Trip Update

Early Tuesday morning, December 22, 2015 . . . .

If things had gone as planned, we would have been in Alamogordo, New Mexico, this morning, preparing to head to our next stop in Marana, Arizona. But things haven't gone as planned.

Last week was quite busy, but we managed to close on our house on Friday at the appointed time. We had moved all of our furniture into storage the previous day, and had spent Thursday night in our trailer at San Angelo State Park. But we were experiencing a problem with our trailer, and did not feel comfortable setting out on a lengthy out-of-state trip in it. So, we altered our plans.

We did go on to Big Spring on Friday after the closing, as planned. We spent Saturday with Courtney and her band of ruffians, and we enjoyed an early Christmas with them. But instead of remaining in Big Spring until Monday and then departing for Alamogordo, we left on Sunday and headed to Lubbock. I had made an appointment at Camping World to look at the trailer on Monday morning, and we would stay there as long as needed to make repairs.

We took the trailer in early yesterday morning and it was out by noon. Camping World does a good job. When we decided to come to Lubbock to make repairs, we planned to just spend a week here. That would give us time to make sure everything was working on the trailer, and it would get us through the Christmas weekend. But plans seem to be made to be broken.

Watching the weather the past couple of days, we see that a cold front is moving into the region on Saturday, December 26. It will bring below freezing temps at night and moisture with it, quite possibly in the form of snow. If we stay through the bad weather, then a cold system will settle along our route west for quite a while following the front, making travel in that direction a bit unpleasant for a while, thereby delaying our trip west even longer. The smart thing to do would be to pack up and head west this morning. We could arrive in Laughlin on Christmas Eve and avoid any bad weather along the way.

The problem is that I'm down in my back. I'm having trouble performing normal movements, much less movements required to get a trailer ready for travel. But I hate to miss this window of good weather before the bad moves in. I might have to get the whip out and put Miss Donna to work.

So, no telling where we will spend Christmas. In case I don't have a WiFi connection, let me wish you an early Merry Christmas.

I'll see you down the road.

Where Are We Going?

After visiting our daughter and her family in the Big Spring, Texas, area immediately following closing on our house, we will head towards Laughlin, Nevada. If you've followed our blog over the years, you know how much we enjoy that area. Laughlin has a climate comparable to San Angelo; that is, the winter temperature is roughly the same, though it is noticeably more arid in Laughlin. We plan to make Laughlin our base for the winter months, with occasional forays to Las Vegas, Death Valley, and other nearby areas.

It's a long way from Big Spring to Laughlin, roughly about 1,000 miles. By car, we usually make that trip in about 18 hours or so, normally spread over 2 days. Pulling a trailer will take us longer. We plan to take the better part of 3 days to get there. We will average about 350 miles each day. Yes, we could knuckle down and make the trip in 2 days, but pulling a trailer for a 1,000 miles is much more challenging than simply driving a car the same distance. As a rule, I try to limit trips pulling the trailer to 250 miles or less per day. I can go farther, of course, but I prefer not to. My longest day towing a trailer was about 3 years ago when we pulled our Rockwood from Laughlin, Nevada, to Santa Rosa, New Mexico, a distance of about 600 miles. But that was a long day, and one I don't care to repeat. We left Laughlin in the dark and did not get to Santa Rosa until after dark.

Several things make pulling a trailer more difficult. First, you have to stop more often for gas, and that slows you considerably. With my current trailer, I average about 11 miles per gallon. When traveling out West where distances between towns are greater, I generally try to refuel when my gauge gets to about half a tank. This can result in refueling every 2 to 3 hours or so. As a safety precaution, I always carry at least 1 spare 5 gallon tank of gasoline. In the West, I often carry 2.

Second, most trailer tires are rated for driving at 65 mph or less. You'll see people on the highways zipping along faster than that pulling their trailers, but you get careless people everywhere. As a rule, I try to keep my towing speed to 60 mph or less. Not only is it safer, but I get better mileage at a slower speed, and I enjoy the trip more. You know the old adage: "Slow down and smell the roses".

