Homeward Bound

It's April. Heck, it's almost May. It is time to head back to Colorado. Winter is over, and my dad and stepmom would love to have me around to help them now and then. So, Mr. Dreamy turned the wheels of the motorhome toward home. We have driven back and forth, from sea to shining sea, so many times since we moved to Colorado in 2007. We have driven in a car. We have dragged a trailer. We have driven in a motorhome....dragging a car. This year, we promised ourselves, we would not kill ourselves with driving. We would not break the three-thirty rule. Nope. We will drive three hundred, thirty miles or drive until 3:30 PM, whichever comes first. Yeah. It sounds good until you actually get on the road!

Day 1: Jacksonville, FL to Pensacola: 354 miles. Oops. We were a bit over the mileage. But, we enjoyed Avalon Landing RV Resort, and it was just a bit beyond 330. We did get in before 3:30! We stayed at this park at the beginning of our Florida tour in February. I liked their abundant pelicans, who amused us with their "synchronized diving". Come to find out, the pelicans only winter there and they are gone now.

Pelicans at Avalon Landing - February 2016

Day 2: Pensacola to Beaumont, TX: 451 miles. Oops, we did it again. Too many miles in one day. But... we found some sort of justification for this overage. I can't recall what it may have been! But, I'm sure it sounded reasonable at the time. We had stayed at this park before. This park is in crawfish territory, and the dog park has crawfish "chimneys". The dogs weren't impressed. Evidently they don't particularly care for shellfish!

Day 3: Beaumont, TX to Lake Medina, TX: 313 miles. YES! We did it! We stuck by our rules! And, not only that, we planned to stay two nights and really relax. A few years ago we met Carlos and Donna on a camping trip in Colorado. They keep their trailer at Lake Medina. We visited them in 2015, and stopped by again this year. We had a great time and can't wait to visit again.

Carlos is practicing using the selfie stick his kids gave him for Christmas

Day 4: Relaxing at the lake... which is a lake this year! It isn't entirely full, but our friends say with a little rainy weather, it should fill up.

Tucker and Gypsy looking for the lake in 2015

Sitting by the lake in 2016.
The rock they sat on the year before is now underwater.

Day 5: Lake Medina to Lubbock, TX: 354 miles. Oops... we were over. But only by a little, tiny bit! We actually had to stop about 30 miles from our original destination because of high winds and dust storms. As Mr. Dreamy battled the wind, and dust, I looked ahead and luckily found a small campground in Slaton, TX. We pulled off the road and enjoyed a wonderful evening with friends. We planned to spend another day in Lubbock... but then, saw the weather report for home. Uh, oh! We better get going.

Mr. Dreaming measures the wind speed: 27mph with a gust of 48.
I didn't line that shot up very well. You can't see the anemometer in his hand.
It was difficult to see anything in the driving sand!

Day 6: Lubbock, TX to La Junta, CO: 389 miles. Darn, we did it again. Too many miles in one day! Originally we had planned two nights in La Junta, wanting to stop and visit Bent's Old Fort. Because of a predicted "winter advisory", we took off the next morning to "thread the needle" and get home before the snow began to fly.

New snow dusted hills as we drove through mixed rain and snow for part of our trip.

Day 7: La Junta to Parker, CO: 161 miles. Yes! This is more like it! An easy travel day. Well, sort of... we did run into some slushy snow. Luckily, the clouds lifted and precipitation stopped. We finally arrived home just after noon. We had the motorhome unloaded and parked by 3:00 PM. We are both exhausted. Even the dogs are tired!!