Monday, December 25, 2017

FOREST CITY ARKANSAS TO WEATHERFORD TEXAS AND WE BATTLED OUR WAY RIGHT THROUGH DALLAS AND FORT WORTH TOO

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HERE’S KELLY TRYING TO HAVE A SHORT AFTERNOON REST BUT WITHOUT MUCH SUCCESS

We are still quite aways away from any warm weather as this cold front hangs heavy over this whole area.  We dropped to 27 in Forest City Arkansas last night and it looks like that trend will continue.  Warmest weather ahead we see is Tucson Arizona and beyond.

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A quiet night in the Walmart parking lot with another Class A beside us and Super B off to our left.  We had the big wheels rolling by 7:10 this morning with a rather decent looking sunrise to the east.  At the risk of being repetitive I can tell you once again about the light traffic and absence of continuous big trucks heading west on I-40.  Very little traffic and we could have drove the southern bi-pass route around Little Rock Arkansas blindfolded.  We have done this bi-pass well over half a dozen times coming and going in the past years and have never had any trouble.  We’ve even done it in the early morning rush hour darkness and survived.  But just barely.

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AND THIS ‘LITTLE ROCK ARKANSAS’ SKYLINE IS FOR YOU JANNA AND TAKEN WITH THE D5000 I MAY ADD:))

About 9:45 we pulled into a Rest Area situated between the east and west lanes of I-40 west of Little Rock.  Kelly fixed us up some soup and coffee.  We haven’t made one McDonalds stop on this trip yet.  We’re doin good.  Of course had Cracker Barrel been open on Christmas Day in Texarkana we probably would have stopped in tor breakfast.  It was a favorite stop of ours years ago:))

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OUR FIRST REST AREA STOP WHERE KELLY FIXED UP SOME SOUP AND COFFEE AND YOU CAN TELL HOW COLD IT IS OUT BY HOW SHE’S DRESSED

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AND OF COURSE THE FURRY LITTLE KITCHEN HELPER IS NEVER FAR AWAY

Rolled out of the Rest Area about 10:30 and continued heading West.  A great driving day with bare roads and diffused sunlight.  No complaints darnit……well Okay except for the cold temperatures still upon us.  We rolled right on through Texarkana at high noon.

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CHECK OUT THAT GREAT LOOKING ‘SUN’ SHADOW

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DRIVING THROUGH ARKANSAS PINE TREES

It was somewhere around Mount Pleasant in Texas on I-30 we pulled into our second Rest Area of the day.  We had a decision to decide upon.  Do we make a full frontal assault on Dallas or do we make an end run north around Dallas like we usually do.  Seeing’s how it was Christmas Day and the traffic was already light I figured all the Dallasites would be in their homes eating big Christmas dinners and the roads would have much less traffic on them.   Ya right!! Despite knowing it would likely add another 3 hours driving time to our day we decided to go for it anyway so off we went heading straight into Dallas/Fort Worth.  Well I don’t think most of those Dallas folks stayed home to eat turkey today:((

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WESTBOUND ON I-30 HEADING INTO THE EAST END OF DALLAS TEXAS

Kelly had programmed our Garmin GPS and also had Google maps up and running.  Having taken the southern bi-pass route coming the other way one time years ago we figured we would do the same route again so we barreled head long into the east side of Dallas…..and then I don’t know where we went.  Our old Garmin GPS and the newer Google Maps began disagreeing with each other  as to which way was the best way to go right of the bat so of course confusion reigned supreme and we had to start winging it trying to follow the overhead signs.  We were soon locked into the 65-70 mph soupy vehicle morass and the traffic was way heavier than I had expected.  We saw downtown Dallas skyscrapers far ahead on the horizon and twenty minutes later they were flying right by us  on our right hand side.   We had somehow obviously missed the bi-pass cut-off.   We had no choice but to stay with the speeding traffic flow being careful not to get swept off any exit ramps to oblivion.  We had no idea where we were except after a bit I noticed I had the sun on my left shoulder and that told me we were heading west so we just kept on going and going.  Traffic eased off after we passed the Dallas skyscrapers and I thought great, that’s it for Dallas.  But then I saw more skyscrapers ahead and traffic picked up a bit.  Damn, we were heading right for Fort Worth.  Luckily the majority of Fort Worth folks had stayed home today so it wasn’t nearly as bad getting through there but by the time we put Fort Worth in the rear view mirror we were both exasperatedly exhausted .

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BY THIS POINT WE HAD ALREADY MISSED THE SOUTH BI-PASS AND IF YOU THINK TRAFFIC LOOKS A BIT SPARSE IN THESE PHOTOS IT’S BECAUSE IT WAS THE ONLY TIMES I DARED PICK UP MY CAMERA FOR A SECOND

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AT AN AVERAGE SPEED OF ABOUT 67 MPH HOUR IT TOOK US THE BEST PART OF AN HOUR TO GET THROUGH DALLAS AND FORT WORTH SO THAT TELLS YOU HOW BIG THIS SPRAWLING MEGAPOLIS REALLY IS

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FOR THE LONGEST TIME WE DID NOT KNOW JUST EXACTLY WHERE WE WERE GOING TO END UP BUT LUCK STUCK WITH US AND WE SOMEHOW ENDED GOING WHERE WE WANTED TO GO

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It wasn’t until later tonight when I sat down with my Benchmark Atlas and had a good look at Dallas that I realized that yes indeed we had missed the southern Dallas bi-pass and rocketed right through downtown Dallas on I-30.  Kelly thought it all went pretty smooth but of course she wasn’t driving. But hey, we didn’t have to blast our horn at anybody and nobody had to blast their horn at us so I guess all in all we did Okay for ourselves.

