Let the Fun Begin

Here are the pictures I meant to post yesterday. They are of our first impressions of the area:

This is the approach to the lighthouse in Port Isabel - where the bridge across Laguna Madre to South Padre Island begins (through our dirty windshield).













And a closer shot.













This is the view as we begin to cross the bridge to SPI. The bridge is about 3.5 km long.













The view of the southern part of the island from the bridge:













And looking northward from the bridge:













And a blurry shot just as we got off the Queen Isabella Bridge:













Today we headed over to McAllen, TX to see if we could find out anything about a birding trip into Mexico. We saw their lovely convention centre but there wasn't much information to be had about the birding trip. As I was not used to wearing my sandals, I went over on my left foot and incurred a minor sprain of my foot between the ankle and the toes. Ouch! It didn't really start to swell until later. We did pick up a bunch of information about various wildlife events and locations where we could go birding ourselves. We ate lunch at a Mexican food place in San Juan, TX just east of McAllen. We then drove over to South Padre Island to get the key for and get into our condo. By this time, my foot had started to swell and I belabouredly limped up the three flights of stairs to our unit. I immediately put ice on my foot (the previous tenants had left ice in the freezer thank goodness) and elevated. Poor Skip did all the traipsing up the stairs with our stuff from the car. Every time he came into the condo, he had more information about one or another of the tenants in the other five units.

The icing really helped (and the ibuprophen) and the foot feels a lot better already. I'll just take it easy these next few days. I am now wearing more sensible Teva (ugly) sandals with much better support. It feels good to get the breeze between my toes.

The high today was 19C - it's going up to the 30s by Sunday. Yessss!

Oh yeah, the condo turned out to be even nicer than I could have imagined.

The dining area:

















The living room:





























and the kitchen:





There's even a dishwasher.

I think we're really going to like it here.

We're Here! - Day 5

We left Wharton, TX this morning at about 7:45am. Most of the trip was deserted 4 lane divided highway. We stopped in Corpus Christi, TX to go to a yarn store and have lunch. They didn't have any worsted weight 50/50 wool/silk but I bought a 36" bamboo 4.5mm circular needle. When the proprietor was told we were on our way to South Padre Island (SPI), she said, "We're the closest yarn shop to SPI".

We had a delicious lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant called "Hu-Dat" and then headed westward again back to Hwy 77 for our final leg of our journey. We filled up at Kingsville, the last community of over 100 people before Raymondville - 100km away. We arrived at Brownsville and checked into our lodgings by 3:30pm. It is currently 24C.

Click HERE to see today's route. Click HERE to see our whole route.

"Houston, We Have A Problem" - Day 4

We left Texarkana this morning in 27F temperatures. Rather than take the Interstates to Corpus Christi we decided to take less travelled roads that are 4 lane highways. It did take us to and around Houston which was a hair-raising experience to our destination, Wharton, TX, (pop. 9300) the birthplace of Dan Rather. At Houston, we drove on the Sam Houston Beltway which is a toll road. The traffic wasn't too bad but the posted speed limit is 70mph (112kph) and when you don't really know where the correct toll lanes are - that's breath-taking! There are 3 EZ tag lanes, 1 correct change ($1.50US) lane and one full service lane. The first time we were headed for the toll booth I was in the far left lane by mistake and had to move over 3 lanes in about 100m distance at 112kph. Thank goodness there was no one behind or beside me to the right. I just reefed on the steering wheel and careened into the correct lane while Skip sat paralyzed in the passenger seat.

A few minutes later we stopped in Richmond, TX to change drivers, I had done the previous 350km and after Houston, was ready for a break. To calm our nerves we went to Target and walked around - ahhh - retail therapy. I bought season one of "Weeds" on DVD which had been recommended by a couple of friends.

About 20 minutes after heading off from Richmond, we arrived in Wharton and checked in at a very clean, newly renovated Super 8. We wanted a room on the ground floor (my gigantic suitcase warrants that) but were told the rooms were still being cleaned (at4pm?) . They were behind in their cleaning as all the maids had quit today. I didn't get much knitting done today - I'm about 8 rows into the Gansey pattern on the second sock.

As we approached Marshall, TX I got all excited as I had seen "Marshall" the movie about the tragic deaths of most of their basketball team and the events that followed, starring Kevin Costner. I took a picture as we entered the community:













When 'google'-ing the movie after we were safely ensconced in the Super 8, I discovered that Marshall University is in Huntington, West Virginia. Oh, well. It made for some excitement during a part of the trip which might normally have been boring. Sigh.

Click HERE for our route today. THIS is how far we still have to go.

Finally in Texas! - Day 3

This morning we got on the road by 7:50am. We were roaring down I-55 and after 10 minutes I realized I had left my diamond solitaire in the motel room. It wasn't out in an obvious place and must have gotten pushed under a little wicker basket used for the facecloths on the counter. We got off at the next exit and raced back. The towels had been cleared but fortunately because the ring was hidden under the basket, it hadn't been seen by the housekeeper and was still there when I lifted it up. Yay! Believe me, there were a few tense moments until I found it.

