Lex called me today to say that when she was walking the dogs this morning, she heard a whole lot of screaming and yelling, and as she walked back toward our rig, she realized it was the neighbor, Jeanne, screaming at her mother. Apparently, Jeanne was standing outside the door of her mother’s travel trailer, cussing her up one side and down the other, using “fuck” as every possible part of speech. Lex, who actually loves her own mother dearly, was pretty horrified. My reaction was more like, “Oh, great. They’re going to be THAT kind of neighbor.” You know, the kind that makes the trailer-dweller stereotype bear out — white trashy, foul-mouthed (I am, too, but generally not at the top of my lungs out in front of God and everybody), and generally uncouth. I suppose we should be glad that, unlike certain RV parks in Texas, at least these guys aren’t flying Confederate flags. They’ve been quite nice to Lex, actually, on the two occasions she’s had to speak with them, so maybe it’s just their own parents they are nasty to. Wonderful.
In other news, there have been a couple of times lately when I’ve smelled sewer gas in the house, even when the tanks had been dumped and I’d confirmed that nothing was leaking. I’ve figured out where the odor is coming from, but I’m not sure why it’s there or how to fix it. I have my suspicions, though. It seems that the overflow pipe for the washer connection in our little hall closet has gas from the holding tanks backing up into it (just gas, not liquid). This shouldn’t be happening. We have vent pipes on the roof that are supposed to pull the gas up out of the tanks and release it back into the great outdoors. At least some of the time, that’s clearly not happening and the gas is coming back inside. This is dangerous becaue methane isn’t exactly something humans are built to breathe in large quantities.
I believe what might have happened is that when we had the Great Sewer Explosion this summer, solids of some sort must have partially clogged the vent pipe, restricting the discharge of the gas, causing it to build up until it finds some way to seep out. That’s my theory, anyway. I don’t have the energy or the know-how to take proper care of the problem, and I don’t have the money to call the repairman, so my big fix for the time being has been to wrap electrical tape around the pipe in the closet, covering the vent holes. Let’s hope the whole place doesn’t blow up as a result. I don’t know if that’s possible, but if it is, it’ll probably happen. After all, our rig has a knack for breaking in the most inconvenient and incredibly dramatic ways.
There are just a million little things that need fixing right now, but none of them will be getting done anytime soon: underbelly cover replacement, vent pipe cleaning, grey water tank valve replacement, awning arm and spring mechanism, repair of leaks at the fresh water inlet on the toilet and underneath the kitchen sink, replacing torn day/night shades, mysterious wet spot on the slideout floor…the list goes on. At this rate of decay, the whole rig will probably just be a pile of unroadworthy rubble by next summer!
As you may recall, we had a new couple of neighbors show up a couple of weeks ago. Today, our second set of neighbors showed up. These folks are actually Bill and Jeanne’s parents, and they have their own travel trailer. There have been a couple of extra pickups parked outside for a week or so, and it turns out they belong to the parents who left them here while they waited to be able to move their rig in.
Lex was home when the new rig arrived, and she watched them pull in. Grumpy Groundskeeper Chip was on hand as usual to stand around, look sullen, and provide absolutely no help. Neighbor Bill has about had it with Chip who apparently announced to Bill and his wife that he’s “the boss around here” and suggested they should pay their rent to him. WTF? No way, no how. We deal only with Diane at the main office, and all rent checks and requests go through her. I wouldn’t dream of giving that devil one thin dime. Alexis told the couple as much, so they called Diane who confimed that, in fact, Chip was not to receive any money from residents. Creepy McCreeperson best watch it. He doesn’t want an English professor writing a nasty letter about him to his employer.
Tags: fulltiming, neighbors, repairs
We’ve been back in Maryland for more than a week, but I still haven’t wrapped my head around the idea just yet. Been in a little bit of a fog, despite the fact that I had to return to work last Monday. It’s that odd time right before the start of the semester when classes haven’t started yet so instead we fill our days with the most boring meetings imaginable.
To help me get better “anchored” here, I’ve done a few things to the rig and around the house to help make life a little better. First, when we parked the rig, we put all the wheels up on leveling blocks. Since the site floods easily, this insures that our tires won’t be sitting in water or snow and mud for weeks on end and rotting off their rims. I also put a pair of tire guards over the wheels. These are fitted plastic covers that help protect the tires from UV degradation. Most RV tires fail because of rot, not wear. Since the rig may not travel again for another 10 months, we need to do what we can to make sure it’s still roadworthy when we finally do hitch up again.
I’ve also ordered little screens to cover the furnace, fridge, and stove vent openings so bugs don’t make their homes in my house and the right size Combi-Cams for the outside compartments so they’ll be a bit more secure (the RV dealership I ordered them from in San Antonio never called me back, so I bought them online instead). These little improvements are my way of “nesting” and reestablishing my sense of “home.” Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve written before about how much it costs to live fulltime in an RV, at least when stationary. On the East Coast, it’s not really any cheaper than being an apartment dweller. Well, in our case it isn’t cheaper. But what about travel? Is that any less expensive?
