How to Help Hurricane Harvey Relief Efforts

Being from Houston, I am pained by the devastation from Hurricane Harvey. Looking to help, I began gathering a list of organizations focused on the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. Because I have seen numerous posts from people seeking similar information, I decided to post this list and share with anyone interested.

I will be updating this list over time. Currently, it focuses on the Houston metropolitan area. I plan to expand it to include the Rockport area, Beaumont/Orange area, and western Louisiana. Click on the underlined name to go to the related site.

While organizations like the American Red Cross and The Salvation Army are dong great work helping the victims of Hurricane Harvey, I have tried to focus on organizations based in the area. If you know of any groups in the area I have not listed, message me. 

Cash

It is counter intuitive, but cash donations may provide the greatest leverage for helping people. The reason is relief organizations can purchase goods in bulk at a discount. In addition, a nonprofit does not have to pay sales tax on items it purchases. There are many fine organizations working to assist with the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. The following is a brief list of some of these organizations. 

• Houston Food Bank
• Galveston County Food Bank
• Corpus Christi Food Bank
• Coastal Bend Recover Group - Regional nonprofit that addresses the unmet needs of Coastal Bend area residents affected by disaster
• Texas Diaper Bank - Federal relief does not include diapers
• Greater Houston Community Foundation - Established by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner for Houston area victims affected by the floods
• United Way of Greater Houston - 100% of donations goes to help victims in the Greater Houston Area. You can designate the county in which the funds are spent.
• Coalition for the Homeless - Houston area organization helps homeless people get back into housing.

Amazon Wish Lists

If you're like me, you prefer giving goods to specific organizations to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey. These are some of the Amazon wish lists I have identified:

• Austin Pets Alive
• SPCA of Texas
• Animal Defense League of Texas
• Refugee Services of Texas
• Texas Diaper Bank
• Pughearts of Houston - Full Disclosure - Deb and I are active with this group, and fostered several pugs through the group before we went full time. The goods are being collected to help volunteers and the pugs they are fostering who are victims of Hurricane Harvey.
• Wolfe Elementary - School located in Katy, Texas providing shelter for displaced individuals
• Abundant Life Christian Center - LaMarque area church providing relief efforts to the area.
• George R Brown Convention Center - One of the largest shelters on the Houston area
• Port Aransas Hurricane Relief - A crowdfunding relief effort organized by Nathan Clark, a Port Aransaas resident and business owner

Disaster Averted. I WAS WRONG

Yesterday, while driving from Salt Lake City to Mountain View, Idaho to watch the eclipse, Deb noticed the 5^th wheel was leaning far to the driver side. I thought it wasn’t a big deal; she did. I was wrong. Let me repeat that – I WAS WRONG. One of the leaf springs had broken off the suspension.

We were only 2 miles away from the RV dealer/repair shop next to the RV park we had camped in, and we were able to get there before anything else happened. Further inspection found that a bracket on one of the leaf springs had broken and the leaf spring had twisted. That surprised me because we had replaced the leaf springs the week before. From talking to the person who replaced the springs and the head of the repair shop at the RV dealer, I realized our suspension was not strong enough for our trailer. The trailer weighs around 18,500 pounds, and the suspension was designed for a maximum of 14,000 pounds. That explained why we had had so much trouble with parts of the suspension breaking.

We have to replace the suspension. It will take about two weeks for the parts to get here. We are upgrading to 20,000 pound independent suspension. During that time we will remain in SLC. Have had to cancel our stops fpr the next couple of weeks. I t looks like we will not make it to British Columbia this trip.

We are fortunate on many fronts. (1) We could move the trailer to the RV park next door by replacing the leaf spring. (2) The RV park worked with us to find a space for our trailer for two week, so we can stay in our trailer while we waited for the part. (3) We didn’t break down in the middle of the nowhere, and are safe. (4) We can afford the cost to replace the suspension.

Trying to figure out if we can get up to Idaho to see the eclipse. It looks like hotel prices have started to come down. And we have a parking pass in Smiths Ferry to watch the eclipse. We may drive up to Boise on Sunday, then to Smiths Ferry the next day. Won’t decide until later today.

Island Falls, Idaho to Mossleigh, Alberta (7/3 – 7/9)

Driving from Yellowstone to Alberta, we would have preferred to stop once at Great Falls, MT before crossing the border. We had to leave the park near Yellowstone on July 3 because it was fully booked beginning that day. Unfortunately, none of the parks near Great Falls were available until July 4. I was able to find a spot in Bozeman, MT which is about halfway between Yellowstone and Great Falls. While staying in Bozeman was unintended, it worked out for the best as we were able to have dinner with and catch up Aaron Howard, a 2014 New Finalist who had camped with us, and his girlfriend Sarah.

We liked Bozeman. Although about the size of Kerrville (population of around 38,000), the city is thriving with many of the amenities you would expect in a much larger community. Specifically surprising to me – a Costco. According to Aaron and Sarah, the presence of major information companies like Google and Facebook is a major factor for Bozeman’s growth. Montana State University is there, which has several renowned science related programs

Since the drive from Island Falls to Bozeman was relatively short, less than 1.5 hours, I had time in Bozeman to take the Beast to the Ford dealership to have its 60,000 mile oil change. Incredible to think that during the less than two years we have owned the truck we have travelled that much.

