We Have Moved

 

 

Well, I suppose you knew that. But I mean our blog as moved.

 

If you want to keep up with us please check out.

 Right Lane Living 

Travel well, my friends!

Bob 

Time for a Break

 

On March 1, 2024, we sat out from Brownsville, TX on our 2024 Adventure through the Great Plains, the Midwest, and the South. We were in pursuit of 70 degrees and interesting places to wander. We were successful on both counts. We traveled approximately 6,900 Miles in our Motorhome, Kokopelli. This was roughly the same distance we traveled in 2023. We drove over 6,000 miles in Nakai, looking for and finding interesting places along the way. We stayed in 46 campgrounds and averaged 8 nights per stay. We averaged 150 miles every time we changed sites. Our shortest stay was 2 hours when the campsite did not work for us in Streetsboro, OH, and the longest was 2 months over the winter in Brownsville. I published 9,368 photos from our travels outside of Texas, and we filled our refrigerator door with magnets after 2.5 years on the road. (We have stored away our 2022 and 2023 collections to make room for 2025 alongside 2024.) We visited many friends and family along the way. I journaled our travels in 47 blogs. Whew, I am tired! We are ready for a break!

 

We arrived in San Marcos, my hometown, and will be spending 12 nights here. Marlene and I will meet up with some of our friends, including a couple of trips to San Antonio. We will spend Thanksgiving week in College Station, visiting Marlene's family and avoiding the Texas/Texas A&M Game crowds. On December 1, we will make our final move for 2024 to Galveston to enjoy that elusive 70 degrees while seeing our daughter and family for Christmas.

 

As you can see, we will not be doing much wandering over the next 3 ½ months. We will spend time with family, chase a few birds, and spend some time enjoying the Texas Gulf Coast. For this reason, I will be closing out my Bob’s Wanderlusting Blog with this edition. This will allow more time to enjoy our family here in Texas. I will continue to post pictures on FB and on Flickr. (Here are the links if you want to follow me on  Facebook and Flickr.) This hiatus will also allow me time to pursue other writing projects that I hope you may find interesting.

 

These new projects may include periodic blogs on topics of interest. These are blogs that I may be reviving from time to time over the next four months. I will be glad to notify you when they are posted. If interested, click on this email address at the end of the blog and let me know which ones interest you. These blogs include:

•  “The Shadowed Valley” – A blog I started when I was doing hospice work that is intended to support people who are dealing with all types and levels of grief. 
• “The Whispering Presence” – A blog that reflects my listening for the sacred in nature
•   “Notes from an American in Exile” – My reflections on feeling estranged from our common life as Americans. 
• “With Open Hearts, Open Minds, and Open Hands” – A blog that shares ideas for reaching out to and caring for our neighbors who are feeling alone, frightened, or depressed during this difficult time of transition.

 

These will be posted as I feel drawn to produce them. There will be no set schedule, so you will need to let me know if you want to be notified. I will post them on FB, but if the past is any indication, you cannot count on FB to share the notice with you. Please let me know, and I will add you to the notification list for the blog or blogs you are interested in.

 

I will also be revamping the Travel Blog for next year. It will be titled “Right-Lane Living” and begin in late February or March 2025. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions you might have about possible content for this blog. Do you want more pictures? Would you like more information about the places we see? Did you enjoy the history and geology that I shared? What other things would be of interest? Feel free to email your ideas and suggestions.

 

As I wind up this blog, I thank each one of you who has followed along our travels over the last two years. As I have stated before, I do this because I enjoy writing and sharing my pictures. But, your response and support have meant so much to me. “Bob’s Wanderlusting” has been read over 2,500 times, and I appreciate those who have stayed with us and shared kind words and comments.

 

Our 2025 travels will be finalized by the end of the year. We will head West to San Diego before turning north to Seattle. After a good visit with our Son and family there, we will head back to Texas for wintering in the Rio Grande Valley, stopping by and seeing family along the way. We are also starting to look ahead to see what 2026 may hold for our wandering ways.

 

I hope you stay in touch over the next few months and will join us on the road next March when I will do my best to share what it is like to live life in the Right Lane.

 

Have a joyous Holiday Season and a Happy New Year. See you in 2025.

 

Travel Well, My Friends!

 

Bob

RLDees@Gmail.com

Grief Happens!

We have arrived in Waco for our last non-family stop for 2024. And, I confess, I am sad to be leaving our wandering behind us for the winter. Yes, I am tired. Travel demands a lot of energy, and my mind, body, and soul are weary of the wear and tear caused by the road. I look forward to seeing family and friends in San Marcos, College Station, and the Gulf Coast. And I definitely need a break. But this does not mean that I will not miss the road. I will miss the road and grieve its loss until we begin again next March.

