101 - Another lesson learned

So we are continuing to learn about our new home as we go. This week's lesson was ice. When it gets cold enough outside, water freezes... you might have heard rumors to that effect... whether that water is in a hose, in a pipe, or on the ground. As we awoke on Wednesday morning and attempted to flush the toilet, the water did not come swirling around the bowl as it usually does when the lever is depressed. We made due with water bottles, but it brought to light a problem that we'll need to learn to deal with during what's left of winter - frozen water, aka ice.

Forums are great informational repositories... thank goodness for forums. They can be confusing at times, and they are sometimes so full of opinions that you don't know what to believe, but in this case, the forums probably saved us from a catastrophe. Apparently, you should NOT allow the water to drip from the faucets during a freeze as you would in a house... which is exactly what we were about to do. I'm not sure how it happens, but they say it will leak and there was something about waking up to icicles inside your RV and having to rent a steamer to shampoo your carpets that we decided we would rather avoid. Instead, you fill your fresh water tank, disconnect the hoses (water and sewer if you've emptied the tanks recently) and stow them in the belly of the beast where it is warm and toasty. So instead of using city water, during a freeze, you use the gravity feed from the tank. It's little things like this that are really good to know. They really ought to have a school for people who buy RV's.

We still haven't identified and remedied our propane issue. Mike thinks it might be a leaky hose. Right now, the spare tank is still half full, but then it's been relatively warm for the last few nights and we primarily use our space heater... which makes it kind of stuffy in here sometimes to be honest... it's a beast. Anyway, there is a mobile repair guy in the area (so says the brochure that the camp gave us) and I am going to call him on Monday. It's not something we can ignore, and Mike doesn't have the free time to figure out what's happening. Mike doesn't have much free time at all really.

We went to the grocery store tonight. That's my big outing for the week. I was running low on supplies, and while Mike loves beans, I needed to replenish some pantry staples.

There is a town about a mile down the road that I could walk to if I got really desperate for something to do, but I doubt I will attempt it. Cute little town, reminds me of Georgetown in some respects, but more quaint. Mostly I stay home and find little projects to keep me busy. Yesterday I did four loads of laundry, sorted through most of the shred pile cutting out just the personal bits of information and throwing the rest into the trash... I probably got rid of five pounds of paper we've been lugging around, I cleaned the bathroom sink, and I finally cleared the area around the dining room table (or mostly did), and I made chili in the slow cooker. That kept me busy for most of the day. Now I'm caught up on laundry and all of the shredding has been taken care of so... I may have to relax tomorrow...

Maybe I'll walk around the park and take pics, although I'm not sure there's a lot to take pics of. It's a nice place, if you arrive during office hours, they escort you to your site - all pull-thrus. Our site has a concrete pad. They have a playground, two pools, a pond... some spots have a lot of trees, ours has young trees. The price reflects all that, so it's good that Mike's company is picking up the tab. It's probably less than a hotel, so it works out for both of us.

Since Stacy likes pictures, and since Stacy represents 12.5% of my total readership, I want to keep Stacy happy.  :p As always, you can click on the picture to enlarge it... trust me, the pictures make more sense when you can actually see them.

The sky has begun to fascinate me. I never really thought about how different it can look relative to your location. The sky changes everywhere we go, and I have to say - it does some pretty spectacular things in Georgia. Unlike the fluffy, Disney-like clouds of Florida, Georgian clouds cover great spans and have amazing depth to them. As a result, the sun paints some interesting murals as it starts to sink into the western sky.

This was interesting. There was a spot in the sky that I thought was the sun behind a cloud, but then I saw that the sun was actually to the right of that spot. Every time I took a picture of that spot, it came out as a rainbow. It's harder to see in the other pics, but you can see a corona-like effect around the sun, and the spot I was seeing is to the left of the sun.

This is not the sun. It's a bird. A cute little fat bird that runs amazingly quickly when there is a camera trained on it.

Back to the sun...

