Saturday was just a layover day, plain and simple. When the wind is blowing 25-35 mph all day out of the exact direction you must travel it is time to sit still and wait it out. We always allow enough time to get to destinations so that we can take a day, or two off to let weather conditions improve. This layover is precisely why we rarely ever make reservations. Once you make reservations you are kind of locked into a schedule which must be adhered to, or many phone calls will result in cancelling, and/or changing reservations. And that brings me to the present.
I'm sure some of you have wondered why we left I-10 back in Baton Rouge, and are gradually moving north and west to I-40 where it is windier and colder than the much preferred southern route along I-10. Well, our current destination is Flagstaff, AZ at 7,000 very cold feet in elevation. A year ago just after I had my stroke I sought a consultation with a local surgeon to have a cyst in my right cheek saliva gland removed. As far as we know it is benign, but it is getting bigger as cysts are wont to do. At the time the surgery was scheduled for early March, right after we finished our tour of duty at the Desert View (Grand Canyon) General Store. At the last minute my cardiologist (who treated me after my stroke) advised I should have no surgeries of any kind for a minimum of 9 months after my stroke. That resulted in the surgery being cancelled and put off until after October 1st, 2018. Well, we were on the east coast in October, and would not be back in the western U.S. until January, so I made a new appointment with my doctor which will be on January 29th. Once I am reexamined a new surgical date will be set, and I will have my surgery some time in early February. So, that is the reason for working our way up to I-40. The cyst causes me no discomfort of any kind, but I'm getting tired of seeing this large bulge in my cheek when I look in the mirro, and would like to get my face back to normal....whatever that is.....:-)
The local windchill factor here in Vernon on Saturday was 21º F, and it felt every bit of that. The wind and the cold kept us indoors most of Saturday until around 2 pm when we took a 2.1 mile walk around the campground and the Walmart Supercenter next door making two complete loops until we had surpassed 2 miles. That makes our 7th consecutive day of walking one, or more miles each day.
Around noon time I headed outside by myself to dump our black tank, and then put away our fresh water hose, and sewer hose. Since the overnight lows were predicted to be in the 20's (and they were/are) I would have had to disconnect the hose from the city water supply anyway, so I just put both of them away so I would not have to deal with them on Sunday when we hit the Interstate once again. I guess I could have pulled out my heated water hose, but that would be more effort than I was willing to expend Saturday. While I was at it I topped off our fresh water tank at 140 gallons once again.
Many people with RV's do not like to travel with a full water tank, because of the added weight, and no doubt that is a consideration, but I have not noticed any discernible difference in my MPG carrying a full water tank (140 gallons of water @ 8.34 lbs. per gallon weighs 1,168 lbs.). But that is not my reason for traveling with a full tank. My reason is I am always thinking about the 'what if'.......what if we break down somewhere and need to stay in the Newell while it is being fixed? Where will we get fresh water, and how difficult will it be? That is also why I always dump our gray and black water tanks whenever we have the chance......I want empty tanks if we are stranded somewhere. When it is cold like it is right now I always make sure we have enough propane on board to sustain us for a couple of weeks, or more of heating, and hot water if the need arises.
Each time I ventured outside Saturday I was happy with our decision to sit still Saturday....sometimes it was difficult to open our door the wind was blowing with such ferocity.......thanks for stopping by!
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Empty waste tanks & a full water gives me the room to just stop if we find someplace really nice.
ReplyDeleteI'd have gone I-40 too, just to stop for a steak at The Big Texas Steak Ranch in Amarillo! If it wasn't winter :-)
Good luck with the weather!
Going to Big Texas tomorrow night!
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