096 - My last name must be Murphy

Here we are in Oklahoma. And as usual, our journey was not easy.

Somewhere just outside of West Memphis, Arkansas (oh irony how I hate you*), Mike points out that one of the panels on the fifth wheel was flapping in the wind. It looks like something hit it at some point and all the screws tore through the panel... they didn't come loose, they tore through completely. We pulled off the road, but the shoulder wasn't overly wide and while the truck can go offroading, the RV can't. Mike was able to zip tie the panel and it is secured now, but it needs to be repaired for the long term. Having him under the RV as semis zoomed by and shook it was a harrowing experience in itself. About half moved into the next lane... and 9/10 of the other half could have. We try to cut truckers some slack because we know what it's like to pull, so it really pissed us off that some of them didn't extend us the same courtesy.

* The irony is that on the day Mike was headed to Austin for our first date, his drive shaft fell off the Jeep in West Memphis, Arkansas. Also on a Sunday. Like Florida, West Memphis, Arkansas is now on the list of places we need to avoid.

So after that was dealt with, we continued to on into Oklahoma, with the wind beating at us the entire way. A front was passing through with winds gusting at 20-40 mph... that sort of wind is not kind to a fifth wheel. Once again, we encounter a freak storm... at night... while towing... I was nervous because I couldn't see the road. And we were in a construction zone so the lanes were narrow. I know it's way worse for Mike... but this is my blog. :)

Having made it through that, we pulled in to the park after dark, which is always a hassle. It was cold. The ground is sloped. There is water behind us and the slope goes down toward the water. Our self-leveling jacks were not working. Our tires were coming off the ground when we tried to level the rig. We were both very high strung, but we have learned how to interact with each other and no blood was shed. :) I'm just glad yesterday is over.

Today was pretty low key... we went to the grocery store. There is a small store here at camp, which is one of the reasons we chose this place, but it doesn't have much. Mike was working for most of the day, so I put together some shelves I got for the closet. It helps organize the space and it's better, but we need to purge some of our things. My goal for however long we're here, is to organize things and make sense of it all.

I miss Gracie... she is still at Brian's. In some ways I wish we had gone ahead and brought her with us, but given how everything turned out I think I made the right call. As soon as we're done here though, we are headed to Georgetown to retrieve my baby girl.

All in all it is nice to be 'home' again... but I think I'm starting to realize that while I'm good with living in the fifth wheel... pulling it stresses me out, and setting up camp stresses me out. Why? Because something always seems to go wrong. On a particularly cold night in TN we learned that if the propane tanks get too cold, they don't work. That wasn't fun, and now Mike has gerryrigged something that prevents that from happening, but there are things they don't tell you when you buy one of these things and they are IMPORTANT. We forgot that the water bypass valves have to be in a certain position or you don't get hot water (thank goodness for the internet or we'd still be taking cold showers). Add the panel and the jacks and little things here and there and it is maddening sometimes. Still, I try to remember that it allows us to be together...

And finally, my cousin is insanely talented. He calls himself The Concrete Angel, but he goes so far beyond concrete... 107,000 pennies... w-o-w...