Charlie's RV Travelogue - March 2006

My wife is a journaler; I'm not. She is diligently writing into three different journals; mine is still blank. This travelogue is my attempt at electronically journaling our RV travels, not only to help me remember, but also for anyone interested in following our adventure.

Mar 30: Trip to Little Rock starts with tire change

Our spacious slot (E6) in Maumelle Park is surrounded by large trees.

Dallas turned out to be a pit stop. First, the water pump went out on the truck. Then, one of the house batteries died in the RV. And this morning, as we were about to hit the road, a flat tire on the truck. Nothing sets the mood for the day like changing a tire.

I'm happy to report that the rest of the trip to Little Rock went flawlessly. We arrived at Maumell Park on the shores of the Arkansas River. This is one of our favorite parks. It has spacious slots, large trees, several paved walking trails, and the river. The only down side is that they don't have any full hookups. They partially make up for this by allowing gray water to be drained through a garden hose. Twice a week I will use the blue boy container to empty our black tank.

We'll spend the next two weeks visiting family and friends in the Little Rock area.

Mar 29: Dead house battery keeps us in Dallas

Yesterday, as I was getting the fifth wheel ready for the road, I discovered that both house batteries were very low on water. As I pulled the cap off one of them, a strong smell of acid hit my nose. The water in this battery looked murky and was bubbling.

I topped off both with distilled water, but noticed that the house battery with the murky water was warm to the touch and bulging. I disconnected the batteries and checked the charge with a hydrometer. As expected, the bulging battery was completely dead. The other battery was still good, but I did not want to take a chance getting on the road with only one RV battery (they are used for the trailer brakes in case of emergency separation).

All of that occurred yesterday. Today, we stayed in town and bought a new deep cycle battery. Got it installed and by the evening they both had a full charge.

By the way, I think I killed that battery by not maintaining it as often as I should have. My electronic organizer beeps every month to remind me that it is time to check the battery water levels. Late last year in Oregon I got busy and neglected to check the level for about three months. By then both battery water levels were below the top of the plates. I filled them up and they looked OK. In January I waited about two months before checking, and the levels dropped below the plates again. In Dallas I did check after a month, but I think it was too late for that one battery. Moral of the story? Be sure to check the water level at least once a month while the batteries are in use. This is especially important in warm weather.

Mar 14: "I ♥ My R.V." quilt

Hand-made quilt for our traveling baby boy.

While visiting the assisted living facility that she previously managed, Landra received a very special quilt for our baby. The front of the quilt has the typical multi-colored squares; the back has a pattern of recreational vehicle types and the words "I ♥ My R.V."

Mar 13: Water pump goes out on the truck

It has been right at two years since we bought our Ford F-550 truck from eBay. We bought it with 62,000 miles and it now has 97,000. During these two years of driving and towing, it has worked flawlessly.

As I picked up my parents this morning at the hotel, I noticed a steady dripping of coolant from the engine. We were only about a mile from the McKinney Ford dealer, so I drove it there. By the time I pulled the truck into the service lane, coolant was gushing out the bottom.

We had sightseeing planned for the day, so I rented a car while the truck was in the shop. By the afternoon the truck had a new water pump at the cost of $860.

Inconvenient as the repair was, we were overjoyed that the problem occurred in town and not while towing.

Mar 9: Seeing friends and family in the Dallas metroplex

This pointed building is one of the most noticeable in the Dallas skyline.

Now that we are in the Dallas metroplex, we will spend most of our days seeing friends and family. My first visit was to my previous workplace in Plano.

Ever since we approached the city, and as we see familiar people and places, it occurred to us how much this place feels like home. It is also interesting to see how many things have changed in a little over a year—new neighborhoods, new shopping centers, and completed road projects that we had to endure under construction for years.

The challenge is to see as many friends as we can, while not wearing out the baby and ourselves. Day one is over; three more weeks to go.

Mar 8: Squeezing into undersized RV slots

If you have been following my travelogue, you probably noticed the negative tone it has taken since entering Texas. I considered leaving out the negative experiences and report only the pleasant ones, but that would be a disservice to those of you considering RVing. When we were researching the RV lifestyle, we actively looked for the good and bad. So, bare with me as I tell you about another frustrating day as fulltimers.

