When I first heard about families that travel full time it didn’t take long to locate them on the internet. It seems many of them are kind enough to document their adventure online via a blog. Many were like ours where they are simply journaling for personal posterity and maybe a few curious friends and family members living vicariously through their blog. These provided inspiration but not really any instruction or information. Others seemed to start down the path of providing more valuable content for newbies but the posts got few and far between before they just stopped altogether. But there are some that have stood the test of time and are still putting out regular content that is useful for the community. A few of my faves are Gone with the Wynns, RV Geeks and Ditching Suburbia.
Author: Huck
Smoke signals
Steph and the kids spent a second day exploring Austin and on their way home they called to let me know that smoke was coming out the hood of the truck. ARRGGGHHH. They made it back home and I met them out front so I could examine more closely. Sure enough….white smoke coming out near firewall on passenger side. I can see the source is at a clamp joint on a vertical section of….can you guess? Thats right, the exhaust!! It seems like this joint is known to get misaligned and smoke during a “regen”. You can read all about how the Duramax handles regen here but the gist is the diesel particulate filter (DPF, also know as a “wallet shrinker”) gets soot build up in it if exhaust temperatures aren’t hot enough. When you are pulling a 14.5k pound 5th wheel across the country I think the exhaust gets hot enough to keep ‘er clean. But when you are putzing around town and sitting in traffic the fancy on-board computer decides that it needs to burn off some soot so it goes into “active regen” where fuel is injected directly into the exhaust system.
“Active regeneration dramatically reduces fuel economy since fuel is being used for purposes other than moving the vehicle”
So, we have this state of the art exhaust system that is supposed to reduce emissions but the same system purposefully uses fuel inefficiently?….I don’t get it. Anyway, because I am such a diesel motor expert now I decided to ignore it because the next day we were hitching Ava up and would be trucking down to San Antonio which would surely heat things up and clean out the soot.
We also had a harddrive crash on one of our laptops and a battery fail in one of the kids’ tablets (2nd battery I’ve put in the thing too….crikey!). But we’re all still healthy and still having fun!
The D word and the A word
It should not be a surprise to those who know me that I’d rather be on a bicycle than in a car. And if I must be in a car, it will be a super small fuel efficient vehicle. Given our choice of a large 5th wheel this required a large truck which is neither a bike nor a small fuel efficient vehicle. On a recent excursion to Austin we found ourselves in HEAVY rush hour traffic where we were sitting still and the smart cycling commuters were flying past us. We had all 5 bikes in the back and I was so frustrated I almost suggested we ditch the truck and go the rest of the way on bikes. Then one of the boys used the “D” word!! They asked me “is this as bad a Denver?”. My family knows how much I hate driving through Denver…traffic is always bad….ALWAYS. So for me, Denver is a bad word. After our experience in Austin we may have a new bad word, the “A” word!
There is a lot to like about Denver…and we did have a great time in Austin (especially when on our bikes). But traveling through either city with the other “A” word (automobile) makes my skin crawl.
LBJ on the way
Steph already posted on this but here is my take on it.
Between Sonora and Austin we noticed that we’d be passing the LBJ National Historic site (and its also a Texas State Park). It looked like it would align well with our lunch stop so we put it in our sites and before long we were at the beautiful park. We thought this was going to be a quick look through a museum or something and then we’d be on our way again. But when the ranger showed me the map there was a LOT to see.
First stop was the historic homestead site that was loosely tied to LBJ (I think the midwife that delivered him maybe lived in that house….I can’t remember). But there was a couple dressed in period clothing there that were so great with the kids. They told all about how they cooked and cleaned, how they preserved food and they gave lots of Texas history. The coolest part was they still actively operate the homestead. Everyday they cook lunch for the volunteers in that kitchen. They had chili and chocolate cookies….so the oven still had hot coals in it. They had just butchered a pig and turned it into sausage which were hanging out in a shed. Last year’s sausages were still being eaten and were stored in a vat of lard for preservative (which was also hand cream). Past years lard was then converted to lye soap. They spun wool, made candles….the whole enchilada! I love that kind of stuff.
