Thursday, 19 Jan 2012

We are finally on the road! It took us most of the Spring and Summer to decide where we would spend the winter but once the decision was made...well, the planning and excitment just continued to grow. Every snowstorm and temperature drop made the wait harder but time does fly.

South Padre Island really is beautiful and it's a small community that is easy to drive around, has an amazingly beautiful beach with more amazingly few people on it, and wildlife up the ying-yang. Add some magnificent kites in every colour and size with professionals that come from all over the world to make those things 'sing' and it's the place to be. There's quite an active Winter Texan group and my calendar already has a few things on it that is organized by this group.

We got to our usual first night stop in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania about 4:30 pm and went straight to Cracker Barrel for supper. They have a great gift shop and I fought with myself for a long time not to buy Gillian and Tori the most gorgeous chiffon dresses for 'a potentially upcoming special occasion'. I realized this was only the first day of a 12-week shopping opportunity and besides...there are thousands of other Cracker Barrels with the same dress...in case I end up losing that conversation with myself at a later date.

The highlight of the night was the craving for junk food that hit about 8 pm and how we solved it. Bob gave Wayne and I each a package at Xmas that was labelled "Do not open until you cross the border". I went down to the van and got them and when we opened them, each box was filled with goodies, salty & sweet, plus a can of pop which totally satisfied the craving. How sweet was that? I do love that man. xx

We had no problems at the border and by the time we got to Syracuse, it occurred to us that at some point the snow had disappeared. It's still cold perhaps a bit less than home and the top of our van still has a sheet of ice on it that, by Murphy's Law, will fly off just as we are passing/approaching a State Trooper vehicle.

The day went quickly even though we spent it on the Interstate and we'll stick to that highway until it starts to warm up a bit and we head West. This is our 4th trip going this way and as much as we love the route, we've decided to find a different route and see some different scenery. I'm looking forward to seeing some new things.

Have a great day. Love and hugs to all. xx