We got up this morning to find two other RVers boon docked at the Wal-Mart. It was a pretty good night, but a little too cold to boon dock without a generator. Since we had not done that in cold weather before, we had no idea what a drain on the house batteries the furnace blower was cause. We turned the heat down very low and crawled into bed. Even though the furnace ran often in the 33 degree temps, the battery indicator registered at two-thirds full this morning. We were pleased with that, but felt that in cold weather, we would be more comfortable in a campground with electricity.
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| I-10 tunnel in Mobile |
Since we hadn’t unhitched last night, our get away this morning came in record time. Within 30 miles we had crossed the Texas State Line. Of course, we stopped at the Welcome Center. I made a few pictures and Gene went in to gather as many brochures as he could. They even gave him a bag to put them in. I thought he had been to a gift shop when he got back to the truck. Several folks had mentioned the very bad condition of I-10. There was one stretch of about 10 miles over which I thought I would be jerked to pieces. The highway is a concrete surface in that area and it was the typical jerk (or lurch) we experience on many concrete surfaces only about 10 times worse. I can’t remember if that was today or yesterday. Today, from the state line westward for about 10 miles, was construction. Traffic moved along without delays, but the lanes were narrow and that is always nerve wracking to me.
About noon, three days after we left Rainbow Plantation we arrived at the National Headquarters for the Escapees RV Club at Rainbow’s End Campground. We got our site, which Gene backed into almost like a pro and with an audience to boot. We got ourselves set up and organized, met the neighbors, and went over to the Activities Center for the 4 PM social hour. There are two large campgrounds here—one in the sun; one in the trees. We chose the one in the sun. There are the sites which are leased for 5 year periods, and there are the deeded lots with small homes with RV ports or garages. This is no different from Rainbow Plantation except it is much larger here. Well, we’re in Texas, after all. They have two large buildings. One is the activity center and the other is the club house. These buildings are used for the meals, social hour, entertainment (they are showing a movie tonight), and crafters. There is certainly plenty to do. Additionally, there is a small area which they call the care center. There are about 20 campsites in this area, as well as a larger building. These sites are reserved for folks who need assistance. There are several volunteers who tend to the needs of these folks by cooking meals, cleaning, running errands, or whatever is needed.
There are also the Escapees RV Club administrative buildings which house the mail forwarding service, insurance offices, publication office, Head Out Programs and Caravan Travel offices. This is the mother ship and it is huge. Tomorrow we are going on the trolley tour. Check out their website to learn all about Escapees RV Club.
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