The next day, July 4, we drove to Great Falls to stay for three days to stock up on goods and supplies which were less expensive in the States. While slightly larger than Bozeman, Great Falls felt very different. It is a mining and refinery town, as evidenced by the main street being named Smelter Avenue. Surprisingly, the town had very little 4^th of July activities going on.

Friday, July 7 we headed to Lethbridge, Alberta for the night. Crossing the border into Canada was less eventful than the first time. No questions about “Where are your guns? Where did you store them?” Instead just some perfunctory questions about the reasons for visiting, length of our stay, and how did Deb end up in the States.

Why Lethbridge you ask? To see John Wort Hannam perform. John was a New Folk contestant and winner in 2007. He claims he would not have won except for us. At the time, John was living in Fort Macleod, Alberta, smaller than the average attendance of the Festival. When he walked into the Mixmaster, the entrance to the Festival campgrounds, John was overwhelmed by the number of people and activity. He sat down on his luggage, called his wife, and told her he couldn’t do the contest and had to return home. She told him that was fine but he had to go down to our camp to tell us he would not be staying with us. Being a good husband, John did as he was told. When he appeared at our camp, I greeted him with a welcome hug and asked if he needed a beer. That apparently was enough to convince him to stay around for a while.

We were excited to be able to see John perform. We hadn’t seen him in over 6 years, just before the birth of his son, Charlie. We thought the show was to be a concert with John as the headliner – we were wrong. It was a musical theater revue with a salute to Canada’s 150^th anniversary as the theme with John as the musical guest. They asked for a show of hands as to who was not from Canada. Of the three, I was the only native born U.S. citizen. They were surprised we were from Texas, and more so when we said the reason we were there was to watch John perform, and for cooler weather which they had failed miserably at since it was a high of 101 that day. John performed two songs during each of the two acts, but only one was an original. The others, at the request of the revue, were covers of Canadian artists. As one of the songs was Four Strong Winds by Ian Tyson, Deb’s dad’s favorite song, they were forgiven. At intermission, we found someone to tell John we were in the audience. He came bounding out like a puppy for a snack. He told us he had heard some people from Texas were in the audience but never in his wildest imagination did he think it would be us. We talked to him during intermission and after the show, and set up breakfast the next morning to meet his wife and son.

Breakfast the next day was outstanding. Catching up with John and getting to know his wife and son was a great joy. For those of you who are John Wort Hannam fans, he is planning to record a new album later this year. Also, the Italian sausage breakfast sandwich I had was incredible, putting a Whataburger Breakfast on a Bun to shame. After breakfast, we returned to the trailer, packed up and drove to Mossleigh, Alberta. More about that in the next post.

Custer to Yellowstone (6/25 – 7/3)

The time to drive directly from Custer to Yellowstone is around 10 hours. As we prefer our drives to be between 3 to 5 hours with a maximum of 8 hours, we decided to break the drive into three parts.

The first stop was Devil’s Tower, WY. Devil’s Tower National Monument was the first declared National Monument. You may remember it as a key plot feature in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (For fans, in September, the movie will be re-released for its 40th anniversary http://io9.gizmodo.com/close-encounters-of-the-third-kind-is-flying-back-into-1796651191

Our campground (the KOA Devils' Tower) was next to the gate to the monument. After setting up the 5th wheel, we visited the monument and walked around it. Devil’s Tower is a sacred site to several Indian tribes. During our walk we saw numerous prayer bundles, which represent a person making an offering, a request, or simply in remembrance of a person or place. Climbing is a very popular activity at Devil’s Tower. As June is a culturally significant time to the tribes for which the butte is sacred, the National Park Service asks visitors to voluntarily refrain from climbing Devil’s Tower during the month.

We left Devil’s Tower the next day to stop in Billings and stock up before driving to Yellowstone. Billings is the fastest growing city in Montana, and the only city in the state with over 100,000 people. William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition stopped in Billings in 1806. Since we were only there for a night, we didn’t get to see much of the city. However, I can see visiting in the future to see sites like Pompey Pillar and Pictograph Cave.

From Billings, we drove to Valley View RV Park in Island Park, ID, which is about 30 minutes west of Yellowstone National Park. It was the nearest place we could find that close to the 4^th of July holiday weekend. Because specific sites had been booked at different times halfway through our stay we had to move to a different site. That move led to a slight hiccup to our plans to be at Yellowstone by 9.

We were able to raise the stabilizers hook up to the truck, move 50 yards to the new spot, lower the stabilizers, and unhook. Then the challenge arrived. After Deb pressed the autostabilizer button, the front stabilizers lowered Beauty (the nickname of our 5^th wheel), stopped, then began making a loud clicking sound. As you can imagine, that is not supposed to happen. Checking the control panel, I saw a “low voltage” error message. I did a Google search for “LCI electronic leveling low voltage” and found that the culprit could possibly be a shorted out control panel or a loose wire in the system. Neither of those problems were ones I could repair. Talked to the park manager, who gave me the card of a mobile RV repair technician.

