hotel hell

IN NEW NEWS – we’re rethinking our next series of destinations!! Our original goal was to spend spring in Tennessee, the Carolinas and New Hampshire, so that we could enjoy the milder weather and then decide if we loved any of those locales enough to brave the hot, humid summer. But due to all the mechanical delays, we’re currently almost 3 months behind schedule, and we’re still not on the road! So instead of heading east, we’re considering spending the summer and fall in the northwest, checking out Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and possibly Oregon again.

We’ve also been trying to figure out a good place to spend the winter (no sense in sitting in the RV in below freezing weather). Of course we’d love to be back in San Diego for Christmas like we were last year – but it’s just so expensive! Now we’re thinking maybe staying here, near our current home base in southeast Texas, would make sense. Then next year in early spring we can head east like we originally planned.

Other than mulling that over, continuing to seek God’s direction in where He wants us to end up, and experimenting in the kitchen, we’ve been spending this week feeling hot, humid, and mellow. We basically only leave the coach when the dogs need to go out; our biggest source of entertainment on their walks is checking out the weird wildlife (and their tracks) around the park.

The most exciting event this week was finally seeing a full-sized alligator in the wild! As we were driving down the road, Deron saw its head sticking out of the water and slowed to take a pic. We parked nearby and he tried to get a closer photo, but the gator spotted him and went under.

At about 5pm Wednesday we finally heard from the mechanic that they were ready for us, so we rushed around packing and unhooking so we could drop the coach off before they closed at 7pm, and then check into a hotel. We’re currently staying at a Days Inn, which was a cheaper option than the La Quinta we were in last week – but UGH! It’s so not worth the money we’re saving! Most of the artwork has been pulled off the wall – leaving the nails and hooks behind, the lampshades have been splattered with an unknown substance, the bathroom door is sagging so badly it won’t close, and the bottom of the door looks like a wild animal tried to paw its way out. There are ink stains on the bedspread, and it looks like some kind of crime scene on the wall behind the toilet. So anyhow, if we don’t get a diagnosis on the RV by the end of today, we’ll be moving back to La Quinta tomorrow!