This one almost looked like a picture of the sun setting on the surface of the ocean. It was really neat.

This is at Pine Mountain, the RV park where we're staying. I love when the rays of the sun shine down like that.

This is the same sunset from another angle.

Same sunset, it bathed everything in gold.

This was Marval in Kentucky. I miss waking up to this view of the Illinois River. So peaceful.

If you get up early enough - and I actually did sometimes, you can see smoke rising from the water as the temperature starts to rise.

I don't know why, I just liked the contrast of the leaf and the cracked asphalt. This was on the way to the office, up a hill so steep it could easily have been in Scotland. Seems like I climbed it every day for one reason or another, but it's good, it gave me some much needed exercise.

This is how elves get their shoes... from squirrels eating pecans. Oh the carnage...

This was not smoke on the water... It was a bit disconcerting to wake up to the smell of smoke and not know why. My first assumption is always that our RV is burning. It takes a second for my sleep-addled brain to put two and two together... they were just burning piles of leaves.

Happy Saturday night... I'm about to hit the hay.

100 - La Push

We took Sunday to finish some maintenance items, and we even managed to relax a little and take some time for ourselves. I think I'm am coming down with another illness because when we got back from lunch I took a three hour nap while Mike rigged some reverse lights to help him see what's behind the truck in some of the remote areas he goes to for work.

On Monday we packed up and left for Kentucky. The original plan was to overnight in Memphis, but Mike wanted to push through to be at work on Tuesday morning, so he drove the whole way and we got here at 5 am. Gracie was starting to protest, she even got so desperate that she climbed into my lap a few times... she's not a lap kitty; she wants (and gets) attention but never that badly. Usually she is content to curl up on the console between us, and not putting her in the cage seemed to help her nerves so we're going to just do away with it... carry it with us should we need it for any reason, but not use it for trips.

I recovered some of my sleep and Mike went to work. When I woke up I hooked up the cable, put some things away, and realized my phone was in the truck. I went to the office to pay and get the wifi code, and no one was there. I went to the attendant's trailer, and no one was home. Lucky for everyone I was able to guess the code and therefore communicate with the outside world (i.e. Mike). Cable wasn't working because the receiver fell and all the cords came undone and I couldn't figure them out. I hate to say it, but spending all day in the RV by myself... that's all that keeps me sane. I do other things, I never just sit around and watch tv, but I need it going in the background. Unlike past workdays, this was a short one, so Mike came home at a normal time and we went to dinner and ran some errands. We have propane but haven't identified the leak, so it probably won't last long. And we have a support for the bottom step. Saw someone at another RV park with lumber under theirs and thought it was a good idea since the bottom step always feels weak; makes a huge difference.

This is an okay place. Not much within walking distance, but that's par for the course (which is funny, because this is a golf course). I'm ready to hunker down for a week or so, packing and unpacking everything a day or two apart gets a little old. At least we have a spare propane tank now so it's warmer in here. I need to go shopping but haven't put together a list, and I would rather wait until our next jaunt is out of the way. I'm not sure about the quality of food in the fridge when we're on the road and the power is off... that could be responsible for how I'm feeling.

99 - Solitude

Last night was the first night I've been alone in the trailer overnight. It's a strange feeling, not necessarily scary, just odd. It's not the same as spending a night alone in your house, in a neighborhood. I've been here long enough to feel safe, but I still lock the door and I keep the Glock with me. I did that at the house too, it's just habit.

Since we're pulling out early tomorrow morning I have buttoned up as much of the RV as I can. Tomorrow we only have to disconnect the water, electric, and camp cable, then pull the slides in, stow the plants, and off we go. If we still have to do all that, you're probably wondering what I did that deserves mentioning... I disconnected the sewer line, put away our satellite and two of the cables, brought the bicycle inside, and stowed everything in the RV so the slides can be closed.