Called and left a message for Randy. His greeting noted that he often was in places with no cell coverage and it might be a while until he returned the call. While waiting for Randy to call back, we tried several different things to no avail. After 30 minutes, Randy called back to say he could fit us in but would have to charge a premium since it was a Saturday and he was trying to get home. Considering living in an unlevel 5^th wheel is no fun, I told him I understood and would happily pay. He told me he would probably be at our spot in two hours.

Relief that a possible solution was found apparently opened my mind to thinking. After ending the call, I went to the trailer’s battery storage area and inspected the cables. I found that one of the connections had become loose. I tightened the connection by hand, then tried the autostabilizer. It worked. Can I get a Hallelujah and an Amen. Relief swept over me. Deb was much happier. I immediately called Randy to tell him I found a solution. Again, reached his greeting. He called back ten minutes later and was very gracious. Before hanging up he asked me to thank the Valley View managers for him. I told him I had already done so, and that they loved him.

As for Yellowstone National Park, what an amazing place. After visiting I can easily understand why Theodore Roosevelt worked so hard make it the United States’ first National Park. The variety of topology and the vistas are majestic.

Yellowstone has the largest population (approximately 5,500) of free range Bison in the United States. It is the only place where Bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times. Bison are very quick and agile animals. The Park Service tells visitors to stay at least 25 yards away when viewing a Bison. However, many Yellowstone Bison don’t know this rule.

It appears that Bison have become so used to people in the park that they pretty much understand that they have the right of way.

During our visit, we saw all the required highlights:

Old Faithful

Waterfalls

Mud Volcanoes

Crossed the Continental Divide twice

That is a little bit of a taste of our trip. Next week, we will be on the road to Canada.

Happy Independence Day

While 4th of July is celebrated as Independence Day, it is also Independence Day for me and Deb. As the country celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence at the Second Continental Congress by 12 of the 13 colonies by blowing things up, drinking beer, grilling hot dogs, and eating apple pie, Deb and I are celebrating our own freedom from tyranny - the tyranny of things, of work, of of living a life controlled by others. Two years ago today, we decided to get rid of our stuff, buy a RV, and travel the country. It was both a difficult and easy decision, and has been one of the best things we have ever done. While you are watching firecrackers and eating hot dogs, Deb and I will be toasting the freedom of the past two years, and the adventures to come - on the road.

Transit and the South Dakota Black Hills (6/18 - 6/26)

The first half of this week was spent preparing for our trip and making the transit from Houston to Custer, SD. Preparing means stocking up at Costco and HEB.

The Transit to Custer took almost 20 hours over 3 days. Stops included Oklahoma City and Ogallala, NE. The trip was fairly uneventful except for temperatures reaching 104 degrees on the drive through Nebraska.

In Custer, we are staying at Broken Arrow Horse Camp and RV Park. About half the campers here are horse owners who have brought their horses to ride in the country. This is the first time Pancho and Lefty have met horses. They seem to think horses are just larger dogs.

Friday was my birthday. Many of you wished me to have a great day, and I did. We started the day with a hearty breakfast at Skogen Kitchen, a fairly new restaurant. We then drove to Mount Rushmore National Monument. As most of you know, Mount Rushmore is comprised of four 60 foot busts of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. Gutzon Borglum designed the monument and oversaw its construction, which started in 1927 and was completed in 1941. The Lincon Borglum Visitor Center houses a museum with exhibits that tell the story of Gutzon Borglum, the creation of Mount Rushmore and the workers who helped. Outside the Visitor Center is a terrace with a view of the monument. The Visitor Center is the start and end of the Presidential Trail, a .6 mile loop that takes you closer to the monument.

Following Mount Rushmore, we drove back towards Custer to visit the Crazy Horse Memorial. The Crazy Horse Memorial is the world's largest mountain carving n progress. When completed, it will be 563 feet high and 641 feet long. Crazy Horse's face, which was completed in 1998, is 87.5 feet high. For reference, each of the heads on Mount Rushmore is 60 feet high. If you don't know, Crazy Horse was an Oglala Lakota war leader who defeated General George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn. In 1939, Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota Elder, wrote Korczak Ziolkowski, who was working on the Mount Rushmore memorial under Gutzon Borglum, inviting him to create a mountain tribute to North American Indians after reading that he had won first prize for his Carrara marble portrait, “PADEREWSKI, Study of an Immortal,” at the New York World’s Fair  It is operated by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit organization, and receives no federal or state funding. In addition to the mountain carving, the memorial master plan includes an Indian University of North America, an Indian Museum of North America, and a Native American Cultural Center. The monument is being carved out of Thunderhead Mountain, on land considered sacred by some Oglala Lakota.

This a link to an album of photos from Mount Rushmore and the Cray Horse Memorial

We ended my birthday by walking around downtown Custer and eating dinner at Black Hills Burger and Bun. Throughout downtown Custer is a series of painted Buffalo statues which were installed as  part of the Custer Stampede Buffalo Art Auction. Here is a link to pictures of some of the statues. AS for the burger, it was outstanding (one of the best I have ever had), a good way to end my birthday.

