A very bright, sunny warm day....

 

 Our Location: 

Mercer Fairgrounds, Celina, Ohio

We woke to a nice temperature, sleeping with windows and vents open. A walk along the paths here at the fair grounds, we enjoyed the sun and a brief sit in the grandstands to watch a horse going through his paces. I hope you enjoy the photos. 

We are parked over there behind the grandstands.

The horseshoe pit.

Some pretty small white flowers.

Some parking spots over there.

Lots of buildings here in the fair grounds.

Can you see the back end of the Igloo?

The barns over there, lots of horses there.

Going through the paces on a sunny warm morning.

Up in the grandstands...

We could see this water tower....

Blurry but a morning run and not breaking a sweat.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've had a terrific day. 

Until next time...

Take care, stay safe, 

Deb

We are settled for a few days.....

 

Our Location:

Mercer County Fairgrounds, Celina, Ohio

 

We left Carrolton, Ky around 7:30 am this morning. A heavy dew on the windshield but it wasn't cold. Today was an easy day and we took our time. We travelled approx 186 miles/299 km, the Big Dog ran well and we had a head wind yet again. The roads were again decent in places and some pretty big grooves and holes in other places. We need to find a better way of joining bridges to pavement!!! We arrived here at the fairgrounds and finally found our spot, put the feet down and called Dad at 12:30 pm, EDT of course. We have never been in this area before, about 20 miles from Wapaknoneta, it's a nice location, a bit confusing inside the grounds but we figured it out, or at least we think we did. Sunny, warm but breezy, we have no complaints. Tomorrow I will post a few pics of the fairgrounds. 

 

Welcome to Cincinnati rush hour this morning.

Dandelions are blooming.

Trees are in blossom and some are leafing out, the grass is brilliant green.

Spring is here in Ohio.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've had an excellent day. 

 

Until next time....

 

Take care, stay safe, 

 

Deb

 

We are still in Carrolton.....

 

 

Our Location: 

Just Save Parking Lot, Carrolton, Kentucky

 

 

We had a little hiccup this morning and so we laid over another day. Nothing major, and so when we got the truck back around 1 pm, we decided to stay put until tomorrow morning. We have plans for tomorrow and will put them into play in the morning. 

The cleanest grocery store I've ever been in, Just Save. Everything shines.

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a good day. 

 

Until next time...

 

Take care, stay safe, 

 

Deb

 

 

We are back on Ontario time....

 

 

Our Location: 

Walmart, Carrolton, Kentucky

 

We left Jacksonville, Tennessee around 7:30 am CDT and a few hours later we crossed into EDT around Upton, Kentucky so we are back in our own time zone. We arrived here around 3 pm EDT. We travelled approx 352 miles/567 km, we used approx 30 gallons of diesel. 

 

 

Nashville's river.

Entering into Nashville, Tn.

We can see spring just starting to show buds on the trees and the grass is beautiful green.

The I-65 Corridor is breaking into light green of spring.

The roads were good and bad, the area between Elizabethtown and La Grange on I-65 N to I 71N was horrendous. It was a rough few hours and we are both tired from all of the thumping and bumping around. Fuel ranged from $3.79 - $4.80 per gallon. The Big Dog's drinking bowl was getting pretty low by the end of the day.

 

The Kentucky Welcome Center.

We parked for a leg stretch.

It's a beautiful and well needed stop.

Just a hint of green in the trees.

 

No news today from my sister. Chatted with my Dad when we arrived, he hasn't heard anything new either.  

Pretty purple on the road sides.

Cutting grass.

Using a whipper snipper too.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've all had a good day. 

 

Until next time....

 

Take care, stay safe, 

 

Deb

 

 

We touched 3 states today.....

  

 Our Location: 

Walmart, Jackson, Tennessee

 

Happy Easter to all. 

We had a good night last night in Greenville, Texas, pretty quiet and this morning we up and out the door shortly after 7. We needed fuel and a quick stop at the bread counter in Walmart. By 8 am CDT we had all the wheels turning and the Big Dog started rambling along I-30 East again. Our original idea was to pull off at either Benton or Forrest City, Arkansas, we waved as we went past both places. Tonight's home dirt is actually tomorrow night's goal. We had a long day but a good one.We arrived here around 4:30 CDT and although there is some confusion, we are parked in front of the Walmart/Sam's Club.  Confusion because another couple and I were told separately to park in front of the Walmart by the GAS ONLY bar, and Riley and I were told to park in the area at Sam's Club with signs that say NO PARKING, TOWED AT OWNERS EXPENSE. Anyway... 

It's very green in the upper eastern reaches of Texas.

Yep, we are headed that way, to Little Rock.

Forgive the dirty windshield. We need to pass through Texarkana before we can get to Little Rock.

We travelled a total of about 488 miles/785 km approx. We travelled about 8 1/2 hours including 4 or 5 stops. We used an entire tank of fuel, but I haven't filled up yet today as there is ONLY GAS here at Walmart. So we used approximately 38 gallons/143 liters of fuel. We ran along at about 65 mph/104 km. The roads were good but slowly started to deteriorate in Arkansas and again into Tennessee. Very groovy, wavy, humpy bumpy with some very bad expansion joints where bridge meets pavement. It wasn't all bad but the bad made the good seem less so. We managed to skirt around an accident at Little Rock, Arkansas and so it didn't slow us down at all.

