If You Don't Like the Weather...You Can Just....

 MOVE!!!! That's the nice thing about RVing...Well, we don't like the weather. Nope, not even Sparky. (WHA-A-A-T???? She's ready to move??? But Sparky, you LOVE LOVE LOVE the cold weather, and it might SN_ _ _. Sh-h-h-h-h..don't say the "S" word, Sparky might change her mind, says Eldo.)

Nah, she won't change her mind...It's cold and getting colder. Yes, Sparky has her winter coat, ear warmers and gloves and lots of cold weather clothes, but hey--her man has been suffering for months with far below normal temperatures and rain everywhere we've been--Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, S. Dakota (snow!), etc. etc. ENOUGH! says E. Let's move--SOUTH...After Sparky saw this week's arctic vortex heading towards Texas, she's ready to move further south. 

We thought temperatures would be reasonably around the fifties to sixties, even seventies, and yes, they have been, BUT NOT THIS WEEK and not for days in a row. TWELVE DEGREES AT NIGHT??? We are OUTTA here, three days early.

So, Sparky had her last grandson fix today. She helped with a one day home schooling break from regular school and thoroughly enjoyed working with her little grandson again for a few hours today. It's always hard to say goodbye to family, but we've had LOTS of time over the past couple of months in the Texas area where Sparky's daughter and grandson live, so it's been wonderful to be able to visit.

A few odds and ends and a bit of randomness...Sparky found a nice little park down the street from the Thousand Trails Lake Conroe Park for walking, if you don't want to walk on uneven, potholed gravel roads in the park. It's a little roadside rest area with one picnic table and a .5 walking trail that winds around a woods in the middle of a subdivision on both sides. Sparky walked almost daily once she found it, for three miles at a time. Music helps the monotony of doing the circle roundy/loop at the little park. Or talking to friends and family on the phone.

Check out the ranch gate entrances as you travel around Texas. We think it's sort of a status thing or just a matter of pride in their homes and ranches. Some are simple and elegant, others are ornate and FANCY. The gates are AMAZING and interesting! Most of them we are driving by too quickly to get a photo, but it would be very cool to assemble a bunch of photos of all the elaborate gates on ranches that can be seen in Texas and that mark the owner's property.

And on to pizza! (Sparky said this post was going to be random! laughs E.) Most of the pizza places deliver to your park site. Good luck to the poor drivers who come after dark. Even though the ranger station hands them a map, the site numbers are not illuminated, and it's super difficult to be found. (Ask us how we know, laughs E.) We ordered pizza one night and the pizza guy forgot to ask, and Sparky forgot to say, what number site we were at. The ranger station tells them about where to go in the park and Sparky gave him the site number after the fact, but the delivery guy was told the wrong section. An hour and a half later, Sparky and a wonderful neighbor next door, Nancy, were out in in the traffic lane, masked, waving our arms like crazy to the Papa John's driver, driving around lost, yelling, "OVER HERE, OVER HERE!" Bet that would make a driver nervous, seeing two masked women trying to wave him down. Well, maybe not now, during Covid. By the way, Nancy and Grif...hope you might be reading! (By the way, watch out when you get two retired school teachers RVing next to each other. They talk a mile a minute and could go forever! explains Eldo.) 

There's a First Watch at the Woodlands, a little bit of a drive-20 min., but great for a nice breakfast.   Sparky loves that place. Everybody masked up, spaced out and lots of hand sanitizer. And, we go very early. There are TONS of restaurants to choose from that aren't too far to drive if you hop on I-45. We just didn't enjoy all the traffic, which is for the most part, very well managed north of Houston. Watch out for the frontage road loop dee loops and U-turn lanes at the lights as you negotiate around the Houston area. They can be tricky for newbies to the area and to be in the right lane. (Ask spatially challenged Sparky how she knows, kids Eldo.)

There's an Amazon Hub Locker right next door at 4 Girls Ranch RV place, right next door to the park. If you want to order something on the smaller side, (Amazon has size restrictions on their website for hub lockers), you can pick the Amazon "Bicycle" Hub Locker in Conroe, TX and it arrives right next door to the Thousand Trails Park! (All their lockers have names). Easy to use, and fun! Contactless, you just have the locker scanner/reader scan your bar code on your phone, which comes in an announcement to you, and BAM! the locker door automatically swings open. (Sparky said BAM because the first time she used it, it almost hit her in the face, she was standing too close to the door. The doors open randomly so you don't know which one is going to open until it does.

When you are on I-45, check out the beautiful concrete detail on the bridges and overpasses north of Houston in the Conroe area. Beautiful concrete? Isn't that an oxymoron? Yes! Celery green inlays, pieced buttress supports, it's pretty, Sparky thinks. Couldn't get good photos, but they are definitely a step up from the usual boring all gray supports and bridges. 

We had ONE campfire...it was VERY windy the entire time we were here. Color flames courtesy of "sticks" or "cakes" that are sold at Camping World or Amazon. (Sparky is like a little kid with those things and would throw 2-3 sticks or packets on the fire if I let her, explains E.)

Now, where are we headed? Tomorrow, we are headed to the Rio Grande Valley for some Thousand Trails membership parks where the weather looks DECENTLY warm where we can stay for free again for three weeks at a time. Woo-hoo! More money in the budget for craft supplies....JUST KIDDING, Eldo! (No, she's not, retorts E. Good thing we have a mail forwarding service, she has to pay for shipping twice if she wants anything, besides the difficulty of timing a shipping delivery to the park directly depending on how long we are staying. That definitely helps cut down the flow of craft supplies..) Insert sad face emoji here, says Sparky. (Sparky is definitely ADHD, can you tell? laughs E.)

Bye, bye, Lake Conroe....Hello......Tropical Winds RV Park. We'll let you know how we like it in a few days... A new park/stop/area for us.