Being at a KOA has it’s advantages. We had found out when we checked in that they have a breakfast counter which we were intent to patronize. So we sauntered over to Fred’s Fixins and found a menu with only a handful of options, but they do provide complimentary coffee 🙂
We placed our orders and took a seat on the rocking chairs while we waited. One of the staff drove up in a skid steer loader with some new plants. He walked away and Henry with a glint in his eye asked if he could climb on it…
Our names were called so we collected our breakfasts and sat at a table to eat. The meal was simple and delicious. Once the kids bellies were full, of course they wanted to play on the playground, which they did as I packed up our campsite and got everything road ready.
As we swung by the park to pickup the kids for the next leg of driving, Jen and I discussed it being time for her to get some miles in behind the wheel. This seamed like as good a spot as any, so she buckled in on the left and probably felt as uncomfortable as I did on the right.
No surprise, she rocked it like she does, and we cruised for a couple hours with her gaining confidence and I being able to fulfill the kids requests.
We switched just in time, as the rain started falling, slowly at first, but then “coming down”. No worries, just turn on the wipers and slow down appropriately. All was well until the wiper arm broke off…
I guess that’s part of traveling full time in an older vehicle, things are going to break (as we’v seen). I drove on for a bit as I looked for a good place to pull over and address the situation. A covered gas station would have been awesome, but that wasn’t in the cards, so I pull onto the shoulder, grabbed the tool bag, and popped the hood to see what I could do. The temporary solution was to put the good arm onto the driver’s side and drive with a single wiper. It worked well enough and the rain died down as we approached our destination for the night, the beaches of Freeport Texas. We drove across the sand and found our spot (you can drive and camp on the beach here for free).
The kids and I jumped out and started playing in the sand and the waves. We could see that clouds were coming and wanted to play while the playing was good. The clouds rolled in and the rain started coming down quite heavily as Jen tried to get the kids myself and Molly all into the van and dried off without too much sand and water coming with us.
After getting dried off and changed, we settled in for a nice dinner with the rain and wind doing their things outside. After dinner, Henry and Amelia asked if they could help with dishes, um YEAH! So I stood beside henry as he washed all the dishes and Amelia dried them and put them away.