On Saturday, Deb and I visited the Jewel Cave National Monument. With 181.89 miles (292.72 kilometers) of mapped passageways, Jewel Cave is the third longest cave in the world, after Mammoth Cave System in Kentucky and Sistema Sac Actun at the Yucatán Peninsula (Mexico). It is estimated the discovered areas in the cave account for only about 3 to 5% of the estimated total air volume of the cave. The cave volume is estimated by measuring the amount of air that the cave "exhales" when the outside air pressure drops and "inhales" when the outside air pressure rises.

Jewel Cave is a popular tourist attraction. When we arrived at 9, the earliest available tour was 11:40. We opted for a 1:00 pm tour and went off to traverse the Wildlife Loop at Custer State Park. Before leaving, we had to have our shoes disinfected for white-nose syndrome, a deadly disease that affects North American Bats, since we had been to a cave infected with the disease within the past year.

The Custer State Park Wildlife loop is an 18 mile paved trail through pine-covered hills, rolling prairies and red-walled canyons where you can see a variety of plains animals including bison, prairie dogs, pronghorn, white tail deer, elk, bighorn sheep, and burros. That day, the drive was pretty uneventful as we saw only pronghorn deer, prairie dogs, and burros - no bison. The burros are descendants of a pack that used to lead rides through the park. The burros are very docile, and while you are not supposed to feed them we did.

At Jewel Cave, we took  the Scenic Tour, a half-mile loop including 723 stair steps that showcase some of the best features of the cave. 95% of the known cave walls is covered calcite crystals. One of the highlights of the tour is a 10 foot strip of cave bacon, a form of flowstone, which is the longest in the world. 

An album with photos from Saturday can be found at this link.

Sunday, we visited Wind Cave National Park. Established in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt, it was the seventh national park, and the first cave designated a national park anywhere. Wind Cave is currently the sixth-longest cave in the world with 140.47 miles (226.06 km) of explored cave passageways. Like Jewel Cave, it is estimated less than 5% of the cave has been explored. Above ground, the park includes the largest remaining natural mixed-grass prairie in the United States.

Wind Cave was the first cave where boxwork, intersecting paper-thin calcite fins which form open chambers and protrude from the surrounding bedrock by amounts ranging from 1-1/2 to 3 feet, was found. 95% of all boxwork is located in Wind Cave.  To the Lakota Indians, Wind Cave is sacred as the place where they emerged from the spirit world to the natural world. 

The following link is an album of pictures from our visit to Wind Cave.

Today was a slow day for us. After a breakfast of fried eggs and green chili, Deb and I drove to Trout Haven Ranch, a rainbow trout farm that offers a pay for what you catch fishing hole. Deb had never been fishing before, so it seemed like fun. Using a cane pole, we caught 6 fish over an hour. While the hosts cleaned them we took a tour of the trout farm. 

On the return drive, we drove through Wind Cave National Park and Custer State Park. This time we were lucky as we were able to observe a herd of bison along the park road.

The following link is an album of pictures from our visit to Trout Haven Ranch, drive through Custer State Park, and our rainbow trout dinner.

Overall, Deb and I are glad we came to the Black Hills. It is beautiful country with many things to do. To be honest, I was surprised as to how much there was to do, and we just barely scratched the surface.

Does anyone want a postcard from Mount Rushmore or Crazy Horse Memorial? Leave a comment to the blog post as to which one you want, and I will randomly select people to send one to.

Finally, I received a call today that I have squamous cell skin cancer. It is the second most common form of cancer and very treatable I will be flying to Houston in two weeks to have it removed. While a slight hiccup to the travel, we will keep plugging.

Tomorrow, we leave for Yellowstone National Park.

Until next time, like Charles Kuralt, we will see you on the road.

Season Four (Summer/Fall 2017)

Deb and I are preparing to start our fourth season of our U.S. road trip. For Summer/Fall 2017, we will be traveling around the Western Plains States, Northwest U.S., and Western Canada. Our first stop - Custer, SD to see Mount Rushmore. Then we start roaming.

To help plan our trip, I have some questions for you:

• If we can go to only one Canadian Folk Music Festival, which one should we attend?
• Rodeo – Calgary Stampede or Cheyenne Frontier Days
• Should we visit Saskatchewan?

I describe this adventure as “I have seen places I have always wanted to see and places I did not know I wanted to see.” What are the unique and offbeat places in this region that I do not know that I want to see?

The number of people who tell me they have enjoyed the posts of our travels and are living vicariously through us surprises me. I am flattered that you are interested enough to take a few minutes out of your day to check on us while we have the time of our lives. Thank you.

To paraphrase Charles Kuralt – We hope to see you on the road

One Year on the Road

One year ago today, Deb, Pancho and Lefty, and I took off on our tour of the United States and Canada. Over the past year, we have visited 26 states and 5 provinces. With a little luck, we will add ten more states by November. We have seen places we have always wanted to see, and places we never knew we wanted to see. Tip – The U.S. Parks Interagency Pass is an outstanding bargain.

