Travels With Miranda

Since leaving the beach, I had problems with my fridge set to the AC (shore/120V power), both on 30A at an RV park and 15A in a driveway.

I was really short on propane in Shawnee and was growing weary of just how quickly I go through the gas when the fridge is running off it, so I decided it was time to do something about it.

I started by going back over some of my electrical posts from the beach because I had a niggle at the back of my mind. And then I found my post about the salt water corrosion on my battery terminals.

Doh. I went out and cleaned the fridge terminals and connections with a scrubbie pad and an eraser, then turned the fridge on to shore power. No problem in Shawnee on 30A. And no problem in Wichita on 15A. My fridge is also running colder on a lower setting than it was before.

Salt water is evil!

It was a so-so night at Walmart. Because of the lack of parking spots, a reefer parked almost on top of me (not exaggerating; he had to go out his passenger door and I couldn’t open my house door!). I couldn’t fault the driver for that. He ran the engine for a few hours in the evening, then again in the middle of the night before finally taking off around 5:00 or 6:00. So my sleep was interrupted and I gave up around 7:00.

Since I only had about an hour to my destination, I thought of just taking off, but something told me to check my email. There was a comment from Linda Sand warning me that there are two Firelake casinos in Shawnee and that she was parked at the wrong one. Since it was on route to the right one, where I had planned to spend the night, I decided to stop there first and meet her since we keep just missing each other this spring. Onsite, I could check out the RV facilities and determine the best casino to stay at.

I arrived at the first casino, Firelake Casino, around 10AM, after circling around the complex a number of times before finding the RV park. I knew Linda is a late riser, so I sent a message to let her know I was on site instead of banging on her door, then had breakfast and did some online stuff. I called the casino to ask about the RV park and after being bounced around a bit, I was told it is $15 for FHU. Good deal and a nice location, but too much for me right now.

Linda got back to me around 11:30 and I went to check out her swanky digs (WOW, the things you can do with a class B when you custom design the layout!) and we gabbed for a bit. We will be having dinner tonight.

I headed out to the Grand Casino around 2:00 and was settled into a spot and had had lunch by 2:30. Linda had warned me I would have to unhook and back in, so I was prepared. Neither event took any effort. The slots are super narrow, but there is ample room to back in and they are perfectly angled for easy entrance. The view out the back is of a muddy creek, but the view from the desk is half into a bedroom window (I’m keeping that curtain closed!), one quarter onto an RV wall, and one quarter to the big rig parking lot.

In exchange for signing up for the player’s club, I get three nights with power and water and access to a dump station (each additional night is $25). With the player’s club, you get free keno, 10 entries to a draw, and $10 in match play (so you put $10 in the slot machines and they give you 10, but not on progressive machines). I have never played keno, but for the chance to win $100, I will try it out!

Three nights with power will be much appreciated since it is super cold and overcast. I’m running out of propane, so I have to ration until I find a place to fill and am grateful I can run the electric heater.

Gas prices in OK are much cheaper than in TX, to my surprise. Thank goodness for that. My gas mileage the last two days has been the pits and I’ve had to adjust my gas budget from $600 to $900 to get back to Canada from Dallas. *sighs* I’m just glad I’m not paying Canadian prices for fuel!!! Here, fuel is about $3.20 ($0.85/litre) a gallon and average Canadian prices are $4.90 ($1.30/litre) a gallon. So to fill the motorhome here (50 gallons), it’s $160 and to fill it in Canada would be $245!

I wish I could have had just one more month in the US to avoid getting back to Canada in this frigid soupy mess. I’m afraid that that’s what I’ll remember most about my winter, the cold humid last days rather than the hot sunny days walking barefoot along the beach with palm trees rustling in the background. Those days already feel like they belonged to another life.

I spent the afternoon with Croft and Norma catching up on everything that doesn’t get discussed on our blogs. They might be staying a second night. If so, we are going on a field trip to Camping World tomorrow.

I can’t help but marvel at the magic of this nomadic life that makes it such that you not only never know when you will next see friends, but also where you will meet again. It is a very long way from Campbell River to San Antonio, and I don’t just mean in terms of distance.

Norma wanted a Cracker Barrel dinner to celebrate their 44th wedding anniversary (wow!), so I was invited to come along (thank you!). I had the sugar cured ham for the first time (YUM) and took home a lemonade (not overly sweet and made with real lemons, a real treat!).

We had sun this afternoon again (YAY) so I made sure to unplug everything before heading over to Croft and Norma’s. I did that yesterday before going on my walk and came in almost 30AH up. I left at about 58AH down today and came home to a FULL reading. I would be frustrated with my badly working monitor if reader airmon hadn’t posted an explanation for that bizarre phenomenon. Instead, I am doing a happy dance!

Wow, I really didn’t expect the mail to get here this week. I’m a little thrown off my kilter right now.

I’m too busy to leave tomorrow, so I’ll definitely be renewing to Friday noonish. I need to call Teri to see if she can set up that guided walk she suggested in a comment.

With the days being as long as they are now, I could easily leave mid-day and arrive in Dallas with daylight to spare. Google Maps puts the trip at being 4.25 hours. I think I could do it within 6, depending on traffic. It’s 288mi (464KM), so it’s definitely doable in one shot.

We just got tons more rain here, but Teri had nothing to say about the weather when she dropped off mail, so now that the sky is FINALLY clearing, I can relax about having to move to higher ground.

I’m down almost 60AH now, the lowest I have ever gone since getting the battery monitor calibrated. Knowing that I’ll have power in Dallas, I’m not concerned. Plus, I’ll get some charge in on the drive there.

I refuse to truly complain about the weather, but dang it’s humid out there! There was also zero sun today. I was down FIFTY AH at the start of this evening, so I ran the engine long enough go bring myself to 39AH down. Not great, but the voltage boost is much appreciated.

longdog2 just called to ask if I was aware of the weather forecast for this evening. Um, no. Thanks again for looking out for me!

There is apparently a massive thunderstorm rolling in from Mexico, which might be those nasty clouds from today. I just got info about the storm watch and I am below it, so I should be fine. I’ll still put the computers away tonight and clear the counters in case I need to pull out in a hurry and make a run for higher ground (a couple hundred feet from my spot).

I ended up spending all of today working on a new website I’m preparing for y’all. It’s too soon to announce a launch date for it, but I’d like it to be before I get back to Canada. I love developing a new site; the time just flies by!

Tomorrow is technically my last full day in San Antonio, but I really don’t expect the mail to be here by Thursday, so I’ll like be staying on a bit. That would suit me just fine since there is some tourism I haven’t done yet.

That said, one of you fine, wonderful, loveable readers has offered me prime parking in Dallas for a few days! So I’m much more motivated to head there than I was a few days ago. The weather has given me my fill of San Antonio and knowing there is power and SHOWERS waiting at my next two stops (Dallas and Wichita) is making me rather eager to get going.

I’d like to be in Dallas by Tuesday at the absolute latest, which is April 9th and exactly four weeks from when I have to be back in Canada. We’ll see if the mail cooperates.