Wednesday January 11th 2017

Today’s weather was similar to yesterday. It started out sunny and ended cloudy with a high in the mid 70s. The TV weather talkers call this a typical winter pattern. OK, but I don’t have to like it. Just when I’m getting moving the weather is getting worst.

The colder weather last weekend and too much late night TV have changed my sleep pattern. I’m going to bed later and getting up later. Instead of getting up at the normal time in the morning, I let the cold drive me back under the covers. It’s warmer in the morning again, but I’m still sleeping in. Then I don’t go to sleep quickly at night because I’m not tired. Recognition is the first step in changing the pattern.

Pelican joining the five already on the boat lift. The wind span is impressive.

I used the day today to research my travels when I leave here at the end of the month. My next commitment is in Arizona on March 1st. I’ve made reservations for the month of March in Arizona so I can tour and see Cactus League MLB Spring Training Games. I have four weeks to travel the two thousand miles between here and there.

I can comfortably travel up to 300 miles a day when I know where I’m stopping for the night. If I don’t know, I plan on only 200 miles. This is one of the issues of solo travel. I can’t check the directories and Internet for places to stay while driving. I either have to stop at a rest area and conduct my search or rely on roadside advertisements. Without reservations I try to stop around two or three in the afternoon. This gives me time to move on to the next option. So far I’ve had one night that I had two failed attempts before I found a stop for the night. One of the things I’ve been doing today is identifying possible overnight locations.

I also try not to travel more than two days in a row. I’ve found that stopping for an extra day or two keeps me rested and allows me to see some of the area I’m traveling through. So a couple of questions need to be answered: What is going on along my route and what do I want to see?

My route this time of year will be Interstate 10 most of the way. The weather along I10 will have to be monitored, but further north would be much more of an issue. The major cities and attractions along that route are New Orleans, Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso. Mardi Gras is at the end of February so I will be west of New Orleans long before that becomes an issue. The Super Bowl is in Houston on the 5th of February. While it might be nice to be there if the Patriots are in the game, I’m sure the area will be a zoo. I need to treat Houston as an area to avoid at the beginning of February.

I don’t have enough time to see everything as I cross the country. I plan to pass through the area a few more times on my Rambling Road Trip. So I need to choose where I’m going to spend my tourist time. There is enough to do in Southeast Texas to support a dedicated trip so I could just travel through that area on this trip.

I will have 8 travel days and 20 non-travel days. To account for probable weather issues I will plan on having at least five of the non-travel days at the end of the trip in Arizona between New Mexico and Tuscon. Houston is the 4th largest city in the United States. If I’m not going to spend time in the area, I’d prefer to drive through the city on a Sunday morning when traffic should be low. That means February 12th because the Super Bowl is the 5th.

Houston is just short of the halfway point in the trip. It looks like a good option is to spend a week in Louisiana and Mississippi followed by a two or three day stop in San Antonio and another one in New Mexico. I’d like to make reservations for the longer stops.

Another Hibiscus decorating the RV Resort.

That is a summary of my current thinking about my February travel. It obviously needs more details, but I have to leave enough fluidity to handle the unexpected. Weather is almost certainly going to be an issue and traffic issues could also slow me down. So stay with the blog as I document the Rambling Road Trip crossing the country in February.