Category: Personal

Day 2382

Thursday April 11th 2024

Day 3 of our trek north

Dear Journal:

I woke at 6:15 this morning, for a night in a rest stop / welcome center it was a reasonably quiet night, we got lucky and had a flatbed eighteen wheeler pull in beside us early in the evening and did not leave till this morning. We normally avoid truck rest stops but this one is difficult to get to and is usually quiet, we have stayed here a number of times and usually have good luck. It was cool last night as our outside thermometer read 48ºF (8.8ºC) and the coach temperature is 58ºF (14.4ºC) chilly but not too bad, and as I rise this morning dawn is breaking and without a cloud in the sky the sun will be beating on the windshield shortly. So I decide to for go the heater this morning, and I got lucky enough to receive some lap time from Mister Sam.

A quick check of the onboard systems finds our battery bank at 77%, not to bad after watching four hours of television last night and all of our systems running all night. Now if your wondering what systems we leave on here is a quick list of what draws power from our batteries, our refrigerator (both compressors), two televisions on stand by, our Wi-Fi and router, the beverage fridge in the basement, three “Alexa” echoes, and the invertor that inverts the 12 volt battery power to household power for microwaves, as well as recharging 2 phones, 2 iPads, and our laptop and such. We do not shut off or unplug any equipment the same as most people do in their homes.

Todays route will have us moving further east on Interstate I-40 toward Oklahoma City, where we will refuel Thunder before turning north on Interstate I-35 for ten miles to Interstate I-44, we are at 2400 feet of elevation here at Amarillo Texas and I expect we will finish today under 1000 feet of elevation. Breakfast this morning is a toasted bagel, a quick easy breakfast as I want to get on the road early our departure time will be nine o’clock, the good news is there will be no time zone change today and we will be in rolling hills most of the day.

There is not a cloud in the sky this morning, and as we leave the rest stop, I make a few notes about this overnight spot. The poor AT&T cell service here, the fact this exit will have a Buc ee’s here in the fall, that will increase the popularity of the exit and probably increase the use of this rest stop as well. But it will be the only Buc ee’s on our route, which is a bonus as they provide a shopping experience. Traffic is light as we click off the miles, our destination tonight is a “BoonDockers’ Welcome” which is now part of the “Harvest Host” program. We have stayed at “BoonDockers’ Welcome” locations before, they are unique as they are usually RVers that have enough space on their property to accommodate fellow RVers. Some offer nothing more than a flat spot to park, while others offer complete hook-ups, the locations can vary from a parking lot to a total campground experience, some are single spots while others offer multiple spots, and the stay can vary from one night to multiple nights, we will see what this one has to offer.

Todays fuel stop will be a TA truck stop in Oklahoma City, it appears to be an easy off and on to the highway. and ended up being our lunch stop as well, as the rest stop we had picked out was closed. From the fuel stop we charge into Oklahoma City traffic, which again seemed lighter than I expected, we have driven this route last spring which always makes the trip easier. As we enter the toll road that is Interstate I-44 we hope we have the address for our overnight correct in our GPS, too often the street addresses do not come up correctly and we spent a number of minuets during lunch trying to confirm the correct location. This location is located a mile down a gravel road which is not a problem other that a mistake could involve unhooking the towed and a mile of backing up, turning a 40′ coach takes a lot of space.

Well we had the correct address and we have located out spot for tonight and to say it is a small piece of paradise would be a close description. A reasonably level gravel spot to park, a electrical panel with a power supply, there appears to be a 3″ sewer dump, and water supply is available close by, the only item we will need is the parking spot. As we are boondockers and need no hook-ups, the peace and quiet, in a natural setting is more than enough, and although we have not met our host for tonight we will thank them through the “BoonDockers Welcome” page.

Day 3 Stats: 297 miles (478 kilometers) solar harvest 255 amp / hours $0.00 camping, 60.01 gallons (227.2 liters) of diesel $200.20 ($275.98 Cdn)

Day 2381

Wednesday, April 10th, 2024

Day 2 of our trek north

Dear Journal:

It was a cold night here at the Dancing Eagle Casino RV park, the thermometer sensor located outside of the coach was showing 39ºF (3.8ºC), that was why we sprung twenty dollars for a campsite so we could run our electric space heater over night so when I rolled out of bed this morning at five o’clock the coach was a balmy 60ºF (15.5ºC) in the coach.

Todays route will be eastbound on Interstate I-40, and the destination I have picked out is a visitor center / rest stop in Amarillo Texas. Of course every morning starts with a pot of fresh perked coffee and most morning there is a wee Irish blessing. We are in travel mode so we want to be on the road by nine this morning, and that should have us off the road by two in the afternoon. Ok I have a confession to make, this is the week of the Masters golf tournament in Augusta Georgia and I’m hoping to be stopped early enough each day to watch the coverage.

I have to make a stop this morning at the grocery store here at the casino as they carry a chip dip that is the best, it is made with local chili peppers and I have stopped to get some dip every time. And as luck would have it they had two containers left and they are now in our refrigerator. As we unplug and prepare to head east on I-40 the first major city is Albuquerque and we should be travelling through there at 10:30 – 11:00 which means traffic should not be too bad.

Todays drive through New Mexico has been reasonably uneventful, I will state again that the highways in New Mexico are shameful some of the worse that we travel, Our fuel stop today is at a TA truck stop in Moriarty NM and is part of the “Open Roads” discount program. The price of fuel in Arizona and New Mexico is too high but I had to get fuel as we do not carry enough to make it to Texas and more reasonable fuel pricing,

Lunch today was a gromet grilled cheese sandwich, prepared by Miss Laurie while in a rest stop on Interstate I-40 in New Mexico just 80 miles ( Kilometers ) west of the Texas border, the time is 12:40 Mountain Daylight Savings time. I mention the time because we will loose another hour at the Texas border as we will move into Central Daylight Savings time.

Let me say this Texas roads are so much better than New Mexico’s it is such a difference that I just have to mention it again. Amarillo is our destination tonight and with the lost hour because of a new time zone we did not arrive till 4:00 local time. And to add to the annoyance the AT&T cellular service here at the rest stop sucks. And now that I think back I remember that from last springs stop here as well. Next trip through Amarillo we will try the Cracker Barrel if the Service has not improved.

Speaking of improvements we are pleased to see there is a new Buc-ees’ being built at the interchange with the rest area, that is a big bonus as as much as we have never fueled Thunder at a Buc-ee’s I know that their diesel prices are very good. We had enough cell service to watch some television but there was considerable buffering.

This Visitor Center / Rest Stop in not easy access to or from the Interstate and we have found in the past that it usually limits the number of trucks that use it, making it one of our favorites and it is so flat that would recommend it. As we head for bed tonight it seems to be quiet, something that doesn’t happen every stay, but the temperature helps (no one trying to stay warm or cool by using a generator or running their diesel motors) to reduce the noise. It is nice not having to unhook the toad at night, as we would have to at the Cracker Barrel, but sometimes the quiet is worth the price.

Day 2 Stats: 340 miles (547 kilometers) solar harvest of 128 amp / hours $0.00 spent on accommodations, 66.82 gallons (252.94 liters) of diesel at a cost of $242.72 ($334.38 Cdn)