 

My decade as a Hospice Chaplain taught me that grief always happens when we experience a loss, large or small. The level of the grief is usually proportional to the degree of loss. My grieving over the road cannot compare to the loss of a spouse or other significant person in our life. However, it is grief, nonetheless, and deserves to be acknowledged as grief. Grief happens! Unfortunately, we often ignore it at our peril, especially when it is a lower-level loss. However, regardless of its severity, we can allow ourselves to go through it until we learn to live with it! Grief happens, and I am my grieving the end of our 2024 journey.

 

Monday was a rainy day in Mt Pleasant. We spent it doing chores; laundry, cleaning up Koko, and preparing for the drive on Tuesday. We grabbed lunch at a Mexican restaurant where I enjoyed Mole, one of my favorite Texas tastes. It reminded me of what awaited us over the winter while I grieved what we were leaving behind in the Midwest. We all need a little TLC when grief creeps into our lives. A special treat, especially one that helps us look forward, allows us to keep grief in its place without consuming our every waking thought.

 

On Tuesday, we headed down I 30 and went through Athens on our way to Waco for a week. This route allowed us to avoid the Dallas traffic, the same thing we did on our way North last Spring. TLC means doing what we can to reduce stress on our tender souls when grieving. I did not want to negotiate I 30 to I35 in Downtown Dallas. Unfortunately, our GPS routes did not know about the new bypass around Corsicana. One wanted us to turn on a road that was no longer there, and the other had trouble identifying our turns. This meant I had to guess, which can be very stressful in a vehicle that cannot go in reverse and needs space for wide turns that precludes most U-turns. The short rendition of the story is that we drove from Corsicana to Waco via Mexia. (This is not the express route.) My confusion and anger were exacerbated by my sadness over leaving the road. Fortunately, I recognized this as grief and could name it for what it was. I allowed myself to grieve once again and kept on track for Waco.

 

Magnolia RV Resort

We stayed at the Magnolia RV Resort in Lacy-Lakeview on the Northside of Waco. This large RV Resort caters to travelers and seasonal folks alike. Unfortunately, the owners felt it necessary to display their political leanings with huge flags and signs around the swimming pool. I looked at the display as if it was a sign that we were back in Texas and let go of the moment. When we recognize our grief, we have much more control over how we respond to the world around us. If I had ignored my grief, I would likely have spoken to the staff expressing my disappointment in their lack of hospitality. But I was sad and did not need to allow that sadness to trigger an inappropriate or unkind response toward someone else.

 

Wednesday dawned with sunshine and comfortable temperatures. We took advantage of the nice weather and set out for lunch and a little sight-seeing. We ate at Papa Bears Restaurant. It seems every business in Waco must include the word bear in their name. Marlene had a Chicken Fried Steak, one of her favorite Texas comfort foods. I had a Brisket Stuffed Baked Potato, a real treat on my diet. We both could afford to splurge on lunch because we had some swordfish defrosting back at Koko that I would grill for supper. (This was a bit more TLC.) After lunch, we drove to the Waco Mammoth National Monument.

 

The Creek Bed

The Waco Mammoth National Monument was set aside as a National Monument in 2015 by President Obama after bills to make the designation died twice in both the House and the Senate. The site was discovered by two teenagers trespassing on a local farmer's land. They found a large round bone protruding from the ground beside a creek. They thought it might be a skull from a Native Burial Ground. They took it to Baylor where it was identified as the head of a Mammoth femur. They were told that Columbian Mammoth bones are relatively common in Central Texas. (My Dad brought me a piece of a mammoth tusk he dug up in a field.) Baylor was not interested until they mentioned that they also saw other bones. Upon investigation, a team of paleontologists discovered 24 separate mammoths buried in the caliche along the creek bed. These animals had died from frequent droughts and washed into the creek over several thousand years of periodic flash floods. These two forces are still part of life in Central Texas. The Baylor University and the City of Waco received the site from the landowner. They built a lab over the largest cache of bones. After 20 years of battling with Congress, the site was finally protected. It offers insight into these huge creatures and the smaller mammals entombed with them. Here are a few pictures from our afternoon at the Monument.

The Lab and Dig

Quincy

The Columbian Mammoth

Wanda

Portrait of Wanda

A Prehistoric Camel

A Mammoth Family Group

The Matriarch

A Beautiful Facility

When we got back to Koko, I grilled the swordfish. Marlene made a spinach salad, and we feasted on a very interesting day. While I always enjoy exploring, Wednesday was made even better against the backdrop of my grief. It felt good to get out and experience the world beyond my sadness. Grief begets “woulda’, coulda’, shoulda’” and these can become walls that hide the world beyond. A nice meal spent with someone you care about, reminiscing over a day well spent was just what I needed.

