Alvarado to Richardson

Wednesday, 28 February 2018
Richardson, TX

It's been a busy 2 days and I need to catch up.

I tried to download this photo a couple of days ago to illustrate the stunning lack of ambiance (compared to state parks, for instance) at the campground of Motor Home Specialists http://www.mhsrv.com/   But, as I said before, the price is sure right.

Alvarado's "campground"

First thing Monday morning, Art the technician zipped over on the golf carts they use extensively here because the lot is so huge (many of their RVs are huge, too).  He was pleased to hear his ice trick worked.  I had noticed a few days earlier that I had wires and a flap of something hanging down from the rear undercarriage, and Monday Art fixed it by replacing the pad that keeps the sewage tank from freezing in cold weather (ghastly thought).  He also picked out a new sewage hose for me and answered all the dumb questions I'd thought up over the weekend.  Nice guy.

Then I settled with the Service Department (all under warranty except the new sewage hose).  I then went and bought an extended warranty that is supposed to cover almost anything for the next 6 years.  I don't usually do extended warranties, but this one looked worth the money. 

I bought gas in Alvarado ($2.07/gal) and by then it wasn't far off noon so high time to skip town.

I got to David and Anna's easily - a surprise that Monday morning Dallas traffic would cooperate so well - and they set to work to take care of me.  Which, by then, was needed.  They let the dogs run around their yard and wiped the mud off them afterwards.  They fed me real food and offered a shower and washing machine.  They helped me make a list of all the things I needed to do (like new tennis shoes) and gave me my forwarded mail.  Too bad they only live here.

Tuesday, they drove me all over town (well, it seemed that way because Richardson is now so huge and spread out).  To the bank to put my will in the safe deposit box and check to be sure the house sale money had been deposited.  To the storage unit to drop off the last of the stuff I want to hang onto from Momma's house.  To Sears to get me some new shoes.  To Anna's former employer to buy some latex gloves to wear when dumping the sewage using my new hose.  To Lowe's to get something David could use to fix the screen door Dexter wrecked, and a tub to hold the (used) sewage hose (which, I'm told, everybody has), and a smaller tub to hold the water hose.  To Target to get something to hold the broom in one place so it won't fall on the floor noisily when I go over a bump (scaring Gracie), and a clock to hang on a wall because I'm having trouble functioning without at least one clock in this place.  And in between all that, we came back to the house so I could walk the dogs and feed the critters, and we had some great Mexican food at Cafe Milagro.

When we got back to their house, Anna helped me move the RV close enough to their house that we could run extension cords - the power cord attached to the RV + my extension cord + their extension cord just barely was long enough.  And Anna dredged out a couple of orange cones to protect the connection in the road.  They filled my windshield washer fluid, which had been totally empty - never filled, I think.  And in the evening, David figured out what I was doing wrong when trying to download photos from my camera, and he and Anna fed me supper, and we watched NCIS - my first time in more than a month.

Today, they have more plans for doing things for me.  Amazingly generous people.

Tomorrow's March 1, which means I have only a month to get up to New York.  I know that sounds easy, except I'm still getting used to all kinds of little things - inside ones like how to use the windshield washer and outside ones like where the front and rear of the RV are and where the mirrors extend to and how tightly it can turn - just all kinds of things that aren't like driving Momma's Honda Civic.  And I need to find places to stay along the way.  Texas was easy because I've spent so many years here.  I'm not at all familiar with Georgia or South Carolina or up the east coast - I mean as far as parks and campgrounds go.  It's something else to learn about.

I'm sure that by the time I get to New York, this will all have become routine.  But routines always have a beginning, which is usually awkward.  That starts tomorrow.  Always something to look forward to.

Alvarado/Sunday

Sunday, 25 February 2018
Alvarado, TX

Here at the "#1 Volume Sales Dealer in the World," they believe in an extensive use of light to deter criminality.  Their entire property is so well lit that I could almost read by the amount of light that came into my RV during the night.  Even if I had more light-reducing coverings on the windows, I still have 4 skylights that would be pretty tough to cover.  

I now know why I've been sleeping so well this last week: state park campgrounds aren't heavily lighted.  In fact, they're pretty dark.  Apparently this matters to me when I'm sleeping.  Oh well, it's free here.  And not permanent.

So today, more lessons.  I ran into a little problem when I went to dump the blackwater tank as instructed: my dumping hose broke, spilling sewage all over the ground, and me, incidentally.  I fought my way upstream and shut off the flow - but what a mess!  I decided to just throw away my jeans and tennies and socks, rather than try to hold and then transport them to a laundromat.  And I've never had much luck washing tennis shoes anyway.  And I didn't want reminders of the trauma of dealing with so much sewage. 

It's not that I'd generated that much but instead all that ice and water Art had dumped in to clean it out.  The ice melted.  There was a LOT of liquid.  Ghastly.

