Yep, We’re Winter Texans Now
And glad of it! Some of us just simply do not care for cold weather and are more than willing to travel 1,300 miles over four days to avoid it.
When I picked up the trailer from the storage lot in Hiawatha Tuesday morning, it was 5°, with about 3 inches of snow on the ground. Today, here in Mission, Texas, it is 85°, a bit humid by our standards, and no snow on the ground!
Our Route From Iowa to Texas
We go west on US-30 from Cedar Rapids to the diagonal highway a few miles west of Marshalltown. I don’t care for the hills on 30, but the traffic is light. Plus, it is four-lane most of the way now. And I love the diagonal road, one of the very few in Iowa, from Marshalltown to Des Moines! It’s four-lane, smooth, and with little traffic. At least little traffic compared to I-80!
At Des Moines, instead of going across the top of the city on I-80, we go down the east side of the city and across the bottom to join I-35. The reason, again, is relatively light traffic.
Because we were going through or around Kansas City about 8PM, we opted to stay on I-35 all the way through the city. We wouldn’t have done that at busier times, that’s for sure. We made it through with no problems.
Overnight in Ottawa, Kansas
The temperature Tuesday maxed out at about 32°. It would have taken “forever” to get the trailer warmed up so we stayed at a motel in Ottawa. There are several motels—and a Walmart!—located very close to the Interstate so it was very convenient.
Bad News and Really Good News
About 20 miles north of Eldorado, KS, the right rear tire on the trailer blew out. Bummer! The road there is I-35 but also the Kansas Turnpike, with a fair amount of traffic. And when I parked as far to the right as I could, there was only about 2 feet of room between the trailer and the edge of the traffic lane; not a good feeling!
(Time for supper; more later!)
(OK, back from supper. Since we’re only three miles from Mexico, tacos would seem to be in order, right? So we went to my favorite taco joint down here: Taco Bell! I know that’s not appropriate, but I just happen to like the taste of their tacos better than any other I’ve ever had. So Taco Bell it was!)
Now the good news begins! I’d not been stopped five minutes when a Trooper pulled up behind me! He asked if I needed help; I told him I didn’t think I did, as I was experienced with such things. He said he’d stay there and help keep me from getting run over by the traffic, which I really did appreciate.
Then I discovered my jack would not lift the trailer quite high enough, for some reason. (It always had before.) Sure enough, he had a small floor jack! We put it under the axle and it lifted the critical last inch!
While I was working, he asked what kind of tires I used and disappeared into his car. He must have called a tire shop in Eldorado. That person suggested a different tire shop in Park City, the first suburb north of Wichita. He even handed me a map, which he had printed out in his squad car!
To be sure, I appreciated all the help State Trooper Scott Koehn provided. He possibly saved me two hours of time and a service call for help. Besides that, he was a just plain nice guy! Kansas Turnpike Authority can be pleased to have such gentlemen on their staff.
Kansasland Tire, Park City, KS
Now here’s the almost unbelievable news: Kansasland Tire replaced all four tires on the trailer in less than one hour! I could hardly believe it. Superior service, I’d say. (I hope they prosper and purchase Medicom. Soon!!)
This was the only noteworthy event enroute, a fact for which we are thankful!
Two More Stops
Wednesday and Thursday’s stops were preplanned. The first at WinStar Casino, at Mile 1 in Oklahoma. They have a very nice RV park there. The bad news: their rate went up from $20 to $35/night!
Fact: at that point, we are one mile from crossing the Red River into Texas. That means we are 25 miles beyond half way from our home in Cedar Rapids to our winter destination. The oft-stated joke of “when you get to Texas, you’re half way here” is very close to being exactly true!
We’re not Winter Texans yet!
Our last stop was at Seguin, Texas. That’s about 25 miles east of San Antonio.
We trucked on and arrived at our spot in Mission about 2:30 Friday, after driving 1289 miles.
Diesel fuel here is $3.399/gallon. The corn fields only 1/2 mile west of us have already been harvested this year. Previous years, they harvested them around Christmas.
Lat night we got about 1.5 inches of rain. Today it was 85° and no snow!
…and that’s the story of how we went from 5° to 85° in six days and renewed our certification as Winter Texans!