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?