Back in the USofA

Tuesday Dec 10, 2013
We departed Cozumel at 7:45am with temperatures in the 70's.  3 hours we landed in Dallas with the temp at 21.  I knew it was going to be cold when we arrived but I couldn't believe it.  I wore a sundress, sandals, and pareo wrap.  I had a thin sweater in my backpack but it wasn't much help.  We rode the airport shuttle back to the long-term parking lot.  I stayed in the warm building while Greg went to get the RV.  While we had been baking in Cozumel, Dallas had been hit with an ice-storm and cold, cold temps.  There was a thick sheet of ice on the RV windowshield.  Greg had to run the defroster on high blast and maneuver the RV so the sun was hitting the windowshield full blast.  After several minutes he was able to pound on the glass enough to break it up enough so he could drive it. I had the camera with me so Greg had no way to take pictures.  We made it out of the airport parking lot by 11:30 but traffic was so bad leaving Dallas that we didn't stop to eat until an hour later just on the outside of town.  3 hours later (in Arkansas), a huge hunk of ice flew off the roof.  The semi-truck following behind us didn't seem to ride very close to our bumper after that.

We made it to El Dorado Arkansas to see Greg's step-mom at 5:30.  We visited for about an hour then headed to the same RV park we stayed at earlier in the month.  It was dark so we didn't notice anything until Greg tried to adjust the antennae on the TV......there wasn't one!  The huge hunk of ice that flew off the roof took the antennae with it along with another small antennae!  Whew.....I was wondering when Greg was going to have something to do.

Later that night I noticed everytime I flushed the toliet, the spray nozzle attached to the side was leaking water.  Another project for Greg.....replacing the spray nozzle by the toliet!

By bedtime it was 30 degrees.  I'm totally missing Cozumel.

Wed December 11, 2013:  The electricity went off during the night but the furnace kept running off the LP gas.  The breaker kicked off but Greg fixed it.... once he found where the breaker box was,  We left the RV park at 9:30; stopped at Home Depot to get the new spray nozzle.... yeah, another project taken care of!  After visiting with Greg's step-mom, we left El Dorado at 11:30.  We drove to Columbus Mississippi for the night.  Found an RV park with no office.  I found the phone number and reached someone who told us to take an empty site and leave $25.00 in a mail slot at a vacant building on the RV site...... really?  Just this morning in El Dorado we left payment for our night there taped to the electric post.  Very trusting people in the South!

Thursday Dec 12, 2013:  We left Columbus MS at 8:15 (it was 28 degrees!) and drove straight through to Waycross.  Got there at 6:15pm.  I was so glad to see mom, and looking forward to a hot shower and a comfy bed.

We leave on Sunday to head back to Anchorage and the real cold weather.  We'll be home for Christmas and New Year's.  We're heading back to Atlanta on Jan 5.  Next trip we'll be heading west and leaving the RV in Phoenix the end of February.  We'll go back to Anchorage from Phoenix so Greg can help with the Skweetna check-point for the Iditarod.  We have plans to fly back to Phoenix to get the RV then drive it back to Anchorage.  We should be back in Anchorage for the ground to thaw and start building the house in Sterling!

More to come......... Happy Holidays!!!!!