And after I'd cleaned up me and the mess on the ground, I still had to dump what was left in the tank but didn't have a hose to do it, mine having been done for.  So I went to one of the other RVs here in the "campground" and knocked on the door and told the nice man, "It's a long story but I need to ask to borrow your sewage line."  He said, "What?"  But he was very nice, especially considering I'd woken him up from a nap, he said, and he got dressed and came and disconnected his hose, and after a bit came over to check on me.  And gave me more advice based on his experience, which was very helpful and kind of him.

Everybody I've met at the various campgrounds has been kind and helpful and encouraging.

Anyway, I finally got my tanks dumped.  And now the sensors read properly, which is what Art had been hoping for.  Yea!  I'm staying the extra night anyway because I have some more questions to ask Art or whoever shows up tomorrow to follow up.

And in the meantime, I actually did get a tremendous amount of sorting done.  Tossed a whole bunch of stuff.  And noticed someone else has been doing the same.  The dumpster here was nearly empty yesterday and is now 2/3 full.  And it was definitely not all me.  I'm not done yet but I'm close, which is good.

So I'll wait until I can see a service person tomorrow and then head on over to the Dallas area to see my brother and sister-in-law.  Now I have to buy new tennies.  But I got those at Sears anyway.

Alvarado

Saturday, 24 February 2018

MHSRV, Alvarado, TX

When I left Cleburne State Park this morning, there were still patches of thick fog and low clouds and rain, so much that I missed getting a photo of Cedar Lake, which is what the park is built next to. A pretty lake and pretty area.

A sign at the park said the lake and the road were built by the CCC in the 1930s. It’s a decent sized lake, and there’s apparently fish in it, because the dumpsters have signs that say don’t put fish in them. It’s really a nice park and must be very popular during the summer. Lots of large cedars, that smell nice. And despite the lousy weather, I was sorry we couldn’t stay longer. As we were leaving, 3 deer ran from the road and then waited until we’d gone by and went back. Us city girls don’t see deer often enough.

The folks here at Motor Home Specialists (MHSRV.com) in Alvarado where I bought my RV were, as usual, friendly and helpful and accommodating. Art in the Service Department fixed the leak under my sink almost instantly, finding the disconnected water hose and connecting it. Now I have water to my kitchen faucet! He also checked to be sure I didn’t do any damage to my power cord when I drove off while it was still plugged in back in Buescher State Park.

(Warning: this paragraph may cause queasiness.) What he had a little trouble with, though, was figuring out why the sensors to my water and blackwater and greywater tanks didn’t seem to be registering accurately. He said maybe gunk had clogged the sensors in the blackwater tank and he showed me this trick of dumping a bucket of ice down the toilet while flushing, and part way through dumping a dose of enzyme cleaner in, and then more ice and flushing. And then he told me to drive around on rough roads for a while to let it all slosh around (though he thought I’d be limited on the roughness aspect because of the critters), and then let it set overnight. Then drain tomorrow morning and, if it’s not raining, to leave the cap off the tank for a day to let it dry out. And then on Monday he’d come to see if the sensors had started working. If not, he’d try Plan B, which is more expensive and involved.

So now I’m spending the next 2 nights in what they call the campground. No ambiance at all but full hookups and zero cost and access to whatever Alvarado has to offer. So I splurged at the grocery store and bought a rotisserie chicken and some oatmeal cookies.

Now I have what I’ve claimed to be wanting, which is enough time to sort through all these boxes and bags I stuffed into the storage area when I left the house. Some of it’s throwaway and some of it goes in the rented storage unit and some of it's donatable - and I’m not sure what else is in there. It’s like those “go fishing” things at school carnivals – you never know what you’ll pull out. That’s what I’ll be doing tomorrow. That and dumping the remains of the ice out of my tank. Sundays are a day of rest and gladness, right?

Cleburne State Park

Friday, 23 February 2018

Cleburne State Park

What a day.

After waiting an extra hour and a half this morning for the rain to lighten up so I could walk the dogs without drowning – it was really pouring – and fighting my way through the road construction and usual traffic Austin seems to have these days, I finally got to Momma’s house. Got the last of the stuff cleared out.

Stopped at the gas station – prices were 15¢/gallon cheaper in Beeville than at my usually inexpensive Austin station.

Stopped at the Goodwill to donate the last of the donatable items.

Stopped at the pet store to replace the collar Dexter tore up. Walked the dogs.

Went over to the title company and eventually found 2 parking places together where I could fit the RV.

Met our realtor, who bought me lunch.

Went to the title company and signed the paperwork that would irrevocably transfer that wonderful house out of our family after more than 70 years. Cried. They offered Kleenex and sympathy.

Walked the dogs again and hit the road. That was at 2:30.

