. We'll make a short stop north of Fort Worth. Then, we'll swing over to McKinney for a couple of days and have a couple of pesky blinds taken care of. From there, it's a familiar drive back to Kansas City.
Yes, Kansas City did just receive a couple of feet of snow. But, it's melting. Quickly, hopefully. By the time we get there it will be early Spring. It'll be chilly, for sure. But, our fingers are crossed that it'll be pleasant enough.
My Dad has a milestone birthday this month. And, we want to check in on Paul's Dad, too. Nieces and nephews will be home for Spring Break. A few other family members plan to be passing through town. And, we'll have the chance to watch March Madness on our home turf. That's always fun.
We can stay for a month. Then, we have to roll. You see, NASCAR will be in town. Our park, and all the parks in town, will be full. And, we don't have any reservations.
Where we go from there is anybody's guess. Meanwhile, it'll be good to be home.
Where we go from here was a real puzzler. We were leaning west, but just couldn't muster the energy to fight the wind across West Texas...again. We didn't feel like going east. Anything south of here just isn't our taste. And, it's still too cold to head too far north.
Then, we remembered something. When you don't know where you want to go you can always go home. And, so we are.
When we leave here this morning, we're heading north. But, we're not going all that far. We'll make a short stop north of Fort Worth. Then, we'll swing over to McKinney for a couple of days and have a couple of pesky blinds taken care of. From there, it's a familiar drive back to Kansas City.
Yes, Kansas City did just receive a couple of feet of snow. But, it's melting. Quickly, hopefully. By the time we get there it will be early Spring. It'll be chilly, for sure. But, our fingers are crossed that it'll be pleasant enough.
My Dad has a milestone birthday this month. And, we want to check in on Paul's Dad, too. Nieces and nephews will be home for Spring Break. A few other family members plan to be passing through town. And, we'll have the chance to watch March Madness on our home turf. That's always fun.
We can stay for a month. Then, we have to roll. You see, NASCAR will be in town. Our park, and all the parks in town, will be full. And, we don't have any reservations.
Where we go from there is anybody's guess. Meanwhile, it'll be good to be home.
Riding Together
I must say, our "big" travel day was so well planned it went off without a hitch!
Yeah, us! We're just out here doin' our jobs!
Our 64-mile travel day was uneventful. Just they way we like it. We faced a pretty stiff Texas breeze as we made our way through Hill Country, but the scenery made up for it all.
Along the way I noticed how much more fun I was having compared to our last travel day. Why? Because we were riding together.
You see, a week or so ago, we made the trek from Kerrville to Boerne separately. After we got the moose inspected, we took off for the 40-mile trip separately. Paul piloted the moose while I drove just ahead with the squirrel.
Have I told you how much I hate that?
I know there are more than a few RVing couples who travel separately on the road. For most of them, it means having an extra set of wheels when they get to their destination. I certainly understand that benefit. And, yeah for them that they can make that work.
But, I gotta tell ya. I hate it!
I mean, really, I hate it.
If I'm in either of the front seats in our moose as it's rolling down the road, I'm as happy as a clam. Whether I'm driving or passengering, I enjoy the view out our sweeping Imax window without giving a second thought to the fact that we are piloting more than 17 tons and nearly 60 feet of vehicles containing our worldly possessions. It's all good.
But, if you put me in our squirrel with the task to drive any distance behind or in front of our moose, I freak out. If I'm in front, I drive with my focus on the rear view mirror. A chorus of "Oh my God, that's our house!" echoes in my head. And, if I follow behind I am struck by how friggin' big our house is. And, for goodness sake, it's all on wheels! How crazy is that?
Most of all, when I find myself in the squirrel separated from the moose, there's somebody I really miss. My husband! Somehow it's just not the same traveling the highways and byways of America separated from my beloved and travel buddy. After all, we're on this journey together. It's just not as much fun when we're apart.
Today was so, so, so much better. The moose had the squirrel in tow. The cats were in their crates. Paul was in the captain's chair and I was in my familiar and quite comfortable seat as the safety director.
All was right with our world.
We were riding together.
Yeah, us! We're just out here doin' our jobs!
Our 64-mile travel day was uneventful. Just they way we like it. We faced a pretty stiff Texas breeze as we made our way through Hill Country, but the scenery made up for it all.
Along the way I noticed how much more fun I was having compared to our last travel day. Why? Because we were riding together.
