Westbound - Feb. 27 - Mar. 4, 2010

Due to the threatening weather forecast, we decided to leave Cudjoe Key, Florida a couple of days earlier than scheduled.  Everything was going swimmingly until Susan attempted to guide Bill out of our site.  The Beast would not move forward.  Susan kept waving her arms and Bill kept accelerating - but nothing happened.  After a few attempts and a bit of our animated hand waving, our neighbor came over to tell us that this malady is not unusual in the Keys.  It seems the salt air causes the brakes to seize.  He advised us to put the rig into reverse and then into forward until the brakes release.  Voila!  We were off on our 2,500 miles trek to Florence, Arizona.

Our first leg moved us north through the Keys, west across the appropriately named Alligator Alley for an overnight stay at the Elks Club in Nikomis, just east of Venice.  Day two we traveled I-75 north through driving rain, then west on I-10, on which we would travel the rest of the distance to Florence.  

After an overnight stay at the Walmart in Quincy, Florida, we continued across the Florida Panhandle, crossing Alabama and into Mississippi for an overnight stay at a casino in Biloxi.  That afternoon we explored Biloxi a bit on foot and noted the rather spotty recovery from Hurricane Katrina.  Several casinos along the shore were completely reconstructed in their usual gaudy fashion, but a majority of the homes and smaller businesses were still badly damaged, and the entire city seemed deserted.

Day four did not go well.  When Susan attempted to go through the towing routine for the Honda she discovered Kermit had a dead battery.   After getting a jump from roadside assistance we decided we should drive separately to a Honda dealership to replace the battery.  We located a dealership along our route in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and headed west in the wind and rain, staying in contact by cell phone.  Susan found the Honda dealership with no problem.  However, Bill had great difficulty maneuvering the Beast through the narrow, confusing roads in the driving rain.  By the time he was finally able to park the rig Kermit had a new battery and lube job, and was ready to go.

We hooked up the car and headed out through the worsening weather.  The drive from Baton Rouge to Beaumont, Texas was frightening.  The wind buffeted us the entire way and the rain just kept getting worse.  Crossing the high Horace Wilkinson Bridge across the Mississippi River with strong side winds and blinding rain felt like a death defying experience.  By the time we pulled into the flooded RV park in Beaumont we were both exhausted and ready for an adult beverage.

On day five we checked the map and decided it would be better to take I-610, a toll road looping south of Houston, rather than I-10 through the heart of the city.  Twenty-two miles and $26 later we rejoined I-10 - seriously questioning our decision.  We continued west, past San Antonio to Kerrville, Texas for an overnight stay at an Elks Club. 

To our surprise Bill had an email waiting for him from Bill and Cheryl Fitch, fellow travelers we had met in New Brunswick, then met up with again in Maine and Massachusetts in 2007.  Bill and Cheryl were work-camping at an RV park just a couple of miles up the road from the Elks Club and suggested we get together for dinner.  We had a delightful time catching up, sharing each other's travel adventures and future travel plans.  The visit was a wonderful relief from our 'white-line fever'.  These marvelous chance meetings make this lifestyle so rewarding.

On day six we were up bright and early for our long and boring trek across west Texas.  By the time we reached Van Horn, just south of the Guadalupe Mountains, we had a serious case of I-10-itis, but according to our schedule we had another two days on the interstate ahead of us.  That evening we checked the map and our tolerance levels, and decided to drive the rest of the way to Florence in one exhausting day.

Day seven found these two road-weary, but determined travelers back on I-10 bound for El Paso, then crossing the Rio Grande into New Mexico.  Finally, Texas is in our rearview mirror!  That afternoon we crossed the state line into Arizona - just 210 more miles to home. 

We arrived at Desert Garden RV Park at 6:00 PM and were settled in our site by 7:00 pm.  We sat outside with a glass of wine to relax, enjoy a spectacular desert sunset and revel in the joy of being back in the southwest.  The next morning we would pick-up our keys and see our new home for the first time.