~Tuesday, March 15, 2022~
Day 639
Change of plans. After much discussion about pushing the limits on the black tank, we decided to just buy our time in seeing how long the black tank will hold out. The thought of breaking down, hitching up and driving this rough Loy Butte Road, not to mention the time it would take just to make a dump run, was so unappealing. So, we made the decision to do a test and extend our black tank time to 14 days with the hopes that we’ll make it. It would be a record for sure. I know, not a great topic, but still felt compelled to share for anyone out there who has a rig like ours, to see what’s possible.
As we continue to map out our plans for the summer, we’re reminded just how exhausting this aspect of RV’ing is. There are so many wonderful things about this lifestyle. Planning, at least this much in one big chunk, is not. I know, ‘planning is half the fun’ and that would be true with a normal vacation. But trying to plan out nearly 365 days is an exhausting task. Jeff and I are such big planners, not liking to leave too many things to chance. So with that, you have to pay the price in the beginning, hoping that all of the hours and hard work will pay off in the end, preventing headaches and stress. It will be so nice to get ‘er done and see the calendar complete through the Spring of 2023.
Around 4:00, we were ready for a break to head out for some much needed errands. On the way out near the entrance to Loy Butte Road, a very large Class A Motorhome (and a very nice one at that), bottomed out on the rear of their rig. Class A’s are known to have a low clearance anyway, so not sure why they thought they could clear the big dip from the road to the dirt area. Unfortunately, this is one that could’ve been avoided had one of them been communicating from the outside to the inside via cell phone or walkie-talkie. You definitely need that other set of eyes to see what’s doable. Thankfully, the elderly couple had a crew in the thick of trying to get them out; another example of strong support from the RV community.
Anyway, back to our errands. This is the lowest we’ve ever been on groceries, missing a stocked fridge. It’s actually been a good test to see just how much we can stretch things out, with little to no waste (my pet peeve). $345 later 💰😳, we were back in business. The Safeway clerk and I were exchanging our frustrations with grocery prices when she told me to hold on for the next wave. Evidently wheat prices are going to increase 40%. I can’t imagine how many products this will affect with so much made from wheat. I would imagine meat prices will also be affected since wheat is just one of the things cattle feed on. I honestly don’t know how young families especially, are trying to make ends meet these days. It was hard enough before this insane spike in inflation.
After our grocery run,
we filled propane tanks, dropped off the trash and filled the water containers. It would have been nice to add a laundry run into the mix, but again, we are doing a test on this as well, stretching our days until next Monday when we get to our next spot with full hookups. That will be 2 weeks foregoing laundry……🤪🤪.