From Indiana to Oklahoma

Cleaning the motor home, loading and arranging the motor home took more time than I anticipated. Before,when we prepared for trips, the motor home was at the house and I worked over a period of days, at my leisure. This time, we were really "itching" to be on the road.

There was a bit an anxiety coupled with the "itch". We had just spent $6000 on repairs to the "roadhouse" We had anticipated a bill of only $1500, but some problems showed their faces in the garage. We are thankful that they were found before we left. The large repair bill has but this trip on a tight, tight budget. This an unexpected challenge that are really enjoying. Bring it on!

We were finally ready to pull out Friday afternoon at 2:30. We are using www.gasbuddy.com to research gas prices as we drive the interstates. It is helping us to save enough to put smiles on our faces. The roads in Indiana and Illinois were great. Our first stop was in St Louis. I must say that the Arch in St. Louis is spectacular at night. My camera did not want to cooperate and we did not get a photo.

Friday night our camping was "boondocking"(camping using our own power). BUT....the generator would not start....oops, forgot to consult the gas guage! Generators will not run if there is less than a quarter of a take of gas .... guess what..... we were just under. So out comes the down comforters and we snuggle into bed, and sleep just fine even with temperature of 22. Getting out of bed was a bit cool though. We moved quickly into warm clothes, started the engine on the roadhouse, warmed up the 35', grabbed a quick breakfast and was on the road.

Night 2 was spent in Cabin, Oklahoma at a very small RV campground. The snow wat to the top of the picnic tables at the campsites. They had only 10 spaces and we were the only ones there. The electricity was good to have and on went the new ceramic heater. Yummmm, toasty. We had dinner, played a couple of games of Farkle and went to bed in a bit warmer motor home than the previous night. Downside? since we did not boondock, we spent $21. Actually, very reasonable. Total money spent for three days on the road..... $22.00 groceries, gas, 21.00 camping last night. We are keeping the speed between 60 and 65 to improve gas mileage. Not bad, not bad at all.

Oklahoma has had much more snow and snow related problems than we have encountered thus far. Tractor trailers lay, abandoned, on their sides like road kill. Crews are still trying to get the snow cleared from the interstate and the entrance/exit ramps.

The bad thing is that I have read on the web that Oklahoma city and northern Texas is expecting 2 more snow storms today and Tuesday. I don't know how much of that is TV drama, but we decided to hit the road early, forget our sight seeking in Oklahoma City and our steak at the Cattlemen's and keep on motoring down while the roads are still clear. We are 90 miles east of OK city. Wish us God Speed!