Trailer sway, especially with bumper-pull trailers like mine, can make towing a bit nerve wracking. If winds are high and especially if they are blowing crosswise into the trailer, a trip can turn into a stressful white-knuckle affair. Especially on interstates, 18 wheelers passing at high speeds can create fish-tailing on the trailer. I find that by staying alert, I can move over to the far right side of my lane when I see trucks moving up to pass and this somewhat diminishes the fish-tailing effect. I do have sway bars, and they certainly help, but they do not entirely eliminate trailer sway.

In a car, it is easy to turn on your cruise control and have a somewhat relaxing drive. You can't really use cruise control when towing as it would over-stress your engine. As you go up and down hills, you are constantly working the accelerator to build speed as needed. And on two-lane roads when cars stack up behind you, things get a bit stressful. So many drivers tend to become impatient, and they often pass in dangerous stretches. You have to be constantly alert.

When pulling a trailer, it takes time to build speed from a standing stop. So when you pass through towns and reduce your speed, stop at traffic lights, or pull off for fuel, food, or other reasons, it takes longer to return to your top cruising speed than it does when you are in a zippy car.

So, a somewhat relaxing 300 mile trip that may take 5 hours or less by car can turn into a stressful 7 hour trip or longer when pulling a trailer. And at the end of that time, I find myself to be more worn out than if I had driven the same distance in a car.

Prescribed Burn at San Angelo State Park

San Angelo State Park has been conducting a prescribed burn recently. The recent rather calm winds in the area have cooperated to create a good window for the burn. Donna and I had seen the plumes of smoke as we darted about town running errands, and the local news stations carried updates each night.

With the good weather, we decided to get out and get a bit of exercise. With all of the preparations for our move, we had been neglecting our health, and we both really wanted to get out and stretch our legs. We thought it might be interesting to walk in the park and check on the burn. However, on the particular day we picked, the burn was near the headquarters building and admittance to the park was restricted. So, we turned around and headed to the dam.

The land below the dam had already been subjected to the burn, but an occasional pillar of smoke could still be seen rising into the sky.

According to information provided on the Concho Valley Home Page, "Prescribed burns are used as a management tool in state parks to improve habitat for wildlife by restoring forest and prairie habitats on [sic] the park that were historically maintained by natural fires.  They also are conducted to reduce the amount of available fuels, such as leaf litter, fallen branches, understory growth and dead trees that accumulate naturally and from storm events.  By reducing the amount of available fuels, prescribed burns reduce the chance for a potentially destructive wildfire to occur."

About 1,000 acres were included in the burn. Below are some pictures I took from the dam.

This area had been burned in the days prior to our walk. The fire had been contained by the large rocks forming the foundation of the dam and the lake itself.

I zoomed in for this shot. The fire only burns undergrowth, leaf litter, and similar fuel. Mesquites will survive the fire. Notice the burned prickly pear cactus plants.

Most of the burn on this day was concentrated near the park headquarters. The southerly wind blew the smoke over the lake.

Previously burned area between park road and lake.

Two lone smoke pillars rise from previously burned area along base of dam.

Planning for the Move

Donna and I are busy these days getting ready for the move. We don't work as fast as we once did, nor do we work as long, but we are pretty steady. We're gradually getting there.

We are carefully coordinating the close date on the house. We officially close the morning of Friday, December 18. To make this run as smoothly as possible, we'll park the trailer at our house on Monday, December 14. We'll spend that afternoon loading the trailer. We have to pack carefully since we'll need to take everything with us we will need for the next 4 to 6 months -- or longer. We will also turn on the trailer fridge to allow it to begin cooling so that we can load items from the fridge in the house. The next day, we'll take the trailer about 2 or 3 miles down the road to our state park (San Angelo State Park) and set the trailer up there. We'll connect the electricity so the fridge will run, but we won't connect the water yet because we will still be living in the house. After all, at this time of year, we could have a freeze at any time.