You see, a week or so ago, we made the trek from Kerrville to Boerne separately. After we got the moose inspected, we took off for the 40-mile trip separately. Paul piloted the moose while I drove just ahead with the squirrel.
Have I told you how much I hate that?
I know there are more than a few RVing couples who travel separately on the road. For most of them, it means having an extra set of wheels when they get to their destination. I certainly understand that benefit. And, yeah for them that they can make that work.
But, I gotta tell ya. I hate it!
I mean, really, I hate it.
If I'm in either of the front seats in our moose as it's rolling down the road, I'm as happy as a clam. Whether I'm driving or passengering, I enjoy the view out our sweeping Imax window without giving a second thought to the fact that we are piloting more than 17 tons and nearly 60 feet of vehicles containing our worldly possessions. It's all good.
But, if you put me in our squirrel with the task to drive any distance behind or in front of our moose, I freak out. If I'm in front, I drive with my focus on the rear view mirror. A chorus of "Oh my God, that's our house!" echoes in my head. And, if I follow behind I am struck by how friggin' big our house is. And, for goodness sake, it's all on wheels! How crazy is that?
Most of all, when I find myself in the squirrel separated from the moose, there's somebody I really miss. My husband! Somehow it's just not the same traveling the highways and byways of America separated from my beloved and travel buddy. After all, we're on this journey together. It's just not as much fun when we're apart.
Today was so, so, so much better. The moose had the squirrel in tow. The cats were in their crates. Paul was in the captain's chair and I was in my familiar and quite comfortable seat as the safety director.
All was right with our world.
We were riding together.
It's My Job
We're wrapping up our week-long stay at Stop #2 of our (at least) three-stop tour of Texas Hill Country. Our week here in Boerne (That's pronounced "burney") has flown. The RV park isn't much to speak of, but it's been a great place to be while we played with our good friends Cindy and Rick, who flew in from Northern California. We spent four fun-filled days touring San Antonio and the beautiful Hill Country. The weather was absolutely splendid during their visit, so we couldn't complain when we were blasted by gale force winds yesterday after their departure. (We also can't complain because we're not buried in 18 inches of snow as are many of our peeps in Kansas City!)
Today was a day of running errands and such, in preparation of our big travel day tomorrow. While we were en route, we took a hands-free business-related call. It was a terrific conversation with a colleague who is helping us get some things in order. It had been awhile since we'd talked with her, so it was great to catch up. Somewhere in the conversation, we realized it's been nearly four years (gasp!) since we've worked. (I still can't believe these two workaholics have been able to go that long without holding jobs!) Our colleague offered a keen observation.
"Maybe it's been that long since you've worked," she said. "But, successfully maneuvering yourselves and your household around the country for over three years is definitely a job."
She's right! We don't show up at an office every day any more (Thank God!), but we still do some of the same stuff. We manage a budget, tackle projects, develop strategic (travel) plans and manage lots of logistics. And, every once in a while, we do a little communicating! Along the way, we get the great privilege of meeting amazing people and exploring remarkable sights.
It's the best job ever!
As the resident strategic travel planner, it's time for me to double-check the route for tomorrow's aforementioned travel day. Like I said, it's a biggie. In fact, it's 50 percent longer than our most recent trek.
Where are we headed for our third stop in Hill Country? Dripping Springs, Texas.
How far is that? 64 miles.
My work here is done.
Today was a day of running errands and such, in preparation of our big travel day tomorrow. While we were en route, we took a hands-free business-related call. It was a terrific conversation with a colleague who is helping us get some things in order. It had been awhile since we'd talked with her, so it was great to catch up. Somewhere in the conversation, we realized it's been nearly four years (gasp!) since we've worked. (I still can't believe these two workaholics have been able to go that long without holding jobs!) Our colleague offered a keen observation.
"Maybe it's been that long since you've worked," she said. "But, successfully maneuvering yourselves and your household around the country for over three years is definitely a job."
She's right! We don't show up at an office every day any more (Thank God!), but we still do some of the same stuff. We manage a budget, tackle projects, develop strategic (travel) plans and manage lots of logistics. And, every once in a while, we do a little communicating! Along the way, we get the great privilege of meeting amazing people and exploring remarkable sights.
It's the best job ever!
As the resident strategic travel planner, it's time for me to double-check the route for tomorrow's aforementioned travel day. Like I said, it's a biggie. In fact, it's 50 percent longer than our most recent trek.
Where are we headed for our third stop in Hill Country? Dripping Springs, Texas.
How far is that? 64 miles.
My work here is done.
