Travels With Miranda

I had hoped to sleep in this morning, but once I was awake at 6:20, that was it. I said, “Neelix?” and one of the lumps in my bed rose and came to cuddle with me for about an hour.

Ms. Cinnamon told me to have coffee with her this morning, so I didn’t have to touch the kitchen. I just packed the office, checked my email on the iPad, and eventually went outside to fill up the water tank as well as a bunch of jugs. Just as I was finishing this, Ms. Cinnamon came to get me for coffee.

We lounged for a bit then headed out to buy me a new sewer hose. Her favourite RV supply place had just gone out of business, so we ended up back at Walmart.

I needed about 25′ of hose to get to her outlet and mine and the kits were all 20′, with no couplings to put sections together. I finally clued in that I could connect my hose to a really nice complete kit with new fittings, so I splurged (all of $30) and got that. It is going to be so much nicer to wrangle than my current setup, except that it doesn’t fit in my new sewer pipe holder!

Back home, she helped me dump and then I unplugged so I could be guided out of the driveway. It took a bit of back and forthing and grass trampling, but I finally made it onto the street. I hadn’t driven my truck since I left San Antonio, so Ms. Cinnamon was worried it wouldn’t start, but the thought never crossed my mind. Moya happily roared back to life (I am sooooo looking forward to a prairie drive with her!) and I hooked up easily.

Ms. Cinnamon and I said our goodbyes and then I headed out through Dallas one last time. She gave me good directions, so I just had to watch out for the construction, mad drivers, and traffic. I was really glad to get clear of urbania and get into some easy interstate driving.

I heard Neelix meowing very loudly as we set off, which is unusual for him as he is a cat of few words. It’s almost like he was say, “Mom, wait! WAIT! We forgot Tabitha!”

My plan was to stop at a rest area in Gainesville, just before the Oklahama border, but it was just a picnic area and out in the open sun, so it wouldn’t have been a great place to spend an afternoon (but would have been a perfect stop last night). It was early, so I decided to continue on to my planned stop for today, the Walmart in Pauls Valley.

I was running really low on fuel in Gainesville, so when I spotted a Shell station that was an obvious easy in and out, I stopped there and got $99 worth of fuel, the maximum the pump would give me (odd number, no?). In Canada, I get the pump reauthorized in those situations since $100 doesn’t go far, but I get more than half a tank for that price in the US, so I prefer to just get that, which forces me to stop more frequently.

And then, without fanfare, I said goodbye to Texas. I literally left a piece of my soul in that state and so it will always be a part of me even if the road ends up never taking me back there.

I stopped at the Oklahoma welcome centre for lunch and went in to get some OK City info just in case I decide to play tourist. I was offered coffee, which I gladly accepted!

From there, it was exactly one hour to my stop for the day. Customer service was very welcoming, but this isn’t a great lot for big rigs. I’m not crazy about how I’m parked and I may try to find a better spot if the lot thins out a little this evening.

OMG IT’S ABOUT 100 DEGREES IN SAN ANTONIO!!!!!!!!!!!!

With that out of the way, it’s been a good day so far. I went out shortly after my last post to hook up the truck. I’m getting better at gauging the distance I need to park it from the RV, but I always manage to not be quite straight and have the passenger side at the right distance to hook up while the driver’s side is a bit short.

Once I was hooked up, I discovered I have three minor Miranda repairs to make.

The first is with the windshield wipers. The pump is working fine, but the fluid is just shooting out from under the dash. I’m hoping I’ll find the hole or bad connection in the hose easily.

The second is to check the fuses for the turn signals. I put on the four way flashers to make sure the truck blinkers were working, and nothing. I tried the turn signal, nothing. I jiggled both and eventually got the left blinker working and the four way flashers, with the right blinker coming after several more jiggle. I really hope that this is just a fuse issue!