 

 

We passed through Arkadelphia, Arkansas too.

A beautiful welcome center in Arkansas.

Very appealing.

Since we left Quail Ridge, Huachuca City, Arizona we have travelled through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee. We have travelled 1466 miles/2359 km. We have about 655 miles/1070 km left until we reach the Ontario border. We hope to spend a couple of days in Wapekoneta, Ohio before we cross either Friday or Saturday. 

 

A different rest area but I can't remember where it is located.

Fresh green grass and leaves. We aren't in the desert any longer.

 

An update  on Rick, my sister's partner. He is currently in ICU, the next 48 hours will determine which direction treatment, if any, will go. Chatted with her and my dad today. Waiting is the hardest thing to do at times like this. She doesn't want us to hurry home and so we won't. I can offer support from the phone, not quiet the same but she has family around her and there really isn't anything more that I can do for her.

Do  you must recognize the Bass Pro Shop in Memphis, TN?

Of course we must cross over the bridge......

which spans the Mighty Mississippi River.

And now we are in Tennessee.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a good day. 

Until next time....

Take care, stay safe, 

Deb

Sweetwater to Greenville, Texas.....

 

 

 Our Location:

Empty Store Parking Lot, Greenville, Texas

We had a good day yesterday, a nice afternoon and evening to rest up from the last couple of hectic days of driving. The Walmart parking lot was slanted and one could not find a level parking area but for future reference, there are some nice rest areas on either side of Sweetwater that would be great for an overnight stay. Temps this morning started off around 55F/13C and as I write this it is 66F/19C. A bit breezy on the road but not bad. We left at 8 am CDT and arrived here at about 1 pm CDT. We called it a day as the drive thru Dallas was a bit stressful for only about the last half hour. Ft. Worth and Arlington and the first part of Dallas were a breeze but the last bit was stop and go, humpy, bumpy and construction made the lanes very narrow. Certainly not any worse than driving thru Cincinnati or Toronto. The Big Dog was pretty efficient today, sipping down about 20 gallons of juice. I filled up before we left Sweetwater for $3.39 gallon. I like those ones!

 

Forgive the mirror but spring is present in those pretty bright leaves and bright blades of grass.

 

 

Some blooms too, and the green here is darker, the leaves are bigger, they've been out longer.

 

We travelled 273 miles/440 km, we travelled for approx 5 hours with rest stops included. We have in the last three days travelled 978 miles/ 1600 km, we are not quite half way home yet. We still have 1,149 miles/1850 km until we cross the border. We consider that to be 'home' as we will actually not get back to our summer spot for another few weeks and many more miles. We have approximately another 730 miles/1173 km after we cross into Ontario. That includes a bit out of the way to get to Roseneath, Ontario to Buttercup Ridge for 10 or so days while it continues to warm up at our summer spot on the Rock. We are no longer in the desert as you can see by the photos and the temps are nice but the humidity is evident.

 

We are heading into Ft. Worth, Texas.

It was an easy drive. See that tower way off.....

we passed it a bit later on.

Chatted with my dad when we arrived here to let him know we are off the road. He informed me that sister's partner Rick has suffered a heart attack and is currently in Sudbury hospital. He has no other news. 

Love the overpasses. We are in either Ft. Worth or Arlington. This is only two, earlier they were like spaghetti.

That looks like a Fedora, doesn't it?

That is Dallas off in the distance.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've all had wonderful days. 

Until next time....

Take care, stay safe, 

Deb

Van Horn to Sweetwater.....

 

 

Our Location: 

Walmart, Sweetwater, Texas

 

We left the Van Horn rest area (MM 144 on I 10 East) this morning at 8 am, the sun was just breaking over the horizon as we pulled out. The stop was good, a bit noisy but nothing over the top. Cold this morning, 44 F/ 6 C or close enough. Windy today too, another headwind even though we changed directions. The Big Dog enjoyed the fuel while working at the forward progress. Our total mileage today was 297 miles/478 km. We used approx 27 gallons of fuel, we paid $3.79, and $ 3.99 respectively. One must pay attention as Loves/Pilot and such are over a dollar a gallon more. We've found Xpress Fuel has big spaces for rigs both at the pumps and at the truck fuel.  A good driving day for us. The roads were okay, a few rough patches, a few narrowing of lanes but over all good. We stopped a few times to stretch and freshen ourselves up a bit. We arrived here at about 1:30 pm CDT, so 5 1/2 hours, we can't complain. We hope to do one more day like this tomorrow and from there we will shorten our days a bit. 

 

The Snyder Field rest area had this interesting interactive display. 

 

This one is first.......

followed by a flight simulator of sorts.

Cute little picnic areas. Overall it was very clean and a good place to stop for the night if you wanted to.

What would a drive through Texas be without showing some oil derricks?

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had a wonderful day. A note, Happy Birthday Joan!!! We hope you've had an incredible day. 

 

Until next time....

 

Take care, stay safe, 

 

Deb