Funny Spam
If you're gonna have a blog, you'd better like spam. If not, you're gonna at least have to learn to live with it.
Of course, I'm not talking about that processed meat in a can. I'm talking about the barrage of senseless comments that get posted to your blog out of nowhere by seemingly no one. While a few may have some salty language, they are generally harmless. That said, these annoying bits of bytes get in the way of otherwise interesting, entertaining and occasionally insulting comments.
Blogger's automatic spam filter does a pretty good job of catching most of this crap. But, a few get through. So, every week or two I'll look at the comments on my Blogger "dashboard" and clean out the spam. It's not a big deal, really. But, every time I do it I consider enabling word verification or disabling anonymous comments. I'm not a big fan of unscrambling letters to prove I'm not a robot, so I hesitate to ask visitors to this here blog to do the same. And, prohibiting anonymous comments seems just plain mean. As long as it isn't a big hassle, I'll just keep up my weekly spam weeding.
Truth be told, I do get a chuckle or two out of the process. While most of the spam is just jibberish to build up keyword counts for everything from drugs to knock-off designer bags, some of them are kind of funny. Here are a few snippets from this week's crop.
After getting more than 10000 visitors/day to my website I thought your website also need unstoppable flow of traffic...this BRAND NEW software...in testing phase generated 867,981 visitors and $540,340. Then another $86,299.13 in 90 days to be exact. That's $958.88 a day!!
An unstoppable flow of traffic? I dream of that! (Not!) Although I won't count on it, I'd take a grand a day from my humble blog. I'm sure it's worth it. Right?
I've noticed a shift in spam recently. In an effort to dodge automatic detection, many spammy comments start out with a nice "compliment".
I visited several blogs however the audio feature for audio songs present at this web page is truly excellent.
Of course, I'm not talking about that processed meat in a can. I'm talking about the barrage of senseless comments that get posted to your blog out of nowhere by seemingly no one. While a few may have some salty language, they are generally harmless. That said, these annoying bits of bytes get in the way of otherwise interesting, entertaining and occasionally insulting comments.
Blogger's automatic spam filter does a pretty good job of catching most of this crap. But, a few get through. So, every week or two I'll look at the comments on my Blogger "dashboard" and clean out the spam. It's not a big deal, really. But, every time I do it I consider enabling word verification or disabling anonymous comments. I'm not a big fan of unscrambling letters to prove I'm not a robot, so I hesitate to ask visitors to this here blog to do the same. And, prohibiting anonymous comments seems just plain mean. As long as it isn't a big hassle, I'll just keep up my weekly spam weeding.
Truth be told, I do get a chuckle or two out of the process. While most of the spam is just jibberish to build up keyword counts for everything from drugs to knock-off designer bags, some of them are kind of funny. Here are a few snippets from this week's crop.
After getting more than 10000 visitors/day to my website I thought your website also need unstoppable flow of traffic...this BRAND NEW software...in testing phase generated 867,981 visitors and $540,340. Then another $86,299.13 in 90 days to be exact. That's $958.88 a day!!
An unstoppable flow of traffic? I dream of that! (Not!) Although I won't count on it, I'd take a grand a day from my humble blog. I'm sure it's worth it. Right?
I've noticed a shift in spam recently. In an effort to dodge automatic detection, many spammy comments start out with a nice "compliment".
I visited several blogs however the audio feature for audio songs present at this web page is truly excellent.
Thanks. But, the audio songs on this site are, eh, non-existent.
Other spammers direct their compliments to the blog's author.
I do not know who you are but definitely you're going to a famous blogger if you are not already ;)
Why, thank you...
I think the person or computer that crafted these words intended it to be a compliment. But, I'm not really sure.
Whаt i do not realіze іѕ if truth be told how уou are now not really muсh more neatlу-favorеd than you might be right now.
Neatly-favored. Me? Never!
When someone writes an article he/she retains the plan of a user in his/her brain that how a user can understand it. Thus that's why this post is outstdanding.
That one lost something in translation. But, hey, my post was outstdanding!
Some of this week's spam contained some helpful advice. I suppose this made sense to the poor soul hovered over a keyboard typing comments in a foreign language for two cents a piece.
Shoppіng is some thing that ought to be approасhed with sοme preparing. You cannot just go into іt thіnking yοu arе gοing tо save cash and come out ahead.
Before we go, we'll end with my favorite.
It's the best time to make some plans for the future and it's time to be happy.
Absolutely!