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HERE’S PHEEBS HELPING KELLY TO PROGRAM OUR GPS BEFORE WE TACKLE DALLAS

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NOT SURE WHAT KIND OF JET THIS IS

Kelly determined there were a couple Walmart’s ahead in a place called Weatherford Texas on I-20 so that is where we headed for and that’s where we are for the night.  With today being a holiday we pretty much have the whole Walmart parking lot to ourselves.  Post is later tonight because I fell asleep in my chair earlier while putting it together.  I have no idea where we’ll be tomorrow night………………….

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THAT’S A PRETTY EMPTY LOOKING PARKING LOT

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Have you ever been ‘tickled to pickles’?  Well Barney was last week.  Now I’m not sure if he was pickling tickles or tickling pickles but tickled to pickles he was and he said so in a comment on my December 22nd post and I haven’t been able to get that cute ‘tickled to pickles’ saying out of my mind ever since.  There, now it’s stuck in your mind too.  Tickled to Pickles Tickled to Pickles Tickled to Pickles………………………..

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GROANER’S CORNER:(( Kathy began a job as an elementary school counselor and she was eager to help.  One day, during recess, Kathy noticed a young girl standing by herself on one side of the playing field while the rest of the kids were playing a game of soccer.  A while later, Kathy walked over to the young girl and offered, "Would you like me to be your friend?"  The girl looked at Kathy suspiciously, then said hesitantly, "Okay, I guess so..."  "Why are you standing here all alone?" asked Kathy. "Because," the little girl said with great exasperation, "I'm the goalie!"

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“What do you call it when cafe customers joke about their coffee? A brewhaha.”

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17 comments:

  1. Hi, Al. Now you can understand why we never go out on the weekends! We live just south of I 20 right between Dallas and Fort Worth. There is no such thing as "rush hour" any more! All the time is "rush hour". I wish I could've seen y'all to wave as you went by! I wonder which bypass you missed. 161-----George Bush Turnpike-----is probably the newest. It connects I 30 to I 20.

    When we were heading out to MN we always avoided the DFW mess at all costs. We went 20 east to Canton, then north. Much less stress. You handled the disaster coming from east to west; believe me, the north to south isn't one bit less stressful. Glad you got yo Weatherford. All should be much easier now. Happy Holidays,

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  2. Glad you are getting closer to your destination.

    Going east to west through Fort Worth is a picnic compared to heading south on I-35 through Forth Worth. We travel it often and next trip I believe I will follow your ways and look for a bi-pass.

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  3. Our GPS did the same thing missing the Bypass last November putting us through DFW during a weekday rush hour. Never again.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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  4. We lived in the Dallas/Fort Worth area including north of Weatherford for many years (since 1970). We had a farm which was being swallowed up near Springtown. The last straw was 80 foot Encor transmission towers running along our north fence line. We escaped four years ago to a place just outside a small town of 92 in Oklahoma a half mile from the Red River. It is "wild America" Indian territory and we love it. We can now travel about 40 miles to Muenster, Tx and see just two or three cars. Texas horse people are heading this way, so I'm not sure how long this will last.

    So very glad you made it through DFW and I'm hoping you find a different return route.

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  5. "Tickled to pickles" indeed. You are one mean man, Al! :-)

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  6. We have been right through DFW a few times and just stay inner lane and cruze on through usually midday so really have not had any issues. A nice driving day you had and the Walmart in Deming NM should be a good place for you next night possibly. Yes I too loved the Tickled to Pickles, travel safe and you soon be warm again.

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  7. We know you are looking for warmer weather but if you need a stopping spot, our RV hookups are available! It was 72 degrees here yesterday.

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  8. You remind me once again why we stay off the Interstates...

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  9. Glad you made it through that! Seems to be a good trip.

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  10. Keep on motoring seems to be the key and it got you through a busy day. I'd love to know what Pheebs is thinking as she watches things going on around her. I'm sure you can tell me! Tickled to Pickles........yup love it too.
    Hope it was a Merry Christmas for all 3 of you. Travel safe today!

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  11. Try and avoid El Paso. We went through there a couple of weeks ago and it was all construction and MAJOR traffic!!!

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  12. Excellent driving with that camera in your hand. I've not been through DFW area but I wouldn't think it would be much worse than Toronto during rush hour and you've done that for many years. I know it was in a much smaller vehicle but like George I would pick an inner lane and stay in it. All those lanes around you are meant for folks to use to get around other folks. I think Kelly was right, it went very well, you kept moving forward, you didn't have any accidents, no horns honking and you didn't feel the need to use yours either, you didn't get pushed off at an exit that you didn't want and you managed to be spit out going in the right direction. Sounds like a good trip through a big city in my humble opinion. Safe travels on the hunt for warmer weather.

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  13. It's a good deal colder here up north, but also a good deal quieter.

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  14. Christmas morning around 7 I departed from the far east side of Dallas to the west side of Fort Worth with no traffic and smooth sailing. It took about an hour. I started my trip home around 4pm and yep, there was enough traffic that I had to really pay attention and it took almost an hour and half to get home - I too missed my turn north because of the traffic and even though I started trying to move over in plenty time, I just could not change lanes. But I did make it home! Safe travels to you on your way to warm weather.

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  15. Happy you have had safe trouble free travels. That airplane in an FB-111 Swing Wing supersonic bomber of the good old Cold War days. A cool thing about it was the whole cockpit with both guys ejected if problems encountered. Great Plane.

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  16. Doesn't sound like much traffic if it was moving at 67 mph! We were doing 8 mph heading out to the CA desert today - at noon!! Nice to have those dry highways to travel, but sure looks chilly during your stop :-)

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  17. My mother lives about 2 miles from the Walmart in Weatherford. Had I been up on your posts I'd have had to go over and meet you.

    Pat

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