2020 Trip to Texas

[JEBar]

checking more items off of our pre-trip list .... our truck is in the shop for its annual service .... hopefully it will come out good to go for the trip .... replaced 2 burned out 8" florescent bulbs in a ceiling light fixture ... water filter housing disassembled, leaned, reassembled .... mouse traps set as a precaution

[JEBar]

things are tightening up .... its a good we started getting ready early because its only 18 days, with Christmas and New Yeartoeay's s among them, remaining until we are slated to pull out for Texas .... today's pretty much a washout but the good news is, a string of dry weather is on tap .... most of the things related to out truck and camper that need to be checked off have been taken care of .... we now have to begin working on the list of things to be taken care of so as to button up our home and local concerns for 3 months

[JEBar]

just checked the Christmas weather forecast for Willis, TX where we will spend our first three weeks in Texas .... a high of 70 really sounds good to us ..

[JEBar]

just got back from filling/topping off propane tanks .... our camper has 2 40 lb tanks, our daughter's has 2 30 lb tanks, we run our smoker on a 40 and have multiple 20's and 1 10lb tank that we run our grill on .... took 145 pounds .... our daughter's camper should be good for 3 or more years, our smoker for a year, our grill for a yer and our camper should go through something over one tank while we are in Texas

[JEBar]

more small items checked off .... programmed fuel stop locations on our way to Texas into our Garmin .... on hand fuel treatment checked, no need to buy more prior to the trip, all mouse traps empty (that's a good thing ), Texas Rising series being saved on our Wally, lube for Bigfoot Leveling pistons purchased, decided to not have our camper and truck power washed until our return

[JEBar]

first scheduled fuel stop 411 miles .... just over 50 gallons of fuel onboard .... trying to decide if I should throw in a few more gallons for insurance .... paranoia will probably prevail and we'll take on another 20 or so gallons .... entire trip routing entered in our Garmin ..... time's drawing near, pretty much down to food and other last minute packing .... with the holidays behind us, we are looking more and more forward to heading for Texas

[JEBar]

it appears our weather luck stands true to form .... the forecast for where we are booked to spend our first three weeks in Texas calls for sunny sky and warm temps for the day we arrive and the following day .... cooler temps and rain is mentioned in the forecast for the next seven consecutive days ..

[JEBar]

our pre-trip preparations today will be focused on our truck .... taking on additional fuel and shoveling out the truck's interior are our priorities .... with rain moving in later tomorrow we also hope to get as much as possible moved into the camper and packed away .... I'd really like to be hooked up and pretty much ready to pull out by late tomorrow .... it appears it will be raining during much of our first day's drive .... nothing new about that ..

[BigAl52]

Looks like a power wash will be done after all then.

[JEBar]

while I was wrestling with one of our cold 50 amp extension chords in an effort to coil it for storage, I noticed just how much our camper needs a serious cleaning .... the reality is, if it was spotless, there is no way it would stay that way for more than a few minutes Saturday morning ... a couple of years back we found a car wash in Columbus, TX that I can run it through ....might do that when we are around there in February

so far as I know, the truck is ready to hit the road and the camper is pretty dang close .... the forecast for Friday morning has been consistent for the last few days .... that being steady rain with the temp in the upper 50's .... we are going to make a strong effort tomorrow to have her where we need to do as little as possible prior to hitting the road

[BigAl52]

You gotta love those 50 amp cords. Always used a round clothes basket to stuff the last one in. New rig has a spool that works quite well. But when there cool it adds some pleasure to the winding up of one.

[JEBar]

yep, a cold 50 amp RV power cord can and usually is a bear to coil up for storage .... in addition to our OEM cord I have two additional ones .... both have been retro fitted to having male and female 50 amp plugs .... I use them as extension cord .... don't need one all that often but when we do, there isn't a substitute .... today we do hope to finish packing all but literally last minute items and to get her hooked up ....

[JEBar]

well, sometimes weeks of planning actually pay off .. .. as forecasted, weather radar shows a large area of rain moving in on us from the south west .... exactly when it will get here in earnest is still open to question but at most its a matter of a few hours .... our camper's slides are in and she's hooked up to our truck .... all that remains for in the morning it to throw in a few last minute items .... if the rain is as heavy as predicted, we may well throw them into the back seat of the truck instead of opening up the camper .... once the truck is cranked and the camper's 50 amp power cord is stored, we will be ready to head for Heritage RV Park in Augusta, GA

[JEBar]

well, the forecast was right .... its raining ... not pouring but raining nonetheless .... per the weather radar, we should pull out of the rain and it be partly cloudy with the temp in the low to mid 60's when we arrive in Augusta .... we hope to pull out around 9AM

[JEBar]

its almost never good to start a post with the comment "the wrecker should be here in an hour or so" .... well, that's the case .... as is our norm, drove out into the field beside the house to turn our rig around .... about half way she ran over a soft spot and sank .... after an hour of digging and we'd moved it the length of one of our set of ramps .... wrecker called .... cancelled trip for today and hope to get on the road in the morning

[JEBar]

she's out of the swamp, parked beside the house (headed out) .... hopefully things will go better in the morning ..

[BigAl52]

Have a safe trip tomorrow Jim and stay out of the mud.

[JEBar]

certainly hope to be able to do just that .... back in February we stayed in a park during a rainy spell that coated our truck with a reddish color that was fairly tough to wash off .... a high pressure car wash wouldn't do the job, to remove it required hand washing with a brush .... don't plan on going back to that park this trip ... I am glad we didn't pay to have our truck and camper power washed a couple of weeks ago

[JEBar]

delighted to say, after an uneventful days drive, we are setup in Heritage RV Park in Augusta, GA .... very nice site ... $35, 50 amp, full hookup .... we covered 305.3 miles in 4 hr 58 min .... one rest stop about half way .... beautiful but cool 57 degrees .... on tap for tomorrow, 339 mi that Google Maps says will take 4 hr 42 min as we move to Sherling Lake RV Park in Greenville, AL .... it should take us about 2 hours into tomorrow's drive to reach Atlanta .... hopefully, we can get around the east side with minimal drama .... our only planned stop tomorrow is to take on fuel at a Pilot just south of Atlanta

[JEBar]

we are up and about as usual for a travel day .... we hope to be able get on the road 9AM for a projected 339 mi / 4 h 46 min drive to Greenville, AL .... all but a few miles will be on interstate highways .... as noted earlier, as usual, the joker in today's deck is what type of traffic we will face going around Atlanta ....