The 2006 Cross-Country Loop

3. Eastbound: From California To Florida

April 25, Bakersfield, CA to Saddle Mountain RV Resort/Tonopah, AZ

51F - 91F - 59F

Went to bed very early last night and slept for over ten hours.  Enjoyed a good breakfast and was on the road by 9:00 AM.

Took SR 58 through the Tehachapi Pass to Mojave, a very scenic drive over the mountain range.  Then on through the desert to US 395 for the drive to San Bernadino.  Good views of the snow-covered mountains.  Picked up I-10 for the long drive to Blythe and into the Arizona desert.

Arrived in Tonopah, AZ at 4 PM and got a site at the same campground I had stayed at during the westbound trip, the Saddle Mountain RV resort.  By now the thermometer had climbed to 91F and I took great pleasure in changing out of the warm shirt, long pants, and sweater that were necessary this morning.  With a humidity of 11% the heat is rather pleasant.

Drove 450 miles today and was on the road for 7 hours.  Bought gasoline in Bakersfield for $3.159/gal.  Averaged 17 mpg on the last tank.

April 26, Tonopah, AZ to KOA Kampground, Van Horn, TX 

53F - 95F - 65F

Spent the whole day on I-10, 9 3/4 hours and 605 miles. 

Woke up quite early (6:30 AM) enjoyed a long shower and feaqsted on a big breakfast.  Was on the road by 8:00 AM and the temperature was already 70F.

Then the long drive to New Mexico.  Desert mostly (with the exception of Phoenix and Tucson) at around 4,000' elevation.  Temperature quickly climbed into the nineties and remained there until evening.

Lost an hour crossing from Arizona's version of Mountain Time to New Mexico's.  Arizona doesn't use daylight savings time.

Came to El Paso and stopped to get gas.  Then tried to turn the ignition key to start the engine and nothing - nada - the key wouldn't turn.  No amount of wiggling and trying helped, it was blocked.  Squirted silicone spray into the ignition slot and called AAA.  Within an hour a tow truck appeared and the driver tried - no luck.  We were about to call a locksmith when yet another try produced the desired result:  the key turned, ignition, engine start.

I have no idea what happened but suspect that the sillicone needed time to get to whatever was stuck and unstick it.  Lateron at the campground I had no further problems with this.  Knock on wood and see what happens tomorrow.

Anyway, after an hour's delay left El Paso and shortly thereafter crossed into the Central time zone.  By now I'm a bit confused about whether I should feel tired or what.

Pulled into the KOA Kampground in Van Horne.  $28 got me a site with water, electricity, sewer, cable TV, and WiFi(!).  This is only the second time that I've found a campground with WiFi access.

Bought gasoline twice.  This morning in AZ I paid $3.099 for a gallon and averaged 16.3 mpg on yesterday's driving.  This evening in El Paso I paid $2.859 per gallon and averaged 15.9 mpg for this day of very high speed driving.

April 27, Van Horn to Pomarosa RV Park/Bandera, TX 

59F - 85F - 75F

When I went to bed last night I had adjusted the clock forward by two hours - changing from Mountain time to Mountain Daylight Savings time when entering New Mexico, and then to Central time just east of El Paso.  As a result I had a hard time going to sleep and an even harder time waking up in the morning -- slept until 8:30 AM and didn't get on the road until almost 11 o'clock.

The Van Horn KOA is expensive, but worth it.  The bathhouse is superclean and the shower delivers a rich flow of warm water.  WiFi allowed me to catch up on e-mail and some financial matters.

Got on I-10 and spent the rest of the day just cruising east.  No slowdowns and I averaged a speed of better than 75 mph.

Jumped off the interstate at Kerrville for the drive to Bandera, a pretty drive and a pretty town, touristy but worth a look.  Southeast of town is the Pomarosa RV Park (formerly the Stagecoach RV Park) which is owned and operated by an interesting couple - both are seismic scientists who work and consult all over the world.

