Winter Trip -- 2010

Yesterday, we began our annual winter trip.  The last four years, we have gone to Quartzsite, AZ to attend the big RV show, and to boon dock in the desert with some of our RV friends. 

Patsy wanted to do something different this year, so we decided to go to Florida.  We will begin with the Florida RV Show in Tampa………… billed as the largest RV show in the USA.  We invited two couples to travel with us, and our friends, Mark and Sue Didelot decided to go. 

Patsy and I also wanted to attend our niece’s wedding in Dallas on January 9, so our plans were to leave Dallas on I-20 to go through Jackson, MS and then cross Mississippi and Alabama to meet Mark and Sue at the State Welcome Station on I-10 going into Florida.  Then a couple of days ago, the winter blast came to Texas, so it seemed more prudent to head south on I-45 ASAP right after the wedding.  We will then meet the Didelot’s in Lake Charles, LA, and drive to Florida together.

We drove up to Dallas on Friday to sleep in the Bus in 15 degree weather tonight.  We also brought my mother with us, and attended the wedding rehearsal yesterday evening. 

It took some effort to winter-proof the Bus for this type of weather.   I put a 250watt light bulb in the wet bay to protect the valves and water pump, and a 200watt bulb in the back of the refrigerator to protect the ice maker water line.  I also siphoned out the water in the windshield washer tank, and adder wash water solution that is good down to 0 degrees!! 

On the way up here, we stopped at Willie’s Place, a truck stop in Carl’s Corner, TX that Willie Nelson supposedly won in a poker game with Carl, and then proceeded to tear it down and modernize it.  It has truck fuel, including bio-diesel, a restaurant, gifts and souvenirs, and a theater.  It was smaller and less impressive than I expected.  Here are a couple of pictures:

We seldom leave on a trip with a return date, and that is the case on this one.  We are currently looking at being gone about 6 weeks.  After the Tampa show, we plan to circle the state counter-clockwise, including the Keys.  We will also attend a one-day Tiffin Owner’s party at ‘The Great Outdoors’ resort in Florida.