Welcome, welcome, welcome to the New Year! I wish I could say that I’ve resolved to be more diligent about writing our blog, but hey, absence makes the heart grow fonder. So we’re all winners here.
"When we last left our heroes,” we were visiting San Antonio and preparing for the Christmas season. As I write this we are in the same campground in the hills of Texas in the very same site!
“What gives,” you ask?
Well, if you’ve been keeping an eye on our map, you’ll see we did leave the San Antonio area, but we have returned as a matter of convenience. A much overdue pulmonary test was scheduled at the VA in San Antonio and Medina Lake was our closest option. So here we are, visiting our deer friends and enjoying the quiet in the hills of Texas for a couple weeks.
Our trip did continue south to the very near tip of the Lone Star state. Alamo was the warmest we could get out of our adventure to the south this year. This state has shown us a variety of climates and conditions that makes it easier to see how Texas could be a republic of its own. The retirement resort that we found ourselves in was somewhat empty due to the ‘Rona thing going on. But the residents here kept the place alive with Thursday Pool Volleyball and the daily cocoa club gatherings just 100 feet away from our rig. For three weeks, the air was dry and so was the earth in Southern Texas. It rained once for about three whole minutes. Seriously, I had to turn the wipers on to make it through the gate. Though the sun was prevalent throughout our stay, the wind had become a regular annoyance as well. It seemed a common occurrence to find the wind speed upwards around 20 mph which had an unstabilizing effect on our home. The trade off was that we could keep the windows open at night and the furnace off for a time.
Christmas came and went while we were in Alamo. Though, we did get to see family via Zoom and Face Time, it was still an unusual way to spend the holiday that, in the past, was filled with hugs, screaming kids, and those occasional endearing scenes that the season brings. It was a solitary feeling that, ironically, was being shared by so many across the nation. This feeling did weigh heavy here in this house. It was so much so that a change in travel plans was initiated. Our travel to the West was curtailed to gradually make our way back up the East coast. It is hoped that our family connection will be made again to recharge our hearts to move back out across the states, again.
So we left Alamo, almost. It was a very early morning as we had a long trip ahead of us. It is safe to say heart was in it, but my mind was not. Just over ten miles up the road, we stopped to top off the fuel and I thought, while the tank was filling, I’d give the windshield a scrub. In my most expensive, bone-head move, I grabbed the gasoline nozzle and shoved it in my diesel tank. While trying to engage the latching mechanism on the pump handle, it had dawned on me. I was 2 ½ gallons too late. I yanked the pump handle out and thrust it to the ground as though the gasoline would follow it out. I then engaged in weaving a blanket of F-bombs that had covered the entire area of the fueling station. The deed was done and I had contaminated the 40+ gallons already in the tank and there was no way I was going to let the fouled fuel make it into the injectors. A local truck garage informed us that they could drop the tank and flush it out but had no way to tow us. A towing company informed us that putting our rig on the hook and dragging us a mile up the road was going to cost about $650. UGH! It was then that a highly unorthodox plan was hatched by our mechanic and his partner. With some eloquent driving, by me, and a tow strap attached to his F-350, we would coax our ill-bellied steed to their shop. Once there, they could proceed with pumping her stomach and getting her back on the road to recovery. It was a marvelous plan and I couldn’t get in the driver’s seat quick enough. Tez, was notably concerned, but it meant that we had progress which was more than we had nearly 20 minutes before.
3 ½ hours and $500 later, we were chugging North, away from that blanket of F-bombs that still lay over the pump island. It was late. It had started raining. We just rolled our rig into a pull-through site at Colorado River and slid into bed for the night with hopes for a better day in the morning.
SNOW! Okay, well, not exactly but it was close. Colorado River was our coldest stay in Texas, so far. The rain subsided after two days but the unseasonably cold weather was definitely insistent on sticking around. A few mild days lead to the discovery of abandoned bikes that previous campers had left behind for unknown reasons. The campground would collect them and pile them up in their maintenance area with some future intent that never came to be. That is, until I showed up. One bike with some minor attention to the tire and seat resulted in a pedal-powered conveyance for Tez to try out. A second bike with need for much more attention was then acquired for me to play with and try out. Tez and I had talked about buying bikes to stroll about the campgrounds, but we were hesitant as to whether or not we would want or, much less, be able to ride bikes. You know what they say about bikes? The jury is still out on whether we should keep them.
The last week of our stay, the temps dropped drastically and the snow did arrive just 40 minutes north of us. We remained snow free, however, sleet made it down to enhance our dismal whether adventure.
So now we set for a short stay in the hills of Texas. We have our work; Tez with her coding and I with my vinyl graphics. We are exploring the tenderness of our bodies after 2 miles of biking and find that walking after biking is going to require a longer break. I have vowed to never again put gasoline in a receptacle that only allows diesel. And we continue to learn, from each other, about ourselves tucked so closely together in our rolling palace. She continues to explore and adapt to the tiny kitchen, baking and cooking her way through adversity. Our trusty diesel steed still gets the daily attention and will soon be getting some upgrades to replace the awning that has been limping along since Iowa and possibly a new battery. I continue to keep this ol’ girl together after carting our lives around for a year. Ah, yes. On the 28th of this month it will be one year ago that we set out, officially, on this adventure. What an incredibly strange year it has been.
Thank you to all of you who have been following along with us via this humble blog. I will, as always, try to get our updates out in a timely fashion. We will be making our way out of Texas in just over a month. We have only a week left here to enjoy Medina Lake. My VA appointment went well and though we have better temps for our time here, we are experiencing spotty showers now and again. Such is life. We continue to revise plans and have hopes that as we spend more time out on the road, our disconnect from family and familiarity won’t be so hard on our hearts. Time will tell and there is always a road home.
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