Our pet cat, Paladin.
We are heading into the Disney World bubble next week, and for that reason and since the blog posts are fast catching up to real-time due to staying in one place for multiple weeks recently, I’ve decided to take a week off from the blog.
So, no new Sinclair Trails blog posts next week. The next post will be on the 17th.
In the meantime, enjoy some cat pics.
We drove our coach 288 miles, about five hours of driving, from Red Bay to Ozark, Alabama. (With lots of Paladin pics.)
Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:
An interactive map:
A video of Paladin getting pushed by the slide-out coming in while we were preparing the leave; he didn’t care:
Goodbye Red Bay Acres:
SR-19:
I-22 East:
Lunch stop:
Back on I-22 East, with Paladin on the dash:
“Break the drive if sleepy”:
Rest area:
Paladin on the dash again:
“End higher fines”… sounds like a protest sign:
Fuel stop:
Some women admiring Paladin at the fuel stop:
US-231 South:
KOA:
Guided to our site:
We drove our coach 186 miles, about three hours of driving, from Springfield, Louisiana to Lena, Mississippi.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading north:
An interactive map:
Convertible Beetle:
Flooded road in front of our first site:
Our first site was a little damp:
An interesting sign near the entrance of the park:
A closer look:
Narrow road from the park:
Petro fuel stop:
We had lunch while driving, with me feeding crackers with salami and cheese to Jenn:
Welcome to Mississippi:
A sign for the Lynyrd Skynyrd Monument… so of course we had to play Free Bird and songs seeded from that:
Roadworks on I-55 North:
Watching a Sinclair Trails timelapse travel video while traveling is always a little disconcerting:
Paladin asleep, touching my foot:
Rest area:
Exit from I-55 to route 25:
Paladin asleep:
Late foliage:
A narrow road to our destination:
Leake County Water Park:
Our site:
We drove our coach 346 miles, about six hours of driving, from Galveston, Texas to Springfield, Louisiana.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:
An interactive map:
Following our coach to the dump station, where we toaded up:
Galveston Island coast:
Galveston Island sign:
Super scenic refinery:
Fred Hartman Bridge by Galveston Bay:
Entering I-10 East:
Rest area:
Back to I-10, with Paladin on the dash:
Entering Louisiana:
Another rest area:
Paladin in his tower box laying on the bed:
Food trucks:
Overturned big rig, probably going too fast in the rain:
Paladin asleep:
Rain:
Yet another rest area:
Bridge over the Mississippi River; it always feels like a momentous milestone to cross this river, the divider between the more spacious west side of the country, and the crowded east side:
A truck with a blown tire:
Large crest on the road in the turn towards the park:
Narrow road to the park:
Free-range chickens and ducks:
Arriving at Tickfaw State Park:
Arriving at our site:
We drove our coach 249 miles, about four hours of driving, from San Antonio, Texas to Galveston, Texas.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:
An interactive map:
Paladin on the dash while leaving the RV park:
Frontage road to I-10 East:
Buc-ees:
I was amused by the name Flatonia, approapriate for Texas:
Motorhome and T@B trailer:
Rest area:
Several vehicles cutting across from the freeway to a frontage road to avoid traffic… which didn’t really work out for them, as the freeway traffic eased up after roadworks, and there wasn’t an entrance back onto the freeway for a while:
Roadworks:
A rather interesting name caught my eye on the map: “Mario’s Flying Pizza Airport”:
The GPS was going insane, thinking we were not on the freeway:
Multiple overpasses outside Houston:
Evil-looking building in Houston:
Downtown Houston:
Bridge to Galveston Island:
Reached the gulf coast:
Creepy-looking clouds:
Galveston Island State Park entrance:
Entrance station:
Our site:
Our coach arriving at our site:
We stayed at Marathon Motel & RV Park in Marathon, Texas. (Campground Reviews listing.)