No Snow
We've been hanging in Kerrville for a couple of weeks already. I'm pleased to report that there is no snow here! We've enjoyed sunny days with temps into the 60s and 70s. The nights are pleasantly chilly, as we like 'em, dipping below freezing just a few times. That's winter in Hill Country!
We're parked in the same site we were in during our last visit, two years ago. With a few of the same neighbors around it feels like we've done a bit of time traveling! It's been nice to catch up with familiar folks and meet a few new ones. We're quite comfortable here.
I found some time to bring our travel blog a bit more up to date. The most recent post highlights our stay in Hot Springs. With that, Bullwinkle's Travels is now just three months behind. (Sigh!)
The highlight of our stay has been a weekend visit from our friends Mary and Tracy from near Fort Worth. We just didn't get enough of each other during our month-long stay in the metroplex. So, we decided to hang out for a few days in our new neighborhood. We enjoyed stunning weather during their visit, which was a welcome change after our chilly time in their part of Texas.
Our day trip to Fredericksburg with these dear friends started with a stop in the aptly named town of Comfort, Texas. I introduced Mary to my favorite yarn store in the world while the boys explored the town. We found them lounging in porch rockers in the sunshine with beers in hand. They enjoyed their time in Comfort as much as we did! Our drive through scenic Hill Country took us to one of our favorite burger joints in the nation - Alamo Springs Cafe. The four of had a tasty lunch on the porch in the company of the resident dog and cat. As we finished our longnecks we were treated to a fun conversation with the owner of the place we highly recommend. After lunch, we made a quick stop in Luckenbach for a photo op, which turned into a laid back Friday afternoon listening to local musicians, shopping for a cowboy hat for Tracy and - you guessed it - a couple of beers. It was a perfect day.
Maybe we'll make it to Fredericksburg the next time they come to town!
Snow Day
As is usually the case on a travel day, we were awake early this morning. Mother Nature greeted us with the gentle pitter patter of rain in the pre-dawn hours, which made it easy to sleep in. When the rain stopped at about 7:00, we gave thanks for a dry travel day. About an hour before our planned departure, I was up and out of bed. I raised one of our lovely MCD shades and surprised at what I saw out our window.
Snow!
The rain we thought had stopped had turned to snow, and was still falling. This weather event was completely unexpected. Nobody forecasted it!
We tuned in the local TV news and were not at all surprised to see what happens in the metroplex when an inch of snow falls just before morning rush hour.
It's not pretty.
With the temperature hovering a few degrees below freezing, bridges and overpasses (and there are lots of those around here) were slick. Hundreds of accidents were reported. Traffic was at a standstill. Viewers were urged to avoid driving if possible.
The forecast called for the mercury to climb above freezing by mid-morning. But, just as the weather predictors missed the call on the morning storm, they got the temperatures wrong, too. By 10:00, it was obvious that things weren't warming up any time soon, so we made the call.
Well, actually it was a couple of calls. We dialed the park owner here and the good folks at today's planned destination in Kerrville. Everyone was willing to accommodate our weather-related change of plans. With the logistics addressed, we declared our own snow day!
Our change of plans made way for a great lunch out a tasty burger spot, an afternoon meet-up with a very friendly knitting group, a much-needed haircut and some serious chillaxin. What a treat!
We'll be back on the road early tomorrow. Weather permitting, of course.
Snow!
The rain we thought had stopped had turned to snow, and was still falling. This weather event was completely unexpected. Nobody forecasted it!
We tuned in the local TV news and were not at all surprised to see what happens in the metroplex when an inch of snow falls just before morning rush hour.
It's not pretty.
With the temperature hovering a few degrees below freezing, bridges and overpasses (and there are lots of those around here) were slick. Hundreds of accidents were reported. Traffic was at a standstill. Viewers were urged to avoid driving if possible.
The forecast called for the mercury to climb above freezing by mid-morning. But, just as the weather predictors missed the call on the morning storm, they got the temperatures wrong, too. By 10:00, it was obvious that things weren't warming up any time soon, so we made the call.
Well, actually it was a couple of calls. We dialed the park owner here and the good folks at today's planned destination in Kerrville. Everyone was willing to accommodate our weather-related change of plans. With the logistics addressed, we declared our own snow day!
Our change of plans made way for a great lunch out a tasty burger spot, an afternoon meet-up with a very friendly knitting group, a much-needed haircut and some serious chillaxin. What a treat!
We'll be back on the road early tomorrow. Weather permitting, of course.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