Like when I left Campbell River, my house stairs refused to budge. All I had on hand to lubricate them was was WD-40, so I’ll make sure to get some white grease next time I’m out shopping. Or maybe I can find some of that Move-It Croft had…

First stop was gas, which was painless since I could circle around the building to get out. Even better, the pump handle had a catch that meant I could wash my windows while the gas was pumping.

It was a smooth drive into Port Lavaca, where I got propane. Another easy in and out except for the bad driveway. Surely they know someone with a grader? Propane was CHEAP, $42 to fill the on board tank!

The first part of the drive was familiar since I had to drive through Goliad (which is still under construction). Traffic got moderately heavier from Kenedy (not a typo) onward, but it was nothing too bad and most drivers were courteous.

From the 410 bypass, it was an easy drive to Von Ormy and the Hidden Valley RV Park, where I was greeted by the wonderful Teri.

Hidden Valley is the best deal in San Antonio for boondockers wanting to stay more than just a night or two since they offer dry camping for just $5 a night! I found the campground through freecampsites.net. My FHU spot tonight is costing me $30.

Even though I was 15 minutes early for check in, Teri greeted me warmly. She had a packet of information for me and spent time showing me around downtown on a map, highlighting the best places to park and where to catch public transportation. I was told by L to avoid driving into San Antonio, but with Teri’s instructions, I know I can get to cheap parking easily, so I don’t see any reason not to go in with the truck.

It is SUPER hot today, so I have the AC blasting, but it’s supposed to go right back down tomorrow. Talk about perfect planning!

I have to move around noon tomorrow. Teri showed me the two possibilities and the setup will be just fine. I’ll post pics at some point after I’ve moved.

Now, I need to start on my rather ambitious list for the day. The laundry is a trek and a half, so until that’s done (about half an hour left), I don’t want to get started on anything else. After that, the vacuum cleaner is coming out!

Today’s drive was tricky to plan and I spent hours yesterday with Google Maps, my Texas Shunpiker Guide, and my GPS to found the best route. Both Google Maps and my Garmin wanted to route me straight through Houston while the Shunpiker Guide wanted to send me through Galveston. I finally came up with a route that looked pretty good and planned to solidify it once I got my hands on another Texas road map (having lost mine to a cat and coffee collision).

It was foggy when I woke up at 6:30 this morning and visibility was still poor at 7:20 when I had had my coffee and toast and was packed. I decided to hang out for a bit longer until the visitor centre opened at 8:00 so I could get the map and confirm my route. I entered the coordinates for my destination into the GPS but knew I’d be mostly on my own for this drive.

That done, I set off on I-10 westbound, stopping a few miles away at a Conoco pretending to be a Flying J. I missed the first entrance, which wound up being good as entering through the next entrance allowed me an easy exit out of the first and a much easier return to I-10.

From I-10, I took exit 798 and meandered my way down to route 35 by way of route 146. I checked the GPS a couple of times and it finally came up with a route that resembled mine, but with a few more twists.

The Fred Hartman Bridge was very impressive!

The first part of my day was in a world of oil refineries, hence the title of this post.

When I started to run out of road, I finally listened to my GPS and turned into… Pasadena.

I was on Nasa Road and everything was space themed, so I figured I was near the space centre. Yup, I drove right past it! Note to self: you haven’t seen Apollo 13 in a long while.

At some point, I passed a relic of olden days:

Entering Bay City, I was overdue for a break, but I had been holding out for a real grocery store, passing only little food stores. So I was quite glad to pass a Walmart, where I was able to stock up on fresh fruits, veggies, meat, and beer before landing at my somewhat remote destination, saving me from having to go out tomorrow.

Port Lavaca was soon upon me:

Today’s drive was difficult. The roads were in poor shape and I was mostly passing through towns so there was a lot of stopping and going. I really felt the toad today, my gas mileage was the pits, and I could feel both the engine and brakes working hard. It would have probably been easy to just bite the bullet and go through Houston on I-10, but I don’t regret my choice.