Wednesday morning, we have some appointments, but later that afternoon, we'll do our final packing. The movers come early Thursday so we want everything to be ready for them. We really don't have much, so I don't expect the movers to take long. I'll then take the movers to our storage facility and help them unload our belongings there. In the meantime, Donna will be cleaning the house to get it ready for the new owners. We will spend Thursday night in the trailer. When we get there, all we'll have to do is turn on the water and we should be ready to relax a bit.

Friday morning, we meet the buyers at the title company, sign the papers, and deposit the check. We then head back to the trailer, hook up, and head on down the road on a new adventure.

Camping World, Lubbock, Texas

We returned home yesterday from Camping World in Lubbock, Texas, where we had several upgrades added to our trailer. (See "Prepping the Trailer for Our Trip"). Now, we haven't had the chance to test everything we had done to the trailer, but at this moment, we are quite pleased with the work performed and the service we received.

Throughout the process, the employees at Camping World whom we worked with kept us informed as to the progress that was being made. The work was completed at the time we had agreed upon, and when we arrived to pick up the trailer, our service advisor (Lance) and a technician (Jason) went out to the trailer with us to answer all of our questions about the work performed. Now, everything may fall apart tomorrow and nothing works, but right now, I'm quite happy with the work they performed.

One of the nice things about Camping World is that Good Sam members such as me get a 10% discount on items. And Camping World has some great items for the RV enthusiast. The place does a thriving online business. For the RV product you just can't find anywhere else, visit Camping World online and I bet you can find what you are looking for.

Additionally, work performed by Camping World is guaranteed for 1 year, and repairs can be made by any Camping World location. Since we will be traveling far and wide in the next few months, I felt that this was a smart move. If something does go wrong with any of the modifications we made, I'll just head towards the nearest Camping World and get the needed repairs done. Although Camping World does not have outlets in every city, they are conveniently located in over 85 locations around the country, including 6 locations in Texas.

Prepping the Trailer for our Trip

We bought our trailer with long term considerations in mind. We knew that during the interim between selling our house and moving to RCW (Rio Concho West) that we would be living in the trailer for anywhere from several weeks to several months, but we also knew that we needed to consider other times; especially the months and years after getting settled at Rio Concho West. Our present Coachmen Freedom Express 246RKS is smaller and lighter than our previous trailer and, admittedly, it is not nearly as comfortable. Being smaller and lighter, it is easier to tow, and with long term travel in mind, that is why we purchased it.

But we are about to be living in the trailer for several months now, and we'd like it to be as comfortable as possible, so we are making a few modifications. Tomorrow, we'll take the trailer to Camping World in Lubbock to get the following work done.

For some time now, we've been disappointed in the reception we get through our antenna. We've camped in many of the same parks where we previously camped in our Rockwood trailer, and we simply don't pick up as many channels with our current trailer as we did with the Rockwood. I'd go so far as to say we pick up roughly about half the number of channels, if that many. The Rockwood had an antenna you raised when you were parked, and you could then rotate it to get improved reception. On our Coachmen, we have a permanently raised stationery"batwing" style antenna. It's nice to not have to worry about raising or lowering it, but it probably only picks up stations in a 30 mile radius or so. We are upgrading to a more powerful antenna.

