It’s always something…..

I remember this being a constant saying of home ownership.  I was always fixing something so I would just say, “you know, it’s always something when owning a house”.  Well, living in a trailer has not changed this.  Since being out now for a couple of weeks we have some minor issues that needed to be resolved or are still nagging us.  Fortunately (I think) we have a 2 year warranty, plus an extended warranty, on the trailer so it all should be fixed for free, however since it is our permanent residence there are some logistics involved if you have to bring it in for repair. 

I fixed the satellite issue by getting a new dish and professional meter to locate the satellite.  They both worked great and I found the satellite within a couple of minutes and had everything working fine.  The main nagging problem we have had is a slow drip from the bathroom faucet under the sink.  I have tried various things to try and fix it but to no avail.  It is very slow but still an issue.  I finally decided I would have the dealer look at it as we left Houston.  I called the dealer and was told they were booked up until mid-April.  So what to do.  I figured we would just find another dealer on the way and stop in and see if they can take a quick look, but first I am going to try one more resolution (this one costs money).  We went to the local Camping World to buy a few items so I was thinking I would just buy a replacement faucet and see if that solved the problem.  Well, if we are going to replace the faucet why not upgrade!  So we bought the single lever model.  Hopefully it will not be to difficult to install and it will solve the problem.  I will let you know after I install it.

I then discovered that the inline water filter under the kitchen sink had begun a slow drip again.  I had this issue when I first put it in put thought I had solved it.  Guess not.  Now this filter was put in the most absurd place for something that needs to be gotten to every so often.  It is under the sink, in the back and you can barely fit your arms into the cabinet opening.  I decided to solve this issue by removing the filter and put the patch hose that is provided in its place and then install a filter on the hose coming into the trailer.  That way it is easily replaced and if it drips it is outside on the ground.

Hopefully I resolve these two nagging issues and do not have to bring the trailer into the dealer.

When in Texas --- Shoot a gun!

Of course, if in Texas what should do to get the local flavor, go shoot a gun.  We were visiting with my niece and her family and her husband, Kevin, mentioned, for something to do, that there was a gun range nearby and they had a skeet range.  He had the shotgun and the shells so it sounded good to me.  It has been many years since I shot skeet and a shotgun. This was quite different than what I had done in the past as you shoot at six different positions relative to the “birds” flying across.  I am used to just having the “birds” being shot downfield.  You have to react very quickly on this course.  My best was 10 out of 25, but at least I did hit some!  It was a blast and our truck fit right in with the others in the parking lot!!!

We had a great time visiting with them and finally getting to see their 1 year old twins.  What a handful!

Here is a picture of them from Kevin’s Facebook photos

Houston

First let me say the weather is great.  Since leaving Memphis the weather has been sunny blue skies every day, temperatures close to 70 during the day.  We have finally got rid of the snow, ice and cold.  Sorry to our friends in Naperville, this is heaven!

Our house closed today so we are officially without a permanent residence.  Our house is now where we are, right now, right here!  Today that happens to be Houston, TX (actually, Tomball, TX).  We left Texarkana this morning and drove for about 6 hours to Tomball which is just outside Houston.  The campground is nothing special but it is near the people we are visiting and it is inexpensive.  It will do for the time we are here.

While in Texarkana we did drive around the town one day to see what it was all about.  Interesting tidbit - the city is built on the state line so there is a Texarkana, TX and a Texarkana, AR.  The main north-south street is State Line Blvd.  On one side is Arkansas and Texas on the other.  Texarkana, TX is dry while Texarkana, AR is not, so all the liquor stores are on the east side of the street.  The U.S. Post Office is the center point of the street and straddles both states.

We checked our Road Food book and they listed Bryce’s Cafeteria as the place to go, so we went.  It was a nice place, cafeteria style but overall we were not overwhelmed by the food, but I have to admit  the chocolate pecan pie was mighty good!

While setting up our rig in Tomball a couple from across the way came over as they noticed our South Dakota license plates.  Small world, they originally came from Joliet, IL (near Naperville) and they have been full timers for 6 years using South Dakota as their mailing address.  This is probably one of the nicest parts of traveling around is the people you meet in the places you stop.  Over the years we have met so many nice people and it is so interesting to hear their stories or where they have been and where they are going.