Back on the highway we retraced our steps and continued on, this time in torrential rain. It cleared a bit as we arrived at West Memphis, Arkansas and headed westward to Little Rock. Once we passed Little Rock it had dried up and about an hour outside of Texarkana, Arkansas, the sun came out. In fact, I had to put the air conditioning on every once and a while during that time as we drove through the southern pines.

Click HERE for today's route. We've gone 2100km so far.

We stopped in at the tourist information centre just across the state line into Texarkana, TX and got a good Texas map. There were two groups of Canadians there at the same time we were - more Winter Texans-to-be. We tried a few motels before we found one that met our criteria - non-smoking, ground floor (my suitcase is huge and weighs a ton). Once in our room at the Quality Inn, Skip determined that we did not have hot water so we were moved to another room.

We then headed to Best Buy to return an item I had purchased in November and bought a Tom Tom One XL-S GPS which I'm learning how to use.

We had dinner at Amigo Juan's a local Mexican food joint. Skip had a grilled chicken strips, salad with pico de gallo, grilled rice and charro beans. I had an enchilada, taco and tamale.

I finished the first Lighthouse Gansey sock and grafted the toe in the car while Skip drove.













Here's a closeup of the pattern on the leg below the ribbing.













I have cast on the second sock and have about half of the ribbing done.

Tomorrow we hope to get to Wharton, TX where we have reserved a room at the Super 8. We hope it has all the amenities it promises - King bed, non-smoking, free wifi. Stay tuned...

Throwed Rolls or Effing Cold in Effinham - Day 2

Last night I slept very little. I could tell I had too much caffeine in my system when I lay in bed and felt like I was buzzing. I pledged to make today caffeine free so that meant water with lunch and dinner and NO coffee - decaf or otherwise.

Click HERE to see today's route.

It was about 27F this morning when we got out and scraped the car off. We got on the road by 7:50m and stopped for lunch at Fishers, IN- a suburb of Indianapolis. We then took the I-469 - a ring road around Indy and then headed WSW towards Terre Haute, IN then on to Effingham, IL, just inside the state line. While zooming around Indy, we came across the biggest cross we had ever seen.


There was nothing really around it.








We then headed southward passing our intended destination of Mt. Vernon, IL and drove another couple of hours to our final destination today - Sikestown, Missouri. About 20 miles from the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. As we headed southward, we could tell it was getting warmer and warmer. We decided to stay at Sikestown, MO where Lambert's Cafe - Home of Throwed Rolls is located.

The portions could feed four. I had meatloaf, corn and baked beans













and Skip had barbequed pork steak, turnip greens and cole slaw.













The beverage came in a 32oz. cup with tons of ice.













A unique feature of the restaurant is that it is the home of 'Throwed Rolls". We saw this on several billboards but didn't know what it meant until we got there. A server comes out of the kitchen with fresh baked rolls on a cart and yells, "Who wants rolls?". People then put there hand up and he whips them at them. They also come around with fried potatoes and onions, black-eyed peas, sorghum molasses and deep fried okra. These are called ''pass arounds" and you just ask them to plop whatever you want on your plate. Even though I 'pushed away' from the table way before eating everything, I am now paying the price with a distended tummy. I sure hope I sleep tonight.

On the sock front, I am decreasing for the toe and will probably finish the first sock tomorrow in fairly short order and will cast on #2 of the pair. Here's a better picture of the garter stitch on each side of the ribbed heel flap:













And here's a closeup:

On The Road - Day 1

We began our epic odyssey to Texas this morning. We finally got on the road at about 9:40am. We didn't oversleep - there are just a million little things to remember to do before taking off on a trip. This is what it looked like this morning as we left home.


Zoom, zoom!











We ate our homemade egg salad wraps at the service centre near Ingersoll, ON. at about 11:30am. By 1:11pm we were in line to clear customs and immigration in Port Huron, MI. As we drove up to the booth, the sun broke out from between the clouds. Ahhhhh! We were through and at our 'comfort stop' by 11:33! We are now ensconced in a lovely Comfort Inn in Marshall, MI., about 600km from home and 30km from the Indiana state line . It is sunny but COLD! Brrr. 27F. tomorrow we hope to make it to Mt. Vernon, IL or beyond where it is supposed to be 45F. Yay! We have about 2600km to go.

Click HERE to see our route today.

I had my first McCafe Latte near Flint, MI today and it was delicious! It cost $2.64US including tax for a medium sized one (12 oz.? 16 oz?). Starbucks should be very, very afraid! McDonalds doesn't serve decaf latte yet but I was assured by the salesperson that 'it's coming'.

And in knitting news, I had been saving the Lighthouse Gansey sock for the trip as it was going to be fairly mindless knitting. Today I finished the heel flap, rounded the heel, decreased for the foot and now have about 3cm done on the foot. I may finish the first sock tonight. I like the ribbed detail on the heel and the garter stitch on each side of the heel flap.

An Ollie Update

I called Michelle this morning to see how Ollie was doing. He's still behind the washing machine. However, Michelle did find him in front of her bedroom door at 6:30am. He then skittered down the stairs to the basement. There was also evidence that he had used his litter box. She sounded relieved about that. He hasn't eaten yet. She did note that cats seem to be a lot easier to look after than dogs - they don't require a lot of attention and they don't need to be 'let out'. I told her that if Ollie could feed himself, we would have just left him in the house while we were away.