What a Week This Has Been - March 15 - 21

Sunday morning we left S. Llano River State Park and headed to Junction to post our blog and buy the week's groceries at Lowe's Market and hit the road to Abilene State Park where we had a 3 night reservation. Abilene State Park is another 1930's CCC creation. Here the buildings feature the local red stone in its many structures.

This would be our last Texas State Park. We had two nights where it was rainy and cloudy all day and had severe thunderstorm warnings overnight.

We enjoyed a restful day we had there by cooking, puzzling, birding and going for walks along nature trails when it wasn't raining.

Our last evening at Abilene the park ranger came by advising us about the severe weather possibility and our choice of using the public restroom as a shelter.
The National Weather Service Map shows a thunder storm system (in Green), high wind warning (in beige) then the red-pink-blue area as the approaching winter storm. We traveled through that whole area.

Life in the RV is not always easy. When the forecast calls for an overnight thunderstorm with high winds, frequent cloud to ground lightening with possibilities of tornadoes and baseball size hail. . . we wonder how this will play out while living in our vulnerable little home.
The storms of life also include the news reports of the spread of the corona virus and all the anxiety it is creating. We so often felt free of those stresses since we were by ourselves in quiet nature settings and very little contact with the outside world.
Thanks to credit cards that make gas pumps easy to keep our truck filled and driving and it was a good time to use disposable gloves at a time like this.
By Wednesday we decided we better start heading northward because others were telling us about possible border closures. The day began with weather warnings of 25-30 mph winds from the south-west with gusts to 40-50 mph, not good for high profile vehicles like our RV. As the day progressed the wind from behind was a blessing and not as strong as predicted.
Our night stop was at a hilltop campground in Perry Oklahoma. Thankfully here we only had a bit of wind, lightening and rain overnight.

Spring is coming... flowering trees seen in Kansas Thursday.

Thursday's night stop was at our preferred night stop at Lewis and Clark in Onawa, Iowa. In winter type travels our concern always is to find campgrounds that are open. Lewis and Clark is open year round, has self-registration with the cost being only $11/night and a sewage dump that was open for dumping. Then it was time to winterize the water lines of the RV before we head into more cold temperatures. We were the only ones staying here that night.

Went to sleep with the sound of rain that had turned to ice and snow overnight which resulted in a later start to our travels Friday morning. We could see the truck traffic on the I-29 in the distance and decided to go for it. The road had slushy, wet and icy patches and were good by the time we reached Sioux Falls SD. The drive with moderate head winds made for frequent stops for gasoline, but the $2/gallon price was still not bad.

We arrived at Dakota Magic Casino by 4:30 with hopes of being able to find an electric hookup for the night. Their RV campground has been closed but the security guard offered us a spot with 15 amp outlet N/C. We managed fine with using our furnace and no electric heaters.

Saturday morning at sunrise we left on the last leg of our journey home on dry roads, no winds and clear skies as we near Manitoba. Rumors of the border crossing being totally closed did not feel good. After seeing all the MB vehicles heading northward we felt assured that they were still open - and would allow us to cross. After a brief stop on the US side to confirm we were Canadians we continued to the Canada customs entrance . . . only 3 vehicles ahead of us. A few more questions and we were back in Canada safe and sound.

We had already been self isolating ourselves for nearly two weeks but now will continue with that as required. Hopefully not to difficult for these introverts to occupy themselves. At least if we can get our internet reconnected sooner than planned.

Thoughts - This past week has given many opportunities to decide whether to worry or worship. Why dwell on the negative thoughts of what might go wrong or happen when you can look up to God and his encouragement. So often during the past week it was the sunshine and clear blue sky coming through the dark  stormy clouds looming around us.

This will be our last blog post for this trip. Thanks for being our faithful blog readers.