When we started talking about doing this trip, Deb continued to ask if I really wanted to do this. She never really believed me when I said yes. I grew up watching Charles Kuralt’s "On the Road” segments on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. Those stories captured my imagination, and have lived in the back of my mind since then. Such a dream seemed irresponsible I finally get to do it. Thank you Deb for wanting to do it and for taking the leap.

This trip has truly been a grand adventure. Deb and I have become closer. Pancho and Lefty seem to like the smaller space. We continue to evolve our travel style – trying to find the right pace. We’re committed to roaming for at least another year.

Thanks for letting me share these thoughts and post about our stops. To paraphrase Charles Kuralt - We’ll see you out here, on the road.

Our Next Three Stops

For the past two weeks, I have tried and failed to find a RV site near Savannah, Georgia. Parks in the area have been booked for months by people streaming into Savannah for St. Patrick’s Day. Until this year, I did not know St. Patrick’s Day was so big there. I am disappointed. However, Savannah is definitely on our radar the next time we travel through the Southeast. Thanks for your feedback.

Tomorrow, we will be heading to Asheville, North Carolina. We have many friends there and hope to see some of them. On Monday, we drive to Atlanta for a week. Deb will be fly to Hartford for two days for work. After that, we think we will be heading to Nashville. Any suggestions of things to do in the three cities will be appreciated. See you on the road.

How Are The Places Where We Have Camped

A friend asked “Question: How are the majority of the places you stay on these travels? Are many of the parks nice?”

Depends on what you mean by nice. RV parks range from primitive to luxe. We have found we don’t need to stay at the top of the line parks as we don’t need or use the high end amenities, like golf courses and spas. Our needs are pretty basic - reliable 50A power, water, sewage and a level site, preferably at least 20 feet wide.

We have hated only one park we stayed in, and that was because it had way too many rules, like prohibiting walking pets within the park’s confines and no parking on the street from 11 pm to 7 am. If we wanted a restrictive lifestyle we would have moved to a retirement community.

The primitive parks have their advantages – rustic environment, quiet, lots of space – but don’t have sewage. That means either using their facilities, which often aren’t the cleanest, or using the sewage dump. Depending on how often I used the shared facilities (Deb won’t go there unless absolutely necessary) we have to dump every two or three days. We don’t have a portable waste tank, so we don’t often stay in the more rustic parks. We are considering buying one because we have enjoyed our stays in the parks that don’t offer sewage and it would give us more flexibility in choosing a place to camp.

As for safety, I have never felt unsafe in any of the parks we have stayed. Some may not have been in the best part of town, but most are fenced in and have controlled access. We try not to stay in the parks that have a reputation for having a large number of permanent tenants who do not take care of their property or for not being well maintained. We rely on online resources and apps like Good Sam Club, RV Park Reviews, and RVParky to research locations.

To summarize, most of the place at which we have camped have been clean and have met our needs, so I would say they have been pretty nice. We would return to most of the places at which we have camped.

Thank you to the 60 people who voted in our survey of where to visit next. Overwhelmingly, you told us to visit Charleston and Savannah. You can see the results here (Where to Stay Next Survey) Based on your input, our itinerary for the next three weeks is as follows:

  3/7 - 3/11 - Saint Augustine, Florida
3/11 - 3/16 - Charleston, South Carolina
3/16 - 3/22 - Savannah, Georgia
3/22 - 3/29 - Atlanta, Georgia

We expect to tour around the southeast through the end of April then begin the trek back to Houston and Kerrville for the Kerrville Folk Festival.

A post from Deb

Ok, its been roughly four months since Lindsey and I "went on the road" in the fifth wheel and people want to know how I like it. I can honestly say, I've never been happier in my life. It has been a grand adventure so far, not without bumps, but generally, the time of my life.

I won't rehash our journey since Lindsey posts every aspect of our travels (feel free to hide us if it is too much sharing). But we spent four months roaming the southwestern portion of the US. Saw a lot of friends around the area and hope to see more as we go. After Christmas, we're heading east, through the south to Florida and the keys. In general, we only plan about 2 weeks out so I don't have an exact timetable.

So what makes this lifestyle pretty perfect for me right now? It is a combination of freedom and stability. Adventure but with the comforts of home when I want it. Being on vacation....without having to go back to work completely exhausted from the trip with a suitcase full of dirty clothes and a ton of everyday chores to get caught up on. And yes, we really do have all the comforts of home...full kitchen, dishwasher, washer/dryer, a real shower, a real bed, internet access and cable tv. Really. It is a complete home.

Do we feel cramped? Not really. Despite having a huge house, we actually "lived" in a very small portion of it. And we do a lot of things outside the trailer....that is the point of the journey. And the huge upside of a smaller space? The liberation of less stuff. And the liberation of not being tempted to buy more stuff because I don't really have the space.

Is towing a 38 foot trailer with the big ass dually F-350 scary? It gets easier all the time...and yes, I drive when we're towing it on a regular basis. Yes, we hauled the trailer over the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado without incident (although it certainly was an adventure). The learning curve has, as expected, been steep. But we've mastered it pretty well. We can set up camp or pack camp up in about 30 minutes...45 if we're in a hurry.