Dates:
Weather:
Noise:
Site:
Utilities:
Internet (in usage priority order):
Amenities:
Our review on Campground Reviews:
High desert delight
This was our second time staying here, and we enjoyed it just as much as our first trip. The only downside is the freight train that runs through town with its horn blaring because of the uncontrolled crossings. Luckily, it didn’t tend to go through after 11pm or too early in the morning. Otherwise, this is a peaceful corner of West Texas, and Marathon remains a cute little town. The campground is delightful, with a cactus garden and a chicken run to enjoy. The sites in the 50A section are conveniently situated east/west to mitigate the worst effects of the famous wind. We camped at Marathon Motel and RV Park in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our site:
Utilities:
A resident cat sitting on one of our chairs:
Another resident cat:
A short-term neighbor brought their outdoor cat, which got into fights with the resident cats, and hid in our engine bay:
GIF of wild javelinas (aka peccaries) walking through our site:
Aerial views of our site and the RV park:
This park is in a dark skies area, so there were lots of stars visible (I’ll have another post later with more aerial photos and star pics):
A tiny home and covered RV across the road from the campground; if we ever buy land again, we might do something like this:
Other sites:
Laundromat:
Outdoor showers and kitchen:
Restroom:
Bathrooms and motel room:
More motel rooms:
Historic signs:
The train track is across the road from the RV park, with an uncontrolled crossing right there, so the trains honk their horns several times:
A nice courtyard:
Rita’s Cantina, which was closed last time and is still closed; they just can’t get the staff to open it:
An RV park resident hosts star parties a few times each week:
A desert garden area:
I enjoyed hanging out with the resident chickens:
Despite the train noise, we still enjoy this RV park and town, and no doubt will be back again in the future.
We drove our coach 258 miles, about four hours of driving, from Tucson, Arizona to Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:
An interactive map:
An example of why we don’t use picnic tables at campsites, at least without a tablecloth (but usually not even then): our neighbor was working on his sewer pipe connectors on the table:
Joining I-10 East:
Mountains:
Interesting rocks:
The Thing? travel center (post about the attraction later this week):
We had DQ there for lunch:
The Thing? and other swag:
More interesting rocks:
Rest area:
Paladin sprawled on the dash as we got underway again:
Welcome to New Mexico:
“Zero visibility possible”… yes, anything’s possible:
“Gusty winds may exist”… indeed:
Fun with zoom:
Instructions on what to do if caught in a dust storm (not very readable in this pic, but basically pull onto shoulder, turn off engine, foot off brake, lights off… presumably to save battery power):
Welcome to Las Cruces:
We really enjoy the mountains behind Las Cruces:
Our destination, the Las Cruces KOA Journey:
All decked out for the holidays (in early November):
We drove our coach 142 miles, about three hours of driving, from Palm Desert, California to Winterhaven, California.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading southeast:
An interactive map:
Departing Thousand Trails Palm Springs, with Paladin on the dash, and our tag ready to hand in at the gate:
Passing a recumbent bike:
Joining I-10 East:
Salton Sea:
Fuel stop at Love’s; we only added a bit of fuel to reduce range anxiety, since it will be much cheaper once we leave California:
Lots of parking available; we went in to have Subway sandwiches for lunch:
Paladin on the dash when we got back:
Later, while underway, Paladin in his safe space, with a sunbeam:
I-8 East:
Passing by the border wall for Mexico:
Sand dunes and canal:
Boondockers and their dune buggies:
Passing by our destination, accessed via a side road from the next exit:
Entrance to our destination:
Our site:
We drove our coach 103 miles, about two hours of driving, from Orange, California to Palm Desert, California.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading east; the start of our eastward migration for 2024, heading from California to Florida:
An interactive map:
Leaving the RV park:
Getting on CA-55 North:
Marine layer:
Hills:
Ah I-10, our old friend; one of the worst quality freeways in the country:
Cabazon Dinosaurs (which we visited a couple of years ago):
Rest area, where we had an early lunch to kill some time, as we were too early for check-in:
Paladin on the dash when getting back on the freeway (he jumped down moments later):
Desert Hot Springs and Palm Springs overpass:
Our destination, the Thousand Trails Palm Springs entrance:
Check in:
Paladin on the dash going to our site:
We drove our coach just 83 miles, about two hours of driving, from Acton, California to Orange, California.
Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:
An interactive map:
Ready to leave; it was a nice view:
Passing by our site:
Taking out the trash:
An RV waiting for check-in time:
Interesting rocks by CA-14, the back side of Vasquez Rocks:
A classic car entering the freeway:
I-5 South Truck Route:
Paladin sat on the dash for a while, enjoying a sunbeam; unusual for him, but he’s been getting used to it:
Citadel outlet mall:
We just love the super-smooth LA freeways:
Tight corner onto Struck Ave; fine so long as nobody is waiting to turn out:
Our destination, Orangeland RV Park:
Busy check-in time:
Guided to our site by a guy on a Segway:
