Heading Home

Nov. 28 - Dec. 6

We have been on the road since Sept 20; the caravan through Mexico is over and it is time to head home and get back to living like normal people. A major storm is making its way across the country so we will take a southerly route as much as possible to keep out of the snow and cold weather. Rest areas in NM and Texas provide wireless Internet access, which was very helpful in monitoring weather and road conditions.

After visiting with our son Dave in Sierra Vista, we headed for St. David, AZ to find the grave of Nancy's father. Thanks to a friend of his who happened to be at the cemetery when we searched for it, we were able to find it.

Cold temperatures and snow were forecast for north Texas and further north so we chose to go south and follow I-10 through Texas in the hope of avoiding snow and freezing temperatures. After spending the night in El Paso, we passed through an area that had gotten a dusting of snow, but were less successful in avoiding freezing temperatures. The official low temperature in Junction, TX, where we camped for the night, was 18 degrees. The thermometer under our RV showed a low of 21 degrees. We stayed warm in the van, although the water lines froze up. After driving a while, they thawed out with no apparent damage to the water system.

Our next stop was in Houston, where we spent a couple of days to (1) recover from a cold, and (2) tour the NASA space center. The photo shows the mission control used for controlling Space Shuttle flights. It is empty since no Space Shuttle is currently flying. We were told that it will be put into use this week in preparation for the upcoming shuttle flight which is scheduled to go up Dec. 7.

This is a full-size mockup of the International Space Station; it is used for training astronauts before they head for the ISS. Nobody is here since it was Sunday morning when we toured it.

After visiting the NASA facility we headed for Galveston. This pelican is real friendly with fishermen. It couldn't be that he is looking for a free meal, could it?

Crossing Louisiana on I-10, we found ourselves on a very long bridge (it seemed to go on for many miles) crossing the Atchafalaya Basin, an extensive wetlands area.

Turning north on I-55, we headed for Wisconsin. This wintery scene in northern Illinois welcomed us back. A major storm had come through and dumped large amounts of ice and snow. Fortunately, the roads had been cleared so driving conditions were good, although it was pretty cold. Quite a change from the warm weather in Mexico. Nancy, why did we come home?