For the past two months while we were on the road, I kept track of every single penny we spent. I held onto all the receipts and wrote everything down in a little notebook that I carried with me, breaking the expenses down into various categories. I tallied everything up when we got home, and the figures below reflect the amount over (or under) what we would normally spend while parked, not the total amount we spent on that particular item during the trip: Read the rest of this entry »
If you don’t really want to wade through 60 days’ worth of posts, I’ll break it down for you:
Williamsburg:
Stayed in an okay park, ate some good food, did some shopping and geocaching, got a little Colonial American history. Lex had her only real days off during the whole trip.
Stone Mountain:
Stayed in a crappy park, ate some mediocre food, visited with a couple of friends, did a LOT of geocaching, visited Stone Mountain Park, saw the laser light show, and got some Confederate history. Learned that you can get fifty cent refills on iced tea at Starbucks. Managed to overflow the black water holding tank in a big way. Fell and sprained my ankle and broke a bone in my foot as we were leaving.
New Orleans:
Limped around on crutches most of the week, ate some INCREDIBLE food, drank way too much, did a little geocaching, and didn’t get to visit nearly enough of a truly remarkable city. Lots happened to the rig while we were there: fridge broke down, got it fixed, got new slide-out awnings installed, and lost half of our underbelly pan on the way out of town. Almost involved in a collision when cars in front of us slammed on their brakes.
Lockhart:
Spent time with family, ate tons of barbecue, soaked up some local history, and did some geocaching. Stayed in a nice state park but endured a seriously crappy Internet connection. Visited an aunt in the hospital after she became seriously ill.
Gonzales:
Came for a day, stayed for a week at a lovely little RV park. Spent the week being visited by Alex, our favorite teenager. Did a lot of driving back and forth to San Antonio to sight-see and spent a day at the coast. Enjoyed greatly improved internet connection. Visited with family.
San Antonio:
Spent two weeks in a so-so park with a really nice pool, spent some good times with very good friends, did lots of shopping, ate massive quantities of great food, did some geocaching, got the oil changed in the truck. Went to a family reunion and my aunt’s funeral. Was sad to leave what I consider MY town.
Bandera:
Went on the tubing trip from hell, got the worst sunburn of my entire life, researched family history, did some geocaching, ate some wonderful local produce, and spent time with two of our best friends. Temperatures finally started to heat up in a big way just before we left.
Grapevine:
Parked the rig at a very nice park but stayed at my sister’s really lovely home because the weather was getting ridiculously hot, so hot our A/C unit started to freeze over. Spent most of our time with my sister, her partner, and their friends, eating well, swimming, and, once again, drinking too much. Did some shopping, geocaching, and visited the site of the Kennedy assassination.
Trip home:
Lex powered us through 1400 miles in three straight days of driving. Ate far too much junk food on the trip, visited a friend of Lex’s in Texarkana, got trash talked by some homeless dude in Arkansas, and saw some gorgeous scenery through Eastern Tennessee and Western Virginia. We boondocked in Jackson, TN (super hot), and Roanoke, VA (nice and cool). Got back safely Saturday afternoon (thank you, Alexis!) only to have the annoying groundskeeper greet us by fussing at us and standing and staring at us while we got the rig hooked up. We also learned we will have neighbors arriving at the other two sites in the next week or two. Oh, goody!
Back to work Monday morning!
Tags: family, friends, Geocaching, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, rving, Texas, Travel, Virginia
We traveled 1400 miles in three days to get from Texas back to Maryland. Initially, we’d planned on taking it a bit more slowly and dividing the trip up over four days, but when I asked Lex if she preferred getting home sooner and having a day off before heading back to work, she voted for driving longer days. And so it went.
We boondocked for two nights on the return trip, so we didn’t use our computers. Thus, no updates from the road. Since we’re back home and plugged into shore power, it’s time to review the marathon run back East.
Tags: Arkansas, Maryland, RV Parks, rving, Tennessee, Texas, Travel, Virginia
This morning, I left my sister’s house and headed back to “historic” Grapevine (the little downtown tourist district) not far from the campground. I was on a mission to find another stuffed armadillo for my friend, Anne’s, other son. While I was there, I also planned on finding a few geocaches. The souvenir shop was closed, so I went caching first. Of the six caches I hunted, I only found three. Yet another mediocre day! I need my Baltimore caching buddies back. Glenn and Jordan are my good luck charms, my younger eyes and ears. I find so many more caches when they come along. Alas, I’m on my own here in Texas!
The guy on the left is concealing a cache near or on him. I couldn't find it.