How have the boys handled it? The puglets LOVE being road dogs. They've made the trailer home and love getting to ride in the truck when we move. In fact, they are getting better and better at recognizing the "moving" routine and yodel until its time to get in the truck (where they sit and wait to be lifted in). In short, perhaps my biggest relief has been how much they've thrived.

Any regrets? Not really. I imagine we'll continue to refine some of the details of daily living but on balance, we're having a such a good time that I think we made a good choice for us. Traveling by road is a different (and broader) experience that flying somewhere and that has been great for us. Probably the closest I get to regret is that I didn't learn the important life lesson until the last few years that experiences matter more than possessions. When I'm old, I hope to have a lot of great memories and not a lot of "stuff" (and if my memory goes, I won't need stuff anyway).

Any surprises? A few. A little surprised by how many kids live in RVs full time (with parents). The RV park in north Houston actually has a bus stop out front for kids whose essentially live in the park and go to school. I would have expected kids during the summer but there have been kids in almost every RV park we've stayed at this fall. Also surprised as how kind and friendly the truckers have been. We usually try to fill up (with diesel) before we hook up to tow but often, we have to fuel while towing and the easiest place to do that (height and length issues) is truck stops. And the drivers have all been very friendly and helpful.

Any place we loved or hated? We've pretty much enjoyed everywhere we've been. They've all had their charms, whether small towns or cities. And their downsides. Loved Santa Fe and Durango, but the altitude it tough for folks like us who are used to sea level. Generally thought Phoenix was a little "meh" but I did have one of the best bahn mi sandwiches ever there. Sedona was beautiful but a little to hippy dippy even for me.

So, to all the people who have asked, life in the RV is great. I realize its one of those things people talk about doing but few people ever pull the trigger but I am delighted that Lindsey and I did jump off the deep end into this lifestyle. I really can't imagine living any other way right now, especially when we're still young enough and healthy enough to enjoy it. And to everyone who has said "I could never do that", I'd urge you not to sell yourself short. Lindsey and I probably seem like the most unlikely people to do this and yet, I can't endorse it heartily enough.

So Merry Christmas and stay tuned for more from the road.

How We Plan our Travels

Dubravka Romano asked do we have a plan for travel or do we wake up every morning and say “where shall we go today?”

Currently, a little bit of both. We have been touring for less than a month, so how we make our plans is still in flux. We do have targets, for example we want to be in Moab for the Moab Folk Festival from November 5 to November 8, will be in Austin for Christmas, and need to find some time to return to Houston to repair Deb’s BoBo. With a goal in place, we start to fill in. Major considerations are (a) a location we can reach in a day, generally no more than 300 miles away and (b) can we find a park with an open spot. As we are heading west to Moab, our next stops will be in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Once we are in Albuquerque we will pick our next stops. Not sure if we will travel through Colorado along the eastern or western Rockies. We do try to make reservations at least a day in advance - learned that traveling through Europe

A few things we have picked up over the past three weeks.

• Do not plan to go out at the end of a travel day. Driving 15 tons is physically tiring. After setting up the camper, all you want to do is veg.
• Two nights is too short a period for a stop if you want to visit a location. After a travel day, there is generally a need to do some kind of general maintenance like clean the trailer or wash clothes.
• Mondays are excellent travel days. Many museums or other sites of interest are not open on Monday. Also interstate traffic is less busy than on the weekend.
• We have taken heed to the RVers adage given to us by Gus Sterneman and Kevin Hedgecock – “Out by 10, in by 4.”

On the Road - Finally

Yesterday, Deb and I finally hit the road. Is it permanent – no! We have to return to Houston later in October or November to repair the window and siding as well as the warranty work for items that were broken when we picked up the trailer.

A slight digression. It amazes me how slow the supply chain is in the RV industry. It often takes 3 to 6 weeks for parts to be found and delivered, then another two weeks before the repair shop can fit you in.

Before we could take off, we had to take the RV to DeMontrond one more time to fix the washer. We had taken the trailer in three times previously because the washer shook so bad it felt like a 6.0 earthquake.

We first found the issue while at the Kerrville Folk Festival. Deb decided to wash clothes. The washer’s shaking was so bad that the dryer began falling off. I wasn’t in the trailer at the time. Deb spent the next 30 minutes holding the dryer in place until the washer finished. When I returned I found Deb crying wondering if we had made a grave mistake. I tried to console her, but I am not very good at that. The support she received from friends after she posted something on Facebook about second guessing the decision helped more than anything else.

Tuesday, a Whirlpool repair person visited the trailer, and in less than 5 minutes identified the problem. The service people at DeMontrond had left the shipping bolts in the back of the washer, which caused the washer to be imbalanced and was tearing the washer’s back panel. Called DeMontrond and had the Whirlpool person talk to the service person at DeMontrond, scheduled an appointment the next day.

BTW, if you are wondering why we keep taking the trailer to DeMontrond, we bought the trailer from them, the installed the washer, and they are the only shop in Houston licensed to perform warranty repairs for DRV.

