Northern Exposure--Day 1

We finally returned to the road today. Left home around 7:00 am and headed up I-44 toward Tulsa. We had an appointment at the Monaco dealer in Claremore to get our windshield fixed where it was leaking around the seal. The glassman was there when we arrived and completed the job in about 20 minutes. We really had expected to be there several hours.

When the work was done we stopped at Flying J and topped off the fuel tank and then headed out. Original plan was we hoped to get as far as Joplin, MO, since we expected an extended period of time in Claremore. As it turned out we moved right along and decided to take I-44 all the way to Rolla, MO, before stopping for the night. Rolla is where we planned to leave the interstate and head north on U.S. 63. About fifty miles out from Rolla we hit a major rainstorm. Things were working fine until my windshield wiper decided to break. The clip that held the wiper frame to the arm popped off and the wiper frame/blade broke and fell down on the arm. So, here we are in a driving rain and no wiper on the driver's side. About 20 miles west of Rolla we saw a Wal-Mart so we pulled in there. I was able to get a new wiper, although not the exact same size, and then spent awhile installing it. At this point we decided to not move on and just spent the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot.

Stopping over night at Wal-Mart is something we, along with many other RVer's, have done many times. We always check with the manager of the store to be sure it is okay. Thought Wal-Mart welcomes us with open arms some cities have ordinances against over night parking in public lots. There was not problem here. With the cost of diesel fuel I really did not want to run the generator to be able to fire up the TV so we just relaxed until it got dark around 9:00 and then went to bed. A good first day for being back on the road.