~Friday, December 18, 2020~
Day 187 (Travel Day)
Pretty cold as we had no heat in the trailer last night. By the time we found out the heater was definitely not working, it was too late to fire up the generator that would allow us to run the fireplace and/or the space heater. Jeff thinks it’s a loose or dirty thermocouple, or possibly even a failed one. Let’s hope it’s not the latter. At least the water heater works for a nice hot shower albeit short. Having that inverter (cost is about $3,000) would sure come in very handy which would allow us to convert DC powered things to AC. The trailer got down to around 47 last night…...brrr! We’ll do some troubleshooting tonight hopefully when we get to our next destination in Kerrville, TX, which is just 75 miles west of San Antonio. Yes, another 400 mile day and since we’re staying to the south, the most direct route is tiresome, dull Highway 10. As we jump an hour ahead to the Central Time Zone, the scenery entering Texas, at least at this point, is dry and brown.
Lots of random oil rig sites, Yucca plants and dead brush, void of any green whatsoever. And what a sad observation to see so many dead deer carcasses on the side of the highway. I am not exaggerating when I say about 50 or 60 over a 50 mile stretch. There are so many semi’s flying on this stretch of highway at 80 mph (posted speed limit), which is probably how most of these animals were killed. Of course, driving in the dark while towing the trailer doesn’t leave me immune from encountering one myself. So what would I do? I would definitely not swerve, but if I had the opportunity, I would move over a lane. And I brought my speed down to 55 instead of our usual 60.
When we finally made it to our campsite in Kerrville, in the dark again, we were greeted by a pretty grand entrance for an RV park. It appeared that most of the RVer’s here look like full-timers. This place wasn’t our ideal setting for staying more than one night. There are a few primo sites on the Guadalupe River, but because many of the sites are not full, we can still see the river from our second row. After we got our water and electricity hooked up, we took a nice evening stroll with Sadie. Of course, she wanted to make a B-line for the water as all labs do. Right next door to our place is another RV/tent camping place which looks a little more rustic and in front a funky bar playing live music which I would imagine, would have very few people to entertain.
No dinner tonight as we had a very late Subway sandwich lunch. Jeff is still feeling wiped out from his cold, so he hit the hay early while I got caught up on my final online Christmas shopping and editing photos. Oh and of course change the clocks again now that we are in the Central Time Zone.