Next was a brief stop at the one room school house that LBJ attended as a youngin’ before we went on the scenic drive around his ranch which ended at the hangar and Texas white house. The hangar had his airplane (he was the first VP to have his own plane and the first president to use a jet plane rather than prop plane). There was a small but interesting museum part of which had a collection of his cars including the amphicar! The kids got their Jr Ranger badges (no patches here….argh) and then we took a look around the outside of the Texas white house. Tours of the house were actually free for the day (because they were doing some work inside)…but we needed to get back on the road or we’d be setting up in the dark….again!
Its definitely worth a stop if you have the chance.
Some-more-a caverns at Sonora Caverns
Say the title in your best Lawrence Welk voice. We decided to only go as far as Sonora Caverns on our way east. The caverns has camping for $25 a night which is a bargain compared to their ticket prices. All the reviews said it was well worth the money. But I looked at the reviews for my old stompin’ grounds of Cave of the Winds and it said the same thing. I never understood why people would pay THAT much money to see the cave. Mostly I’m sure it was due to the fact that I was making less than minimum wage and that I got to see all the much cooler non commercial parts of the cave whenever I wanted. So, was Sonora Caverns worth it? For a day and a half at minimum wage it might be a bit much…but, it was quite spectacular! Besides the 5 of us there was an older couple on the tour who reminded Caden of Baba and Zedo. They were super nice and really fun to have on the tour with us. The cave has small passageways and rooms like Cave of the Winds but warmer and MUCH wetter. And as we got away from the entrance the formations became more and more unbelievable. It really felt like we were inside a giant geode. And there was a room with some of the longest soda straw stalactites I’ve ever seen…and they looked so frail next to the regular stalactites.
I might be part troll…I love the dampness and darkness of caves…the stillness of the air…the silence…the drips…and then the blast of blinding light and dry, hot wind as you exit. Almost feels like being born again (not that I remember the 1st time). All in all we give it 5 thumbs up.
It was a beautiful evening so the kids played outside till dinner time. After dinner we finished our audio book “Because of Mr Terupt” and then went to bed.
How to lift a 14.5k lb trailer by hand
After several days at Fort Davis we decided to head east. So we got around in the morning (takes us forever) but were on schedule to hit the road at 10:00. One of the last steps is raising the front end of the fifth wheel using the powered landing gear so we can hitch up. All was going fine until I heard the motor start struggling and then the clutch started clicking and we weren’t going higher. We were still a few inches from being high enough to hitch up. So I started investigating and realized that I had sheered a pin off the shaft of the front left landing gear. So the right leg was trying to do all the work and started getting the trailer cattywompus and bind up the landing gear. I started thinking “well, at least this is a nice place to stay a few more days”…but at the same time I got into McGyver mode.
I started looking for something I could use as a pin. Stubby screwdriver? Nope, didn’t fit. Some wire? Doesn’t seem strong enough. I had some wood screws so I stuck one in and it fid dit!! I wrapped some electrical tape around it to hold in in place and hit the motor button. Click click click click. Crud!! Then I remembered the guy we bought the trailer from said “don’t loose this bar/crank…its for manually operating the landing gear. But I sure hope you never have to use it!” Well, it was my day to use it. I started cranking…it was HAAAAARD. And its geared so low you can’t even tell its moving. But after awhile it started getting easier…”maybe I’d gotten past the binding point!” I thought. So I hit the button and the sweet sound of a happy motor hummed along as it lifted the trailer. WHEW!! By the time the gear was up my screw had been completely chewed up and spit out in 3 pieces. So much for leaving at 10:00…but, we don’t have any schedule or reservations so we just go with the flow! Glenn came over to say goodbye and wish us well.
We swung by an Ace hardware on the way out of town and I got a couple bolts to use for a more permanent solution. I installed the new bolt while we filled our guts with lunch at a rest stop on I-10. I think the landing gear is back in business.
