Where Have We Been?

We arrived in Aransas Pass on the 15th of December and have been exploring the area and playing disc golf at various parks. I apologize to our readers for not posting but we decided to take a break until after the first of the year.

With dreams of "sunny" Texas on our minds when we arrived we were disappointed when the weather just didn't cooperated. We have had maybe six nice sunny days since we've been here.  It's either rained or been misty and foggy for a long while.  But hey, at least we are not expecting -4* like they are in Fayetteville, Ar.  So that in itself is worth being here in 57* temperatures under cloudy skies.

So, bear with us as we gear up for the new year and photos and stories from our upcoming exploration of south Texas.  And, of course there will be stories and photos of the places we visit.

Hopefully you will still follow our adventures.  Until then.....

Thanks for reading. 

Finally In Route To Aransas Pass, Texas

The photo above is the Union Grove C.O.E. campground and Stillwell Lake near Salada, Tx.

We left Rio Vista yesterday and headed towards Aransas Pass, Texas. On the way we stopped into Lonestar Freightliner to get the RV's wheels aligned. It has been really prone to getting stuck in road grooves and uneven pavement. It was so bad that I had to slow and over correct to get out of the grooves or over the edge of uneven pavement.

So, $175 later they found the front passengers side wheel about 4* out of specifications. All other wheels were within spec.  I was prepared to have a "four corner" alignment where all axles would have been adjusted but it didn't need it. 

After leaving Waco we hit about 30 miles of road construction with concrete barriers set up to create a very narrow chicane. The road was both uneven and grooved so I was able to test the alignment corrections very quickly. I am happy to say that the coach handles 100% better.

We will be at Union Grove C.O.E. until the 14th and then will complete the last four hours of our trip to Aransas Pass, Tx. 

Everyone stay tuned, we will post more soon.

Heading Back To Texas Tomorrow

An update on where we've been and where we are going

Since leaving the beautiful Outer Banks of North Carolina we've been "Driveway Surfing" (yes, it's a thing) at my brother in law's house. We've been there since November 17th.  Since Martha and I both had doctors appointments in Fayetteville this week. We drove the car up from Rio Vista, Texas instead of moving the RV. 

It's been a great visit because we got to see our son and most of our friends.  We were offered a home stay with our very good friends Chris and Marti this week and have been treated like family (come on...I mean the part of the family they actually like...lol). If you two read this blog entry, thank you so much for your generosity in letting us stay with you.  What you've done for us is wonderful and you guys rock!

We leave Fayetteville tomorrow morning and will arrive back to Rio Vista sometime tomorrow afternoon.  Monday the 11th we will wend our way to Union Grove State Park, Texas for a couple of nights and the on to our winter home "Southern Oaks Luxury RV Resort" in Aransas Pass on the gulf coast of Texas where we will stay until February 15th.  This will be our longest stay in a fixed location since leaving Fayetteville six months ago. 

It seems the Doctors feel that Martha and I will be around until our next appointments in April. I even lost significant weight while on the road. Life is good!

We just wanted to update the blog for our readers so y'all would know we're still kicking.  Once we get to Aransas Pass I will update this blog again.  

Take care and thanks for reading.

Our year end totals* (for camping nights, fuel, repairs, maintenance and improvements) - Total Mileage - Campgrounds - Campground Nights -Boondocks

Our Costs For The First Six Months On The Road

As many of you already know, we left Fayetteville, Arkansas and our former sticks and brick home on June 1st of 2017. We have now completed our first six months (182 days) on the road. I thought I would break down our actual camping, fuel and maintenance budget for those six months.

In the repairs, maintenance and improvements cost we had some rather severe electrical problems and subsequent equipment replacement costs as well as a bad engine fan bearings that ran the costs up.  Knock wood, we are past the major problems now. The figures below are aggregate costs without food and entertainment entered to show the actual costs of camping, fuel and maintenance while full timing. Our mileage ended up being just over 12,000 miles...phew!

 If you have questions please feel free to leave comments in the comment window at the BOTTOM of each Blog Entry.

Camping  Nightly Costs -                         $3,200.46
Fuel (Diesel) -                                             $2527.66
Repairs, Maintenance, Improvements -  $1836.77

Total Costs Full Timing for Our First Six Months  -   $7,565.27

Campground Nights and Places We've Been

Rocky Branch COE, Beaver Lake, Rogers Arkansas - 5 nights
Driveway surfing at a friends in Fayetteville 2 nights
Downstream Casino, Pocola, Ok. - 2 nights
Bennett Springs, Mo. - 5 nights
Lost Valley Lake, Mo. - 5 nights
Thousand Hills State Park, Mo. - 3 nights
Swan Lake State Park, Iowa - 6 nights
Hancock/Stevens Point, Wisconsin - 30 nights
Beantown Campground, Baileys Harbor, WI. - 5 nights
Fishermans Corner COE, Near Davenport, Iowa - 7 nights
Pierre Marquette State Park, Grafton, IL. - 3 nights
Lake Ft. Smith, Arkansas - 7 nights
Downstream Casino, Pocola, Ok. - 1 night
Lakeside Casino, Osceola, IA - 1 night
Adventureland Campground, Altoona, IA. - 2 nights
Carter Caves State Park, Kentucky - 5 nights
Blacksburg, VA to visit a dear friend - 6 nights
Francis Slocum State Park, Scranton, PA. 5 nights
Whispering PInes Campground, Hope Valley, RI. 38 nights
Assateague National Seashore Campground, Maryland - 5 nights
Northwest River Park and Campground, Chesapeake, Virginia- 5 nights
Cape Hatteras National Seashore - Cape Point Campground, NC - 7 nights
Cape Hatteras National Seashore - Oregon Inlet Campground, NC - 5 nights
Falls Lake State Park , Rolling Hills Campground Raleigh, NC. - 3 nights
Anderson Hartwell Lake KOA Campground Anderson, SC - 1 night
Natchez Trace, Jeff Busby Free Campground, SC - 1 night
Ameristar Casino Campground, Vicksburg, MS. - 3 nights
Tyler State Park, Tyler Texas - 3 nights
My brother in laws driveway - 14 nights

Total nights in Campgrounds 

153 - nights in Campgrounds, 10 nights in Walmart Lots, 16 nights driveway surfing with friends and family.

179 Total camping nights

Kinds of Parks We Camped In

2 - Corps of Engineers Parks
8 - State Parks
5 - Private or Franchised Parks
4 - Casino Campgrounds
3 - National Park Campgrounds

Boondocking Nights
28 - total boondocking nights

When looking back on our total expenditures it is obvious to us that the C.O.E. and National Park costs are the cheapest camping options. Also, we happened to be reading a Texas State Park brochure and discovered that since I am a disabled vet I was eligible for their Parks Pass which waives entry fees, which can be $5-7 dollars a day per person. I will be on the lookout for that same deal in other states.