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I have made it safely through Houston and got tucked in a PA park near Beaumont for electric and a cold night. The rest of the trip will consist of watching the morning news and deciding if I want to stay put and be cold or move and be cold. It appears to be a little prettier by Wednesday but nothing like the lovely days of SoCal and Southern Arizona..... sigh, they are behind me now.

Before I get back to Ohio and get swallowed up by the piles of laundry, dogs that need washing and a Short Bus that needs to be decontaminated from dust and dirt ......I need to send out some thank yous.

Thank you to Beth for her, "I am traveling to Baja," and her willingness to let others tag along. Without her providing the invitation I might not have learned about Baja and Mexico and I might have missed the whole rest of the Southwest adventure winter.

Another big thank you to Liz for agreeing last fall to be my travel buddy for Baja so that I had the added confidence knowing that when I crossed the border I would be traveling with someone who I knew would have my back if and when I needed it. It didn't turn out quite as we imagined it but because of her agreement to travel to Baja and then back to the states to explore SW I headed off last November with my boxes of jello.

Thank you to Mitch for traveling with me after the "switch" and generously sharing her laughter, campfires, wine and fine cooking skills/experiments. Also thanks for unhitching and using your fine Pretty Red Truck's 4-wheel drive to take us down some of those beach roads neither of us would have driven down with our rigs. I enjoyed her spirit of "We haven't been there yet, so lets go see what it looks like, attitude."

When you travel with Mitch you will generally leave a camp ground knowing more folks that when you arrived..... (Mitch, you know that Santa Wayne really liked your cooking, among other attractive features.... )

Then there are all those of you that I visited with, ate dinner's with, parked in driveways with......

Sarah back in Huntsville with Wendy as the Pottery Currier taking packages back to Birmingham for me.

Martha and Carolyn for coming out on short notice to make sure that I had a real Cajun seafood dinner opportunity.

Vickie and Ronnie for inviting me onto their driveway and into their home and to share their Thanksgiving Dinner and their family celebrations. ....And for trusting me with cutting up the onions with scissors. An Nan for sticking around the extra days so that our paths could cross before she hightailed it back to FL and went searching for her new rig....

I stopped by Houston and had a wonderful visit with a high school friend and.....

Then there was just one person after another to be grateful for.....

I landed in the Karen West's RV and Dog Park and got to have a gtg with Karen (Sprinter), Mitch and Nikki.....and a thousand dogs.... Thank you for providing a port (with electric and heat) in those cold November days.

Then Mitch and I headed farther west and off to hike through Carlsbad Caverns.

From there I wandered over to Tucson on my own and drove up to Phoenix for a brief gtg and adventures with Alice and Liz. (An an opportunity for Audrey to attend a UKC Dog Show.....)

Liz and I traveled on towards Sharon's with a stop to drive through Joshua Tree National Park.......

And then there was Sharon's . Laura's best recommendation for Cup Cakes (They were good.) and her offer to take Liz and I on a tour of part of the California coast. I got to meet Lyn and we all got to hang around an enjoy Sharon's hospitality.

And still more thanks....
After my coming north out Mexico Lyn provided that San Diego Tour.....

And from there the jello molds just kept reinventing themselves. Thank you to Judy for organizing the Phoenix GTG and the chance to meet new forum members I had only met in posts......Dawn and Diane and Debbie.....along with Lyn, Karen, Nikki, Anita.....

Then there were the "where do you want to go from here and when will we meet up again...." travels that Lyn, Karen, Nikki and I under took through Arizona and New Mexico.....

And the day Dawn rescued me from the military police at the fort....

... and the recent days of exploring San Antonio and the Hill Country with Nikki....

Thank you one and all. As I stopped in the RV office this afternoon to check in, the lady running the desk said how brave I was to travel by myself and how amazed she was to find I had left Ohio in mid-November. How could I begin to explain all the wonderful people that have made this winter trip with me.

I think I will have something like 8,000 plus additional miles on the Short Bus by the time I reach the driveway in Ohio. As several of you keep reminding each other. It isn't that hard....just one day at a time. Two hundred miles at a time, give or take a few miles.

I will have to start looking at the work calendar and do the math on the back account and see when and where I need to plan to take off to next!

Thank you for your support and company....

well you have definitely had a very interesting and fun winter. And just think.....with all of us tagging along here and there, you were
never really alone

Wow, it's amazing what all you've done. I'm glad I was a small part of it. Now just try to stay warm and here's to hoping those cold temps let go for spring soon.

Hi Tina, what a nice thank you. I am happy to have been a small part of your trip. looking forward to our next trip together.
Lyn

What a great trip! We figured with all your experience snipping the doggies, you'd be safe with the scissors!

If you're in a good spot, I'd suggest you stay there another night. They said on the news tonight that from 2am till noon they expect freezing rain & sleet on the roadways around here, with highs Tues. still in the 30's. You'll have the big bridge at the TX/LA state line, the one in Lake Charles, the Atchafalaya, Baton Rouge, some smaller ones & overpasses along the way.

I could try to get you here thru some of the back roads with smaller bridges, but it seems being stuck in bed for 6 weeks hasn't been a soothing experience for Mr. Grouchy Pants.

You had a great trip Tina & the rest of the Baja Babes. Hopefully some day I can follow in your footsteps (wheel treads?).

Just curious - you went from TX to PA in one shot? Or am I reading wrong again.

On edit - nevermind - just figured out you maybe meant Passport America park.
Still a doofus.

I agree with Vickie, stay put at least this morning. This afternoon they will probably still be cleaning up the accidents. If you stop near Lafayette let me know and we will find some more cajun food. I'm a ways from I-10 but have a drive way with electric and water.

That's what's so great about this forum, we can travel from coast to coast and feel like we have a friend near. I hope I am able to follow you on one of your adventures.

Martha

It was so much fun having all the people and dogs for a couple of days. I really enjoyed the Phoenix GTG as well as the traveling to see new places. Drive safe and hurry back. There is still a lot to see in the Southwest.

..
As usual, Tina, very well written.
What an "Adventure 2013-2014" you have had.
Audrey was initiated by fire, that's for sure!

One little thing you had wrong , though - Santa wanted YOU, not me.
YOURS was the rig he walked to, even though mine was closer.

PS: I look and looked, but I could not find a picture of your profile...otherwise, you would have been seen kissing Santa...
..

What a wonderful winter!!

You made a lot of great memories.

A great trip indeed.

Tina, it was fun traveling with you vicariously, so I thank you for taking us along. I can't wait for your next adventure!

You're more than welcome! And the rv park here is open to one and all for however long you would like to stay!! Are you gonna make the Kansas GTG? Plan on it, Missy!

Thank you and thanks to Liz, Beth and Mitch for sharing your adventures, thoughts and pictures of your adventure. I had fun trying to match faces to names from the boards. Hoping to make KC and actually meeting many of you.

Melissa

You're an inspiration.

Nikki