The park is very clean, the bathhouse looks good, and the sites are large enough to have picnic tables, which means I could set up the grille and have one of the steaks that Stefanie had given me.  These are special steaks -- prepared by Fred Schauer of Palo Alto.  Absolutely superb, thanks again, Stefanie.

Also had a strong Cingular signal, so was able to spend time on the phone with Antje and exchange news.

Watched TV for a while, then a 24 Season 3 episode, and bedtime by 9:00 PM.

April 28, Bandera, TX to Lafayette KOA/Scott, LA 

70F - 90F - 75F

Slept well, got up at 8:00 AM.  Excellent shower in the clean bathhouse.  On the road by 10 AM, cloudy.  SR 46 to I-10 through some rather pretty country.

The rest of the day was I-10.  Traffic moderate to heavy through San Antonio, quite heavy to Houston, very heavy and stop-go through Houston, miserable in Galveston, and even worse in Lake Charles.  Road condition for I-10 in Louisiana is poor.

Called it quits at 5:30 PM and pulled into the Lafayette KOA.  $26.88 bought me a level tent (!) site without hook-ups but access to the bathhouse and a sheltered picnic table.

Had another Fred steak and spent the rest of the evening watching a couple of 24 episodes.  The campground is adjacent to I-10, so it's unlikely that I'll get a quiet night's sleep like I did last night in Bandera.

Bought gasoline outside San Antonia for $2.859/gal.  Am getting poor mileage (14.5 mpg) mainly because of very strong headwinds.  Drove 460 miles and was on the road for 7 1/2 hours.

April 29, Scott, LA to Tallahassee East KOA/Monticello, FL 

70F - 85F - 70F

For the last two days I have been trying to stay ahead of a bad weather front.  It gets close during the night, but then I outrun it during the day.  Consequently I have cloudy mornings and radio reports of major storm damage to the area where I was the day before.  By late afternoon I'm far enough east of the front to get some sunshine.

The same applied today.  Cloudy and sprinkles during the morning and a bit of sunshine in the afternoon.  Other wise an uneventful day on I-10.

Let's face it, interstate driving is neither fun nor scenically valuable -- the journey is not the destination, it's a pain in the butt.  From time to time I'm tempted to jump off the freeway, but the desire to get to the day's destination seems to overrule curiosity.  Thus I zipped through Baton Rouge, the state of Mississippi, and all of southern Alabama in record time and made it to my home state by mid-afternoon.

With the final time zone change and all found myself near Tallahassee in the late afternoon and was pleased to see the signs for a KOA campground east of our state capital.  Had to pay the outrageous amount of $32.10 for a tiny water/electric site.

You would think that with $3.00 gas camping would be an unaffordable luxury.  But I can't confirm that -- there are lots and lots of RVs on the road, the campgrounds are pretty full,. and KOA keeps raising prices. 

Bought gas in Louisiana this morning for $2.849/gal and later in Florida for $2.889.  Am averaging about 15 mpg -- not surprising in view of a fairly high average speed and the very strong headwinds.

Drove 530 miles today and was on the road for 8 hours.

April 30, Monticello to home, Key Biscayne, FL 

65F - 85F - 70F

Slept well - a nighttime temperature in the low sixties is perfect.

This being my last day on the road I dawdled over breakfast, watched TV, did some housecleaning and left the campground at 10:30 AM.

Next came 7 1/2 hours and 470 miles of interstate driving - first on I-10, then the heavily traveled I-75, the Florida Turnpike, and finally the last leg on I-95.  Made it through the Pensacola bridge reconstruction without delays.  Judged by the traffic density and the high speed driving on I-75, Floridians don't seem to try to conserve gasoline, despite the $3.059/gal price on the turnpike.

Made it home by 6:30 PM.

* * * * *

Overall, added 8,350 miles to the Westy odometer, which now stands at 194,826 miles.   Bought 542 gal of gasoline, at a total cost of $1,545.  Stayed at 17 campgrounds for a total cost of  $365.

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