I guess because it was a Friday the traffic on the northbound highway never let up. Usually it thins out after leaving the major population areas, but not today. And then there was the perpetually-under-construction area around Belton/Temple. I’m pretty sure there was construction in that area when I went to college in 1967, and I don’t think it’s ever not been under construction. Does anybody know whose brother-in-law got that eternal contract?

By the time I turned off the interstate onto a state road, fog had set in. In places, it was only about ¼ mile visibility. That slowed me right down, but I hated to hold up the traffic behind me who were probably local people who didn’t want to be slowed down, so I did the best I could. It wasn’t the road, just the fog. Which turned into low clouds with rain in them. In some places it was both.

I did learn another lesson, though, which is to keep the camera up front when I’m driving. I stopped at a traffic light in Hillsboro and got a perfect view of their lovely courthouse out my driver’s side window. I could have gotten a great picture if I’d had my camera.

I went the 30 miles or so to Cleburne and couldn’t find any of the highway signs I expected. Stopped at a gas station and the combined clientele gave me good instructions to the campground. When I asked them about how much farther, they said oh, it’s a ways. Which made me brace myself for another 30 miles or so. But from the gas station it was only 12 more miles.

The campground seems to be a really nice one, and it’s nearly empty. Of course, it’s February and it’s cold and rainy. I had my pick of all 16 of the sites in this section. When I stopped, plugged us in to the electricity and started walking the dogs, there must have been hundreds of birds singing nearby. It was a cacophony. And after about 10 minutes it turned off like a spigot. I don’t know – maybe it was bedtime.

It really is a nice campground and I’m sorry we can’t stay an extra day. But I need to present my RV at the dealer in Alvarado by as close to 9:00 as possible, so too bad, not happening.

McKinney Falls

Thursday, 22 February 2018

McKinney Falls State Park, Austin, TX

I hadn’t thought about this until I lived in Alaska, but what’s called a subsistence lifestyle is very time consuming. It takes an enormous amount of time and effort to stay warm, dry, and fed. Realizing this gave me a new appreciation for what life must have been like for the early American Natives and the westward-ho pioneers.

It often takes longer to do basic tasks than I expect it will. Which puts me way behind on the non-basic tasks I’ve been wanting to do.

For example, I was too frazzled to write yesterday, or to do much of anything once I’d finally gotten us settled in our camping spot here at McKinney Falls. The drive from Corpus Christi was one long fight with a very strong and squirrely wind. It didn’t seem to matter which direction the road was taking us,  the wind still shoved us so much I had to hang on tight to the steering wheel to keep us on the road. That meant I couldn’t go any faster than 55 without risking losing control, and that meant that our trip lasted a great deal longer than I'd planned.

Nice scenery, though. Flat southern Texas giving way to some hills and trees. Nice little towns. I don’t remember ever noticing a small town named Berclair between Beeville and Goliad, but it must once have been special – some very fancy houses along the main street.

I was stunned to see the Bee County Courthouse.  Can you see all the gilt?

Bee County Courthouse

Courthouse detail

Today I was doing some make-up from what I couldn’t do a week ago when I left town.

I stopped to get help from my friend and computer blog expert Janice Friesen. I first learned about Janice’s service from a newspaper article that said she was helping someone set up a blog. It occurred to me that a blog was the way to deal with all the friends and relatives who said send me an email now and then to say what you’re doing. Her service is called "I'm Not A Geek"  http://helpimnotageek.blogspot.com/ ” and she’s not. But she does know how to figure out how to do things on a computer, and she can teach anybody else how to do it, too. I know because she taught me to, which means anybody could learn. This blog is entirely thanks to her.

Then I took the critters to the vet, which is something I’d intended to do last week but ran out of time for. I’ve been going to Hyde Park Animal Clinic for the last 10 years, and could only get in because my mom was a client and had taken my cat in once when I was visiting. The clinic stopped accepting new human clients ages ago – they had plenty of business with the ones they already had. Good people.

Then I went to my mom’s house intending to finish cleaning it out, since I hadn’t been able to finish last week. It’s still not done. I’ll have to go by early tomorrow morning. Silly me, I spent part of the afternoon using the running water that I don’t have in the RV: I washed the dishes (!) and washed the clothes and washed me, all of which left less time than I expected. It was after 4:00 when we left Momma's house. But most of what I have to do tomorrow is figure out where to stash things while toting them to Goodwill, which is doable. The buyers are taking their final walk-through around 10 before they sign closing papers, so I can get over and out of there before that.

Then I have a few more errands – replacing Dexter’s collar he split in two while charging at another dog (is there really intelligent life on this planet?) - and so forth. Closing for me is at 1:00, and then I high-tail it out of town to make it to Cleburne State Park, south of Fort Worth. That’s only down the road from the MHSRV place that’s going to fix my little problems on Saturday. I’ll relax after all that.