 

The clouds and rain returned on Thursday. Normally, I would be tempted to sit inside and stew over my loss. But, bolstered by our good day on Wednesday, I looked ahead, through the sadness, to envision a productive day. TLC is cumulative. While not every day will be better than the last when the clouds return, our previous days can offer us a little resolve to help get us through the next grief storm as best we can. This is precisely what we did with our rainy Thursday.

 

I woke up and declared, to myself, that Thursday would be a Chill and Chores day. I spent some time getting my head around the theme for this blog. Then I made a mental list of things to accomplish with the day. The first was our door on Koko. If you follow me on FB, you will likely have seen this already, but it bears some repeating. Our main exterior door on Koko has been a pain from the beginning. It has never closed well. Sometimes we would have to slam it so hard I worried about the glass in the door. We had to use the deadbolt to keep it closed. I had taken the door apart several times, filed out the deadbolt hole, and removed the screen door more than once all to no avail. Mobile techs and RV service centers have looked at it and shrugged it off. So, I went back to school on RV maintenance and consulted the highest authority I know, the Internet.

 

Out of camber

As I wandered around on Google, I discovered a phrase, “Door Camber.” I knew wheels had a camber adjustment, but I had never heard of door camber. More googling revealed that all RV Doors require a certain amount of bowing out, or camber, at the latch to allow the top and bottom to seal against the weather stripping. I then discovered that this camber may need adjusting if the door leaks or "IT DOES NOT LATCH.” Bingo!!! I borrowed a couple of pieces of 1 X 1 wood, applied some pressure, and adjusted the camber on the door. Five years of door slamming was eliminated. Serendipitously, a new clear piece for the screen door arrived, and I replaced it as well. I must claim the opportunities when I get them. Two items were checked off and two to go. Completing each one gave me the energy I needed to tackle the next. Despite the lingering sadness over our leaving the road for a while, I was able to do everything that needed doing and felt good about the day! Clouds and rain, be damned! Sometimes I must get off my butt and deal with the everyday stuff and let tomorrow take care of itself. (Hmmm, I may have preached that somewhere before?

 

On Friday, the weather started cloudy with the threat of rain.  I spent the morning writing. But after lunch, the weather began to clear, and we ventured into Waco to see the Dr Pepper Museum. This old building sits on Fifth Street and was the site of the first Dr Pepper plant. The drink grew out of the health craze of the 19th Century, where Pharmacists used carbonated water and flavorings to create healthy drinks, one step removed from snake oil. Like Pepsi and Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper began as a healthy alternative to alcohol and promised good health and happiness. But marketing people soon took over the “fizzy water” water drinks, and fortunes were made. The Museum at Dr Pepper is more about marketing and sales than the drink itself. And, frankly, this is as it should be. The brand is more important than the product itself, and the story of Dr Pepper and other brands is a tribute to salesmanship and advertising.  Here are a few pictures from the Museum.

The Artesian Well used until 1927

One of many displays of international marketing

Who remembers Hot Dr Pepper?

After our museum tour, we stopped for a Whataburger. This iconic Texas food is a fitting way to celebrate our return to our birth state. Like Dr Pepper and the Chicken Fried Steak, it is a taste of Texas.  Frankly, while the burger is good, the fries and Whataburger ketchup bring the flavors home for me. Yes, Friday was a very good day.

 

Grief is a multisensory experience. I feel it in all kinds of ways. Something as simple as a soft drink, burger, and fries can help me withstand my sadness. I may not be able to “See the USA,” but at least I can enjoy a little respite with a comfortable and familiar meal. Coping with grief is also a multisensory experience.

 

Yes, I am still grieving, but I can feel its grip lessening a little on most days. There are times ahead when I know I will miss the wandering and grief will return. I will miss discovering new places and meeting new challenges along the way. I know that I will grow weary of waking up in the same place every morning and will become eager to get back on the road. Such is the way of grief. But I cannot do anything about it other than wait it out, coping the best I can. All I can do is trust that this will be enough to get me through until next March when we set our sights on the Pacific Northwest.

 

Grief happens. But this does not mean you should sit and stew in your sadness. Make the most of the day you have, with whatever energy you can find. Somedays this may mean making toast for breakfast and then returning to bed for a nap. Other days may involve weeding that front flower bed or going to the grocery store. Regardless, claim what your day offers, and look ahead with whatever hope and energy you can muster. Today and tomorrow await us all.

