This is our first day of traveling after being holed up in south Texas since the last week in October. It takes a little getting used to herding this big box on wheels especially when heading into the wind for most of our travels today.
We got started right on time with only a small glitch with the lights on the Jeep. Seems ever since we had the safety recall done to correct a problem with the wiring for the exhaust brake and brake lights, we have been blowing the fuse for the trailer plug on the motor home. I thought I had it licked when I replaced the brake/turn signal bulbs with LED's on the Jeep. We made it all the way down here without an issue. This morning when checking to make sure the lights on the jeep were working I found the fuse was blown once again. I guess I will have to get in touch with Spartan to see if there is a fix for this issue.
We only put in about 250 miles today. We both figured that was enough for our first day. We want to be in Livingston, TX Sunday night which is only about 440 miles from Mission so we are better than half way there. Anyways it works well with my 230 plan, thats stop after 230 miles or 2:30 in the afternoon. Today we made our mileage by 1PM so I have some extra time for a nap.
We are staying at the Lazy Longhorn RV park in Victoria, Texas tonight. The have nice concrete roads and sites with a good cable lineup and free WiFi. Bud is enjoying having all the new smells to check out and Linda and I are looking forward to a nice nap this afternoon.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
An empty park, cleaning and packing!
Things are really getting quiet here in the park. I've only parked 1 rig in the last 3 days and have been having 6 to 8 rigs heading home each of those days. I am still opening the front gate in the morning, cleaning the pool and closing the gates in late afternoon. Along with any other odd jobs they need done in the park.
We are scheduled to leave on Saturday the 12th and are keeping a close eye on the weather. We seem to be okay for the trip to Escapees Rainbows End in Livingston but who knows what the trip from there to Michigan will bring. The big storms seem to be coming one after the other and really pounding the middle of the nation.
I have started getting our rig cleaned up and repacked. It's surprising how much work it takes to get all the stuff re-packed. I know I have added a couple of things, like the stand for the grill, but everything that I know I brought with us got bigger while we were here!
Our friends from Quebec are still holed up in Arkansas waiting for the weather to clear and the snow to clear out in I'lle Bizard. At one point there was 16 feet of snow piled up around their house.
We are scheduled to leave on Saturday the 12th and are keeping a close eye on the weather. We seem to be okay for the trip to Escapees Rainbows End in Livingston but who knows what the trip from there to Michigan will bring. The big storms seem to be coming one after the other and really pounding the middle of the nation.
I have started getting our rig cleaned up and repacked. It's surprising how much work it takes to get all the stuff re-packed. I know I have added a couple of things, like the stand for the grill, but everything that I know I brought with us got bigger while we were here!
Our friends from Quebec are still holed up in Arkansas waiting for the weather to clear and the snow to clear out in I'lle Bizard. At one point there was 16 feet of snow piled up around their house.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Looking for beach gold combined with a road trip
It's been a fairly cool weekend here in South Texas, at least for this area anyways. High in the 80s with cool nights that make for good sleeping weather.
Saturday we did another of our driving tours, my first intended stop was Boca Chica beach. There is usually a nice wide sandy beach but this weekend due to wind direction and tide levels there wasn't much beach to be driving on. In fact the usual hard pack just wasn't available for driving on. We probably would have turned around and headed for South Padre Island if it hadn't been for the fact I really wanted to collect some black sand to take home and run through my cleanup sluice. I know that south Texas is not known for gold but there have been some reports of gold on the beaches. We ended up using 4 wheel drive on the ole jeep to get down to where the black sand gets piled up. Once we get home and I have a chance to run the sand through the sluice I will let you know if we had any luck.
From there we headed over to South Padre Island. We visited the B & S Kite shop. I was proud of both of us because we didn't spend any money there even though we could easily have spent a lot. We then cruised along hotel row and managed to get on the beach for a bit. Linda tried to do a little shopping but didn't find what she was looking for (clothes for the little girls).
It seems one of Linda's favorite stops is Seven Seas in Los Fresnos, on Highway 100. She did manage to spend some money there but with what she has been saving most of the winter I guess I can't complain.
Bud and I figured this would be our last chance to hike in Bentsen RGV State Park so about 9AM we headed in to hike the Rio Grande Trail. It's a two mile trial but we had to hike into the trial head. So in total we must have hiked a bit over 4 miles round trip. Bud has not had the ambition to get off the couch since we got back. In previous years we have made this trip a number of times each season but due to my work camping job, this was the first time we have made the trip. Always an enjoyable hike!
