Next Leg of Trip. First Oops! WM Parking.13th/14th.

We were so glad for the little electric heater that I had packed. It was cold there at Lake Catherine State Park. We slept with our clothes on, it was so desolate and so cold. Jay was griping about the overhead bed being hard, but he would complain if he were being hung with a new rope!
At dawn we were ready to get going, and checked under the hood. The oil was filthy, so when we checked out of the park, we asked the really nice lady, if there was an oil change place nearby. She even called the local WalMart at Malvern, AR to see if they would check the gear oil in the manual transmission. Well, due to bad, or rather missing signage, we missed Malvern and wound up at the WalMart in Arkadelphia, AR. Unfortunately there was something hanging down, and the AC shroud got damaged. The man there was also extremely nice, checked the manual transmission, slave cylinder, got all the fittings lubed, and we set off with nice new Valvoline oil. No, I am not concerned about Friday, the thirteenth, as the Bible tells one not to be superstitious.

After a few stops, we got to Nacogdoches, the Oldest Town in TX, and even though we had not used the radio, fan or anything extra, the battery light was getting brighter, and the sky was getting darker. The WalMart there checked the 'new' battery that the previous owner had installed, and it had a dead cell. Then we found out that this Nissan needed a special battery, and a new one was $81 with all the add-ons. That PO's battery would never have worked in it.

While we were at it, I replaced the dead 1999 house battery, all this took ages, as they were so busy. I gave the 110v. fridge a shot of cold with the on-board inverter, so the battery came in handy. We had planned to spend the night at some RV Park nearby, but with me being night blind, and Jay not getting good directions, we couldn't find it, and went back. So I spent my first night ever, in a WalMart parking lot. Jay couldn't even find the all night truck stop, with showers, that he had seen. Considering who and where we were, and no toilet on board, we spent another night in our clothes. It was warm and we had the windows open. I slept on the top bunk this time, or should I say cat-napped, as I didn't sleep much. We had drank too much coffee on the road, so we were glad of the 24 hour facilites. At three o'clock in the morning I was shivering, closed the windows, put on another sweater and made some decaffeinated coffee in my little 12v/110v coffee pot. I thought it might warm the RV and me up. It didn't. Eventually Jay and I just went and hung out at a Donut Palace, trying to get warm, until day break.

The little Nissan just purred along in fourth gear all the way home, and we went past my old house at Point Blank on Hwy. 190 and Lake Livingston, that my late Johnnie, Jay and I had rebuilt, back in the 90's. They had added a good looking wooden fence that Jay is going to copy for his place.

We used everything that I had taken on the trip, except my laptop, camera and the directions to Caddo Lake State Park!! I had a lot of favorable comments on the little rig. I am looking forward to being able to go on local trips, well, within 250 miles, in the little thing, and being able to have the dinette still a dinette when I get up in the morning, and have the place to myself.

Yes, friends and family, I am also making this day another celebration of Susan's life, the third anniversary of her dying from being hit by a DDD (dam drunk driver), on the 28th. January, 2006, but I do that every day.

After I had dropped off Jay, and emptied the fridge, it was a nap day.