Wednesday, we packed up the trailer, checked out of the RV park, and dropped off the fifth wheel at DeMontrond. Since the repairs were expected to take 4 hours, we needed something to do. Took the Boys to PetSmart to be bathed and groomed, went to breakfast, and then hung out at the Barnes and Noble in the Woodlands Mall for a couple of hours. Picked up Pancho and Lefty around 1, returned to DeMontrond and waited in the lobby. Picked up the trailer around 2:30. Repair people swore the washer was finally fixed. Didn’t have time to run a load. (Note: we tried a load later, it appears to finally be repaired. Yea!)

Deb decided she was ready to try driving the trailer again, so she took the wheel. Plugged in our destination into Waze, and off we went.

Our first destination is Rainbow’s End, an RV park in Livingston, Texas operated by Escapees. Escapees is one of many clubs that offer discounted camping and other support services for full time RVers. We are members. We chose Rainbow’s End as our first stop not because it is the home base (i.e. Mecca) for Escapees, but because it offers a program called SmartWeigh. According to its website, SmartWeigh provides a much more accurate and detailed weighing of recreational vehicles than if you go to a standard weigh station. It is one of Escapees’ many educational programs. Considering the limited information given to the RV buyers by dealers, any information about using an RV is valuable.

Livingston is about 75 miles northeast of Houston. It is on the southeastern edge of the Big Thicket. For those of you either not from Texas or who are unaware, the Big Thicket is a heavily forested area in east Texas. It is part of the Piney Woods, one of the largest contiguous forests in the United States.

Most of the drive to Livingston was uneventful. Basically, get on US 59/I-69 and go. There was one hiccup. We missed the exit for the road to Rainbow’s End. A quick search on Waze identified two routes. One involved a U-turn on US 59 back to FM 1988, the other a drive down Windham Ranch Road. Deb was worried about performing a U-turn, so we took Windham Ranch Road. What Waze failed to tell us was that Windham Road started out as a paved road but soon became a one lane gravel road for 2 miles. 

I could tell Deb was nervous, but she did well. Two times we met up with an oncoming vehicle. The first was a Jeep. The driver pulled over as far to his side of the road as he could, and we crept by without a problem. The second vehicle was more challenging, as it was another fifth wheel. Fortunately, we met at a straight stretch of the road. Because it was so tight, no one could get out of the tow vehicles to observe and direct. Passing each other was like a very slow hippopotamus mating dance. We would creep up a few feet, the other trailer would move forward a few feet, then repeat. After about 5 minutes, the dance was complete and we were able to move on.

After that, no other problems, well except a GFCI breaker blew and we can’t find the switch. Wouldn’t be an issue except the dishwasher is on that circuit. With a little luck, that will be resolved today.

We have set up camp and will be around Livingston, Texas for two days. No real plans other than to sweep and vacuum the trailer. Yes, that is part of Living the Dream, keeping your RV clean. If you have any suggestions of things to do while in Livingston, let us know. 

L² out.

An Inauspicious Start Day 1 – Low Riding

Almost immediately after I had posted the picture of the truck and the trailer and had started driving, friends posted comments that the truck seemed to be riding low. For a while, I tended to dismiss them because the suggested causes didn’t make sense to me:

• You need a bigger truck – We have an F-350. It can haul trailers 3-tons heavier than our fifth wheel;
• Need to check the weight distribution – Weight distribution hadn’t changed since we picked up the trailer. Everything was balanced.
• The hitch was installed improperly – The truck included the fifth wheel package, where the guides for the hitch were integrated into the frame

As the messages regarding the truck riding low in the rear continued to be posted to my Facebook page, Deb’s worries grew. Finally, like most stubborn men, I agreed to stop to check things. Besides it was almost time for lunch. As we were near Columbus, we planned to stop at Pilsner’s; however, by the time we saw it, it was too late to stop. So, we headed a mile down the road to Jerry Mikeska’s Barbecue. After eating marginal barbecue, we looked at the truck and the fifth wheel. Yes, the back end was riding low. Checking for obvious issues, we observed that the air ride pin box was underinflated. We made plans to stop at the next truck stop to add air.

An air ride pin box is an attachment to the trailer that uses a series of air shocks to buffer the impact between the tow vehicle and the trailer. The air spring absorbs the road shocks that are transferred from the truck to the trailer. When it works, the air pin box produces a smooth, stabilized tow.

That settled, we returned to the road searching for a truck stop. From what we knew and a quick internet search, we determined the closest stop was in Luling at Love’s and Buc-ee’s. Our first stop was Loves, as it was on the same side of the highway we were driving on. Pulled up to the compressor, inserted $1.00 of quarters, and took the hose over to the trailer. Very quickly, I realized the hose fitting was too long and rigid to fit in the space between the trailer and the air pin to attach it to the air pin’s valve stem. Slightly frustrated, I got back in the truck and told Deb we were headed to the Buc-ee’s.

