0007 - Making the most of things

Every Saturday morning for the past several months, I've driven to Montgomery, TX to volunteer at St. Francis Wolf Sanctuary. Not once in all that time has it rained, so I've often wondered what would happen if it did. The answer is simple - you get soaked to the bone and end up smelling like a wet wolf/dog. You may think that sounds miserable, but on the contrary, I love rain, and it was quality time with the woofers. I left feeling happy. That said, we didn't walk them, and there were no visitors to introduce them to, so it was a short day... after only 2-1/2 hours we were done and I was back on the road.

Since I had some extra time I decided to experiment a little and take a different route home. Ever since I got a GPS I've been less afraid to take 'risks' like that. Anyone who knows me will tell you that gadget changed my life - if I was unfamiliar with an area, I would not drive it because inevitably I would get lost, and then I would get flustered, and that would lead to a near miss of some kind... a GPS has pretty much solved that problem for me. I say 'pretty much' because they're not infallible, but on the whole I'm a much more confident driver thanks to satellites and disembodied voices coming from my car stereo (they're not in my head! they're not!).

Anyway, I've been taking CR105 through Conroe, then following Loop 336 to I-45S to get home. Every weekend I stop at Sonic (it's part of my ritual) and there's a road that runs alongside it, perpendicular to CR105 - I found myself wondering, 'where does that road go?' This week I did a little research and found that it runs into CR1448 which still joins I-45, only a few exits further down. Since I try to avoid I-45 as much as humanly possible, that route seemed ideal.

CR105 drives me nuts with it's varying speed limits and myriad stop lights; somehow even with three lanes there always seems to be too much traffic. This route has a lower speed limit, and for the most part it's a one-lane country road, but it has less traffic - which makes for a much more pleasant experience. There is nothing like a country road... winding and tree-lined... very peaceful. It's like Mrs. Todd's Shortcut minus the strange creatures.

The gamble paid off - it was such a pleasant drive. Had it been after sundown it might have been a different story because of the Renaissance traffic, but in the middle of the day... very nice.

The Conroe area is recreational in nature so, not surprisingly, as I drove down the road I passed a couple of RV and boat storage facilities, and it made me think that if we take the fifth wheel out to St. Francis while Mike is home on leave, we should take that road home. In fact, there is another fork in the road that I may try out next weekend to see if I can extend my off-freeway time even further.

I figure these are the kinds of little gems we'll run across in our travels... routes that may not be as direct, but seem worth the extra time because they're serene.

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Today was American Express' Small Business Saturday. I'd been lucky enough to receive a $25 prepaid card from FedEx to spend today, and I also synced my AmEx to Four Square for a $25 statement credit. That's $50 in free money I 'had to' spend today. Fortunately, the local RV dealership was on the small business list, so I was able to use both to get some needed supplies. I'm telling you - if you're new to this... it's like buying a house... you may think you're done, but you're not. It. Never. Ends.

Today's haul: four chocks for the tires, a water pressure regulator so the city water doesn't destroy our plumbing, deodorizing tablets for the grey water tank, and rv-safe toilet bowl cleaner. On Friday I got a more sturdy hose for emptying the black water tank (a task that neither Mike nor I look forward to), it's actually two 10-foot sections of hose that can be coupled together in case we need a longer hose. I also bought two packages of enzymatic deodorizers for the black water tank, winterizer, a winterizer kit, and an air hose adapter for the winterizer kit. I asked the guy at Dues what we needed and apparently it's all about the poop and the winterization... even though Texas weather probably won't dip down to freezing for more than 14 days this winter, better safe than sorry (then again, the wolves and woofers have pretty thick coats, so maybe we're in for a cold snap).

Is it weird that I kinda want to go ahead and move into CiCi? (We name everything, so I'm thinking our home needs a name too... gotta run it by Mike though. CiCi = CC = Cedar Creek... there's madness to my method. ;p )

After reading the owner's manual I'm pretty intimidated. There is a lot to maintain, and new ways of doing things that I'm going to have to learn. If that wasn't enough, Mike mentioned electrical considerations today... we have a 50 volt plug, but some campsites only have 30 volt outlets, so we not only have to consider our weight load, now we have to think about our electrical load too. And our laundry load... he found a forum piece on lint from the washer/dryer potentially causing issues with the grey water tank. That's loads of stuff to consider!!!

My brain hurts just thinking of all the things we'll have to think about. I didn't realize you had to flush the anti-freeze out of the pipes and then sanitize them prior to use, or blow air out of the propane lines, or remove the water filter before you sanitize, or consider humidity issues if you live in it full time... I'm sure the RVeterans out there are probably laughing their asses off right now because they remember when they were this gobsmacked.

In closing, this isn't the best picture, but this is how I started my day today. It was so vibrant, and you could actually see both ends, but it was too big to capture and all I had was my cell phone. When we start traveling I'll take better pics, I promise.