Good morning!!!!

[ronjhall]

Got almost all the lawn mowed this morning, then ran errands including finding a much less expensive loveseat downtown, which was good, but
geez I hate to shop...and pick out fabric swatches? I brought home six new swatches and thankfully one of my female friends with designing/style sense is coming over for coffee
tomorrow to pronounce judgment on the samples.

I could use some advice from those of you living out West. I've already checked on plane flights to San Francisco, that was easy to do, and then spent an hour on Amtrak's site.
Train with sleeper and private toilet (only way I would do this...) is more than triple the cost of a business class round trip flight.
Now for the third option, driving. Assuming I check myself into a nice hotel in Austin, after leaving New Orleans the day before, what's the best way to get to Las Vegas?
I've never been there, one of those things you do once, particularly since I'm a non gambler. But the roads sure don't go straight there...Southern route seems to head to the Rio Grande, can see me being held up at the rest stop by MS-13... :shocked: or the Northern route which goes to Abilene and Lubbock. I think I'd rather see Tucson than Albuquerque, but am clueless about best routes west. Shouldn't I be driving on Route 66 someplace? I'm staying at big city nice hotels all the way. If I ever do this again, it will be with a small motorhome to see all the sights,
this time I'm driving with a destination. Plus of course spending an extra day in a few areas. Not like I'd be allowed to traverse Texas without getting roped in... Aren't there more TBN members nearer Austin than Fort Worth/Dallas? Thought I'd like to see the Alamo...
Trying to do about six hours of driving a day. Any more and I'd never make it. Sort of wondering what was six hours out from Austin...sagebrush.

Not much 6 hours out from Austin. After leaving Don’s place our first stop was Fort Stockton. Next stop after that was las Cruces, NM. From there we made it to Mesa, AZ. If you want to see Las Vegas and want take I 17 to I 40. But I prefer taking the route that takes you close to Hoover Dam.
If you take I 17 north out of Phoenix to Sedona. Stay downtown at one of the hotels and see the sun come up.
The distances are close to 350 miles a day.
Texans are spread all over the state. But 3 of them are close to Austin. Always a good visit with Eddie Walker in Tyler, TX. Harvey is also a good visit. Don’t forget Bird and Mostly.

 

[hawkeye08]

My wife says nice quilts when I showed her pictures. I told her that I would post some pictures of her work if she provided the photos.

 

[daugen]

thanks Ron. Isn't Kyle in Giddings, near Austin? And I thought Don lived near there?
It's a very big state...

a number of years ago a lady TBN member from Texas offered to take me to a Dallas dance hall, just to watch and have dinner. Always wanted to see that.
Not sure if that invite still holds, but if it does, I'll have another day up in that area.

Sedona is supposed to be very pretty, though touristy now. I'd like nice scenery going by but this is not a stop and gawk trip. If it was I'd go to Grand Canyon, Utah national parks, list
is endless. Had planned to do it all in motorhome. I can't live out of a suitcase that long, nor do I want to.
On the way back, if I drive, stopping in Colorado, near Salida, to see step brother. Otherwise no other must stops, need to be mindful of October weather. One reason to have awd.

 

[ronjhall]

I would take northern going and southern coming home. My son drives from Charlotte, NC to Dallas to Kanas City to LA to San Diego to Atlanta back to Charlotte every week. I can check with him on route to San Francisco. From where ever.

 

[lostcreekranch]

C'mon RNG, proper attribution.



But I thought if it is in a really tight place getting a LNL on and off may be more difficult than a regular coupling.

Maybe some combination of flexible hose AND fixed tube is needed,

Wngsprd,

Here’s a thread on our Lock n Lubes. The last post shows gun with long hose as well.



locknlube cupler for a grease gun
locknlube cupler for a grease gun

 

[RedNeckGeek]

You could see snow in the Rockies and Sierras in October, Drew, but it won't hang around long and three day weather forecasts are good enough you'd be able to detour south in time to avoid it.