We are here in Houston for the next 10 days or so then will work our way up to El Paso. 

Texarkana, TX

We have moved from West Memphis to Texarkana, TX for a couple of days before going on to Houston.  Texarkana is about halfway between the two cities, so it was a logical stop.  We found a great little campground outside of town, Shady Pines RV park. The park is very nice.  Each site has a level concrete pad with grass all around.  There are only about 40 spaces in the place so it is not crowed.  All for only $27 a night.  The only issue was I was not able to get a satellite signal on set up.  I usually get the satellite set up in about 15 minutes but not this time.  I will have to further work the problem to see what is wrong.  I have ordered a professional meter to aid in set up and should have that next week when we get to Houston.

We did have one RV issue while in West Memphis.  At 2:30am one morning Fran wakes me up to say she hears a clicking sound and the TV keeps going on and off.  I get up and see that we do not have AC power.  I go outside to check the connection and the surge protector I have put on our AC hookup is cycling on and off signaling some kind of problem.  As it is 2:30 in the morning I do not want to deal with it then.  I unplug the surge protector and plug the RV directly into the outlet box and everything works fine.  In the morning I check everything and all our working fine including the surge protector.  Not sure what the issue was but of course it does have to happen at 2:30 in the morning!

On our last night in West Memphis we did have a pretty powerful storm move through.  It was very windy all afternoon and night with drenching rain all night.  I was concerned about the awnings over the slides as they were flapping pretty good.  In the morning I checked and everything made it through great.  I did learn that after a rain you must check the slide awnings for water before retracting the slides!  Lesson learned.

Mississippi River

The storm in the south passed, fortunately all we got in southern Illinois was a day of rain.  On Friday we headed for West Memphis, Arkansas to a campground right on the banks of the Mississippi river.  We found this campground last year when we visited Memphis and really liked it.  It is called Tom Sawyers RV park and they have two sections of sites right on the banks of the river.  Because of the proximity to the river the campground monitors the level of the river and posts the current and forecasted heights letting campers know.  If the river reaches 31 feet the campground closes, which it does each year, until the river lowers.  Usually this occurs in May of each year but the forecast is for flooding next weekend.  So, we made it just in time.  Here is a picture of our site and our view.

On the way down to Memphis we stopped for lunch at Lambert’s Café in Sikeston, Missouri.  I had been there something like 25 years ago when my brother lived in Sikeston.  The restaurant then was just a little local café famous for its southern cooking, lots of food and rolls that they throw to you from all over the restaurant  Last year on our way home from Memphis I remembered it and we stopped.  Now it is HUGE!  The restaurant must seat over 500 people and there are usually long lines to get in.  When you do get in you can expect great service and lots of food.  No matter what you order there are servers walking around with extra side dishes for you to try and rolls flying all over.  Take a look at their website http://www.throwedrolls.com/ to see what I am talking about.

As the weather has been still somewhat cold on the trip we have been burning through propane.  So far had to fill up two tanks in a week.  That can get a little expensive.  The weather is supposed to warm up this weekend and be warmer as we move across Arkansas and into Texas next week.  We do use an electric space heater to reduce using the propane heater.  I guess that electric fireplace option for the trailer would have been a good idea!  For those of you not familiar with RV’s, they come with propane heaters and onboard tanks (like the tank for your BBQ grill).  Obviously you have to pay to refill this tanks and presently it costs around $27 to fill a 30lb. tank.  If you use electric heat (space heater or fireplace option) then you are not paying for the electricity as that is included in the cost of your site per night. Here is what our living room would have looked like with the fireplace option;

We decided against it because of the space it takes up and really did not think we would use it that much. 

As I write this posting I am sitting at our table looking out on the river.  Here is a picture of a barge going by.

They come by all day and they are so long.  This one is going up river so it is going very slow.  It is amazing the amount of power in the boats that push these mammoth loads.

Weather and Gas

First the weather.  Weather is a consideration on when and where we travel.  We really don’t want to be in cold (below freezing) weather as that factors in precautions for the trailer with freezing water lines, etc.  Plus it impacts driving with the truck and large trailer.  Wind is another important consideration as it impacts both driving and the trailer when it is parked.  So, enter a major storm headed for the south today.  We are presently in Southern Illinois and the storm is predicted to be fairly mild here.  However, our intention was to go to Memphis today but it is right in the center of this powerful storm with high wind gusts, lots of rain and possible tornados.  With this in mind we decided to wait out the storm here in Illinois and then decide where we proceed next.   Had we been in Naperville we would be going through another major snow storm, up to 6 inches.