 

Travel well, my friends.

Bob

Staying Found

I suppose it is natural to start any new adventure with the reasonable expectation of “Don’t get lost!” In 2019, after purchasing Koko, my main goal was, “Don’t get lost!”  We would be traveling unfamiliar roads in a rig that was new to us. I feared mistakes, misinformation, breakdowns, and many other things that could go wrong. This cast deep shade on our adventure, making the end of each day a time for us to sigh with relief when we didn’t get lost.

 

However, after a few years of living with the fear of getting lost, I knew there had to be a better way. As a slow learner, I took several years and over 20,000 miles of driving to find that "better way." And since we have been on the road full-time, I have become less concerned with getting lost than I am with “Staying found!”

 

"Staying Found" means living where I am and making the most of it. It means living proactively and looking ahead with eager anticipation. It demands that I stay in touch with myself and the world around me, remaining aware but not giving fears a veto in decision-making. Staying found means using tools like maps, the internet, and advice from others who share the road. It means doing the maintenance and making the repairs before the breakdown happens. It means remembering that there is no need to yield to despair when bad stuff happens. We have what we need to get through whatever comes along. We will get through it! Doing “Staying Found” well means keeping an open dialogue with the moment and freeing my heart and mind to explore possibilities. "Not getting lost" is oppressive and joy-killing. "Staying Found" grounds the journey in joyful expectation through careful planning and trusting the tools at hand. Yep, it is a much better way to travel. This week was a perfect example of "Staying Found."

 

Sunset on the Mississippi

We began our week in West Memphis, AR, saying goodbye to the Mighty Mississippi and preparing Koko and Nakai for Monday's drive to Hot Spring, AR. We bought groceries, and I worked on sorting out our gas stops for the next few weeks. When pulling the Jeep, Koko cannot go in reverse, and the turning radius needs to be a bit wider. This means that only some gas stops will work. I learned this the hard way early on but have now perfected using RV Trip Planner and Google Maps to find a gas stop that will allow us to pull in and out without backing up or unhooking Nakai. How did I learn this? Too many lousy choices required us to unhook Nakai at the pump and reconnect in the parking lot. Yep, experience can be a good teacher of the attentive student. The plans were ready for our drive.

 

J & J Campground

Monday dawned, and we hit the road. It was a nice day with just enough clouds to make it easy for the eyes. Light winds were a bonus. We stopped at a Blue Beacon Truck Wash, and Koko and Nakai got a good bath. We stopped for gas and then had lunch at a Rest Area. But then the winds began to pick up, and I lost my “Staying Found.”  "Don't get lost" started to creep into my spirit as I fought the winds and the foolish drivers on I-30. Every ill-informed move by other drivers drove “Staying found” further away. When we finally got to Hot Springs, I was exhausted. That is what “Don’t get lost” does to me. It wears on my mind, soul, and body. I was way past nap time!

 

Propane Pressure Regulator

Tuesday arrived, and I stepped into the bathroom to shave. The water exploded out of the faucet. High water pressure is very dangerous in an RV, so most folks use a pressure regulator on the water line to protect their plumbing. Mine, however, was set too high. So, I quickly dressed and went out to adjust the pressure. It was no big deal until I bent down to adjust the pressure and smelled propane. It was just a whiff, so I spent 10 minutes changing the water pressure and then went back around to check my propane tank. I got out my spray bottle of soapy water and checked all the fittings. I did not see a leak. But the nose knows! There was a leak, and I couldn’t find it. "Don't get lost," came creeping back. I sprayed everything I could find and finally saw little bubbles on top of the propane pressure regulator. No big deal. I turned off the propane, and we drove to a nearby RV dealer to pick up a new one.

After breakfast, I got out my tools and stool and set about replacing the regulator. I had worked on the propane before and felt relatively comfortable with the fittings. After detaching the old regulator from the tank side, I pulled it out and looked at the hose attached to the rig. I had neither the tools, the knowledge, nor the confidence to figure out how to detach it from the hose. For all I knew, the hose was [permanently attached to the regulator itself. So, I reluctantly called an RV Mobile tech and asked him to bring a hose to attach to the new regulator I had on hand. When he arrived, he said he did not have a hose but would look. A quick glance and he reached into his tool bag, pulled out a couple of wrenches, and proceeded to detach the hose from the old regulator and install the new one. That ten minutes cost us 260 dollars to do something that I should have known how to do. But “Don’t get lost” led me to get an expensive education in RV Repair. I have paid a steep tuition for an RV repair education before. Remember, I am a slow learner.) But paying the Tech refocused my attention from "Not getting lost" to "Staying found."  I need to let something other than fear and ignorance guide my decisions.