Having lived in the Dallas metroplex for fifteen years, we know the traffic patterns pretty well. The last leg of our trip has been coordinated so that we do not arrive in Dallas during the morning or afternoon rush hour. This is why we stopped in Abilene the night before, so that we would arrive in Dallas around noon. We even made a special baby feeding stop just outside of Fort Worth, so that he would be content until the fifth wheel has been parked and set up.

Our reservation was with Spring Creek Village RV Park in Plano (a suburb north of Dallas). In the office I noticed several No Refund signs. To be on the safe side, I asked the lady if I could see the slot before paying. She said that was fine. I told her we need something large enough to fit our 37' fifth wheel. She marked four available slots on the park map and sent me on my way. I am not exaggerating when I say this—three of the four slots she marked were so short, that they would fit no more than two thirds of our trailer!

The fourth slot was long enough to fit the trailer and the truck, but someone backed over the facilities and smashed them. I called the office and told them that the only slot large enough for our rig had smashed facilities and we won't be staying.

The only other RV park we knew of on this side of town was the Lighthouse RV Resort in Melissa. We called ahead to reserve a slot and they said they had one more available. Landra asked if that slot fits a 37 footer and they said yes. In the Lighthouse office I saw on the map the available slot—it looked kind of small, backed up against bushes. I asked again if it will fit our rig; she said that they put "big rigs" in that slot all the time.

We drove around to the slot and it looked even smaller than on the map. Not only was it short, but it was surrounded by small trees on three sides, with low hanging limbs. I paced out the length of the slot, which was exactly the length of the trailer, measuring all the way to the bushes in the back. Under most circumstances, I would have asked for another slot or left for another park. But, they said this was their last and we knew nothing else nearby. We decided to try it.

By then it was two hours later than our planned stop time and way passed baby's feeding time. Landra was outside on the radio helping me back up, baby was in the back seat screaming. A retired truck driver who was staying in the park had pity on us. He offered to guide me back into the slot while Landra held the baby. This was a blessing because the gentleman was able to give me some helpful tips on how to squeeze into this tight slot. What made this process more difficult was the narrow drive and the full park—we had very limited space to maneuver.

After about thirty minutes of adjusting, re-adjusting, and doing it again—all while scraping small limbs against the side and roof of our home—we finally got it in the slot, mostly. The nose of the trailer was hanging out about two feet, so I went inside to ask the manager if I could trim the bushes in the back of the slot. She was not thrilled with that idea, so she came out to look. The first thing out of her mouth when she saw the trailer was "How long is that thing?" I could have choked her! "Man, that thing is tall!" she added. "I won't put you through all that trouble; let me find you another slot." Landra and I were looking at each other, fighting the urge to hurt this elderly lady.

She went back to the office and returned after a few minutes. She said she was able to switch us with another RV arriving later. We followed her to a large pull through slot at the beginning of a row. We forced a "thank you" and set up camp.

Because of this and other experiences, I have come to the conclusion that most park staff put zero effort into matching up RV's with the correct size slot. They either have no idea how long their slots are, or don't have enough courtesy to tell big rigs that they may not fit. I rather be told that the slots are too small than waste time which I could have used to find another place.

Mar 7: Baby's got a slight fever

Our two boys love to travel, when they are feeling well.

Today was a half travel day. Shortly after noon, we stopped for the day on the outskirts of Abilene and plugged in to facilities at Baird Motor Inn. This is one of those motel and RV park combinations on Interstate 20, sorely in need of maintenance. But, we did not care about the dilapidated look of the park, so long as all facilities were working.

Because of the hot night yesterday, we were concerned about our baby. He has been restless most of the day. Once we set up camp, we noticed that he was hotter than normal. We took his temperature and confirmed that he had a light fever. Landra called his pediatrician in Oregon for instructions. Tylenol and plenty of rest brought his fever down by evening.

Our concern for the baby reinforced my desire to settle down, and I mentioned this again to Landra (see my entry on March 2).