Deb pulled out of the Love’s parking lot, crossed 183, and turned left to drive under I-10 to Buc-ee’s. For those of you not from Texas, Buc-ee’s is like the Taj Mahal of Travel Center’s whose reputation rests on immense and sparkling clean bathrooms and Beaver Nuggets, which are sweet puffed corn. Driving through the parking lot, we searched for the air compressor. We saw it to the right about 200 yards from where we were. Deb drove to the end of the aisle and began turning right.

When driving a trailer, right turns are more difficult than left turns. Simple geometry as there is less space in which to turn. Often when turning right with a trailer, the driver will need to either pull over to the left side of the road before starting the turn, or turn into the oncoming lane then return to the right lane. As Deb was executing the right turn, I watched the right mirror. I soon realized if she continued she would hit a new Porsche Carrera someone had parked far away from the building so no one would ding their car. Good theory, but bad execution, as they had parked on the corner of one of the busier aisles. I told Deb to stop and described why. I got out of the truck and gave Deb directions that resulted in no damage to the vehicle and a successful right turn (FYI, this is foreshadowing). We then headed to the compressor.

When we arrived at the compressor, someone had just pulled in and was airing the tires on their truck and their 12 foot trailer. We waited patiently for 10 minutes. After they finished and left, we began to pull up to the compressor, but some guy in a Buick decided he needed air before us and pulled into the space. Apparently, Texas being an open carry state has not stopped people from being rude. We waited for him to finish (actually, I stewed), then pulled up to the compressor to fill the air pin. I checked the hose fitting, placed $1.50 of quarters in the machine, and then began to inflate the air pin. The only flaw in executing my plan was that the compressor’s maximum pressure was 72 pounds, and I needed 120 for the air pin box. More frustrated, we returned to the road and tried to figure out what to do next.

Deb suggested I call an RV dealer and ask them to help. Having dealt with RV dealers while looking for the trailer, I did not like the idea. However, with Deb giving me looks and me not having a better idea, I agreed to call. I searched Google and found three RV dealers about 20 miles down the road from us. One was the ExploreUSA RV Supercenter dealership in Seguin which was the first dealership we visited first during our search.  No way I was going there.

The top rated dealer that appeared in the Google search was San Antonio RVs in Seguin. I called them and described the problem, saying we needed help inflating the air pin and our tires. The person who answered the phone said they would be happy to help.

We arrived twenty minutes later. Talked to one of the guys at the front desk. They called Tom, the service manager. Tom looked at the truck and trailer and told me that adding air to the air pin would help and that he had a chuck to fit in the gap. Aired up the air pin then checked the truck tires and added air to the rear tires. He was the nicest guy. Didn't charge me for the assistance and gave me the chuck. Told me to call any time I had a question. I asked if I could buy him an adult beverage, and when he said yes I handed him $20. I asked him one last favor, back the trailer out onto the I-10 access road for us. Seeing it took him about 10 minutes to do that, I was glad I asked for help.

With the truck riding level, Deb took the wheel and we headed off to Kerrville.

 
Next up: Gate Post 1, Trailer 0.

Moving In

Sunday, September 13, 2015

We moved into the fifth wheel last Tuesday. Deb decided it was too frustrating to have half of our stuff in the house and the other half in the trailer. Now to get into the habit if referring to our former home as “the house” and the trailer as “our home”.

The Boys are with us and adapting nicely. They have learned to go up and down the stairs into the trailer and have found their places on the chairs and the couches.

We moved the trailer to the Northlake RV Resort. Much nicer than the trailer parks I grew up in when my father was on a geophysical crew. Less park and more subdivision for RVs. At the center is a retention pond to which they have added a fountain and stocked with fish. Several dog runs are available. So many trucks hear that I have begun to refer to this place as DuallyWord

Our neighbors are a young couple (early 20s) who have been on the road for 3-1/2 years. Chad is an electrical lineman contracting with Centerpoint. Marissa is working as a receptionist at a veterinarian. They follow the seasons (Midwest and Northwest in the summer, Texas and Florida in the winter) for contract work.

On Thursday, took the trailer to DeMontrond to get estimates on the repairs to the window and side and to repair items that we found broke during the shakedown run. Since they had to keep it overnight, we slept in the trailer on the property. That night, a hose under the sink disconnected, flooding the kitchen. Turned off the water, but that meant no flushing the toilet or showers on Friday morning. We will be taking it back to DeMontrond on Monday to finish the repairs they were making along with fixing a new plumbing leak.

During the day, we took the Boys with us to the house to continue clearing it out. Amazing how much stuff one accumulates over 20 years of marriage, and 12 years in one place. It seems that everything has a place, and every place has a thing. On Thursday, Deb’s sister and Mary Gibbs shared a mover to take most of our furniture (bedroom suites, shelves, office desk, televisions). All that is left are the two dining room tables and the couch in the living room.

Friday evening, picked up the trailer and returned it to Northlake. This Sunday will be the first day we do not go to the house to pick up stuff. As I type this, Deb is practicing scrambling eggs on her induction stove top.

If you are wondering if you missed the other posts about the shakedown trip, you did not. Been way too busy during the day moving stuff to have time to write. Don’t worry, there will be more about the shakedown trip to entertain you or make you think we are idiots.