~Friday, January 20, 2023~
Day 951 (Travel Day)
Well, the morning didn’t go too smoothly. Knowing the temps were going to dip last night to around 27 degrees, we set the thermostat to 55 which appeared to be working most of the night. But by the time we got up, it was only blowing cool air. No heat. The trailer temp dropped to 49 degrees where we were able to see our breath….never a good sign. The water heater was also not getting hot enough. Normally when we get low on propane, the refrigerator blue lights flash which it wasn’t doing, but Jeff thinks it definitely had something to do with the line. At least the stove worked so I could make our morning brew. We needed SOMETHING to warm us up.
Then, another issue came up……When making breakfast for the road this morning, I went to turn on our Fantastic Fan, which wasn’t acting so fantastic. It wouldn’t turn on at all. We’re hoping it’s a loose wire, but like the furnace, we’ll have to inspect it on our arrival tonight.
Once the sun presented itself on the horizon, it was great to have things finally warm up. We discovered the skoolie that pulled in next to us last night goes by the Instagram tag name Aurora.TheAdventureBus otherwise known as Josh and Emily (close names to our other neighbors). Since we were leaving early, we weren’t able to meet in person, but we started a friendship via Instagram. So we look forward to reading more about their adventures, especially the details of how they transformed their school bus. If you’re an Instagram user, make sure to check them out.
As we hit the road again, we were only about 35 miles from the Texas state line. We’ll basically have 2 nights in Texas before our final destination in Louisiana. It sure is one BIG state to cross! Soon after we passed El Paso, we noticed the architecture to the right of us, drastically changing. With the wall, smog and all, there was Mexico.
It amazed me that you can see Mexico without crossing the border. Speaking of borders, border patrol vehicles were everywhere. In fact, we were funneled into a border patrol checkpoint where we were asked if we were U.S. citizens, then quickly permitted to go. And this was not your typical stop. There were cameras everywhere and guys armed with assault rifles with their loyal, trusty K-9’s by their side.
Today, our drive takes us to Hangar 25 Air Museum in Big Spring, TX. We found this boondocking spot through Harvest Hosts. This RV resource has really been a perfect choice for us as we make this daily, long haul southeast. We decided there were more Harvest Host places to choose from as we exited off of Highway 10 to Highway 20. Crossing the state line into Texas, we find ourselves adjusting those clocks once again as we change one time zone after another, now in Central Time.
The museum parking lot turned out to be the perfect, LARGE boondocking spot for the night. We ended up being the 2nd out of 5 arrivals, parked right in front of Hangar 25. The docent offered a tour tomorrow morning but unfortunately, we have another early morning and big mileage day again. So we won’t be able to take them up on their offer. But if you’re ever in the area and a history buff, you might want to pay them a visit. The museum houses aircraft and exhibits describing the WWII bombardier school that was once located in this restored hangar. Sounds interesting. While I nested (I do this even if it’s a one night stay), Jeff immediately went to the task of looking into the heater issue. Before thoroughly investigating, we turned on the heater just to see if it would ignite. It did and things went off like normal the rest of the evening. It could be a sail switch issue which can be temperamental where even a small amount of dog hair gets in there. And I thought I was staying on top of the vacuuming. And the problem we found with the Fantastic Fan was really not a problem at all. Somehow, the thermostat dial had been turned to the wrong setting. So now, we’re back to well….a fantastic fan!
When we were cleaning things out at my mom’s, we came across several DVD movies we thought would be fun to watch in the RV on nights that we’re without TV reception. Tonight was the night and something we rarely do. But we found a problem. The DVD player was operating fine, but the TV and the player were not talking to each other. After about 30 minutes thinking it was operator error, Jeff checked the back of the TV which is a challenge in itself, and discovered that the HDMI cable was not in the correct port. When we had the TV replaced about a year ago, they simply put the cable in the wrong slot. Now to the movie….The Thomas Crown Affair with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo. Thanks mom Trom for all the DVD loaners.
10:00 came. 11:00 came. That’s it. We’re done listening to our neighbors cheap generator (louder than most). Even the movie couldn’t drown out the racket. How is it that someone doesn’t have the common sense to know how this might affect everyone’s sleep? Not liking any sort of confrontation, Jeff went over to politely ask them to turn it off. With lights out, Jeff knocked on the door anyway where he met a guy in boxers, to which Jeff proceeded to say, “None of us can sleep with your generator running.” The reply was, “Well, this Harvest Host allows generators.” “Not at 11:00 they don’t”, Jeff said. The clueless RV owner didn’t have much to say at that point and annoyingly turned it off. And we were about 20 feet away from them. We couldn’t imagine what it was like for the people parked right next to him. It’s amazing how some people can be so inconsiderate, insensitive and clueless of people and their surroundings. Thanks to Jeff, we could all finally get some shut eye.