Saturday we did another of our driving tours, my first intended stop was Boca Chica beach. There is usually a nice wide sandy beach but this weekend due to wind direction and tide levels there wasn't much beach to be driving on. In fact the usual hard pack just wasn't available for driving on. We probably would have turned around and headed for South Padre Island if it hadn't been for the fact I really wanted to collect some black sand to take home and run through my cleanup sluice. I know that south Texas is not known for gold but there have been some reports of gold on the beaches. We ended up using 4 wheel drive on the ole jeep to get down to where the black sand gets piled up. Once we get home and I have a chance to run the sand through the sluice I will let you know if we had any luck.
From there we headed over to South Padre Island. We visited the B & S Kite shop. I was proud of both of us because we didn't spend any money there even though we could easily have spent a lot. We then cruised along hotel row and managed to get on the beach for a bit. Linda tried to do a little shopping but didn't find what she was looking for (clothes for the little girls).
It seems one of Linda's favorite stops is Seven Seas in Los Fresnos, on Highway 100. She did manage to spend some money there but with what she has been saving most of the winter I guess I can't complain.
Bud and I figured this would be our last chance to hike in Bentsen RGV State Park so about 9AM we headed in to hike the Rio Grande Trail. It's a two mile trial but we had to hike into the trial head. So in total we must have hiked a bit over 4 miles round trip. Bud has not had the ambition to get off the couch since we got back. In previous years we have made this trip a number of times each season but due to my work camping job, this was the first time we have made the trip. Always an enjoyable hike!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Heat, Texas Drivers License and a few last jobs
Well it's 77 degrees at 7AM, I think it might be a warm one today. Being the first of April we will be having a mass exodus today. There has been a small trickle of people leaving daily and the park is almost to the point of having more open sites then full ones, but that will change today. The winter work campers are pretty much done as of today. Rich and I are still going to be helping out with the gates, pool and occasional odd jobs but I should be able to start getting our stuff cleaned up and repacked in preparation for our leaving on the 12th.
We plan to head for Livingston, Texas, home of the Escapees organization. I for one would like to see their mail operation and take a look around the area. We also plan to become Texans while there. I bought a cowboy hat in preparation for the move! I have begun studying for the drivers license test, I will need to get a class B non-commercial license to be able to drive the coach since it's GVWR is over 26,001 pounds (actually 34,000 #). I have downloaded the DL manual from the Texas Department of Public Safety which also contains a list of 120 study questions. I am not sure if Linda is going to attempt it or just go with the standard class C license.
There are a several advantages to becoming Texans. One of the biggest is no state income tax and the other biggie is the cost of vehicle registration is a lot less compared to Michigan. In Michigan vehicle registration costs are based on the value of the unit being registered. In the case of the coach plates will be about $300 compared to $1,500 in Michigan. We also figure the state income tax elimination will help pay for the cost of fuel.
I have a couple of utility pedestals that the mice/rats got into last fall and basically destroyed the wiring for the control module. I figure I will tackle them once my co-worker goes on duty so I won't get interrupted while working. The other issue is when they did the supply wiring to the pedestals they didn't bother to mark the breaker so I have to guest which breaker is supplying power to the pedestal I need to work on. I will make sure to mark them as I figure out what’s tied to what. I will let you know how it goes.
We plan to head for Livingston, Texas, home of the Escapees organization. I for one would like to see their mail operation and take a look around the area. We also plan to become Texans while there. I bought a cowboy hat in preparation for the move! I have begun studying for the drivers license test, I will need to get a class B non-commercial license to be able to drive the coach since it's GVWR is over 26,001 pounds (actually 34,000 #). I have downloaded the DL manual from the Texas Department of Public Safety which also contains a list of 120 study questions. I am not sure if Linda is going to attempt it or just go with the standard class C license.
There are a several advantages to becoming Texans. One of the biggest is no state income tax and the other biggie is the cost of vehicle registration is a lot less compared to Michigan. In Michigan vehicle registration costs are based on the value of the unit being registered. In the case of the coach plates will be about $300 compared to $1,500 in Michigan. We also figure the state income tax elimination will help pay for the cost of fuel.
I have a couple of utility pedestals that the mice/rats got into last fall and basically destroyed the wiring for the control module. I figure I will tackle them once my co-worker goes on duty so I won't get interrupted while working. The other issue is when they did the supply wiring to the pedestals they didn't bother to mark the breaker so I have to guest which breaker is supplying power to the pedestal I need to work on. I will make sure to mark them as I figure out what’s tied to what. I will let you know how it goes.
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