I also do not like how the propane regulator works on our Coachmen. We have two 20 pound propane tanks that supply gas for cooking and heating, and occasionally for the water heater and the refrigerator depending on our location. There are two options for setting the regulator. First, you can point it to a single tank. When that tank becomes empty, then no more propane is going to the items that need it. You have to physically go outside and switch the regulator from the empty tank to the second tank. Second, you can set the regulator to both tanks. In this case, propane will be pulled evenly from both tanks until both are empty. Then you are stuck with 2 empty tanks and no propane. Not good. On our recent trip to Kerrville, we had 2 or 3 cold mornings in the 40s. On our last cold morning, I hopped out of bed to a really cold trailer. I attempted to turn on the stove to heat some water, but the burner would not light. Ah, empty tank. So, in 42 degree weather, I threw on some clothes and hurried out to the front of the trailer to switch the regulator to our full tank. That's not a big issue because it wasn't that cold. I will upgrade the regulator to one that will automatically switch from an empty tank to a full tank. This is the type I had on the Rockwood, and it works well. You just need to periodically check your tanks to make sure how much propane you have. In cold weather, I always carry an extra 20 pound tank so that we do not run out. In really cold weather, it is not unusual to go through about 2 tanks per week.

The biggest and most expensive upgrade, though, is something much less noticeable, but very important. Since we are heading out as the coldest time of the year sets in, I'm concerned about my water tanks. The trailer has three tanks: grey water (sinks and shower), black water (toilet), and fresh water. The fresh water tank is 49 gallons while the other two are 33 gallons each. In areas with temperatures below 32 degrees, the water in these tanks can freeze. Now, their location on the underside of the trailer will provide some warmth that seeps out from the trailer, but if temps get low enough, the contents of those tanks can freeze. To prevent this, we are installing some tank heating pads. We had these on the Rockwood; in fact, the trailer came equipped with them from the factory, and I really appreciated this feature. When the weather is below freezing, I'll flip switches from inside the trailer to turn on the pads. They are attached to the bottom of the tanks and will warm the contents to prevent any freezing.

I'll still have to worry about water freezing in the hose that connects to the city water where we are camping. I will wrap it in insulation, then cover that insulation with a layer of duct tape. That will help for minor freezes. For colder weather, I'll simply need to leave a tap slightly open to allow water to drip all night.

We hope to go places where the weather is pleasant during the winter, but just about any place in the continental US can get a hard freeze. We are planning ahead to avoid any problems.

We've Gone and Done It Again

People are supposed to get smarter as they get older. I think just the opposite happens with Donna and me. Actually, I think it is Donna who is leading me astray. When I met her, I was an innocent young man, naive to the ways of the world. I didn't have a single grey hair when we met. Now, I'm falling apart, making foolish mistakes left and right, and I have quite a bit of grey hair. Sounds like an open and shut case to me.

Back in June, I wrote about how we had applied for a home in Rio Concho West (see "The Plan"). We have slowly been moving up the wait list since we applied almost a year ago in December 2014. As I indicated in "The Plan", we wanted to sell our house just before a house became available at Rio Concho West. The question is, when do you sell? It's really a kind of balancing act.Sell too early and you're homeless for a long time; sell to late, and you don't have the money available from the sale of the old house to apply to the new house.

Getting a bit anxious, we put our house on the market on October 22. We expected the house to be on the market about 2 or 3 months, followed by another month and a half or so for the closing process. That would mean we would move out in February or later, just as winter was beginning to give way to spring. Perfect timing!

Boy, were we wrong.

Our house sold in 12 days. We close on December 18, less than 2 months from the time the house went on the market. That means we are about to be homeless just as winter is starting rather than ending.

So, beginning December 18, we will once again be living in a travel trailer. And how long will we homeless? It's hard to tell. Since we put our house on the market, we have not moved up the wait list a single spot. It's as if the process lured us in and then simply froze. It could be summer 2016 or even later before something becomes available. And once something does become available, we might not like that particular house or location. Once we reach the top of the wait list, we have 3 chances to select a house. If we turn down all 3 houses, then we go back to the bottom of the list and start all over again.

So, you have 2 old reprobates who are slow learners about to head off into the coldest time of year in a travel trailer which has practically zero insulation value.

Anybody have a spare bedroom they aren't using for the next few months?

We'll see you down the road.