There’s diamonds in them thar hills
Today we took a little drive up to Davis Mountains State Park just outside of town. We really wanted to camp here but heard that Verizon data was hard to pull in without a booster and that campground wifi was spotty. It would be an awesome place to camp though. We drove out Skyline Dr which had some nice views and an itty bitty geocache. After snagging a few pics we went back to the trailer for an early dinner.
There was a very nice couple at the same RV park as us that came over and introduced themselves to us. Glenn and Melinda. Steph had met Melinda earlier in the day at the laundry room. Glenn and Melinda volunteer at McDonald observatory where we had reservations for a Star Party. So after dinner we headed back up into the Davis Mountains to check out the millions of twinkling diamonds in the sky. We were given a constellation tour by a very well informed dude with this awesome laser pointer he could use to point out stars and constellations. Then they had 7 telescopes set up looking at different things: Orion nebula, Andromeda galaxy, M1, the Pliadese and some other star clusters. The volunteers manning the telescopes were super nice, knew their stuff and they loved having kids interested in astronomy. Melinda and Glenn each were stationed at one of the telescopes and it was cool to “know someone”, our “neighbor”, there at the star party. It was a perfectly clear night and really not that cold for January.
I am always totally amazed by the vastness of space and how insignificant it makes me feel…but I find great comfort in knowing that the same One who placed every single star, planned every supernova and stirred up every nebula also created me uniquely and purposefully from scratch!
Downtown Fort Davis
We are camped at the MacMillen (or McMillen, I’ve seen it spelled both ways here) RV Park just 1/4 mile from Fort Davis town center. Its a full hookup site and has good wifi! It gets below freezing at night so we’ve just been running off the fresh water tanks and dumping as needed. The sewer inlets sit about 6 inches above grade which made for a great science lesson for the boys as we proved the theory that poop doesn’t run uphill. If you are a seasoned RVer you have this little contraption that looks like a model train bridge that elevates your sewer hose on its path to the sewer inlet. If yer a cheapskate like me you use the ol’ lift-it-in-sections technique. But with the contents weighing about 5.5lbs per foot in a container with the rigidity of a slinky this technique should not be relied upon in the future. But enough about that, the fun part of the day was exploring the downtown metropolis of Fort Davis!
Fort Davis
After spending the morning and early afternoon doing school and work we headed over to Fort Davis National Park. The location was really nice as its set back in some Texan mountains (or, Colorado hills). The kids got their Jr Ranger books and we explored. Its a really well done park with great displays and a cool history. Our favorite part was the hospital and seeing all of the really crazy tools the doctors used like the esophagus dilator (a long stick which they could put increasing larger diameter doo dads on and stick down your throat). Brielle liked the horse drawn ambulance. They also had different bugle calls every 10-15 minutes and they gave us a cheat sheet to know what they meant. It sounded really cool as it echoed off the rocky bluffs and brought the otherwise deserted grounds to life. The kids took their Jr Ranger oath and received their patches. But we forgot their National Parks Passports back at the trailer….DOH! Its just a few miles from our campground so we’ll swing by another day to get stamps.
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Dacen as a soldier
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What are big brothers for?
Outside the commissary
The original RV
Brielle by the old chapel
Fort Davis panorama
Sibs in a swing
Another Jr Ranger badge
Outside the commissary
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Exploring Fort Davis parade grounds
In hot water
On our way to Fort Davis Texas we stopped in at Balmorhea State Park home of the worlds largest spring fed pool. We should have eaten lunch late and enjoyed it there at the park instead of the nasty, loud truck stop because we were the only vehicle in the Balmorhea parking lot. The water is 72-76 degrees…it was 30 outside so the steam gave the illusion that the water was much warmer than it was. I suspect its a hoppin’ place in the warmer months. Supposedly there are fish in the pool but we didn’t see anything but ducks in the water. We snapped a few pics and got back on our way to Fort Davis in a Texas snow storm (ok, maybe not a storm).
It was too cold to swim (in our opinion)
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Heading to the pool