Earlier I got into a fight with the RV and the RV drew blood... I was trying to use the built-in sewer tank flush, but it wasn't cooperating. I couldn't get the hose screwed in. At one point the nozzle got stuck and I couldn't get it loose. I decided to give it a rest and go do something else, and when I closed the door I realized both my index fingers were bleeding from some papercut type slits. Eventually I won... eventually I always win... Then I remembered that the clear connector we got that goes from the RV to the hose, has a flush nozzle. It was much easier. So I emptied the black tank and flushed it... and flushed it... and flushed it... and flushed it... every time I thought I was done, more stuff would come out. After about 20 minutes of flushing and flushing I decided it was clean enough, closed the valve and emptied the grey tanks. Even though it wasn't quite five yet, it gets dark early out here and I needed to be able to see. Mike usually takes care of the sewer hoses, which I appreciate, so this was really the first time I've ever dealt with them on my own. I didn't have any mishaps, so I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out. We've gotten into a groove where I take care of the inside, and he takes care of the outside, and that speeds things up.

Mike pulled an all-nighter last night, finally grabbing a hotel room in the wee hours. I was trying to wait up for him so I stayed up until about 4, but when he told me he wouldn't be coming home I gave in and went to bed. So I slept until noon. Which means my sleep schedule is going to be off again... I just got back on track. Tomorrow is going to be somewhat painful if we leave as early as I think we will, but then that all depends on when Mike finishes up tonight. He's like I used to be... intent on finishing something no matter how long it takes, so he's out there by himself and his teammates have gone off to do other things because they have places to be. So do we...

098 - The Glam Life

Here I am, living my glamorous life of emptying poop tanks and watching cheesy Hallmark channel Christmas movies... oh yeah... envy me people... envy me.

Emptying the black water tank is a disgusting, but fascinating process. I watch the waste passing into the hose and think how very thankful I am that all of the connections are solid... how it all looks like hot chocolate, which I used to love... and then it slows to a trickle and I think - I'm done! Not so. Seems like there is always more, at least according to the indicator lights that tell you how full the tanks are. But nothing more is coming out... so what gives? Do RVs get constipated? (we certainly don't) Today I used the water hose to flush the tank out... huge wads of white paper came tumbling out, followed by more... poo. My first reaction was to think we should be adding more enzymes to the tank, but then I realized that because we empty the tanks once every day or two, the enzymes are probably doing more for the septic tank of the park we're staying at than they do for our tanks. So I guess we just have to flush the tank out every so often. It's not a difficult thing to do, and I certainly have the time.

Now that you have that image stuck in your head...

Even though I'm gorging myself on holiday movies, this is just one of those years that just doesn't seem very Christmas-y. Hard to believe Thanksgiving is next week. I think it's all of the crap we've been through this year. Or the fact that we don't have an actual house - or rather, no particular place to call home at the moment. Or maybe it just comes with age. I can't put my finger on why some years lack that holiday feeling. I don't really feel like doing any Christmas shopping... it's hard to... where do I mail the packages? How do I get around to shop at a brick and mortar store when I don't have a car? And we don't really need anything except a house, which isn't something I can ask for anyway, hahaha. Makes me sad... traditions are slowly becoming a thing of the past and I don't like that they're getting lost in the shuffle. There's that part of me that want to live life according to 'the old ways' and traditions are a piece of that.

Made some small, simple changes to the RV to help get us organized. So far, so good. We bought a battery operated light... in June... that we never found a place for. We'd thought it would go by the bed to replace the interrogation spotlights there now, but there wasn't wall space for it (seriously, sometimes I want to tell Mike everything I know just so he'll turn the light out... but I took an oath... (that's a joke people)). I recently ran across the sconce part of it and decided to put it over an existing light with some doublestick tape, kind of tones it down so it's not so harsh. It works. Now we need several more of them. And Mike likes to keep his semi-used clothes in a pile on the floor... which worked okay at the house if I never went on that side of the bed, but we just don't have the space for it here. I recognize that he has methods that work for him, so I found a balance that works for both of us - and helps prevent wrinkles - we got some 3M wall hooks and mounted them on his side of the bed, and now he can hang those clothes. Perfect. Lastly, I found some shelves at Target for shoes and t-shirts. We had a hanging organizer, but it was heavy and this takes the weight off the dowel rod. Now we just have to figure out how to secure it so that it doesn't move when we're on the road. Otherwise it's great - gets the shoes out of the way. And once we get to Austin we can put some stuff in storage so that hopefully there won't be piles of stuff around the dining room table... not that we really eat there, but it makes opening the blinds a tricky thing.

