Cross Country and Arrival in San Diego

     After leaving MAE and her wonderful Thanksgiving celebration, we headed back to VA to pick up Big Red, which we had left in a KOA.  The weather had been pretty cold all along the east coast, and Debbie and I had taken the extra precaution of winterizing the RV, even though we had hoped we wouldn't have to.  We pushed straight through and arrived after about a 10 hour day to find Big Red sitting patiently for our arrival.  I reconnected the water lines, and gingerly started adding water, cautiously looking for any sign of a broken line.  The system pressurized perfectly, and now it was time to point this puppy west.  We jumped back out on I-40 into Tennessee, and pushed about halfway across the state before stopping in a Passport America campground for the night.
      The next day, we ran into some rainy weather, which the entire area desperately needed. As we passed by Sevierville, TN, the weather started getting nasty with pretty aggressive winds and pounding rain.  Debbie was able to locate a KOA, and shortly after setting up camp, the weather really turned nasty.  The next morning, we read of the terrible forest fires that had been fueled by the winds, and nearly decimated Gatlinburg and Dollyworld. We had skirted just north of the fires, and never even knew it.  The next day, as we settled into our site in Texarkana, TX, we listened to tornado warnings for the areas just to the southeast of us.  This was turning into a very exciting trip!
    The cooler weather had pushed  us south onto I-30 after Little Rock, and then down to I-20 as we headed right through the heart of Dallas and Ft. Worth.   Pushing on, the weather stayed friendly, and we finished Texas, arriving at Lac Cruces, NM on I-10.  There's always a feeling of accomplishment navigating across Texas.

     At the intersection of I-10 and I-8, we took shelter at the  Las Colinas RV Resort near Casa Grande, AZ.  We took Big Red and the jeep through a truck wash and got about 2 months worth of road grime off of them, and settled in for a day of rest.  Ahead of us lay about 300 miles of flat, open desert, and then a 13 mile ride up 3000 feet into the mountains of San Diego county.  And a weather report advising wind gusts of up to 40 mph!  The weather finally won, and we took a day off to wait out the winds.  On Day 8, we made the final push west into CA, and onto our site in Santee.  But not before traveling through some very familiar country.

To celebrate our arrival, we stopped at the Indian Casino in Campo, to top off Big Red with diesel, and enjoy a prime rib lunch for $7.78!  We could care less about the gambling, but the cheap lunch sure perked our interest!
   

      After setting up camp, we headed over to Ben's house.  Grammie had waited just about long enough to see all those boys!  Of course, Jamo went nuts, as he always does when he sees Grammie!  He always seems to remember her, and could care less that I was standing in the room.  Liam stood quietly in the middle of the living room, looking at Dad, and then Grammie, then back at Dad.  You could see his mind working, trying to figure out who these two people were.  Thirty seconds later, he was running to Grammie, arms outstretched, wanting to be picked up.  Of course, she had been out for a visit a few months ago, and as soon as he heard her voice, he knew who she was.
     We brought in a tote full of Ben's cars and trucks that he had somehow managed to leave in our care. But it seemed only right to bring them out to him.  Although, we're not sure if Liam liked the cars or the tote more.  As you can see, Jamo was quite interested also.

      Within a few minutes, curiosity got the better of him, and Liam decided to come over and say hello.  Must be I have a pretty comfortable lap, cause he sat back, crossed his arms and legs, and watched Grammie and Ben going through the new toy box.
     Then it was time to visit with Grammie on the floor, and see what she had to say.

     Joanne was off working, dealing with the Christmas mobs at Target.  We headed back to the "trailer park" as the kids like to call it, to get rested up for the new adventure awaiting our next visit at Ben's house.