We're on the Road Again!

When we got back to the Oklahoma panhandle after our ski trip, we were greeted with beautiful weather. That was good news for all those trips out to the motor home, carrying back all the stuff we had unloaded two months ago. We had parked the motor home here in November!

Our strategy to avoid attracting mice during this storage time was to remove every bit of food. We had also scattered dryer sheets around, plugged in electronic mice repellent, and bought two different peppermint scented mice-be-gone products. It might have also helped that the new ranch dog patrolled the area on a regular basis. If we thought she was responsible for keeping the mice away, it would be easier to forgive her for chewing up our tow bar cover . . . and our sewer connector . . . Denisa's bike pedal . . . In the picture below she is trying to figure out how she could chew up the bird feeders.

We got some good exercise reloading things like the piano keyboard, our clothes, the books, the shoes, and all our food. When we were finally packed and ready to go, then the weather delayed us a couple days. It was clear in the Oklahoma panhandle, but the Texas panhandle got bombarded with six inches of snow.

We had to wait for the roads to clear before we could take off. But we finally hit the road again--exactly two months after we parked the motor home at the ranch in November. Now we're on the road again, heading south to get away from this white stuff!

Just a few miles down the road, we crossed the Texas state line. If you look carefully, there are six different oil well pump jacks in the background of that picture. Welcome to the state of Texas, full of cowboys and oil wells!

As we drove through the Texas panhandle, we were glad to see that the highways had been cleared. With temperatures in the 60s in the forecast, this snow won't last long.

We were on the road for three hours before we stopped for the evening at the Pioneer County Park along the shores of the Salt Fork of the Red River. We got some exercise walking around the park and down to the water.

The entry of the campground also houses a state rest area. Denisa learned a lot about our new home-town of Wellington, Texas from reading the information at the rest area. For example, the most famous crime in this area happened in 1934 when Bonnie and Clyde missed the detour sign and plunged off the end of the bridge being constructed at the time. Their car ended up in the river pictured above, and they shot up the local family and the police that came to help them . . . That 1934 bridge has now been replaced, but the kiosk pictured below uses some of its metal supports. . .We are in a Collingsworth County campground, accidentally misspelled with an extra "g" on the official papers in 1876 that intended it be named after James Collinsworth. . . This area was bought by a family from England, who used terms like "cow servants" instead of "cowboys" and misspelled words like "ranche" and named the nearest town "Wellington" after an English aristocrat. . . So much local information to learn!

While Denisa was learning local history, Mark was hard at work. Looking at the forecast ahead of us, we should be able to stay out of freezing temperatures as we drive south. So Mark took advantage of the beautiful afternoon to de-winterize the motor home. He flushed all that pink anti-freeze out of the water lines and Denisa is pretty excited about having running water in her home again.

We love learning about new areas and getting some good exercise on a pretty day. It feels really good to be back in our home and on the road again, wandering His wonders!