HOUSTON, TX, HOME FOR A FEW MONTHS

Monday, October 9 – With Houston, TX, just down the road about four hours, we took our time getting on the road this morning. Many of you will get a kick out of this but it was about 8 a.m. when we headed south on US-59 (future I-69). That's a late start for us. We like to head out early and finish our day's drive early.

Skyline of downtown Houston.

We arrived at the Houston Elks Lodge before noon finishing another uneventful drive. Wonderful not to have driving problems! We feel at home at the Houston Lodge. This is actually Paul's home lodge. He transferred his membership here last spring. Our youngest daughter lives in Houston also, so it's nice to spend some time with her. We've learned our way around the Houston area and even are pretty use to the driving. We also know when NOT to drive through town!

The Elks Campground has ten full hook-up sites. Eight are concrete pads and two are gravel. The road to the sites behind the lodge is gravel. The sites are not spaced very far apart, especially when some insist on crowding their car of truck in between the sites. There's a 100 space parking lot thirty feet away but people don't walk much these days. The Lodge does have free internet, but you have to be in the first four or five sites to pick it up.

We always try to get the end site (Site # 1) so we have a little privacy on our patio side, and it is Bella’s favorite spot. Although the lodge patio and swimming pool are nearby, people aren't there until evening. There are a couple sites occupied full time by permanent residents (not happy about that) but most are over-nighters or monthly renters like ourselves. We've tried several times to convince the Lodge to add some sites but they don't seem to interested in doing that.

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We will be here through the Christmas holidays. Well, our RV will be here. Marsha flies back to her Ohio family in early December to spend the holidays, and Paul and Carrie fly in just before Christmas. We then return before New Years with intentions to head to the Rio Grande Valley for January.

Update to Elks Lodge membership: Marsha is now a member of the Ladies Auxiliary group. If we were here fulltime, she would quickly work herself up to President….lol   She also read all the By-Laws. Who does that?

WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI

Saturday, October 7 – We had an uneventful trip today from just south of Louisville, KY, to a little west of Little Rock, AR.

MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI

We are staying at JB's RV Park in Benton, AR. We've stayed here several times in the past and always enjoyed our stay. It is located a little over a mile off I-40. It is in the woods, so getting satellite reception can be a challenge but we've always managed. The streets are gravel as well as the huge sites. Spacing between the sites is good but some sites are laid out front to back with the neighbor so you are sharing patio space, which we don't necessarily care for. There are FHU sites and some water and electric only sites. All sites have 50 amp service. It is a nice park to sit out under the trees and relax. It has always been quiet and peaceful when we've been here. They have filled up nearly every night we've been here, so call ahead and reserve a site. We called the day before and was able to get the last site. The cost is $27/night for W&E or $30 for FHU.

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Sunday, October 8 - Another uneventful travel day. How nice that sounds.....I hope I don't jinx us! We stopped for the night, or should I say afternoon before lunch time. We are at the House of Prayer RV Park in Tenaha, TX. We are just off TX-59 (future I-69) about 45 miles north of Nacogdoches, TX. We considered pushing on to Escapees Headquarters at Rainbow’s  End in Livingston, TX, but decided to make a short day of it. We want to get everything (meaning satellite) all ready for the Indians vs Yankees baseball game tonight. The Indians are ahead 2-0 in the five game series.

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Lots of friends to keep Bella company.

A little bit about the House of Prayer taken from the Internet: Through the years we have had many faithful campers and snowbirds come through our park. We cater more to senior citizens and disabled and allow no drugs, drunks, and whatever other deviant behavior that may be unpleasant for a retirement community. We also have 22 nice 1 & 2 Bedroom cottages with bills paid available to be rented monthly. Very nice for a widow or older couple looking for a quite place to live away from the bustle of the city.

House of Prayer RV Park has eight overnight sites ($10/night). They are laid out very nicely with plenty of space between very long sites. FHU sites with all the utilities located nicely, mid-way on each site. No trees but for some reason we had difficulty hooking up the satellite. The one negative is that the sites are on grass, so one must be alert for red ants!

Speaking of insects....are you fighting the dang stinkbug infestation? They are all over the country. Remind me of the Japanese Beetle infestation of years ago.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention in a recent post concerning the highway conditions. I am frequently critical of the poor highway surfaces in Louisiana. Well, Ohio I-71 from Columbus to Cincinnati is as bad as I-10 in parts of Louisiana. I just don't understand states letting interstate highways become nearly impassable. It sure isn't very enjoyable to drive an RV on American highways. I don't see how truckers survive. Rant complete! LOL Sounds like I'm in a grouchy mood with the bugs and the rough roads but I'm my usual sweet self....right Marsha! One more short day of travel, and we will be in Houston for awhile.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN….HEADED FOR HOUSTON

Thursday, October 5 – We pulled out of our summer home this morning in Canton, Ohio, with rain drops falling. When will Paul learn not to wash and wax the 5^th wheel and truck before traveling. He swears it rains every time we travel. Within an hour it was pouring. Before we got out of the state of Ohio, we were in a deluge.

It wasn’t till we crossed the Ohio River in Cincinnati that the rain finally stopped. We extended our planned stop because Paul didn't want to set-up in the rain. He, also, wanted to get past Louisville, KY, and tomorrow morning's rush hour just in case we had another day of driving in the rain.

We stayed at Grandma's RV Park just south of Louisville in Shepherdsville, KY. We've stayed here several times in the past. Nothing to write home about. The roads are gravel and the sites are gravel. The sites are very level with full hookups but we are pretty close to our neighbors. They do honor Good Sam discount which lowers the price to $30/night. Last time we stayed here (several years ago) the price was $20. Jeesh!

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We hit the road early again on Friday morning. Both days we wanted to get to our destination and set up before the Cleveland Indians game started in the American League Playoff Series.

Day two was a much drier drive and about one hundred miles shorter. We passed into the Central Time Zone (Love it!) and arrived at our destination about lunch time. This is a nice little RV park in Denmark, TN, which is about 50 miles east of Memphis. Joy – O RV Park has about 25 sights with gravel road and level gravel sights. There is a swimming pool, but it is closed this time of year. We wouldn't use it anyway... :-) They do have a laundry room and restrooms. The owners are wonderful helpful people.  The sites are full hook-ups with 50 or 30 amp electric. Price is $27 - $30 per night. We shake our heads and pay the price. When we started RVing in 2009, we tried to stay under $20 per night. Now we've come accustomed to thirty dollar nights but certainly aren't happy about it! And we don't stay at fancy RV parks!

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Tomorrow we move into Arkansas and then into Texas on Sunday. We plan on arriving in Houston on Monday. 

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day.