Even before this Libya crisis gas prices had been inching up in Illinois (usually has one of the highest prices for gas in the country) to where diesel was up to $3.70 a gallon.  On this trip we have been paying $3.60  a gallon.  Now with the middle east crisis they are predicting prices to go even higher.  This could be a factor in our plans to move around these first few months.  We may just stay places a little longer before moving on.

2/21/11–11:15am (CST)–The Journey Begins!

We did it.  But first lets you get up to date on the days leading up to this moment.

I changed the date to sign our house closing papers to the 17th to having to wait around on the 21st to do it.  Our daughter, Katie, and her fiancé, Tyler, arrived from Arizona on the Thursday evening to stay with us for our last few days in the house and to pick up some items they wanted.  Here they are:

Our daughter Kelly also came into town for the weekend and our daughter Kim lives nearby. (Kelly on the right)

Kim

Ok, so now everyone is in town.  Time to get the trailer.  We brought it home and pulled it into the driveway for the weekend.

As you can see the truck barely makes it into the garage and the trailer hangs out in the street a few feet.  I was going to try and back it into the driveway but I don’t think it would have been possible with the narrow street and the size of the trailer and truck together.

Now we began the process of putting our stuff into the trailer.  This is by far the hardest part.  I think the best way to have done this would have been to take nothing from the house and just buy what you need to fit in the trailer, clothes, housewares, everything.  We continually had to reevaluate or decision to take something and many items did not make the cut.  As we cleared out the house on Saturday, Fran and I slept in the trailer Saturday and Sunday nights.  Now the story on the first night.

Just after buying the trailer and putting it into storage I went out one day to do some work on it.  I suffered a lapse in memory and reversed the polarity on the battery when connecting it to the trailer (BLACK IS POSITIVE!).  I corrected the problem and everything worked, but what I did not know at the time was that this error cause a series of fuses to blow in the convertor.  Fast forward to the first night we slept in the trailer, Saturday.  At 3:00am I awake to hear the heater clicking on but the fan is not coming on.  I get up and turn on the lights and find them to be very dim.  OK, we are plugged into power from the house, so what is going on.  Now the carbon monoxide  detector starts beeping its low battery alarm.  Great!  I am racking my brain to try and figure out what is going on and decide I will just disconnect the battery and deal with it later in the day.  Well, now the heater will not work with no power and it is around 20 degrees outside.  We did OK with the blankets until daybreak and then went into the house.  I looked through the owners manual and learned about the fuses and, sure enough, they were blown.  A quick trip to Meijer at 6am got the fuses and everything working, except when I reconnected the battery I should have unplugged the AC from the house as it shorted out and tripped the GFCI plug in the garage, which is 25 years old.  It would not reset.  So now a trip to Lowes for a new plug and install that.  OK, issues solved, REALLY!

Saturday night we had a great dinner with the family at Tommy Nevin’s restaurant and Sunday we worked on the trailer.

Monday morning Katie and Tyler left and Fran and I cleaned the house and finished packing up the trailer.  A quick trip to Goodwill and the storage unit got rid of the remaining items and we were back ready to leave at 11:15am.

Our neighbor took this picture

We stopped at a truck stop not far from our house to get the trailer weighed.  As I did not know the process it was a little hectic and unhitching the trailer on the scale did not make the truckers to happy, but we got it done and weighed in at 14,620 pounds.  A full 1,000 pounds under allowable (but we did not have any water or waste in the tanks), so we are good to go (Fran did not have to be left behind!).

On the road towards Memphis we stopped at Benton, IL at a KOA.  The weather was somewhat warmer than what we left in Naperville (freezing rain).  When unhitching the trailer we noticed that one of the landing pads for the front jacks had come off, so a repair will be in order.  I got to de-winterize the trailer and figure out all the systems.  Within an hour we had water (cold and hot), cable TV and dinner being prepared. 

Still a little stressed over organizing our stuff.  Right now things are everywhere.