We then made it over to the Blue Beacon Truck Wash where we waited nearly 30-minutes to get inside of the heated wash bay. So shortly after 10:00AM we hopped onto the I-295 Bypass around Jacksonville and headed south before transfering onto I-10 to begin our westward travels. We would remain on I-10 for the rest of the day.
About an hour down the road I realized we were bucking a 20-25MPH headwind and became curious about what that was doing to our gas mileage. Turns out, instead of our normal 10-11MPG, we were only getting 6.5MPG, that's not going to work very well into our budget.
Certainly the wind couldn't cause that big off a drop in our mileage, so I started to consider what else had changed since we arrived in town a month ago.
We did get all new tires on THE POD and ROVER. I remembered the FORD guy said I could run the truck tires at 55PSI on the front and 65PSI on the rear (to help compensate for the trailer tongue weight) for a smoother ride.
So that's where we set the PSI, but we used to run these same tires at 75PSI (80PSI max) before now. At the next rest area we passed we pulled in and added 10PSI to all the truck tires. We got three of the four tires done when our 7½-year old, $350 portable tire inflator just quit working. No blown fuse or overheating this time, both have occured to us before, so we drove 11-miles up the road to the next exit to find a gas station with an air pump.
100-miles further down the road we realized the extra air in the tires only minimally increased the MPG, so we're hoping tomorrow we'll have lighter winds and finally get our 10MPG back.
We traveled just over 300-miles today and didn't even make it out of the state of Forida. We did however manage to leave the Eastern Time Zone behind when we crossed over the Apalachicola River and entered into the Central Time Zone.
I also figured out that FORD did not adjust my speedometer/odometer to compensate for the larger tires we put on the truck, so I imagine we are actually getting close to our normal 10MPG now.
When we arrived at the Walmart just south of Jackson, MS (where we planned to stay tonight) we found that two full rows of their parking lot were being used to store their overflow garden center inventory. Another two rows were being resurfaced by some heavy equipment, which was creating tons of dust.
We filled up with their inexpensive gas, but decided not to try and stay there overnight.
We then called the next Walmart along our route, just 11-miles away, but couldn't get anyone to answer the phone. So instead of waiting on someone to pick up the phone we just drove over there.
We arrived to a nice and big, half empty parking lot. When we asked inside about staying overnight we were told SORRY, NO! We were welcome to stay in the parking lot until the store closed at 11:00PM, but then the security personnel would ask us to leave.
I phoned ahead to the next Walmart up the road, but was also told "no overnight parking" allowed. It was then I called ahead to a Cracker Barrel 37-miles away in Vicksburg and was told it would not be a problem.
At least I know where we'll be enjoying breakfast in the morning!
Today's route has us driving completely across the state of Louisiana and arriving in Texas at one one their top state parks for a 2-day breather.
Caddo Lake State Park was voted one of Texas' Top State Parks by National Geographic.
We are here in the off-season and have the whole place just about to ourselves, but I can see how this place gets busy and would be a perfect destination in the spring and fall seasons, when you can take advantage of all the water activities.
The park offers canoe rentals for the paddling trails, miles of hiking trails and plenty of places to throw a line into the water to catch some fish. There is no swimming however, this is still alligator country.
CADDO LAKE STATE PARK ★
|
||||||||
There is a nice long dock to launch your canoes and kayaks from.
|
||||||||
There is plenty of nice flat water to paddle on.
|
||||||||
There is also a boat ramp here to launch all types of motorboats from.
|
||||||||
There is also a huge fishing pier where you can try your luck fishing.
|
||||||||
One thing there is no shortage of here are cyprus knees.
Traveling west on Interstate 20 we started thinking about lunch around 11:30AM. That's when we saw it, a Buc-ee's billboard on the side of the road which read "I'll have the BBQ", just 33-miles ahead. At least I know what I'll be having for lunch.
Buc-ee's is known for having the cleanest bathrooms and best BBQ of any gas station chain, but they are not known for having the cheapest gasoline around. By driving just 2 exits further west on the Interstate we saved 40¢ a gallon at just $2.29 a gallon. That 40¢ may not seem like much, but it adds up when you multiply it by 32 gallons (40¢ x 32 = $12.80).
After lunch and filling up with gas we still had another 100+ miles to drive before we reached our destination of Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, TX which is about 60-miles southwest of Dallas/Fort Worth.
when I saw these baby dinosaurs playing in a field next to the road.
This is our 2nd of "four in a row" Texas State Park visits. With most of the overnight lows below freezing, we figured it might be a good idea to book a few reservations where we have electricity to run our little space heater during the day, instead of burning through all of our propane using the furnace to keep warm.
We do however still have to run the furnace at night when the temps go below 32°F to keep our external water and waste tanks from freezing.
DINOSAUR VALLEY STATE PARK ★
|
||||||||
We are not going to get any solar or satellite signal while we're on this site.
|
||||||||
In order to see the dinosaur tracks we'll first have to cross the Paluxy River.
|
||||||||
The sign says we're looking at the tracks, but all I see are round depressions in the riverbed.
|
||||||||
Now this side view reveals some three-toed footprints.
|
||||||||
You can clearly make out a right and left hand footprint in this closeup.
|
||||||||
I'd estimate these prints were at least 24-30" across.
|
||||||||
Walking along the river we saw more depressions, but nothing that we would call tracks.
|
||||||||
Then the water got so deep we couldn't even see the bottom.
|
||||||||
These two weren't too hard to spot hanging around the gift shop and picnic area.
|
||||||||
They look even scarier in the dark!
|
||||||||
Just outside of the front gate to the park is Dinosaur World.
|
||||||||
They have their own, much more realistic, T-Rex on display out front.
|
||||||||
We saw the stonework on the building when we drove by, but it's much nicer with the lights on.
|
||||||||
Tricia is back inside of the state park now.
|
||||||||
The deer seem more interested in Tricia than the pair of dinosaurs behind them?
How about our State by State Bucket Lists or Visited Campgrounds List?
If so, click on the sign below to be taken to our other website.
Would you like to be notified of new blog posts?