And speaking of shoes... I'm wearing the rain boots I bought last year. They are nice and warm and so ridiculously comfortable. For some reason the floor of the RV is particularly cold tonight and my socks aren't doing the job. It's the little things... like the fake fire in the fake fireplace... and Mike bringing home Chuychangas for dinner... mmm... Chuychangas with Boom-Boom sauce... I actually made salsa and queso last night... and ate it again this morning for 'breakfast', but I think I could live on Mexican food at least 300 days of the year, and it's the weekend and... and... he said Chuy's... don't judge me...! :)

097 - Marval... Marvelous?

It's nice here, but the internet is exasperating. It's... a little slow. And any time I search for cilantro lime chicken tacos, I get kicked off for peer to peer sharing violations. I don't know what's so bad about cilantro lime chicken tacos. They sound pretty tasty to me.

Also, our internet access code was supposed to expire on the 17th, but it has expired today... which really sucks. Luckily I have a hotspot, but it too is maddeningly slow.

Anyhoo... it is pretty here, and even though it will probably take hours to load, I am posting pics.

A gorgeous thistle on a piece of property we liked in TN. Apparently two other buyers also liked it. Today I put together a spreadsheet, determined that we are going to find something. I have a couple that I think are contenders, but Mike looks for different things in a property than I do. He tends to go for the amount of acreage and size of the garage, while I tend to go for the houses I would want to live in and the whether the land is pretty or not. Yes. He's a boy, and I'm a girl. It's pretty obvious. We fall for the fixer uppers every time, but this time I am trying to be a realist... we like the idea of a project, but when faced with one, we become overwhelmed. I think the reason for that is rural Tennessee projects are much different than suburban Texas projects.

The river outside our window at the RV park. Interesting to watch the tides go one direction, then the water gets still, and in the evening it goes the other way.

The perfect fairy house.

The reflection of the trees in the water was really pronounced today.

Interesting knot, almost looks like a bird or the virgin Mary on the right side. Or maybe I'm just tired.

Like the white rocks interspersed between the tree trunks.

I fixed stew yesterday, thinking it would be ready for dinner. I was woefully wrong... I put it in the slow cooker on high, and four hours later the veggies were still firm. So I let it cook overnight on low, and all day today, and it was delicious. The meat wasn't as tender as I thought it would be, but the broth was wonderful... all the tomatoes disappeared into the sauce, and the flavor of the carrots was drawn out. Yum. I love that stew, and the weather is perfect for it.

No mishaps today, or at least not yet... only an hour and a half to go!

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...

095 - Tennessee in the Fall

If you don't like trees, you won't like this post.

We made it here just in time to catch the tail end of the fall color change. It is absolutely gorgeous to drive down the roads and look around at all the yellows, oranges and reds. I don't even know which are my favorite anymore. I initially went with red, because red is usually always my favorite, so vibrant... but I think the yellow might be winning because the sun shines on the leaves and wow, they just pop. There was a hill that looked like gold. Then there's orange... it's a mix of both and it's stunning too.

For those of you who don't understand why we want to be here, I present you with the following... and if you still don't understand... you're hopeless.

Cotton fields in Georgia. Cotton is really kind of pretty.

I told you there would be trees.

Cool bridge in Georgia.

Fall in Tennessee!!!!

Thought it was neat how the roads made this almost look like a bubble.