Monday, September 10, 2012, Nolan, TX

Monday, September 10. 2012, Nolan, TX

Mike's cows and nearby windmills

Since we were only planning to drive about 150 miles today we didn't hurry getting out of the Loop 289 RV Park.
Yesterday while caching I was near a Sam's and the diesel was $3.809, so I had decided to fill up there on the way out of Lubbock. I thought the Sam's was on the 289 loop. Nope I ended up driving five miles before finding the Sam's Club. The GPS showed the old location which was on Loop 289.
Once we found the Sam's Club I dropped Gerri off to do some shopping. At the fuel pump, I couldn't keep the flow going without holding the handle. Between the fueling and delay in returning an item to Sam's it too over two hours before we started out of town.
Our drive from Lubbock to Sweetwater was on US-84 to I-20. From exit 249 we drove about 20 miles on two different Texas routes to county road 258. Mike met us at the turn. The last 2.2 miles on the county road was dirt. The Jeep and motor home got very dirty. With a rear engine diesel there is no dust free speed. The gate to Mike's property wasn't open wide enough to get through so I had to unhook the Jeep and back out onto the road to get centered on the gate. Mike did open it a little wider and I passed through with room to spare. Since we weren't planning to go anywhere I hooked up the Jeep. It was warm so I turned on the generator to run the air conditioners. Mike pointed out that he had a power outlet on the post at the end of the cover where his fifth wheel was parked. All I had to do was circle around and pull along side. 

The picture doesn't do the dirt on the Jeep Justice.

 I ran in the room slides and took the jacks up and made the turn. All in all I traveled about 50 yards to the new parking spot. After setting up again I noticed skid marks behind the Jeep wheels. I had forgotten to put the transfer case into neutral. It was a stupid mistake but an easy one to do if you are talking to someone while getting the car ready at the same time. Moral of the story either visit or pay attention to what you are doing, you can't do both. After I set the Jeep up properly, Mike took me on a tour of the property. They have 160 acres. Gerri and Pamm had already gone to the house. There are large windmills all around their property, but not on it. Standing and turning around you can probably see a couple of hundred. Mike told me that they were built after he bought the property.

Of course a house tour was in order when we were all at the house. The house is an older one, built in three stages plus some remodeling that Mike and Pamm have done. Very nice.
We visited and then had dinner. Mike grilled sirloin steaks, with baked potatoes and corn on the cob. The beef was from a cow that Mike had raised and was fed only grass with no corn or additives.

Frank, Mike Ault and Gerri

After dinner we visited some more and had cherry pie and ice cream. When it was time for bed Mike showed me how to run their Trail Wagon and we returned to the coach. Each of the windmills has a red light on it and it made for an interesting view at night. The night was cool and made for good sleeping with the the windows open.