 

AI Image

The next day, a massive cold front swept in from the West, and we had intermittent rain for two days. After my experience with the Tech, I was well armed with "Staying Found," so I spent the time working on our trip planning and budgeting for 2025.   also spent some time reading and exploring our options for the future. e stayed in and enjoyed life in Koko. Can two people survive in 200 Sq. Feet? Yes, they can if they relax and look for joy rather than do everything they can to avoid getting lost in worry, boredom, or disappointment. Guess what? Wednesday and Thursday were good days despite the rain and dreary skies.

 

Our last full day in Hot Springs dawned with sunny skies, and it was time to do a little exploring. We drove the scenic drives on West Mountain and Hot Springs Mountain and had a picnic overlooking Hot Springs. We were here in Fall 2014 and had done all of this back then. The two days in Koko had prepared us to celebrate being outside, and we took full advantage of it. We were ready to “Stay found!”

 

While Yellowstone National Park proudly declares it was the first National Park, it was not the first nationally designated wilderness to be protected. Hot Springs Mountain was so designated by Andrew Jackson in 1832. any suspect that he did so to prevent the Quapaw Tribe from claiming their own sacred lands. The hot springs on the mountain have been places of healing for thousands of years. The old 19^th and 20^th-century spas still line the avenue leading to a National Park encompassing three mountain peaks. There is even an abandoned Naval Hospital at the foot of the mountain. Today, Hot Springs is a tourism destination that includes the Boyhood Home of President Bill Clinton. Here are a few photos from Hot Springs National Park.

 

Gulpha Creek

West Mountain looking toward Hot Springs Mountain

West Mountain overlooking Hot Springs

West Mountain Overlook

The Tower on Hot Springs Mountain

Nandina in Nature

Hot Springs Mountain Overlook

We drove down to the Garvan Woodland Garden (which we had also seen in 2014), but they had completely re-landscaped it, and it felt new. Yep, "Staying found" allowed us to enjoy something we seldom do: we retraced our steps. It was a good day. When we returned to the campsite, we packed up Koko for our drive the next day to Mt Pleasant, TX. Here are a few shots from Garvan Woodland Garden outside of Hot Springs along Lake Catherine.

 

Lake Charlotte

The Wedding Chapel

Saturday’s forecast warned that we could have rain when we reached Mt Pleasant, TX. Therefore, we left early to beat the rain because I had a planned gas stop in Arkadelphia that would slow us down. I did not know just how much that stop would delay our arrival.   I pulled into the outer pull row of gas pumps and pulled up close to a minivan sitting at the front pump. Marlene signaled that I needed to pull forward for the hose to reach the tank on Koko. Unfortunately, I couldn't. I have had this happen before. Having recovered my "Staying found," I knew the driver would be out soon. But, when the driver didn’t return in five minutes, Marlene went in to ask them to move their vehicle. No one in the store knew anything about the car. I waited another five minutes. The minivan was still there. After 15 minutes of waiting, I was getting upset. Arlene went back in, and one of the employees decided that we needed to know that the driver had car problems and had gone to get a mechanic. Yep, “Staying found” abandoned me and  “Don’t get lost” took over. We unhooked Nakai. I maneuvered Koko to another pump where we filled up. We hooked Nakai back up and resumed our drive.   I sure wish that I had remembered "Staying Found" while I sat in Koko behind that minivan. Trust me, life would have been so much more pleasant for all of us if I had!

 

We are Back!

We got back on I-30 and headed to Texas. 10 years ago, this would have felt like going home. But since we have been on the road, Texas is less home than familiar. We were coming back to the land of good BBQ and Tex-Mex. I have spent a lifetime exploring Texas, but was it really home? Not really. The State is not the same as it was when I was growing up, but neither am I. For the last two and a half years, our home has been where we park, at least for the moment.   I will enjoy the next month as we travel to Galveston to spend the Winter with family and friends. But, I suspect that “Staying found” also means that we are “home” as long as we are comfortable in our own skin no matter where we reside.

 

Mt Pleasant KOA

We pulled into Mt Pleasant KOA for a three-night stay. The rain will be our companion for this stay before we leave for Waco on Tuesday. Therefore, I am “Staying found” and looking forward to getting ourselves ready for our wintering. Besides, we have already found some good Texas BBQ. We will live in sweet anticipation of good TexMex and a Chicken Fried Steak. I have no fear of "getting lost" in Texas, and I fully intend on "Staying Found" while we wait to set out next March for the Pacific Northwest!

 

Travel well, my friends!

 

Bob