There’s a cacher in Grapevine who has hidden several caches in the area. I hate him. HATE him! He rates all his caches at a 1.5 difficulty, meaning I should be in and out of there in maybe half an hour, fifteen minutes, even. But no. He’s a big, fat liar! His caches shoud probably be rated a 2.5 or 3 at least. Take, for example, the cache he hid near a railroad museum, full of old railcars and rusting metal machinery. The cache container was magnetic. Magnetic, understand, in a field full of metal with lots of rust and sharp edges. Really? I can’t remember the last time I had my tetanus shot! If it hadn’t been nearly 100 degrees already at 9 a.m., I might have had more patience with this jerk who likes to fool people into trying “easy” caches that are anything but. I gave up on two of his caches that morning. I did manage to find three other caches, however, before I had to head over to the campground and check in on the kitty and the RV. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: family, food, Geocaching, Grapevine, history, Texas, Travel
I woke up this morning with yet another migraine. Urgh! This is becoming a habit. The hotter the summer gets, the worse these things are. I did pull myself out of bed to spend some time with Lex and my sister before they both went to work. I spent a little time puttering around the house, taking the dogs outside, folding the laundry, and making the guest bed before realizing that I really wasn’t feeling any better, so I laid down to rest and stayed down for about an hour and a half. When I got up, the headache was gone, thank goodness. I’m not ready to deal with another all-day migraine like the one I had Saturday.
By this time, it was after noon, so I went out and grabbed lunch for Lex and me. After we ate, I took our two dogs and the clean wash and went back to the campground. The dogs refuse to eat here at my sister’s house. I think there’s just too much going on. But as soon as I let them inside the RV and put some food down for them, they chowed down like college kids at a free buffet.
I’m glad we decided to stay at Lynn’s place because today was up around 100 degrees with even higher heat indexes, and with the direct sun blazing down on it, our A/C unit just couldn’t keep the camper cool enough. The thermometer registered 92 degrees…inside! I made sure to leave plenty of food and a huge bowl of water with ice cubes floating in it for the cat who seemed no worse for the wear. She actually enjoys the heat where the dogs do not. After ten minutes, Otis and Ivy were on the floor panting giving me looks that said, “Can we leave now and go back to the other place?” They weren’t alone. I put away the laundry, got a change of clothes, saw to the cat, and got the hell out of there. Read the rest of this entry »
Sunday was Lynn and Shay Day. Since we didn’t make it over for dinner Saturday, we showed up for breakfast the next morning. Lynn cooked, and we all sat around and chatted and ate. It was our first time being in their “new” house, so we got the grand tour. Oh. My God. Their place is incredible! They have amazing stained concrete floors, granite and marble countertops and backsplashes, a seriously awesome jacuzzi bathtub in the master bath, washer/dryer to die for, beautiful interior design, and the backyard….oh, the backyard! Beautifully landscaped and recently remodeled, there’s a hottub and pool with an infinity edge, a cabana and patio. Why they ever leave this thing, I do not know.
After breakfast, we all threw on our swimsuits and spent most of the afternoon in the pool. My sunburn has started to peel, so I was just dead sexy with my reptilian legs. I did, however, put on a ton of sunblock so that the burn wouldn’t get any worse. I made sure, too, to keep my body submerged rather than just bobbing around on a pool float. That strategy seemed to work. I don’t think I’ve re-burned myself. Good thing, too, because my skin can’t handle much more abuse this summer.
We went back to the RV long enough to walk the dogs. Lynn and Shay picked us up and took us to dinner at Hillstone restaurant where we met with their friend, Kaz. I remember meeting Kaz ages ago, and he’s a hoot! He’s one of those individuals who is so witty that everyone else is dull and slow by comparison. That’s fine, though, because I’m usually too busy laughing around Kaz to even notice how dull and slow I am.
After Lynn had treated us to a luscious meal and we were all stuffed, we ended up going to Braum’s, an Oklahoma-based ice cream shop. It’s good stuff and hit the spot on a hot evening. We got dropped off at our rig and spent the evening watching bad movies.
Chris and Jason brought us breakfast this morning and saw us off, so they got to see what hitching up and getting the rig ready to roll looks like. It always tickles me to show people how the slides work. For some reason, folks are really captivated by that. Site built houses just don’t have whole rooms that move around at the push of a button!
Chris and Jason were so sweet to us during our stay; I’m going to miss them and all our friends in South Texas. I’ll miss the Hill Country, too. It’s just such rugged, gorgeous country.
We hit the road around 10 a.m., but it felt like it took forever just to get to IH35 from Bandera! On the way around Loop 1604 on the north side of San Antonio, we saw a Brahma bull on the loose, running along the access road. A state trooper had stopped and was attempting to herd it back into its pasture. I wonder if the trooper knew this particular task was going to be part of his job description when he signed on to the highway patrol.
We made pretty good time, but traveling by RV is never as fast as going by car. We have to drive more slowly and stop more often. It took two and a half tanks of diesel, but we made it to Grapevine in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area by 5 p.m. during the hottest part of the day. And I do mean hot; it was up over 100 today with a heat index that was even higher. Setting up in the blazing afternoon sun was no fun, especially since I’d been nursing a massive migraine for most of the trip. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Bandera, family, friends, Grapevine, illness, RV Parks, Texas, Travel
