Tuesday, October 23 has arrived and we are ready to migrate south with the Canada Geese and the other Snowbirds. The last few days have been somewhat hectic. We managed to get Lori’s mom to her last doctors appointment and with a clean bill of health we got her aboard her arranged ride back to Swan River. We checked the 5er into the Town ’n Country RV park on the 19th so we could hook up to full service and do some much required cleaning and M&R before we head off.
When we returned in the spring all we did was empty the trailer and put it in storage. All the road grime and Arizona sand remained where it was. In the next 4 days we packed all of our clothes and other necessities for 6 months on the road. Lori steam cleaned the carpets and washed the floors, dusted and organized everything inside. I had the lovely job of sterilizing the fresh water tank with bleach, cleaned the hot water heater with some vinegar and flushed and cleaned the grey and black tanks. I also cleaned and greased the hitch and pinbox. The todo list was actually quite long however time and poor weather prevented me from tackling many more tasks. I will have to address the rest of the list as we travel around this winter.
One item I did have to get done was to fix the 3 drawer pullout unit beside the stove. This has has never worked properly from day one due to a combination of poor design and shoddy workmanship from the factory. I constructed 3 drawers and mounted each of them on soft close rails with each drawer working independent of the other. I attached the door with spring loaded hinges and magnetic catches which in addition to the soft close rails will hopefully keep everything in place when travelling. The factory design often resulted in the door opening in transit and the whole 3 drawer unit sliding out and hanging from the single set of cheap rails. Eventually the rails twisted and during our trip home last spring we found the whole unit lying on the floor. It was extremely frustrating installing everything due to the tight confines and while not my best handiwork after 3 long days and 1000 miles of bouncing down the road everything is still in place and functioning properly. Good Enough Construction Co. strikes again. My dad would be proud.
We left our house at 9:15 and got to Town ’n Country, hooked up and pulled out at 10:00 for a 6 1/2 hour drive to Summit, SD. We got through the border with no problem. Not even the usual inspection by the Agricultural officer checking our food stuffs for contraband. We were anticipating questions about being pot smoking Canadians but nary a word. He was more concerned about us having any rice on board and only having $500 US Cash with us. I explained that we had a US Visa and US Cash cards which would keep us going. This seemed to satisfy his concern that we could support ourselves during our visit and not become a burden to the US Social Safety net.
We pulled into County Line Campground in Summit SD. There isn’t much in Summit. Another small town which life has pretty much passed by. We spent a quiet evening listening to a few thousand cows mooing.
The next morning we were off on another 350 mile day with our planned destination being York, NE. We had a little excitement as we were preparing the trailer for our departure when the electrical system failed as we were pulling in the slides. Eventually we got the slides in but as you will see below the electrical gremlins would strike again.
On Tuesday we had a great driving day. Cool, some light cloud and no wind. We averaged almost 11 MPG however on Wednesday we had a bitter south headwind which took our mileage down to 8 MPG. Most of the day was spent on secondary highways which provides a better look at the countryside. Its a more interesting drive but slower due to the many small towns which the Interstate bypasses. Our drive took us through Norfolk, NE, the home of Johnny Carson.
Thursday another 350 miles would take us to Cedar Valley RV Park in Guthrie, OK. This is where those electrical gremlins reappeared when our rear stabilizing jacks wouldn’t extend and the main slides wouldn’t move. We could easily survive without the rear stabilizers but hard to live in the 5er without access to the kitchen and l/r. I stuck my head inside the front compartment trying to look like I knew what I was doing. I looked for something amiss like a loose wire when I noticed what looked like a small compartment that could well contain a fuse. Ha, Success. A burnt out 15 Amp fuse. Replaced it and we were good. Now the question remains as to why the fuse burnt out in the first place and more importantly, will it happen again. I may have to stock more fuses.
This will be our 3rd time staying in Guthrie and this time we will be joined by Mark and Jan who were making their own trek from Heber, Utah. Guthrie is the home of the Oklahoma Land Rush and the town has done an amazing job of preserving the buildings from the turn of the last century. Lots of old brick buildings populate the downtown, cobblestone streets and red brick sidewalks plus plenty of Victorian style mansions. On Friday we walked around the downtown area taking in the sights and for dinner we went to Stacey’s. I ordered the Shepherds Pie with mashed potatoes, cheese and green beans. Lori had soup and fried green tomatoes. The meal was fabulous and total bill came to $23. including the tip. I highly recommend if your ever in Guthrie. On Saturday we took a Trolly Car tour of the city, took in the Drug Store Museum, visited some antique stores, lunch at Stables and dessert at Ricks, a shop specializing in Chocolate and Coffee. Oh and the weather is great. 76 degrees and sunny.
Sunday we are off to Waco, Tx. Lori and Jan have been anticipating this stop for 6 months now. Magnolia Market, The Silos and Magnolia Table await. Perhaps we will even spot the Fixer Upper stars, Chip and Joanna. I truly wonder what Lori will do if that should happen.
By the way I have taken some pictures however that will have to wait for a better internet connection. Right now we are keeping an eye on the weather forecast as Texas has been inundated with rain and flood warnings popping up across the state. Austin actually is under a “boil water” advisory due to contaminated water.
Here’s hoping for sunny skies.