Six hours driving time is somewhere between 300-350 miles if you're on freeways, less than that if you stick to two laners. When I'm on the bikes I avoid freeways like the plague and try to find interesting and meandering roads in mountains or along rivers. Many maps designate certain roads as scenic, and those are always good bets. You might be able to go farther in comfort if you stop two or three times per day to site see or eat. With that in mind, our National Parks are almost always interesting and worth a look, and some even have very nice hotels or cabins for rent for a pleasant change of pace. AAA used to publish books of accomodations, restaurants, and sites for each state, but I don't know if they still do. Lots of traveler's sites on the web to help you find unusual sites as well. You'll be traveling in the off season, though, so make sure the places you'll be visiting will still be open. If you can manage to swing through the color country of Utah on either leg of your trip, you'll find beautiful scenery and spectacular sites at Zion and Bryce Canyon NPs, but Capitol Reef is worth a look, too. The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is nothing like the South Rim, and well worth a visit as well.

I often use Google Maps in the web browser for laying out routes, and you can send them to the Google app on your phone for use when you're driving. Google is also pretty good at finding and even reserving motel rooms.

 

[txdon]

thanks Ron. Isn't Kyle in Giddings, near Austin? And I thought Don lived near there?
It's a very big state...

a number of years ago a lady TBN member from Texas offered to take me to a Dallas dance hall, just to watch and have dinner. Always wanted to see that.
Not sure if that invite still holds, but if it does, I'll have another day up in that area.

Drew I'm about 30 miles north of Austin, Kyle is about 60 miles east of Austin. San Antonio is 80 miles south of Austin. When in San Antonio we like to stay on the riverwalk in the Drury Inn and suites on St. Mary's Street Drury Inn & Suites San Antonio Riverwalk - Drury Hotels . It is on the riverwalk and walking distance to the Alamo via the river walk. The beautiful Majestic Theater is just two blocks from the hotel. The hotel is a converted old bank building. About two miles from the hotel is a vegan Restaurant called Senior Veggie. Senor Veggie There are also tons of restaurants with Tex-mex food and Margaritas on the river walk but you will have to get a reference from some one else on those. 35 connects Georgetown-Austin-SanAntoino and the Austin to Giddings connection is Hwy 290.

I kind of remembered your scheduled meet up in Dallas before your mechanical problems, what was her name again?

Sounds like you could use some Dance lessons. We started ours today, the Country Western two step is easy just start with right foot and quick quick slow slow . . . . Quick Quick, Slow Slow - YouTube

 

[RedNeckGeek]

A very good site for finding off the beaten track sites is Lonely Planet. There's coverage of just about everywhere in the world, but there's a whole section devoted to North America. Just the thing for putting a little padding into a cross country trip to make it more interesting and comfortable, Drew.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Severe thunderstorm just hit. Radar shows a lot of rain coming, and it's really windy.

 

[mostly_gas]

Good evening all. 82 for the start, cloudy, light wind except near outflow conditions. Low temp about 11AM, at 73F. High temp 90F afte clouds broke up to partly cloudy sky. Currently more rain in area :thumbsup: Men's meeting this morning, no bike ride due to rain, but did get some leaf pickup done prior to rain start. Working on this weekend's route (red river bike rally 100K) for the GPS.
Drew I am north of Dallas almost to Oklahoma (Lake Kiowa), Bird is closer to Dallas.
Prayers for all.

 

[RoyJackson]

2018-08-09, 0326

71 and a bit muggy...high about 80 and more rain (not much though). Looks like a "dry" weekend, then more rain next week

 

[Eric Salop]

Away for a couple of days to find that we've gone from sewing machines to Ron looking for a replacement die and numerous beautiful hand made quilts.
Good morning is truly the thread of all threads.

Unlike PJ, I don't have to dodge bullets in the places where I work, however when I got there yesterday there was an unusual amount of action about to take place. The roads had been very quiet with this being holiday time, so I arrived early and the parking lot was empty apart from one other vehicle. I parked my Subaru next to what later turned out to be a stolen getaway car. A few minutes later the car park started to fill up...



Someone had attempted to break into the unit where I was working by prising the window, but got deterred by security grills on the inside. Next they tried the end unit, where they did manage to get through a window. What they couldn't have realised is that they were breaking into a company that specialises in high tech stuff for places like prisons. Once inside the security system locked them in until the police arrived. I am told they have some great CCTV footage, hope it goes up on you tube after the trial !

 

[Ed of all trades]

Good morning all, 70 going to 86 with a 20% chance of showers. Need to go grocery shopping today, nothing else planed, will take it as it comes. Wife is loving the quilt pics, me too.

