October 21, 2025 (Tue.) – Prep Day Hustle : Tires, Tech and Tasty Eats.

Today was all about gearing up for the next leg of our journey. With not much left to explore around Straughn without driving far, we shifted into prep mode.

Lynn was up early at 7:30 AM, hoping to finally make progress on the blog since the photo site seemed to be working again. But in classic Wilkerson fashion, a new hiccup popped up—she couldn’t upload any photos. Turns out she’d maxed out her storage. Again. What’s the point of documenting our travels if we can’t include the photos? Normally, upgrading storage is a quick click, but not this time. It required a phone call, and with Kirk still sound asleep, that would have to wait. So Lynn spent the morning organizing photos, paying bills, and tackling other digital housekeeping.

Kirk was up around 10 AM and jumped into his own prep routine—checking tire pressure and topping off air. Meanwhile, Lynn made the call to the blog site’s support team. They were fantastic, not only resolving the storage issue but also flagging some suspicious users on her account (let’s just say the email names were… colorful). They walked her through removing them and introduced her to a plugin that compresses images. With nearly 8,000 photos to shrink down, the free version’s 50-at-a-time limit wasn’t going to cut it—so she upgraded to the Pro version for $18/year (sale price). Worth it!

By 1 PM, Kirk tackled another lingering issue: USAA had mistakenly placed us back on a California insurance policy. That took some sorting out. By 2:30 PM, we were ready to get out of the RV for a bit. Lynn needed to mail a few bills (yes, some still require actual stamps!), so we found the local post office and then headed to Rural King in New Castle. Kirk had been eyeing a pair of overalls for months—maybe even since before we left California—and today he finally pulled the trigger.

Around 4 PM, we wrapped up the day with dinner at The Park Restaurant in New Castle, thanks to a solid Yelp recommendation. It was a hit—Lynn’s country fried steak might just be a top three contender. As we ate, rain began to fall outside the giant windows, adding a cozy touch to the meal.

Not a high-adventure day, but productive and satisfying. Tomorrow, we roll into Kentucky—and we’re ready for whatever comes next.

Not many photos today.

Weather – High 61*, Low 46*. Wind 9-20 mph with gusts up to 34 mph. Rained slightly in New Castle. No humidity.

Traffic – None.

Food – The Park Restaurant – excellent country fried steak.

Notable – Upgrading the website storage, The Park Restaurant.