Mar 6: Texas welcomes us with a miserable night

Two days after leaving California, we arrived in Texas. We stopped for the night in a rest area on Interstate 10, about an hour east of El Paso. All three of us were tired from two long days of driving. The plan was to stay in a park tomorrow with full hookups, followed by two half days of driving to Dallas.

We should have planned full hookups for this night! It wasn't all that hot during the day, but we have forgotten how long the Texas humidity retains the heat. Our trailer does not have a generator, so no A/C either. It was pretty hot inside and we could not get it cooled down. A strong breeze was blowing, but the windows and ceiling fan were not enough to get it inside. We tried opening the door, but the idling trucks on that side produced too much diesel fumes. So, it was either headaches from diesel or endure the heat.

At one point we all got so hot that we opened all windows and the door on the trailer, and fed the baby in the air conditioned truck. It was well passed midnight by the time the fifth wheel cooled down to the point that we could go to sleep. Needless to say, this was a very unpleasant night.

Mar 3: Palm Canyon

An oasis of California fan palms

More photos »

Our time in the desert is almost up, but we had to go back and complete the Palm Canyon Trail hike, all the way to the oasis. The weather was favorable for hiking, if not the best for pictures. It was in the mid-sixties and mostly cloudy. I had to wait several minutes until an opening in the clouds let the sunshine fall on the palms, so that I could take a descent picture.

The trail starts near the back of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park campground. From that point, the trail is 1.5 miles in one direction. It follows along the foot of the mountains on sandy washes and some rocky terrain. Overall, the hike was easy and scenic. In places the trail follows the stream, and even crosses it three times. There are no bridges—we had to balance on rocks to get across.

At the end of the trail is an oasis of California fan palms. This was our first experience with an oasis and we thoroughly enjoyed sitting in the shade and watching the palms sway in the breeze. As much as we wanted to see bighorn sheep, they eluded us again.

I highly recommend this hike to anyone camping in the Borrego Springs area.

Mar 2: Talks of settling down

Ever since our baby boy was born in December, living and traveling in the RV became more work for me. I have enjoyed seeing all the sights in the desert and in San Diego, but the fact is that the outings now require more planning, have to be shorter, and must be limited to places we can safely go while carrying a baby.

Having a type A personality, the space and organization in the RV has also become a challenge for me. With only the two of us, everything had its place and the RV was in pretty good order. Now that there are three of us, space is tighter and working full time from home is more difficult. Babies require some equipment, and despite our efforts to keep this to a minimum, our living space has gotten more crowded.

Because of this, traveling is now a chore, my stress has been increasing, and the fun factor has taken a nose dive. So, I have finally brought up the topic of settling down. Both of us wanted to experience the fulltimer lifestyle for at least five years; it is disappointing that we may be reaching the end after only two years.

Landra's laid-back personality is less affected by the factors I mentioned above. She said she could live like this forever. At the same time, she wants both of us to be happy and was open to the idea.

For now, we are thinking this option over. Soon we are heading back east to see friends and family. Until then, I'll hang in there and we'll make a final decision in Texas.

Mar 1: San Diego beaches

Looking north from Pacific Beach in San Diego.

Our second visit to San Diego was to see the beaches. After reading some reviews, we chose to see the Pacific and Mission beaches. This is a three mile stretch along residential and commercial properties. It features the famous boardwalk, made of concrete, that is often filmed for movies set in San Diego. A good number of roller skaters and others with various wheeled contraptions were exercising along the boardwalk.

The weather was breezy and about sixty degrees, with only a few clouds in the sky. Pushing the stroller on the sand was a serious workout. Soon, we moved over to the boardwalk where it was much easier to push.

We must have walked a couple of miles of the beach. Then, we settled down on the sand for a picnic as we watched a man catch fish in the surf.

On the way back to Shelter Valley, we stopped in a Wal-Mart on the outskirts of San Diego. This was the fanciest Wal-Mart we have ever seen, by far. It was new and spotless. It had two stories, complete with escalator for people and for carts—you pushed the cart into a doorway next to the escalator and it was pulled up next to you. And, this Wal-Mart was an anchor store of a mall.