Eric, bet that was a crooks nightmare.

Have a great day, prayers sent. Ed

 

[Buppies]

71.5 high of 86 today no rain in forecast just a nice summers day. Some crooks do not have any brains Eric glad you were safe

Prayers for all those in need

 

[riptides]

72 outside this AM. Heading towards the upper 80's. Beat down the grasses yesterday, time to start again in the back. Have some ruts to fill on the entranceway. Seems someone decided not to make the turn right and left some heavy tire tracks right up the grass embankment. Must have been detouring from all the rain closures.

Was e x h a u s t e d, after weed whacking. Way too humid and not enough water. Not doing that again, figured I would do just a little, but the grasses and the young mind had other ideas.

Hope all have a great day. Be safe.

 

[daugen]

good morning all. Sure wish one could click on avatars and see the details, like Buppies beautiful home.

another hot day here, whole morning wasted (not really...) waiting for older lady friend to come over and give advice on fabric swatches,
then run down town to order the loveseat, and then back in the very hottest part of the day to work. Today is orchard spraying day, in fact a lot of trees outside the orchard,
mold and mites on the azaleas and elsewhere. I just hose the whole place down with orchard spray, to which this time I need to add some copper for fire blight on the apple trees and some Neem oil for good measure.

I've been working hard on this driving trip and I don't think it will work. Used Streets and Trips and plotted the whole drive, including a stop near Dallas and it all adds up to too much.
If I were taking a motorhome, I'd take my time. Figured driving I had at least ten days out and ten days back, plus a week with my sister. I have to stop and not drive for a day to give my neck a rest, several times actually. Plus I can't be away that long in October. In January yes. So I think I'm back to trains and planes.


Wonder Class C RV - Leisure Travel Vans
someday, and I'm guessing two years out, when I sell this farm, this is what I want to get to drive West. Ford now offers a diesel alternative to MB in these small rv's, and reviews are excellent, some liking better than MB. And 20k cheaper. All these RV's are discounted almost 30 percent anyway, stupidly inflated prices.
My only big choice would be slide or no slide. Slides can be a nightmare in far away rv parks. Stuck out, won't go out, something malfunctions. Motors on each side lose their synch
and one side goes too fast, jamming the whole thing. Canadian rv manufacturers often considered superior to US products, seems to be better QC.

I can wait. Something to look forward to when the tractors go.
Now if I find a rich wife who will buy me rv's and a nice yacht too, well.... :dance1:
about as likely as hitting the lottery.

 

[Buppies]

Drew that is a long trip flying makes me feel like a cow in a cattle car anymore. The planning of your trip sounds very exciting

 

[Thomas]

69F clouds here and there low 80's for high maybe t-storm later today.

If all good after work I'll clean and grease Fisher snowplow electric pin connections,like to put game cam by the fox den.
E muffin feed little critters slow roll to work.

Enjoy the day all.

 

[wngsprd]

69 going to 90.

Rick, thanks for the lock n lube link and idea. Looks good.

Hawkeye, beautiful quilts.

Don, taking dancing lessons is worth it just to listen to Dale Watson.

Eric, it's always nice to hear a story where a bad guy gets his just rewards.

Put the bush hog on yesterday and mowed several small areas and clover plots to knock the weeds down. One area was just a small strip maybe 10 yards wide between two food plots...unfortunately, a rabbit had decided to dig a nest there. Saw two young rabbits hop to the woods, thankfully. After I was done, walked back to see if I could find any more and didn't find any evidence that I had hit any. I did have the cutter raised fairly high. Then I felt a sting up my shorts and pulled them up to find an angry wasp. My thigh is still swollen a bit and sore. I think I'm getting more sensitive to them each time I get stung. But it sure made the slight arthritis in my hand clear up.

Then mowed the yard...grass is growing so fast like it's April.

 

[wngsprd]

If you can manage to swing through the color country of Utah on either leg of your trip, you'll find beautiful scenery and spectacular sites at Zion and Bryce Canyon NPs, but Capitol Reef is worth a look, too. The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is nothing like the South Rim, and well worth a visit as well.

Sounds like you took the same route we did a couple of years ago. We added in Arches, Canyonlands, Vermillion Cliffs, Monument Valley,and Escalante, too. Can't wait to get back.