For the past 3 years we have spent the coldest of the winter months on South Padre Island in Texas. This year we are heading to Arizona. We had decided we wanted to try someplace different, and as it turned out, we would have been forced to anyway. The county park that we’ve stayed at on the island is undergoing a yearlong renovation (which is sorely needed). Perhaps we’ll return there next winter, but this year the southwest will be our home for a few months. We’ll miss the beach, but not the humidity that comes with it.

The past week has been warm enough in Iowa that we were able to get Usain de-winterized as well as the water tank sanitized and filled before leaving home. High winds were forecasted along our route throughout the day and we made it as far as Lawrence, Kansas before they started really picking up. And then they picked up some more. And then some more. We decreased our driving speed. Then we decreased our driving speed some more. The air was hazy with dust. Strings of semis and other large trucks were pulled over along side the turnpike as well as one rolled over onto its side. At the point I had to slow down to 50 MPH and the van’s cross wind assist was going off constantly, we decided it was our turn to pull into a rest area to wait out the worst of the high winds.

After a couple of hours the winds had died down enough to make our way into Wichita for the night as planned, but the later arrival time meant Lisa was most disappointed to miss dinner with her Kansas college friends. We stayed at the Air Capital RV Park on the south side. This is where we had to stay an extra night last February on account of a snow storm, so we are very familiar with it. When we checked in we were told that there had been a lot of bikes stolen in the area with the thieves even using bolt cutters on locks. The park suggested we move our bikes from off the van and into their community center for the night. We took them up on their offer and turned in early as we were both exhausted from our windy trip.