Just one damper on the day: I have a nice big crack in my brand new windshield. I don’t think a glass place will be willing to fill it. Since it’s well out of my view range, I’m going to get a DIY kit and try to fill it myself before it gets worse.

When I received my Texas travel kit this summer, I felt a bit foolish. Sure I’ve hit some milestones, like the Chilkoot, the Dempster, a summer in Quebec, and my solar panels, but Texas had way too many variables to be a sure bet. Still, it gave me something to shoot for and if I fell short, well, there’s always next year. Dreams do not have expiration dates. And yet, against all odds, here I am! Texas was an icon of my childhood; one of my first computers was a Texas Instruments machine, so the shape of the state was close at hand for a long time.

Texas is more expensive than some of the other southwest states and wouldn’t make sense to me as a place to boondock for the winter, but it’s perfect for a pass-through journey like the one I’m having this winter. Next year, I will set my eyes on a place like Quartzite where I can drop anchor for the season or a state like New Mexico with affordable state parks. But this felt like the perfect winter for Texas and I have the Frugal Shunpiker Guide to help me keep the costs down.

It was a bit of a harrowing drive from Westwego to I-10, which I had expected. Something bizarre happened to me as I drove over the Huey Long Bridge: I got a nasty case of vertigo and felt quite ill during the drive across this very high bridge. The only thing that could explain it is that Huey was the first name of the dude who rear ended me. Yeah, that has to be it!

I-10 was a nasty 400KM stretch of rutty highway. It was really unpleasant and rough, with a lot of construction and high winds, and there were no obvious places to stop so I ended up driving straight through.

I felt quite itchy going past this town:

(Maringouin is the québécois word for mosquito. Do not use it this word in France, however!)

The sun was low in the sky and in my eyes by the time I got to the rest area, so I was really glad not to have to push on to the Walmart in Orange. I wasn’t able to find any signs confirming that I can spend the night here, but a security guard confirmed it’s okay. I think it’s going to be a noisy night. There’s an RV parked on my driver’s side and a big rig on the passenger side. I’m hoping that big rig gets replaced by another RV.

I don’t know what it is about RVs that so enrages other drivers and makes them forget common sense. The person driving the RV is probably not from around there. Therefore s/he is under some stress from the unfamiliar surroundings and wrestling a huge vehicle. Here are some tips for sharing the road with an RV.

1) Be patient. Yes, it can suck being stuck behind a vehicle going below the speed limit, but how long out of your day is it really? Chances are the RV driver is sweating in the front seat and desperately looking for a place to pull over and let you pass. Your honking and tailgating aren’t helping. And if you see me slowing down and signaling towards the curb on a very narrow straight road with no shoulder, chances are I’m telling you, hey, the road ahead is clear, pass me!

2) Think twice before cutting in front of an RV. I was going 55MPH down a hill the other day when the light at the bottom turned red. No problem, there was no one in front of me, so I had plenty of time to gently pump the brakes and coast to a stop. That is until the guy behind me cut around me (see point number one) and hit the brakes when he noticed the red light. I lost three quarters of my braking distance and had to slam on my brakes. Had I run into this guy, I would have been 100% at fault, which is grossly unfair.

3) Give RVers time to merge. It is incredible the number of times I have noticed a gap in traffic, signaled that I was going to merge, began to merge, and the guy behind me stepped on the gas to close the gap. I am getting into the habit of merging very early, but I occasionally miss my exit or turn. Going back to point number one, do you really want to anger a stressed out person in a giant vehicle who is now lost thanks to you?

4) Mirrors only help so much. RVers have giant blind spots. If you can’t see me in my mirror, chances are I can’t see you. So don’t blame me if you pull into my blind spot while I’m underway at a gas station and I end up nicking your vehicle. You should have remembered point number one and let me get out of the way.

5) The motorhome driver towing a vehicle cannot back up without damaging the tow bar or unhook unless both vehicles are in a perfectly straight line. So you really will have to get out of the way even if you were there first (or so you claim).

Bonus tip: Please, no tailgating.